Bucher Emhart Glass
Dates
- Existence: 1912 (date of establishment)
- Usage: 1912 (date of establishment) - 1922 (date of name change) - 1922
- Usage: 1922 (date of establishment) - 1951 (date of name change) - 1951
- Usage: 1951 (date of establishment) - 1976 (date of name change) - 1976
- Usage: 1976 (date of establishment) - 1989 (date of merger) - 1989
- Usage: 1989 (date of establishment)
Biography
The glass machinery division of Emhart Corporation was founded in 1912 as the Lorenz-Honiss firm, which became the Hartford-Fairmont Company later that same year. It was based in Hartford, Connecticut, with the goal of developing new methods for manufacturing glass containers and new applications for the use of glass as a packaging material. The company created the first glass gob shearing and feeding device, which was the basis for the modern-day method of feeder-fed glass container production, and was instrumental in the automation of the glass industry. In 1922, the company became the Hartford-Empire Company.
An antitrust lawsuit was filed against the company in 1939 with regard to its patents on inventions used for the manufacture of glassware-producing machinery. As part of the settlement of the lawsuit, the Hartford-Empire Company was required to grant royalty-free licenses for its patents covering the I.S. (glass-shaping) machine; after a later appeal, the company was allowed reasonable royalties for licenses under its patents.
In 1951, the company was renamed the Emhart Manufacturing Company, and its glass division was known as Emhart Glass. Emhart Manufacturing Company merged with United Shoe Machinery Company in 1976, creating Emhart Corporation. A merger with Black & Decker in 1989 effectively ended the existence of Emhart Corporation as an independent company. However, today Emhart Glass continues to operate as a subsidiary of Bucher Industries of Neiderweningen, Switzerland.