Irving Wightman Colburn

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Irving Wightman Colburn ( May 16, 1861 - September 4, 1917 ) was an American inventor and manufacturer whose process for the production of uninterrupted flat glass panes enabled the mass production of window panes .

Colburn began his experiments in 1899, culminating in a patent for a machine for making flat glass on March 25, 1902. He founded the Colburn Machine Glass Co. in August 1906 and installed two machines in 1908 but went bankrupt in 1911 before the technology was mature. The Toledo Glass Company bought Colburn's patents in 1912 and discontinued Colburn shortly thereafter. He has now improved the process at Toledo Glass, and his first successful result came on November 25, 1913. The company then became the Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Company in 1916.

personal data
SURNAME Colburn, Irving Wightman
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American inventor and manufacturer
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1861
DATE OF DEATH September 4, 1917