Bolt trimming machine patentIn 1842, the first U.S. patent for a machine to trim the heads of nuts and bolts was issued to Micah Rugg (No. 2,766). In 1838, Rugg had a blacksmith shop where with Martin Barnes, he began making bolts and nuts for the market. Together, in 1840, they established the first U.S. nuts and bolts factory in Marion, Connecticut. It was a specially-designed one-story, 30 ft by 20 ft, wooden building where with six employees, their capacity production was 500 bolts a day. (Prior to 1838, when they started making bolts commercially, these articles were hammered out and hand-finished by blacksmiths. An earlier but impractical machinehad been patented by David Wilkinson of Rhode Island on 14 Dec 1798.) |
