Francis C. Osborn Sr.

Francis Conrad Osborn Sr. (Dec. 10, 1856–May 25, 1927) was a teacher, businessman and inventor. He held about 50 patents for cash register designs, springless scales, and other devices.

For other people with the same name, see Francis Osborne.

Early life and education

Son of Ozias and Mary C. (Herbener) Osborn, he was born and raised in Bridgeport, New York. He was educated in local schools and Cazenovia Seminary. Osborn taught in public schools of Fayetteville, New York in 1880-1882 before enrolling at Syracuse University, where he graduated with honors in 1885. He was a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity.[1]

Career

After working for several years for Ginn & Co., he settled in Detroit, Michigan in 1889 to work on a design for a cash register. In 1891 he married Laura A. Freele. They had three children.

Osborn organized several companies in Detroit, including: the Osborn Cash Register Co., Ltd. in 1896, which he sold out to the National Cash Register Co. in 1900; the Standard Computing Scale Co., Ltd. in 1889, which produced devices he designed; the Perfection Hand Stamp Company in 1900,[2] which produced cancellation devices used in post offices in the US and Canada;[3] and the F.C. Osborn Co., which produced machinery for making cardboard tubing[4][5] and scales.

Some patents applied for and issued

All patents in the United States, except where noted:

• Cash register and indicator; Patent no.: 455111; Filing date: Dec. 6, 1889; Issue date: Jun. 30, 1891
• Power transmitter; Patent no.: 472222; Filing date: Nov. 14, 1891; Issue date: Apr. 5, 1892
• Power transmitter; Patent no.: 472223; Filing date: Nov. 14, 1891; Issue date: Apr. 5, 1892
• Calculating machine; Patent no.: 484814; Filing date: Jun. 18, 1891; Issue date: Oct. 25, 1892
• Cash register; Patent no.: 491022; Filing date: Jun. 11, 1891; Issue date: Jan. 31, 1893
• Cash register; Patent no.: 615409; Filing date: Aug. 13, 1897; Issue date: Dec. 6, 1898
• Letter-canceling machine; Patent no.: 645711; Filing date: Feb. 5, 1900; Issue date: Mar. 20, 1900
• Letter mail cancelling machine; Canada Patent #67,988; Filing date: 1 March 1900; Issue date: 5 July 1900[3][6]
• Double saw for cutting button blanks; Patent no.: 650189; Filing date: Jun. 29, 1895; Issue date: May 22, 1900
• Computing scale; Patent no.: 698048; Filing date: Dec. 17, 1900; Issue date: Apr. 22, 1902
• Platform support for scales; Patent no.: 710003; Filing date: Dec. 17, 1900; Issue date: Sep. 30, 1902
• Tube-making machine; Patent no.: 710507; Filing date: Mar. 10, 1902; Issue date: Oct. 7, 1902
• Tube-making machine; Patent no.: 712954; Filing date: May 24, 1902; Issue date: Nov. 4, 1902
• Cash register ; Patent no.: 715850; Filing date: Jan. 31, 1899; Issue date: Dec. 16, 1902
• Cash register; Patent no.: 723906; Filing date: May 27, 1899; Issue date: Mar. 31, 1903
• Air brake (with W.J Vaughn & E.C. van Husan) Patent no.: 755335; Filing date: Apr. 27, 1903; Issue date: Mar. 22, 1904
• Electric recorder; Patent no.: 767525; Filing date: Aug. 3, 1903; Issue date: Aug. 16, 1904
• Cash register; Patent no.: 773096; Filing date: Nov. 18, 1898; Issue date: Oct. 25, 1904
• Cash register; Patent no.: 786377; Filing date: Aug. 24, 1895; Issue date: Apr. 4, 1905
• Time clock for cash registers; Patent no.: 790654; Filing date: Aug. 20, 1900; Issue date: May 23, 1905
• Computing scale; Patent no.: 793606; Filing date: Jan. 19, 1905; Issue date: Jun. 27, 1905
• Crank-shaft; Patent no.: 805878; Filing date: Aug. 25, 1903; Issue date: Nov. 28, 1905
• Weighing scale; Patent no.: 806908; Filing date: Sep. 29, 1900; Issue date: Dec. 12, 1905
• Cash register; Patent no.: 817725; Filing date: Nov. 23, 1891; Issue date: Apr. 10, 1906
• Cash register; Patent no.: 824881; Filing date: Sep. 11, 1899; Issue date: Jul. 3, 1906
• Check printing cash register; Patent no.: 831626; Filing date: Oct. 22, 1901; Issue date: Sep. 25, 1906
• Check or ticket printing machine; Patent no.: 832271; Filing date: Nov. 8, 1901; Issue date: Oct. 2, 1906
• Cash register; Patent no.: 861312; Filing date: Oct. 23, 1901(?); Issue date: Jul. 30, 1907
• Cut-off mechanism for paper-tube machines; Patent no.: 863208; Filing date: Jul. 31, 1905; Issue date: Aug. 13, 1907
• Change making, indicating, and registering machine; Patent no.: 864185; Filing date: Dec. 10, 1891; Issue date: Aug. 27, 1907
• Cheese cutter; Patent no.: 879407; Filing date: Dec. 15, 1904; Issue date: Feb. 18, 1908
• Automatic weighing scale; Patent no.: 888646; Filing date: Jan. 21, 1907; Issue date: May 26, 1908
• Cash register; Patent no.: 926072; Filing date: Apr. 26, 1896?; Issue date: Jun. 22, 1909
• Paper tube machine; Patent no.: 945862; Filing date: Mar. 26, 1904; Issue date: Jan. 11, 1910
• Cash indicator and register; Patent no.: 982853; Filing date: May 2, 1896; Issue date: Jan. 31, 1911
• Container body forming machine; Patent no.: 996122; Filing date: Jan. 20, 1908; Issue date: Jun. 27, 1911
• Severing mechanisms for tube-making machines; Patent no.: 1006399; Filing date: Jun. 28, 1909; Issue date: Oct. 17, 1911
• Machine for making spirally wound tubes ; Patent no.: 1006976; Filing date: Jun. 28, 1909; Issue date: Oct. 24, 1911
• Glue-applying machine for use in making spirally-wound tubes; Patent no.: 1018335; Filing date: Dec. 24, 1909; Issue date: Feb. 20, 1912
• Computing scale; Patent no.: 1062603; Filing date: Jul. 22, 1908; Issue date: May 27, 1913
• Puzzle; Patent no.: 1092165; Filing date: Jun. 25, 1910; Issue date: Apr. 7, 1914
• Cash register; Patent no.: 1119983; Filing date: Jan 23, 1895; Issue date: Dec 8, 1914
• Soap powder dispenser; Patent no.: 1226803; Filing date: Mar. 1, 1912; Issue date: May 3, 1917
• Scale; Patent no.: 1289885; Filing date: Feb. 17, 1913; Issue date: Dec. 31, 1918
• Container spout; Patent no.: 1375725; Filing date: Jun. 17, 1916; Issue date: Apr. 26, 1921

References

General sources

• "Bio. of Frank Conrad Osborn," The Book of Detroiters, Albert N. Marquis, ed., Chicago, A.N. Marquis & Co., 1908. Vol. V, page 350
• "Biography of Francis C. Osborn," The Book of Detroiters 2nd edition, Albert N. Marquis, ed., Chicago, A.N. Marquis & Co., 1914 (via Wayne County, MI Biographies website)
• Robert Budd Ross; George Byron Catlin; Clarence Monroe Burton (1898). Landmarks of Detroit;. Evening News Association.
• Obituaries, The News-Palladium, 26 May 1927

Notes

1. Catalogue of Delta Upsilon, 1917. Delta Upsilon Fraternity
2. "Incorporations in Michigan," Chicago Inter Ocean, 15 January 1900, p. 11
3. "The 1901-02 Perfection Machine Cancellations" Postal History Society of Canada
4. The Inland Printer, Vol. 49, 1912, p. 744
5. The Delta Upsilon Quarterly, Vol. 30, Issue 2, 1912, p. ii (advertisement)
6. The Canadian Patent Office Record, Vol. 28, 1901