AMERICAN MACHINIST
May 13, 1909
Thomas Aldridge Weston, inventor and mechanical engineer, died in New York City on May 3, in the seventy-eighth year
of his age. Although born in Birmingham, England, Mr. Weston was a thorough American in more than a legal
sense. He came to this country when quite young, and for a time was a clerk in the old hardware house of Pratt &
Company, Buffalo, N. Y. He had an inventive mind and a natural aptitude for mechanics, and from this parentage
sprang his first and most widely known invention, that of the differential pulley block, which in later years became recognized as an addition to the so-called "mechanical powers."
This differential block was an adaptation of the old Chinese windlass, and is a reduction of a mechanical problem to its simplest terms. The invention was patented in Great Britain and the United States; the licensees in the former case being Tangye Brothers, Limited, Birmingham, England, and for this country the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, Stamford, Conn. It was instantly
recognized as a most valuable mechanical appliance and rapidly passed into general use.
Mr. Weston's next notable invention was that of the multiple disk brake, which in various forms, has since been widely used in connection with machines of many kinds, especially in cranes and hoists. His third and last important invention was that embodied in the well-known
"Triplex" chain block, also made by the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company.
The original principle of the differential block involved a large waste of power, whereas, in his later development a greatly increased efficiency was obtained. Besides these inventions Mr. Weston devised many practical improvements in
other lines, the latter part of his. life being occupied in the study of mechanical problems, many of which he worked out to a successful conclusion.
He was a man of culture, refinement and exceptional intelligence, whose contributions to the mechanic arts will give him a permanent place among the inventors of the past half century.
May 13, 1909
Thomas Aldridge Weston, inventor and mechanical engineer, died in New York City on May 3, in the seventy-eighth year
of his age. Although born in Birmingham, England, Mr. Weston was a thorough American in more than a legal
sense. He came to this country when quite young, and for a time was a clerk in the old hardware house of Pratt &
Company, Buffalo, N. Y. He had an inventive mind and a natural aptitude for mechanics, and from this parentage
sprang his first and most widely known invention, that of the differential pulley block, which in later years became recognized as an addition to the so-called "mechanical powers."
This differential block was an adaptation of the old Chinese windlass, and is a reduction of a mechanical problem to its simplest terms. The invention was patented in Great Britain and the United States; the licensees in the former case being Tangye Brothers, Limited, Birmingham, England, and for this country the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, Stamford, Conn. It was instantly
recognized as a most valuable mechanical appliance and rapidly passed into general use.
Mr. Weston's next notable invention was that of the multiple disk brake, which in various forms, has since been widely used in connection with machines of many kinds, especially in cranes and hoists. His third and last important invention was that embodied in the well-known
"Triplex" chain block, also made by the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company.
The original principle of the differential block involved a large waste of power, whereas, in his later development a greatly increased efficiency was obtained. Besides these inventions Mr. Weston devised many practical improvements in
other lines, the latter part of his. life being occupied in the study of mechanical problems, many of which he worked out to a successful conclusion.
He was a man of culture, refinement and exceptional intelligence, whose contributions to the mechanic arts will give him a permanent place among the inventors of the past half century.
AMERICAN MACHINIST
May 13, 1909
Thomas Aldridge Weston, inventor and mechanical engineer, died in New York City on May 3, in the seventy-eighth year
of his age. Although born in Birmingham, England, Mr. Weston was a thorough American in more than a legal
sense. He came to this country when quite young, and for a time was a clerk in the old hardware house of Pratt &
Company, Buffalo, N. Y. He had an inventive mind and a natural aptitude for mechanics, and from this parentage
sprang his first and most widely known invention, that of the differential pulley block, which in later years became recognized as an addition to the so-called "mechanical powers."
This differential block was an adaptation of the old Chinese windlass, and is a reduction of a mechanical problem to its simplest terms. The invention was patented in Great Britain and the United States; the licensees in the former case being Tangye Brothers, Limited, Birmingham, England, and for this country the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, Stamford, Conn. It was instantly
recognized as a most valuable mechanical appliance and rapidly passed into general use.
Mr. Weston's next notable invention was that of the multiple disk brake, which in various forms, has since been widely used in connection with machines of many kinds, especially in cranes and hoists. His third and last important invention was that embodied in the well-known
"Triplex" chain block, also made by the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company.
The original principle of the differential block involved a large waste of power, whereas, in his later development a greatly increased efficiency was obtained. Besides these inventions Mr. Weston devised many practical improvements in
other lines, the latter part of his. life being occupied in the study of mechanical problems, many of which he worked out to a successful conclusion.
He was a man of culture, refinement and exceptional intelligence, whose contributions to the mechanic arts will give him a permanent place among the inventors of the past half century.
May 13, 1909
Thomas Aldridge Weston, inventor and mechanical engineer, died in New York City on May 3, in the seventy-eighth year
of his age. Although born in Birmingham, England, Mr. Weston was a thorough American in more than a legal
sense. He came to this country when quite young, and for a time was a clerk in the old hardware house of Pratt &
Company, Buffalo, N. Y. He had an inventive mind and a natural aptitude for mechanics, and from this parentage
sprang his first and most widely known invention, that of the differential pulley block, which in later years became recognized as an addition to the so-called "mechanical powers."
This differential block was an adaptation of the old Chinese windlass, and is a reduction of a mechanical problem to its simplest terms. The invention was patented in Great Britain and the United States; the licensees in the former case being Tangye Brothers, Limited, Birmingham, England, and for this country the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company, Stamford, Conn. It was instantly
recognized as a most valuable mechanical appliance and rapidly passed into general use.
Mr. Weston's next notable invention was that of the multiple disk brake, which in various forms, has since been widely used in connection with machines of many kinds, especially in cranes and hoists. His third and last important invention was that embodied in the well-known
"Triplex" chain block, also made by the Yale & Towne Manufacturing Company.
The original principle of the differential block involved a large waste of power, whereas, in his later development a greatly increased efficiency was obtained. Besides these inventions Mr. Weston devised many practical improvements in
other lines, the latter part of his. life being occupied in the study of mechanical problems, many of which he worked out to a successful conclusion.
He was a man of culture, refinement and exceptional intelligence, whose contributions to the mechanic arts will give him a permanent place among the inventors of the past half century.
Family Members
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Records on Ancestry
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North Carolina, U.S., Historical Records Survey, Cemetery Inscription Card Index, 1700-2018
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Birmingham, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1939
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North Carolina, U.S., Deaths, 1906-1930
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North Carolina, U.S., Death Certificates, 1909-1976
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1900 United States Federal Census
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