Linus Yale Jr.

Linus Yale Jr.
Inventor of the Pin-Tumbler Lock and founder of Yale Lock Co.
Born(1821-04-04)April 4, 1821
DiedDecember 25, 1868(1868-12-25) (aged 47)
Burial placeArms Cemetery, Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts
Occupation(s)Businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, metalsmith
Known forYale Lock
Yale Bank Lock
Yale Chilling Iron Safes and Vaults
Pin Tumbler Locks and Cylinder Locks
SpouseCatherine Brooks Yale
ChildrenJohn B. Yale
Madeline Yale Wynne
Julian L. Yale
Parent(s)Linus Yale Sr.
Chlotilda Hopson Yale
FamilyYale
AwardsNational Inventors Hall of Fame
Notes
Linus Yale Jr., portrait
Example of a bank vault and a vault door, Linus will get orders from the United States Treasury Department in 1857
Custom house of Pittsburg 1857, a customer of Linus Yale

Linus Yale Jr. (April 4, 1821 – December 25, 1868) was an American businessman, inventor, mechanical engineer, and metalsmith. He was a co-founder with millionaire Henry R. Towne of the Yale Lock Company, which became the premier manufacturer of locks in the United States. He was the country's leading expert on bank locks and its most important maker.[1][2] By the early 20th century, about three-quarter of all banks in America used his bank locks.[3] He is best remembered for his inventions of locks, especially the cylinder lock, and his basic lock design is still widely distributed today, and constitutes a majority of personal locks and safes.

  1. ^ Yale Towne Manufacturing Co., History of the Trade-Mark Yale, 1914, p. 13
  2. ^ Crane Valve World: (1911), Vol. 7, p. 630
  3. ^ The Saturday Evening Post, 1920, p. 123