Sperry Gyroscope
Sperry Gyroscope was an aircraft company specializing in gyroscopes. Its founder was Elmer Ambrose Sperry, with son Lawrence Burst Sperry also involved.
"The Sperrys, after gaining world-wide fame in making scientific instruments for ships, undertook to solve the most difficult problems in aerial navigation and aerial warfare. Having begun in the early days of aeronautics they were able, through their long experience in aeronautics, and through knowledge of the problems, to evolve some of the most efficient instruments." -- Henry Woodhouse, Textbook of Military Aeronautics (1918), p. 20
We have this firm working with at least one non-Sperry inventor, a Morris M. Titterington, likely Morris Maxey Titterington, otherwise working with compasses and other instruments.[1]
We have a case in which Elmer Ambrose Sperry, assigning patent rights to this company, makes reference to one of his own patents, by patent number and by date granted, and which also makes reference to two other patent, not necessarily his own, or even directly pertaining to the company, referring to these via serial numbers and filing dates.[2] The patent in question, Patent US-1914-1360694, was filed well before the patents to which the document refers, though it was granted, and the document was printed, after, of course. This all highlights a retrospective analysis of the innovations involved, relative to any proprietary interests. The references via serial number never make our digital-era processes easier, of course. The inventors may or may not have been inventors subsequently involved with this company.
In 1915 Sperry had an office in London and a representative in France (A. de Chambure, located at 37 rue Bergère in Paris); the company advertised that it supposed the English, Russian, and Italian air forces.[3]
Patents associated with organization named Sperry Gyroscope Company
- Patent US-1911-1279471 (Inventors: Elmer Ambrose Sperry, English title: Gyroscopic Compass, Filing date: 1911-06-21, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1912-1186856 (Inventors: Elmer Ambrose Sperry, English title: Gyroscopic Apparatus, Filing date: 1912-07-11, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent DE-1914-304614 (Inventors: Hannibal C. Ford • Harry L. Tanner, English title: Apparatus for reading true direction by gyro-compass, Filing date: 1914-04-22, Supplementary to patent: Patent DE-1911-288818 • Patent US-1914-1273799, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent DE-1914-305415 (Inventors: Hannibal C. Ford • Harry L. Tanner, English title: Gyroscopic compass, Filing date: 1914-04-22, Supplementary to patent: Patent US-1914-1273799, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1914-1274622 (Inventors: Elmer A. Sperry, English title: Speed and Direction Indicator for Aircraft, Filing date: 1914-05-12, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent IT-1914-142558 (English title: Gyroscopic compass, Filing date: 1914-05-13, Supplementary to patent: Patent US-1911-1279471, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1914-1368226 (Inventors: Elmer A. Sperry, English title: Aeroplane-stabilizer, Filing date: 1914-07-17, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope)
- Patent US-1914-1360694 (Inventors: Elmer Ambrose Sperry, English title: Navigational Apparatus, Filing date: 1914-11-13, Supplementary to patent: Patent US-1912-1186856, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1915-1239837 (Inventors: Lawrence Burst Sperry, English title: Universal Control-Handle, Filing date: 1915-02-25, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1915-1390653 (Inventors: Lawrence Burst Sperry, English title: Steering Device for Aircraft, Filing date: 1915-03-24, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent FR-1915-481948 (English title: Improvements relative to gyroscopic stabilizers, Filing date: 1915-07-13, Supplementary to patent: Patent US-1914-1368226, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent GB-1915-10377 (Inventors: Elmer Ambrose Sperry, English title: Automatic Means for Stabilising Aircraft, Filing date: 1915-07-16, Supplementary to patent: Patent US-1914-1368226 • Patent GB-1913-2294, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1917-1472257 (Inventors: Morris M. Titterington, English title: Servo-motor for aeroplanes, Filing date: 1917-11-09, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1918-1309489 (Inventors: Lawrence Burst Sperry, English title: Double-Gyro Inclinometer, Filing date: 1918-04-18, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1918-1451928 (Inventors: Harry L. Tanner, English title: Magnetic gyroscopic navigation device, Filing date: 1918-08-21, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1918-1368000 (Inventors: Morris M. Titterington, English title: Air-distance indicator for aircraft, Filing date: 1918-09-14, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
- Patent US-1919-1362940 (Inventors: Geoffrey Harrison Brancker • Arthur Lionel Rawlings, English title: Gyroscopic compass, Filing date: 1919-08-09, Applicant firm: Sperry Gyroscope Company)
References
- ↑ Patent US-1917-1472257
- ↑ Patent US-1914-1360694
- ↑ L'Aérophile, année 23 nos. 21–22 (1–15 November 1915), XII.
| Names | Sperry Gyroscope, Sperry Gyroscope Company |
|---|---|
| Country | US, GB |
| Locations | Brooklyn, New York City, London, Paris |
| Affiliations | |
| Keywords | Gyroscope, Automatic stability, Stability, Airplane, Biplane, Design, Instrument, compass, inclinometer |
| Started aero | 1914 or earlier |
| Ended aero | |
| Key people | Elmer Ambrose Sperry, Lawrence Burst Sperry |
| Wikidata id | Q784567 |
