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OldGravelys.Net |
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OldGravelys.Net |
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Benjamin Franklin Gravely was a prolific tinkerer and inventor before, during, and after his involvement with The Gravely Motor Plow & Cultivator Company, and is said to have been awarded fourty to sixty patents, depending on which source you believe. Many were for photographic equipment, but those on this page are for Gravely tractors and other agricultural equipment. These U.S. Patent documents were researched and submitted by Andy Cameron. Many thanks Andy!
U.S.
Patent 1,775,454 Carburetor 420 KB (posted 06/24/06)
Application filed March 24, 1928 by Benjamin F. Gravely of Dunbar, West
Virginia. Patent awarded September 9, 1930
U.S. Patent 1,782,848 Carburetor 348 KB (posted 05/20/06)
Application filed January 18, 1930 by Benjamin F. Gravely of Dunbar,
West Virginia. Patent awarded November 25, 1930
U.S. Patent
1,822,211 Hillside Agricultural Machine 248 KB (posted 06/24/06)
Application filed July 24, 1930 by Benjamin F. Gravely of Dunbar, West
Virginia. Patent awarded September 8, 1931
U.S. Patent
1,876,220 Cutter Guard 188 KB (posted 06/24/06)
Application filed May 30, 1930 by Benjamin F. Gravely of Dunbar, West
Virginia. Patent awarded September 6, 1932.
U.S. Patent 1,876,662 Mowing Machine 356 KB (posted 05/20/06)
Application filed April 22, 1929 by Benjamin F. Gravely of Dunbar, West
Virginia. Patent awarded September 13, 1932. The power unit shown is
clearly a Gravely Model D, but the sickle bar mower attachment is
completely unlike the model that went into production in 1930 and
remained virtually unchanged for 50 years.
U.S.
Patent 1,881,505 Tractor 404 KB (posted 06/26/06)
Application filed August 13, 1930 by Benjamin F. Gravely, of Dunbar,
West Virginia. Application renewed May 7, 1932. Patent awarded October
11, 1932
U.S. Patent
1,889,830 Lawn Mower Device 208 KB (posted 06/26/06)
Application filed February 6, 1932 by Benjamin F. Gravely, of Dunbar,
West Virginia. Patent awarded December 6, 1932. A reel mower mounted on
what is clearly a Model D, but very different from the production
version.
U.S. Patent
1,901,293 Mowing Device 240 KB (posted 06/24/06)
Application filed August 8, 1931 by Benjamin F. Gravely of Dunbar, West
Virginia. Patent awarded March 14, 1933. This appears to be the sickle
bar mower and chain-driven front PTO used on the Model D.
U.S. Patent 1,944,789 Gearing 409 KB (posted 06/16/06)
Application filed January 13, 1932 by Benjamin F. Gravely of Dunbar,
West Virginia. Patent awarded January 23, 1934. This appears to be
planetary gearing along the lines of that later used in the Model L
transmission, but designed for a Model D-like single-wheel tractor.
U.S. Patent
2,051,443 Rotary Plow 556 KB (posted 05/20/06)
Application filed March 9, 1935 by Benjamin Franklin Gravely of Dunbar,
West Virginia. Patent awarded August 18, 1936. Definitely not the
Gravely Rotary Plow as we know it!
U.S. Patent 2,070,830 Rotary Plow 452 KB (posted 06/10/06)
Application filed June 29, 1933 by Benjamin F. Gravely of Dunbar, West
Virginia. Application renewed July 13, 1936. Patent awarded February 16,
1937. Still not the Rotary Plow as we know it, which if I'm not mistaken
was already in production by the time this patent was finally
awarded.
U.S. Patent
2,514,343 Power Operated Sickle Mower 448 KB (posted 05/20/06)
Pattent applied for June 21, 1943 by Benjamin F. Gravely of Nitro, West
Virginia. Patent awarded July 18, 1950 and assigned to B.F. Gravely
& Sons Manufacturing Company, Nitro, West Virginia.
U.S. Patent
2,712,301 Fluid Motor Construction 464 KB (posted 05/20/05)
Application filed October 18, 1950 by Benjamin F. Gravely and Charles
B. Gravely of Nitro, West Virginia. Patent awarded July 5, 1955, after
B.F. Gravely's death.
U.S. Patent
1,455,046 Tractor Cultivator 568 KB (posted 06/24/06)
Application filed July 17, 1922 by Charles Edwin Downie and George D.
Gravely, of Pomeroy, Ohio. Patent awarded May 15, 1923. This is a
single-wheel motorized cultivator similar in concept to the Gravely
Model D, but not a B.F. Gravely design (Gravely patented the design tht
eventually became the Model D on December 5, 1916). B.F. Gravely's wife
was Elizabeth Susan Downie, from Pomeroy, Ohio. Was Charles Edwin Downie
related to Elizabeth? Was George D. Gravely one of B.F. and Elizabeth's
five children?
U.S. Patent
2,258,517 Sickle Mower Attachment 908 KB (posted
07/08/06)
Application filed May 2, 1941 by Eustace L. Rose, Charleston, West
Virginia. Assigned to Gravely Motor Plow & Cultivator Company,
Dunbar, West Virginia. Patent granted October 7, 1941. A sickle bar
mower drive design very different from the production model.
U.S. Patent
2,532,424 Rotary Plow 736 KB (postd 07/08/06)
Application filed April 30, 1945 by Eustace Loring Rose, Charleston, West
Virginia. Assigned to the Gravely Motor Plow & Cultivator Company,
Dunbar, West Virginia. Patent awarded December 5, 1950. This is the
Gravely Rotary Plow. It isn't clear why the patent wasn't applied for
until several years after the Rotary Plow went into production.
U.S. Patent
2,533,693 Rotary Plow 192 KB (posted 07/08/06)
Original application filed April 30, 1945 by Eustace Loring Rose,
Charleston, West Virginia as part of patent application for Rotary Plow
(see U.S. Patent 2,532,424 above). Divided from that application and
reapplied for February 9, 1948. Assigned to the Gravely Motor Plow &
Cultivator Company, Dunbar, West Virginia. Patent awarded December 12,
1950. This patent is for what early Gravely parts lists showed as the
Rotor Spider Hub and Rotor Spade Cutters (plow points) for the Rotary
plow.
U.S. Patent
2,538,708 Transmission For Hand Tractors 784 KB (posted
07/08/06)
Application filed July 19, 1945 by Eustace Loring Rose, Charleston, West
Virginia. Assigned to Gravely Motor Plow & Cultivator Company,
Dunbar, West Virginia. Patent granted January 16, 1951. Based generally
on the Model L transmission desgn, but with major differences. It has a
multi-disc motorcycle-type clutch, a single planetary, and the engine is
an overhead valve vee twin with a generator and electric starter.
U.S. Patent 2,835,242 Valve In Head For Internal Combustion Engine 232 KB (posted 01/26/08)
Application filed July 3, 1956 by Harold.L. Jenkins, Charleston, West Virgina. Patent granted May 20, 1958. This is the Jenkins Head that was sold as an aftermarket accessory for the Gravely Model L engine.
U.S. Patent
2,855,060 Tractor And Sulky Attachment Therefor 608 KB (posted 06/26/06)
Application filed February 9, 1956 by Richard R. Colburn, of Kansas
City, Missouri. Patent awarded October 7, 1958. Not the Gravely steering
sulky, but clearly based on a Gravely Model L.
U.S. Patent 3,777,837
Tractor 776 KB (posted 07/08/06)
Application filed March 2, 1971 by Murry D. Harper, Dunbar, West
Virginia. Patent awarded December 11, 1973. In the mid 1930s Murry Dean
Harper worked with Benjamin F. Gravely, Clarence Robb, and Eustace Rose
on the design of the Model L. Robb and Harper left in 1937 after B.F.
Gravely lost control of the company to D. Ray Hall. Dean Harper built
the prototype "Harper Tractor" in 1969, then sold the design to Clarence
Robb, who manufactured it in the 1970s as the Mountaineer. This Harper
patent seems to be the design on which the Mountaineer transmission was
based. The Mountaineer was notable for attaining more speed ranges with a
transmission that was simpler than the Gravely's, and for the fact that
Mountaineer and Gravely attachments were interchangeable.
U.S. Patent 4,132,255
Tractor Mounted Log Splitting Apparatus 818 KB (posted 05/20/06)
Application filed May 12, 1977 by Russell H. Thackery of Columbus,
Ohio. Patent awarded January 2, 1979. This is what we know as the
"Unicorn" Log Splitter for use with the Gravely Rotary Plow
gearbox.
U.S. Patent
4,192,525 Steering Sulky For Two-Wheel Tractors 604 KB (posted 06/26/06)
Application filed September 22, 1978 by John D. Clark, of Winston-Salem,
North Carolina. Assigned to Clarke-Gravely Corporation, Clemmons, North
Carolina. Patent awarded March 11, 1980. Another variation on the
steering sulky concept.
05/04/08
U.S. Patent 5,058,543 Electronic Ignition Module 220 KB (posted 05/04/08)
Application filed October, 23, 1990 by Gary Eck of Orwell, Indiana. Assigned to Sten's Lawnmower Parts Inc, Jasper, Indiana. Patent awarded October 22, 1991. This is the patent for what is now sold as the Stens MegaFire ignition module. It replaces the points and condenser in small engine magneto ignition systems, and works well in the Model L magneto.