Draft:William K. Henry (inventor)
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William Knox Henry was a Canadian-American inventor from Montreal, and later New Britain, Connecticut. He was the inventor of the Corbin and Russwin door checks, following the invention of the Norton door check made by Lewis C. Norton. Henry was an inventor and employee of the P&F Corbin Company, led by Philip Corbin, and the Russell & Erwin Manufacturing Company, respectively. He was later an assignor of The American Hardware Corporation. He was known in New Britain to have developed the first commercial array of solid steel keys.[1]
Early life
William was born on March 1, 1861 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to Irish immigrant parents. His Father, Alexander, was a milkman in the city. Little is known about William's formal training in mechanics, if any, or his upbringing. About the year 1880, he was employed at a mine in Northern New York State where he devised a prosthetic for an injured miner.[2] This is considered his first invention.
Life in New Britain
Henry emigrated to the United states in 1881, settling in the smaller city of New Britain, Connecticut. He established himself at the R&E Manufacturing Co. in that city during this time. This is also where he would invent and patent the Russwin 'liquid' or hydraulic door check.
By 1900, he was listed as a machinist, employed by the P&F Corbin Company. Henry had registered a number of patents by this year, including an 1896 combination spring check,[3][4][5] a pneumatic check,[6][7][8] a liquid check,[9][10][11] as well as a number of other practical home hardware inventions, such as a food chopper.[12]
Henry also worked on the first manufacture of solid steel keys, likely before 1890, with the R&E Manufacturing Co. This was developed in conjunction with inventor Hubert C. Hart of the same company, patented in 1881.[13]
Door checks and legacy
Within the next decade, William would patent many other door checks and similar hardware inventions.[14][15][16] His door checks were in use throughout the country, including at the 1903 New York Stock Exchange building,[17] Grand Central Terminal and the third Philadelphia Mint building.[18]
The Corbin No. 4, marketed in 1911, was the most successful of the Corbin door checks that William designed and helped to manufacture.
William's door check designs would continue to be manufactured by the American Hardware Corporation, successor of the Russwin and Corbin companies, for decades after his death in 1924. The Corbin-Russwin door closer and variants are still manufactured by the Corbin Russwin facility in Berlin, Connecticut.
References
- ^ "William K. Henry Inventive Genius". New Britain Daily Herald. June 3, 1924.
- ^ "William K. Henry Dead: Inventive Montrealer Went to New England 40 Years Ago". The Gazette. 1924.
- ^ Door Check, US558071A (PDF). United States Patent Office. April 14, 1896.
- ^ "Recent Patents". Stoves and Hardware Reporter. 26 (17): 25, 27. April 23, 1896.
- ^ "Index of Inventions". Scientific American. 74 (17): 269. April 25, 1896.
- ^ "Building Patents". The American Architect and Architecture. 59 (1154): 11. February 5, 1898.
- ^ "Index of Inventions". Scientific American. 78 (6): 93. February 5, 1898.
- ^ "Local Inventor". The Evening Tribune. Tribune Pub. Co. January 31, 1898.
- ^ "Building Patents". The American Architect and Architecture. 68 (1277): 10. June 16, 1900.
- ^ "Liquid Door Check, US650534A" (PDF). United States Patent Office.
- ^ Shepard, James (1901). New Britain Patents and Patentees. p. 57.
- ^ "List of Patents". The Inventive Age and Patent Index. 16 (1): 11. January 1904.
- ^ Manufacture of keys, US248095A (PDF). United States Patent Office. October 11, 1881.
- ^ "Index of Inventions". Scientific American. 85 (20): 318. November 16, 1901.
- ^ "List of Patents". The Inventive Age. 22 (12): 10. December 1, 1910.
- ^ "Mechanical Patents". The Inventive Age. 22 (9): 15. September 1, 1910.
- ^ "New York Stock Exchange Building". The Corbin. 1 (4): 52. August 1902.
- ^ Catalogue of the Annual Architectural Exhibition for 1900-1901. T Square Club. 1900. p. 151.