Edwin R. Fellows
Encyclopedia
Edwin R. Fellows was an American
inventor and entrepreneur from Torrington, Connecticut
who designed and built a new type of gear shaper
in 1896 and, with the mentoring of James Hartness
, left the Jones & Lamson Machine Company to co-found the Fellows Gear Shaper Company in Springfield, Vermont
, which became one of the leading firms in the gear-cutting segment of the machine tool
industry. Fellows' machines made a vital contribution to the mass production
of effective and reliable gear transmissions
for the nascent automotive industry
. By the conclusion of World War II
, Fellows Gear Shaper Company machines were in defense contractor plants, manufacturing geared components for aircraft engines, tanks, instruments, cameras, fuses and other war-time materiel.
High School and was interested in mathematics. When his father died, Fellows was in his first year of high school. As a result of his father's death, Fellows had to go to work as a department store clerk while his mother had to take on lodgers. One such lodger was James Hartness
, who was to become a machine-tool entrepreneur in Springfield, Vermont and who befriended Fellows and ultimately convinced him to follow career opportunities in the Springfield machine-tool industry with his firm, the Jones & Lamson Machine Company (J&L). Roe reports that Fellows completed high school.
Fellows moved to Springfield in 1889, working first at a screw-making machine before being transferred to the drafting department at J&L. In this capacity he became interested in the problem of manufacturing gear
s, which requires accurate shaping according to mathematical principles in many different forms, including spur gears, worm gears, helical gears and spiral bevel gears. The problem employs the "study of involute cycloidal, epicycloidal and hypocycloidal curves."
By 1896 Fellows had fully developed a new approach to gear cutting. Previously, gears had been milled
, using cutters that were formed to the shape of the individual teeth. Upon the completion of each gear tooth, the gear blank was indexed to a new position to mill the next tooth, which could lead to problems in accurate spacing of gear teeth and the shaping of the individual teeth. Fellows conceived a method whereby the gear cutter, which was itself a gear with hardened cutting edges, and gear blank revolved together as if they were a pair of gears. This process required no intermediate template or other type of mechanical guide for shaping the gear. Hobbing
has become the preferred approach to manufacturing spur gears and helical gears.
The first "6-Type" production machine was built in 1897 and sold to a Worcester, Massachusetts
machine-tool firm. Sales were then slow until the advent of the mass-produced
automobile. By 1911 the Fellows Gear Shaper Company was thriving with 37 percent of its production going to Europe. Fellows became president and general manager of the company in 1917. At this time the company had developed:
By 1924 the Fellows Gear Shaper Company, under the direction of Fellows, employed seven hundred men and was capable of producing one hundred gear shapers and four thousand cutters per month. Roe characterized the company's gear shapers as "one of the most important tools in the manufacture of automobiles."
the Fellows Gear Shaper Company plant was enlarged to a peak work force of 3,300, including 400 women. The company's gear shaping machinery spanned extremes in capability between being able to produce gears with a 100-inch pitch diameter (the diameter at the bottom of the tooth) to 1/16-inch pitch diameter. By the conclusion of the war, Fellows Gear Shaper Company machines were in defense contractor plants manufacturing geared components, including:
Fellows resigned as general manager in 1939, but remained president and director of the company until his death in 1945.
The Franklin Institute awarded him John Scott Medal in 1899.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
inventor and entrepreneur from Torrington, Connecticut
Torrington, Connecticut
Torrington is the largest city in Litchfield County, Connecticut and the northwestern Connecticut region. It is also the core city of the largest micropolitan area in the United States. The city population was 36,383 according to the 2010 census....
who designed and built a new type of gear shaper
Gear cutting
Gear cutting is the process of creating a gear. The most common processes include hobbing, broaching, and machining; other processes include shaping, forging, extruding, casting, and powder metallurgy. Gears are commonly made from metal, plastic, and wood.-Broaching:For very large gears or splines,...
in 1896 and, with the mentoring of James Hartness
James Hartness
James Hartness was an American inventor; a mechanical engineer; an entrepreneur who mentored other inventors to develop their machine tool products and create a thriving industrial center in southeastern Vermont; an amateur astronomer who fostered the construction of telescopes by amateurs in his...
, left the Jones & Lamson Machine Company to co-found the Fellows Gear Shaper Company in Springfield, Vermont
Springfield, Vermont
Springfield is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 9,373 at the 2010 census.-History:One of the New Hampshire grants, the township was chartered on August 20, 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth and awarded to Gideon Lyman and 61 others...
, which became one of the leading firms in the gear-cutting segment of the machine tool
Machine tool
A machine tool is a machine, typically powered other than by human muscle , used to make manufactured parts in various ways that include cutting or certain other kinds of deformation...
industry. Fellows' machines made a vital contribution to the mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
of effective and reliable gear transmissions
Transmission (mechanics)
A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...
for the nascent automotive industry
Automotive industry
The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world's most important economic sectors by revenue....
. By the conclusion of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Fellows Gear Shaper Company machines were in defense contractor plants, manufacturing geared components for aircraft engines, tanks, instruments, cameras, fuses and other war-time materiel.
Early life
Fellows' father, Charles L. Fellows, was a principal of TorringtonTorrington, Connecticut
Torrington is the largest city in Litchfield County, Connecticut and the northwestern Connecticut region. It is also the core city of the largest micropolitan area in the United States. The city population was 36,383 according to the 2010 census....
High School and was interested in mathematics. When his father died, Fellows was in his first year of high school. As a result of his father's death, Fellows had to go to work as a department store clerk while his mother had to take on lodgers. One such lodger was James Hartness
James Hartness
James Hartness was an American inventor; a mechanical engineer; an entrepreneur who mentored other inventors to develop their machine tool products and create a thriving industrial center in southeastern Vermont; an amateur astronomer who fostered the construction of telescopes by amateurs in his...
, who was to become a machine-tool entrepreneur in Springfield, Vermont and who befriended Fellows and ultimately convinced him to follow career opportunities in the Springfield machine-tool industry with his firm, the Jones & Lamson Machine Company (J&L). Roe reports that Fellows completed high school.
Fellows moved to Springfield in 1889, working first at a screw-making machine before being transferred to the drafting department at J&L. In this capacity he became interested in the problem of manufacturing gear
Gear
A gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
s, which requires accurate shaping according to mathematical principles in many different forms, including spur gears, worm gears, helical gears and spiral bevel gears. The problem employs the "study of involute cycloidal, epicycloidal and hypocycloidal curves."
By 1896 Fellows had fully developed a new approach to gear cutting. Previously, gears had been milled
Milling machine
A milling machine is a machine tool used to machine solid materials. Milling machines are often classed in two basic forms, horizontal and vertical, which refers to the orientation of the main spindle. Both types range in size from small, bench-mounted devices to room-sized machines...
, using cutters that were formed to the shape of the individual teeth. Upon the completion of each gear tooth, the gear blank was indexed to a new position to mill the next tooth, which could lead to problems in accurate spacing of gear teeth and the shaping of the individual teeth. Fellows conceived a method whereby the gear cutter, which was itself a gear with hardened cutting edges, and gear blank revolved together as if they were a pair of gears. This process required no intermediate template or other type of mechanical guide for shaping the gear. Hobbing
Hobbing
Hobbing is a machining process for making gears, splines, and sprockets on a hobbing machine, which is a special type of milling machine. The teeth or splines are progressively cut into the workpiece by a series of cuts made by a cutting tool called a hob...
has become the preferred approach to manufacturing spur gears and helical gears.
Fellows Gear Shaper Company
Tools for the mass-production of gears
Fellows obtained backing from several Springfield industrialists, including Hartness and William D. Woolson, who founded the Fellows Gear Shaper Company on July 13, 1896. Fellows became manager of the company and Woolson the president. The company built a manufacturing facility in Springfield and ordered a prototype machine from Fitchburg Machine Works.The first "6-Type" production machine was built in 1897 and sold to a Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....
machine-tool firm. Sales were then slow until the advent of the mass-produced
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
automobile. By 1911 the Fellows Gear Shaper Company was thriving with 37 percent of its production going to Europe. Fellows became president and general manager of the company in 1917. At this time the company had developed:
- A gear-generating machine, employing a reciprocating gear-like tool
- A self-locking index-wheel system with worm-drive to control the cutter and work in the gear-generating machine.
- A methodology for grinding involute curves in gears.
- A ground master gear.
- A gear-shaped planing tool for manufacturing helical gears.
By 1924 the Fellows Gear Shaper Company, under the direction of Fellows, employed seven hundred men and was capable of producing one hundred gear shapers and four thousand cutters per month. Roe characterized the company's gear shapers as "one of the most important tools in the manufacture of automobiles."
Tools for war-time production of gears
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the Fellows Gear Shaper Company plant was enlarged to a peak work force of 3,300, including 400 women. The company's gear shaping machinery spanned extremes in capability between being able to produce gears with a 100-inch pitch diameter (the diameter at the bottom of the tooth) to 1/16-inch pitch diameter. By the conclusion of the war, Fellows Gear Shaper Company machines were in defense contractor plants manufacturing geared components, including:
- Airplane propellor shaft webs. (Special Disking Machines).
- Splines on aircraft engine crankshafts (Horizontal Z-Model).
- Helical gears for tank transmissions (No. 15B Gear Burnishing Machine).
- Propellor gears for aircraft engines (No. 24 Hydro-Gear Lapper).
- Fine-pitch gears for aircraft instruments, aerial cameras, bomb fuses, etc. (Straight-Line Gear Generator).
Fellows resigned as general manager in 1939, but remained president and director of the company until his death in 1945.
Patents and awards
Fellows received 39 patents pertaining to gear shaping, generating, grinding and measuring machines.The Franklin Institute awarded him John Scott Medal in 1899.
External links
- Smithsonian Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention & Innovation
- Archives of the Smithsonian Institution Research Information System
- Fellows Gear Shaper Company Records, 1896-1999 (bulk 1915-1970)
- History of Springfield, Vermont—The Fellows Gear Shaper
- Fellows Gear Shaper, Springfield, Vermont
- United Electrical Workers organizing Fellows