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The Timken Company

File:Timken logo.png
Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: TKR
Industry	Manufacturing
Founded	St. Louis, Missouri, USA (1899)
Headquarters	Canton, Ohio, USA
Key people	James W. Griffith, President & CEO
Products	Bearings Alloy steel Industrial lubrication Industrial seals Motion control systems
Revenue	US $4.1 billion (2010)[1]
Net income	US $274.8 million (2010)[2]
Employees	20,000 (2011)
Website	www.timken.com

The Timken Company is a global manufacturer of bearings, alloy steels, and related components and assemblies.^[3]

History[link]

It has been suggested that Timken Roller Bearing Company be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since October 2010.

The company was founded by Henry Timken in St. Louis, Missouri in 1899 and incorporated as The Timken Roller Bearing Axle Company. In 1898 Timken had obtained a patent for the tapered roller bearing for which the company would become known. At the time, Timken was a carriage-maker in St. Louis and held three patents for carriage springs. However, it was his patent for tapered roller bearings that allowed his company to become successful.

Tapered roller bearings were a breakthrough at the end of the 19th century because bearings used in wheel axles had not changed much since ancient times. They relied on bearings enclosed in a case that held lubricants. These were called "friction bearings" and depended on lubricants to function. Without proper lubrication, these bearings would fail due to excessive heat caused by friction. Timken was able to significantly reduce the friction on his bearings by using a "cup" and "cone" design incorporating tapered bearings which actually rolled, which reduced the load placed on the bearings by distributing the weight and load evenly across the cups, cones, and bearings.

The company moved to Canton, Ohio in 1901 as the automobile industry began to overtake the carriage industry. Timken chose this location because of its proximity to the American car manufacturing centers of Detroit, Michigan and Cleveland, Ohio, and because it was close to the American steel-making centers of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cleveland, Ohio.

Ray Harroun, winner of the first Indianapolis 500, used Timken Bearings on his vehicle.^[4]

In 1916 the company began its steel- and pipe-making operations in Canton to vertically integrate, and maintain better control over the steel used in its bearings. World War I created an increase in demand for steel, affecting its supply and price in the market.^[5] Poor-quality steel from suppliers was another important issue, so the company felt the need to make its own steel to ensure the quality of its bearing products. By the late 1990s, the steel-making operation was selling 80% of its output to outside customers, and the operation accounted for a third of the company's total sales.

British Timken offices and works in Northampton, England in 2001 prior to demolition a few years later.

British Timken[link]

British Timken was established in Chester Road, Aston, Birmingham in 1937, to manufacture tapered roller, parallel roller and ball bearings.

In World War II a shadow factory was built in 1941 on a green-field site at Duston in Northamptonshire, to produce roller bearings. At its peak over 4,000 people were employed in the factory. In 2002 the Duston works were closed and the site cleared for housing with production moving to Poland.^[6][7]

Present-day operations[link]

In 2003 the company acquired its largest domestic competitor in the bearing business—The Torrington Company of Torrington, Connecticut. In 2007 it acquired the Purdy Corporation of Manchester, Connecticut. Renamed Timken Aerospace Transmissions, it is part of the Timken Aerospace & Defense division headquartered in Lebanon, New Hampshire.

The company also manufactured test equipment for various purposes including properties of lubricating oil; this led to the company's lending its name to the industry standard Timken OK Load metric.

Timken is a member of World Bearing Association (WBA).

References[link]

1. ^ Timken website
2. ^ Timken website
3. ^ About Us
4. ^ Automotive Aftermarket
5. ^ The Timken Company: Information and Much More from Answers.com
6. ^ British Industrial History accessed 1 January 2012
7. ^ British Timken to axe 950 jobs BBC News 26 April 2001, accessed 1 January 2012

External links[link]

• Company site
• Jan 1945, 1947, Sep 1947 and Mar 1951 advertisements for Timken axles and brakes

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (March 2011)

James Griffith (February 13, 1916 – September 17, 1993) was an American character actor, musician and screenwriter.

Career[link]

Born in Los Angeles, Griffith aspired to be a musician rather than an actor. Instead, he managed to find work in little theatres around Los Angeles, where the budding musician eased into a dual career of acting. He found success in the production They Can't Get You Down in 1939, but put his career on hold during World War II to serve with the U.S. military. Following the war, Griffith switched from the stage to films when he appeared in the 1948 film noir picture Blonde Ice. From then on, he enjoyed a lengthy career of supporting and bit roles (sometimes uncredited) in westerns and detective films.

Though Griffith was generally cast as the outlaw in Western pictures, he managed to garner a few memorable "good guy" roles over his many years in Hollywood – Abraham Lincoln in both 1950's Stage to Tucson and 1955's Apache Ambush, sheriff Pat Garrett in 1954's The Law vs. Billy the Kid, John Wesley Hardin in a 1959 television episode of Maverick entitled "Duel at Sundown" featuring Clint Eastwood, and Davy Crockett in 1956's The First Texan. In the role of Aaron Adams, he appeared in twelve episodes in 1958 on the Robert Culp western series Trackdown, which aired on CBS from 1957 to 1959. He also had a recurring role in the syndicated series, Sheriff of Cochise starring John Bromfield.

Griffith made more than seventy guest appearances on television shows, including The Lone Ranger, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, Dragnet, and Little House on the Prairie. As a somewhat "extra" activity, Griffith played the Reverend in Black and the opening, closing, and a few in the middle scenes in the 1964 Russ Meyer film Lorna, starring Lorna Maitland in one of Meyer's black-and-white 'skin' movies before the height of his career with Beyond the Valley of the Dolls in 1968.

Throughout his acting career, Griffith continued to practice his original love of music, having performed the Spike Jones band. he composed music for the 1958 film Bullwhip and the 1964 picture, Lorna, in which he also had a role and served as screenwriter). Griffith made his last onscreen appearance in a 1982 episode of CBS' Dallas.

Death[link]

Griffith died of cancer in Avila Beach, California on September 17, 1993.

Selected filmography[link]

References[link]

• Tim Brooks; Earle Marsh (2003). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (8th ed.). Random House Digital, Inc. ISBN 0-345-45542-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=DyS3t8z6_ckC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 

External links[link]

• James Griffith at the Internet Movie Database

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