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W.H.Dorman & Co Ltd was a company formed by William Henry Dorman in 1870 making cutting tools for the footwear industry, it diversified into other tools including grinders, and in 1903 into internal combustion engines. This was to be its main product up to the point where it was taken over by the English Electric Company in 1961, though the Dorman name continued as a diesel engine trademark until 1995 (from 1968 under the ownership of the General Electric Company plc and later by Broadcrown Ltd). William Henry Dorman retired in 1911, and died in 1926. == Origins == The early origins of W.H.Dorman & Co were documented in a centenary booklet, marking the history of Dorman from 1870 to 1970. These were handed out to all employees and visitors to Dorman Diesels. Extracts from the centenary booklet have been reproduced on the Dorman Association website.〔("The First Hundred Years", The Dorman Association )〕 When the company was first formed it was to make sole and heel cutting knives for the local footwear industry. Within a few years this diversified into a wide range of machinery for industry, as well as the first refrigeration plant for the Smithfield meat market in London. Around 1897 the part of the business devoted to the footwear industry was sold off to the British United Shoe Machinery Co, and the business directed its efforts more towards printing, grinding, and knitwear machines. However, by 1903 they made their first internal combustion petrol engines and petrol-paraffin engines, and gradually engine manufacture was to become their main business. However, William Henry Dorman was a prolific inventor and between 1894 and 1914 there are 72 patents to his name, many related to the mechanisation of the manufacture of footwear, but also on diverse topics such as the trouser press, four wheel drive motor cars, and a method for separating cream from milk. Apart from the engines that were later to dominate the business, a great many other products were made, many of which were equipment for manufacturing industry. Factory records of the engine production exist from 1913,〔Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service: Staffordshire County Record Office, Ref No 1256/C/1〕 starting with engine number 701, however information on the engines produced from 1903 to 1912 is missing. The Dorman Association shows that from 1913 the JJ and JO engines were available in either 2-cylinder or 4-cylinder form, each with the same 110 mm bore and 140 mm stroke and with 8 bhp per cylinder. It is known that the 4-cylinder Dorman engine was fitted into the Pagefield trucks made by Walker Brothers of Wigan in 1913 to a War Department specification. In November 1913 Dorman were advertising that their 4-cylinder engine was awarded a "Special Certificate in the War Office Subsidy Trials".〔(The Light Car and Cyclecar, 24th November, 1913 )〕 This same advert lists a 2-cylinder water-cooled motor with 80 mm bore and 108 mm stroke, and other adverts from March and April 1914 show other engines were available.〔W.H.Dorman advertising for Olympia Aero, Motor Boat, Marine & Stationary Engine Exhibition, 1914 ()〕 A Dorman engine powered the Caledonx lorries from 1915-1919.〔(Grace's Guide: ''Caledon Motors'' )〕 The Dorman Engineering Co of Northampton is sometimes confused with W.H.Dorman & Co. The principle partner there was Thomas Phipps Dorman (son of Mark Dorman), and the main product was the Dorman sewing machine though they started engine manufacture and made the Whirlwind motorised bicycle for a few years before failing in 1903.〔("Dorman History", Graham Forsdyke, ISMACS News, No 34 )〕 This failure coincides with the start of engine manufacture at W.H.Dorman, but no commercial or familial link has as yet been identified between the two companies. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「W.H.Dorman & Co」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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