Inventor Name
Harvey, Thomas W.
Repository
Hagley Museum and Library
PO Box 3630
Wilmington, DE 19807-0630
302-658-2400
https://www.hagley.org/research
Physical Description
24 photographic prints : b&w; ; 8 x 6 in. or smaller. 3 items.
Summary
The Harvey Steel and Iron Co. was founded by Thomas W. Harvey (1795-1854) and continued by his son Hayward Augustus Harvey (1824-1893), both of whom were inventors and important manufacturers of steel products in New York and New Jersey. Thomas Harvey was noted for inventions of the gimlet-pointed screw, the cam motion, and the toggle joint. Hayward Augustus Harvey perfected automatic machinery for manufacturing screws, bolts, washers, wire nails, and spiral springs, and in 1885 patented the process for rolling threads on screws and bolts, an invention which revolutionized their manufacture. In 1888 he patented his best-known discovery, a process for treating steel by carbon additive to produce great hardness; this became widely used as "harveyized steel" in the production of armor plate for warships. In 1889 he organized the Harvey Steel Co., of Jersey City, N.J.