Linus Yale, Jr.
| Linus Yale Jr. | |
|---|---|
Inventor of the Pin-Tumbler Lock and founder of Yale Lock Co.
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| Born |
April 4, 1821 Salisbury, New York, United States |
| Died | December 25, 1868 (aged 47) New York City, New York, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Inventor, mechanical engineer, businessman |
| Known for | Yale Lock Yale Bank Lock Yale Chilling Iron Safes and Vaults Pin Tumbler Locks and Cylinder Locks |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine Brooks Yale |
| Children | John Brooks Yale Madelaine Yale Wynne Julian Linus Yale |
| Parent(s) |
Linus Yale Sr. Chlotilda Hopson Yale |
| Awards | National Inventors Hall of Fame |
| Notes | |
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Yale Genealogy and History of Wales https://archive.org/details/yalegenealogyhis00yale
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Linus Yale Jr. (April 4, 1821 – December 25, 1868) was an American mechanical engineer and manufacturer, best known for his inventions of locks, especially the cylinder lock. His basic lock design is still widely distributed today, and constitute a majority of personal locks and safes. Linus Yale Jr. was born in Salisbury, New York. Yale’s father, Linus Yale Sr. opened a lock shop in the 1840s in Newport, New York, specializing in bank locks. Yale soon joined his father in his business and introduced some revolutionary locks that utilized permutations and cylinders. He later founded a company with Henry Robinson Towne in the South End section of Stamford, Connecticut, called the Yale Lock Manufacturing Company. Throughout his career in lock manufacturing, Yale acquired numerous patents for his inventions and received widespread acclaim from clients regarding his products.
Linus Yale’s family are of Welsh descent, and his ancestors were of the same family as Elihu Yale, the benefactor to and namesake of the well known Yale University. Yale’s father, Linus Yale Sr., was a successful inventor who owned a Lock Shop in the village of Newport, New York, and specialized in expensive, handmade bank locks and mechanical engineering, and who held eight patents for locks and another half dozen for threshing machines, sawmill head blocks, and millstone dressers. In 1858, Yale’s father died, and Linus Yale Jr. became more involved with his father’s lock company.
Young Yale developed an early affinity for portrait painting, but about 1850 decided to assist his father in improving bank locks and to study mechanical problems. However, his finesse in drawing and sketching proved to be useful, as his diagrams on his later designs of locks were detailed and clear.
Yale opened his own shop about 1860 in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, specializing in bank locks.
He introduced some combination safe locks and key-operated cylinder locks that were improvements on previously used locks. Possessing admirable skills in mechanics and lock making, Yale created one of the first modern locks that used a pin-tumbler design. The pin-tumbler design is also known as the cylinder design, and plays significant roles in today’s locks and safes. Yale had previously harbored the practical implementation of the tumbler lock for decades, and had sketched the idea in 1844. Yale was convinced that key holes in traditional locks made the locks susceptible to thieves who could use picks, gunpowder explosives, and heat to thwart the locks. This led him to employ permanent dial and shaft designs in his inventions, known as "combination locks" today. Yale’s best-known lock design, the cylinder pin-tumbler lock, utilized a key-operated lock concept first conceived in ancient Egypt over 4,000 years ago.
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