Tapered roller bearing

Year

1898-1901

By

Henry Timken

Company

Timken Company

Place

Canton, Stark County ZIP 44706 · Canton · Stark County

Wheels of wagons, then cars and trains, put heavy loads on their bearings from two directions: down and sideways. Older bearings wore out fast. Henry Timken's tapered roller bearing handled both loads.

Timken got a patent for an improved tapered roller bearing in 1898 and formed The Timken Roller Bearing Axle Company in St. Louis in 1899. He was not working in Ohio then; the invention was not made there. In 1901 the company moved to Canton, Ohio, to be near the car, steel and railroad makers.

In 1917 it began making its own steel and tubing so it controlled its materials. In World War II the bearings were everywhere: every U.S. jeep used 24 Timken bearings, and over 15.8 million were delivered for 660,000 jeeps.

Now headquartered in North Canton, the Timken Company works in 45 countries with about 19,000 employees and posted $4.6 billion in revenue in 2024. It split in 2014 into Timken (bearings) and Metallus (steel).

• 1898: Henry Timken obtains a patent for an improved tapered roller bearing. (St. Louis, MO) source
• 1899: The Timken Roller Bearing Axle Company is incorporated. (St. Louis, MO) source
• 1901: The company relocates to Canton. (Canton, OH) source
• 1917: Timken starts steel and tube production. (Canton, OH) source
• 2003: Timken buys Torrington for $840 million. source
• 2014: The company splits into Timken and Metallus. (North Canton, OH) source

• Over 15.8 million bearings delivered for 660,000 jeeps in WWII.
• $4.6 billion in revenue and about 19,000 employees in 2024.

Used in vehicle axles.

The roller bearing was not invented in Ohio. The company's Ohio connection began in 1901, when Timken's sons moved the business to Canton.

• Wikipedia: Timken Company

• Wikipedia: Timken Company