Denison Hydraulics
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Denison Hydraulics is a
publicly traded A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (list ...
U.S.-based company (Stock Symbol:DENHY) that manufactures industrial
hydraulic fluid A hydraulic fluid or hydraulic liquid is the medium by which power is transferred in hydraulic machinery. Common hydraulic fluids are based on mineral oil or water. Examples of equipment that might use hydraulic fluids are excavators and backhoe ...
power systems (
hydraulic pump Hydraulic pumps are used in hydraulic drive systems and can be hydrostatic or hydrodynamic. A hydraulic pump is a mechanical source of power that converts mechanical power into hydraulic energy ( hydrostatic energy i.e. flow, pressure). It generat ...
s, motors, valves and engineered systems) and components and is headquartered in
Marysville, Ohio Marysville is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Ohio, United States, approximately 27 miles (44 km) northwest of Columbus. The population was 22,094 at the 2010 census, a 38.59% increase from 2000. Marysville's longtime slog ...
. Denison is owned by
Parker Hannifin Parker Hannifin Corporation, originally Parker Appliance Company, usually referred to as just Parker, is an American corporation specializing in motion and control technologies. Its corporate headquarters are in Mayfield Heights, Ohio, in Greater ...
. Denison has annual revenues of about $180 million, has 1,150 employees in
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
,
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, and approximately 61 percent of its customer base is in Europe.


History

Denison Hydraulics Inc., originally known as the Cook Motor Co., was founded in 1900 in
Delaware, Ohio Delaware is a city in and the county seat of Delaware County, Ohio, United States. Delaware was founded in 1808 and was incorporated in 1816. It is located near the center of Ohio, is about north of Columbus, and is part of the Columbus, Ohio m ...
, as a manufacturer of heavy duty industrial
gasoline engine A petrol engine (gasoline engine in American English) is an internal combustion engine designed to run on petrol (gasoline). Petrol engines can often be adapted to also run on fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas and ethanol blends (such as ''E ...
s. The main problem was that they were big, heavy, and only single-cylinder. For example, a typical 50 hp engine weighed 3 tons. After
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Mr. Cook wanted to retire. Bill Denison took over just as the engine market was dying. He continued to operate under the original Cook Motor Co. name. In 1925, Mr. Denison invented a hydraulic car pusher. It was designed to slowly move cars full of clay-ware through a kiln - decidedly the newest invention of the day owning over 80% of the hydraulic market. It was the first hydraulic machine. Shortly after getting the new car pusher developed, there was a business
recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
. The new art of
hydraulics Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
pulled them through. The name HydrOILic was then used to identify this new method of
power transmission Power transmission is the movement of energy from its place of generation to a location where it is applied to perform useful work. Power is defined formally as units of energy per unit time. In SI units: :\text = \frac = \frac Since the develo ...
. Cook Motor Company went into
receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...
. Bill Denison was able to reorganize the company as the Denison Engineering Company. The company survived the Depression, although just barely. One of the early products included the Billet Pusher and the "Compact" Power Unit. In 1933, a fire destroyed the plant in Delaware. The Budd-Ranney Company had property at the corner of Chestnut and Marconi Blvd. Denison operated under contract with Budd-Ranney Engineering until 1935. Denison then acquired Budd-Ranney - which was maintained for a while as a separate subsidiary. Prior to
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Denison was contacted to help with developing test stands and presses to assist in making weapons and aircraft. Presses increased production of airplane engine
crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecting ...
s by four times. Presses also permitted "safer" manufacturing of high explosive shells. During the war years, Bill Denison bought facilities throughout
Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...
and a research center in
Powell, Ohio Powell is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, located 14 miles (21.5 km) north of the state capital of Columbus. The city is located in Delaware County; a frequent placeholder on the List of highest-income counties in the United States, and 35t ...
. One of the properties Denison purchased was a property on Dublin Road which would provide for special military needs. Aircraft test stands permitted testing complete hydraulic systems while on the ground and testing hydraulic operated fuel transfer valves for airplanes. Special
vacuum chamber A vacuum chamber is a rigid enclosure from which air and other gases are removed by a vacuum pump. This results in a low-pressure environment within the chamber, commonly referred to as a vacuum. A vacuum environment allows researchers to condu ...
s tested
spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/air ...
s and
magneto A magneto is an electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce periodic pulses of alternating current. Unlike a dynamo, a magneto does not contain a commutator to produce direct current. It is categorized as a form of alternator, ...
s. Denison had to get with the times. An Engineering division was developed after World War II. In addition to the Multipress, another division was responsible for the manufacture of hydraulic components for the general industry. A separate division was dedicated only to Research and Development. Ideas that were discussed during the "War Years", but shelved, due to lack of time and manpower, now came "off the shelf". Additional controls for the Multipress and many new products for the hydraulic industry were developed. In fact, Denison salesmen had to teach their customers about the merits of hydraulics. In 1945, a new line of high speed, lightweight aircraft pumps were introduced and in 1954, Denison, in cooperation with the U.S. Government, purchased a factory at 425 Sandusky St., Delaware, Ohio. In addition to other products, the intent was to manufacture aircraft pumps. In 1955, Bill Denison sold his business to American Brake Shoe. He remained president and resided on the Board of Directors. 1956 the aircraft pumps are moved to
Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...
and later
Oxnard, California Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
. Finally, in April 1962, the business moved to Marysville, OH. In July 1962, Denison took shape and began to build its present-day factory, building all types of hydraulic pumps. In October 1962, the manufacturing facility in Marysville was completed. Still operating as American Brake Shoe, the facility was initially used for manufacturing
piston pump A piston pump is a type of positive displacement pump where the high-pressure seal reciprocates with the piston. Piston pumps can be used to move liquids or compress gases. They can operate over a wide range of pressures. High pressure operation ...
s and providing special products for the government. The Multipress group soon moved in as well. In 1966, American Brake Shoe changed their name and identity to ABEX. In 1968 ABEX merged with
Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also co ...
to become
IC Industries PepsiAmericas, Inc. was the world's second-largest bottler of Pepsi-Cola products, under contract with product owner PepsiCo. PepsiAmericas also held contracts to produce beverages for Dr Pepper Snapple Group and smaller regional brands. PepsiA ...
. Throughout the ABEX and IC years, Denison continued to be a leader in the development of high-performance fluid power products. American Brake Shoe in Mahwah, New Jersey at or around the time it changed its name to ABEX was working on a 48-track Route Switching System (Hump Yard) for I believe the Santa Fe Railroad. Two versions of the switching unit were created, one in Mahwah and one in Chicago. The Chicago version was a fully transistorized unit that fit on a tabletop; the Mahwah version used stepping relays, dozens of each. Two engineers and one engineering technician did the design and build of the
walk-in closet A walk-in closet (North American) or walk-in wardrobe ( UK) or dressing room is typically a large closet, wardrobe or room that is primarily intended for storing clothes, footwear etc., and being used as a changing room. As the name suggests, walk- ...
sized tall unit. The railroad 'bosses' looked at both designs and decided that rather than retrain their personnel to understand transistors, they would rather keep with the relays and thus, purchased our version. There was one minor problem, they wanted the relay closet to be 'portable', and thus we welded a six-inch eye hook to the top of the cabinet housing. That was the day I understood that our nation's railroads were in deep trouble. Denison, became especially heavily involved with Marine and defense applications providing steering gears and many other products to the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...
. In 1986, ABEX/IC sold the Denison division to a Swedish manufacturer of Radial Piston Hydraulic Motors, Hagglunds. As business slowed during the recession of the 1980s, Hagglunds Denison was forced to close and sell several factories.
Burgess Hill Burgess Hill is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. It ...
,
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
: Delaware, Ohio: and Columbus, Ohio. Marysville then became the Corporate Headquarters but was also subject to severe cutbacks. Denison split into two groups in 1991: Hagglunds Drives and Hagglunds Denison. In 1993, Hagglunds sold the Denison portion to three private investors. Hagglunds remained a customer of Denison, but no longer retained ownership in the company. The company name was then changed to the current Denison Hydraulics Inc. In October 2003, Parker Hannifin acquired Denison International for $240 million.


Denison Engineering

Based on Bill Denison's hydraulics expertise—the Denison company was to go on to produce more than 600 patents during the twentieth century. The most prominent engineer was Ellis Born, (October 11, 1919 - Monday, March 19, 2007) graduated in 1941 from the
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering. He was associated with more than 100 patents developed throughout his career. Born received the Ohio State Department of Mechanical Engineering 2006 Charles Kettering Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his achievements over his lifetime as a
mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
.


References

{{reflist


External links


Ellis H. Born Obituary

Denison Hydraulics, Inc.


Manufacturing companies based in Ohio