Boss Kettering: Innovation & the Golden Age of the Automobile
Heather J. E. Simmons, JD, MLS
University Libraries & College of Law, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Introduction
Patenting & Licensing
Charles Franklin Kettering (1876-1958)
Charles Franklin Kettering was affectionately nicknamed
“Boss Ket” by the people who worked for him. A wellknown figure during his lifetime, Kettering is remembered
today mostly for his funding of cancer research with
General Motors colleague Alfred P. Sloane (Sloan
Kettering Institute) and the university which bears his
name, Kettering University, formerly General Motors
Institute.
Kettering is still
remembered
fondly by the staff
of the GM R&D
Center which he
founded in 1920,
where their
highest award still
bears his name.
Courtesy of GM Media Archives
Patent Highlights
National Cash Register NCR
The Evolution of an Idea
(1904-1909)
• Spring-loaded drawer:
CASH REGISTER US1,137,061 (27 April 1915)
1908
Kettering’s original
drawing of his
concept for the
electric starter
Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company
DELCO
General Motors R&D Center
(1920-1947)
Original signed and witnessed drawing dated July 23rd 1908
Courtesy of Kettering University Archives
Kettering & World War II
National Inventors’ Council
Director(1940-1947)
A central clearing house to review concepts for
inventions relating to the war effort and forward the most
useful ideas on to the armed forces for their
consideration.
(1909-1920)
• ENGINE STARTING, LIGHTING, AND IGNITION
SYSTEM US1,171,055 (8 February 1916)
A prolific inventor,
Kettering was
awarded 187
United States
patents. His single
most famous
patent was
US1,171,055,
awarded for the
electric car starter.
• Ethyl Gasoline
METHOD AND MEANS FOR USING LOWCOMPRESSION FUELS US1,635,216
(12 July 1927)
•“Freon”
REFRIGERATING APPARATUS US1,793,857
(24 February 1931)
Controversy
National Patent Planning Commission
Chairman(1941-1945)
Established by FDR, the NPPC came to an untimely end
when President Truman directed the Secretary of
Commerce to form a similar group.
New Questions
• Were any of the policies recommended by the
NPPC ultimately adopted by The United States
Patent & Trademark Office?
• Was President Truman aware of the work of the
NPPC in 1945 when he formed the Patent Survey
Committee?
FREON®
Freon® is the trademarked name of a compound
produced by DuPont for use as a refrigerant. Kettering
claimed to have discovered it. While he does have
several refrigeration patents, the actual patent does not
list his name as an inventor:
Recycled Technology
What else can you power with a spring?
• One of Charles Franklin Kettering’s first patents was a
spring-loaded cash register drawer for NCR
• He used this idea again for the file cabinet system he
designed for his office at the GM R&D Center, now
located at the Kettering University Archive
• Electrified Cash Register:
CASH REGISTER US1,144,418 (29 June 1915)
Results: Unexpected Findings
Conclusions
Heat Transfer US1,833,847 (24 November 1931)
Thomas Midgley, Jr., Albert L. Henne, and Robert R.
McNary, Assignors to Frigidaire Corporation.
Charles Franklin Kettering was an innovative and
prolific inventor. He was also an influential figure
in the development of United States patent policy
during and following World War II.
Unintended Consequences
Acknowledgments
Ethyl Gasoline
Funded by a grant from the UIUC Library Research &
Publications Committee.
US Patent 1,171,055
• Press a button and the corresponding drawer pops
open
solved the problem of engine knock, but the
tetraethyl lead additive causes air pollution.
1912
Freon®
The electric starter
made its debut on
the Cadillac
Roadster
solved a problem in household refrigeration by
replacing dangerous volatile compounds, but CFCs
cause environmental problems with the ozone layer.
Why is Grass Green?
Courtesy of GM Media Archives
Kettering’s solution to these environmental issues was
to fund and perform research on the process of
photosynthesis in an attempt to better understand
how solar energy works.
This research was performed at the Richard P.
Scharchburg Archives at Kettering University in Flint
Michigan, and would not have been possible
without the assistance of Archivist David White.