Kelvinator is a home appliance manufacturer now a brand name owned by Electrolux. It takes its name from William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, who developed the concept of absolute zero and for whom the Kelvin temperature scale is named. The name is considered appropriate for companies that produce ice boxes and domestic refrigerators.
Video Kelvinator
History
Kelvinator was founded in 1914, in Detroit, Michigan, United States, by engineer Nathaniel B. Wales who introduced his idea to practical electric cooling units for home to Edmund Copeland and Arnold Goss.
Wales, a young inventor, has financial backing from Arnold Goss, Buick Automobile's corporate secretary, to develop the first home mechanical refrigerator marketed under the name "Electro Electrical Cooling Company." After producing a number of experimental models, Wales chose one for making.
In February 1916, the company name was changed to "Kelvinator Company" in honor of British physicist Lord Kelvin, the inventor of absolute zero. The Kelvinator was among about two dozen fridge homes that were introduced to the US market in 1916. In 1918, Kelvinator introduced the first refrigerator with any type of automatic control.
Frustrated by iceboxes, the Grand Rapids Refrigerator Company introduces a porcelain-coated "Leonard Cleanable" refrigerator. The Kelvinator started buying Leonard packs for his electric cooling model. In 1923, Kelvinator Company held 80 percent of the American market for electric refrigerators.
On July 3, 1925, Kelvinator bought Nizer Corporation in a merger of three parties worth $ 20,000,000.
In 1926, the company acquired Leonard, founded in 1881. The Kelvinator concentrated all of his equipment production at the Grand Rapids plant in 1928. That year, George W. Mason took over the Kelvinator's control. Under his leadership, the company lowered its costs while increasing its market share until 1936.
Maps Kelvinator
English operations
In 1926, Kelvinator Limited, England, started in London. From simple merchandising the American factory's products grow to produce many of their own equipment for the UK market. In 1946, it was considered that it was time for this unit to expand and be self-sufficient in the manufacture of Kelvinator Equipment, and London manufacturing activities were moved to Crewe and greatly expanded with a further 19,000 square meters (200,000 sq ft) of floor space. The Crewe factory was shared with Rolls-Royce Motors, but was burned in the 1950s and replaced by a new facility in Bromborough, Cheshire.
The Italian manufacturer, Candy, bought its operation in 1979 along with the use of Kelvinator brand names in the United Kingdom and produced Candy and Kelvinator products until closed around 2000.
World War II
Between 1939 and 1945, the complete manufacturing facilities of the factory group were transferred to military supply manufacturing.
In the UK, Kelvinator of London contributes to the field of testing aircraft components at very low temperatures, and instruments under high altitude conditions, research credited as life saver of many Allied Aircrews.
The company promises to introduce the scientific discoveries gained during the production of war to its equipment to make it more useful and efficient.
Merger with Nash Motors
On January 4, 1937, the company joined Nash Motors to form Nash-Kelvinator Corporation as part of an agreement that put George W. Mason at the helm of the joint company. In 1952, he acquired Altorfer Bros. Company, which manufactures home appliances under the ABC brand.
Integration into American Motors
Nash-Kelvinator became the division of American Motors (AMC) when Nash joined Hudson in 1954. Kelvinator introduced the first auto-defrost model. The Kelvinator Refrigerator includes a rack on the inside of their door and a special compartment for frozen juice containers in the freezer. It also pioneered fridge freezers side by side in the early 1950s. In the 1960s, the Kelvinator refrigerator introduced a "picture frame" door on some models that allowed owners to decorate their tools to match their kitchen deck.
Under the leadership of Roy D. Chapin Jr., AMC sold its Kelvinator operation in 1968. (AMC later purchased the Jeep brand from Kaiser Industries in 1970.) The Kelvinator merged with White Consolidated Industries, a company which also acquired the rights to Frigidaire (formerly owned by General Motors), Gibson, Tappan, and the White-Westinghouse product line. Electrolux Sweden acquired White Consolidated Industries in 1986.
In the early 1990s, the name of a holding company based in Dublin, Ohio turned into Frigidaire Company.
Legacy
In 2005, Carrier sold the Kelvinator division to the National Refrigeration of Honea Path, South Carolina. The company produces Kelvinator bunker, dyed cabinet, blast cooler, reach-in, and low and medium temperature merchandiser.
The Kelvinator brand is used in Argentina for a wide range of equipment marketed by Radio Victoria Fueguina in Tierra del Fuego. The factory is in this province.
Similarly, the Kelvinator cooler appliance continues to be marketed in the Philippines since the 1960s by Concepcion Industries, maker of local air conditioning and refrigerators, including other well known brands: Carrier and Condura.
The Electrolux Company builds and markets Kelvinator commercial refrigeration products that include "stainless steel door freezer and upright freezer, high performance chest freezers, and ice free ice freezer" designed for NSF standards and the American National Standards Institute for food service applications.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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