For the British automobile manufacturer, see Rootes Group.
The Roots Blower Company was an American engineering company based in Connersville, Indiana. It was founded in 1854 by the inventors Philander Higley Roots and Francis Marion Roots. It is notable for the Roots blower, a type of pump.[1] Today, Roots blowers are mainly used as air pumps in superchargers for internal combustion engines; they were first used in blast furnaces to blow combustion air to melt iron.[2]
The Roots brothers located their business in Connersville, Indiana, as the Whitewater Canal provided a convenient 11-foot (3.35 metre) drop, suitable for an undershot mill wheel. When this proved insufficiently powerful, Philander Roots built a more efficient "water motor" to exploit the power source.[1] However, the lobe impellers were made of wood, which warped and caused the motor to jam when used under water. As the brothers studied the problem on dry land, one of them rotated a shaft, causing the impellers to spin in the air, "blowing off his brother's hat".[3] This attracted the attention of the superintendent of an iron foundry, who observed to Roots that it could be used to help melt iron. Roots followed up the idea by designing the Roots blower, "now (1931) the leading product of the plant". The foundry superintendent was given the role of foundry foreman at Roots Blower.[1]
Company history
The Roots brothers patented the Roots Blower in 1860.[4] In 1869 they were granted a patent by the United Kingdom Patent Office for the invention of "improvements in rotary blowing machines."[5]
In 1875, Roots exhibited a blower at the Saint Petersburg Exhibition; Thwaites and Carbutt exhibited a Roots principle "air blowing machine" for mine ventilation in the same exhibition.[6]
In 1885, Edgar Dwight Johnston joined the firm of 30 people; he became vice president in 1889 and president in 1898, remaining so until at least 1931. At that time, the firm employed about 225 people.[1]
In 1900, Gottlieb Daimler patented a Roots supercharger for a car's internal combustion engine.[7]
In 1931, Roots Blower Company and Connersville Blower Company were bought by the International Derrick and Equipment Company to found Roots-Connersville Blower Company. The same year, the company began production of centrifugal compressors.[8]
From 1944,[8] Roots became a product brand of Dresser Industries. In 2015 the Roots company was acquired by Colfax Corporation, and is now part of UK based engineering company Howden. [9] The Roots product line still includes a range of blowers.[10]
Founders
Francis Roots was born in Oxford, Ohio on 28 October 1824 to Alanson Roots and Sylvia Yale. He married Esther E. Pumphrey on 8 October 1850. He died in Connersville on 25 October 1889. His brother Philander died in Connersville in 1879.[11]
See also
Supercharger — for a comparison of Roots with other types
References
^ abcdINDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol. 3, By Charles Roll, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1931. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. IN-3, "P. H. & F. M. Roots Company, Eastern Avenue, Connersville, Fayette County, IN", 35 photos, 6 measured drawings, 11 data pages, 2 photo caption pages
May 05, 2023
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For the British automobile manufacturer see Rootes Group The Roots Blower Company was an American engineering company based in Connersville Indiana It was founded in 1854 by the inventors Philander Higley Roots and Francis Marion Roots It is notable for the Roots blower a type of pump 1 Today Roots blowers are mainly used as air pumps in superchargers for internal combustion engines they were first used in blast furnaces to blow combustion air to melt iron 2 Roots Blower CompanyIndustryEngineeringFounded1859 FoundersPhilander Higley RootsFrancis Marion RootsDefunct1931 1931 FateAcquired by International Derrick and Equipment Company and merged with Connersville Blower Company to form Roots Connersville Blower CompanyHeadquartersConnersville Indiana United StatesPhilander and Francis Roots founders of Roots Blower Company Cover story of February 1880 Scientific American magazine Manufacture of Rotary Pressure Blowers at Roots Indiana A Roots blower with two lobed rotors Modern Roots blowers usually have 3 or 4 lobed rotors Key Rotary vanePump body IntakePumpingOutputRotary vane Contents 1 History 1 1 Legend of origin 1 2 Company history 2 Current production 3 Founders 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory EditLegend of origin Edit The Roots brothers located their business in Connersville Indiana as the Whitewater Canal provided a convenient 11 foot 3 35 metre drop suitable for an undershot mill wheel When this proved insufficiently powerful Philander Roots built a more efficient water motor to exploit the power source 1 However the lobe impellers were made of wood which warped and caused the motor to jam when used under water As the brothers studied the problem on dry land one of them rotated a shaft causing the impellers to spin in the air blowing off his brother s hat 3 This attracted the attention of the superintendent of an iron foundry who observed to Roots that it could be used to help melt iron Roots followed up the idea by designing the Roots blower now 1931 the leading product of the plant The foundry superintendent was given the role of foundry foreman at Roots Blower 1 Company history Edit The Roots brothers patented the Roots Blower in 1860 4 In 1869 they were granted a patent by the United Kingdom Patent Office for the invention of improvements in rotary blowing machines 5 In 1875 Roots exhibited a blower at the Saint Petersburg Exhibition Thwaites and Carbutt exhibited a Roots principle air blowing machine for mine ventilation in the same exhibition 6 In 1885 Edgar Dwight Johnston joined the firm of 30 people he became vice president in 1889 and president in 1898 remaining so until at least 1931 At that time the firm employed about 225 people 1 In 1900 Gottlieb Daimler patented a Roots supercharger for a car s internal combustion engine 7 In 1931 Roots Blower Company and Connersville Blower Company were bought by the International Derrick and Equipment Company to found Roots Connersville Blower Company The same year the company began production of centrifugal compressors 8 During World War II the company made screw compressors for U S Navy submarines which they used to blow ballast water 8 Current production EditFrom 1944 8 Roots became a product brand of Dresser Industries In 2015 the Roots company was acquired by Colfax Corporation and is now part of UK based engineering company Howden 9 The Roots product line still includes a range of blowers 10 Founders EditFrancis Roots was born in Oxford Ohio on 28 October 1824 to Alanson Roots and Sylvia Yale He married Esther E Pumphrey on 8 October 1850 He died in Connersville on 25 October 1889 His brother Philander died in Connersville in 1879 11 See also EditSupercharger for a comparison of Roots with other typesReferences Edit a b c d INDIANA ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OF AMERICAN DEVELOPMENT Vol 3 By Charles Roll The Lewis Publishing Company 1931 Retrieved 1 April 2012 Roots Blower mechanism History of Connersville Indiana The Historical Industrial Companies ROOTS Blower Company Archived 2015 04 24 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 1 April 2012 Stahl Electromach Roots Blower London Gazette November 12 1869 page 6052 Oil of Russia New Technologies of Steam Age Archive No 4 2005 Retrieved 1 April 2012 Mini Blowers com Roots Blower History a b c Dresser Roots product catalogue with history Retrieved 1 April 2012 http ir colfaxcorp com common download download cfm companyid CLFX amp fileid 830254 amp filekey 546BF1BA A402 4B94 854E A8E99D7F4BF4 amp filename 913729 pdf dead link 1 catalogue Indiana County History Wayne Fayette Union and Franklin CountiesExternal links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Roots blowers Indiana County History Francis Marion Roots Animation of Roots Blower with 2 lobes Dresser Roots product catalogue with timeline and company history Connersville Chamber of Commerce History of Connersville Indiana 2 Historic American Engineering Record HAER No IN 3 P H amp F M Roots Company Eastern Avenue Connersville Fayette County IN 35 photos 6 measured drawings 11 data pages 2 photo caption pages Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Roots Blower Company amp oldid 1136524211, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
