Joseph Buford Cox (1905 – August 10, 2002), was an American inventor and businessman. He invented what is now known as the
chipper type chain for
chain saw
A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pruni ...
s. He based his design on the C-shaped
jaws of the
larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
Th ...
of the
timberman beetle. Cox watched the destructive larvae of the timber beetle (Ergates spiculatus) for many hours. The beetle's cutting action was left and right, side to side, rather than scratching or burrowing straight ahead. Cox adapted this concept to a new chain saw of his own design put into production during the late 1940s.
Joseph and his wife, Alice, founded "The Oregon Saw Chain Co." in 1947. Cox later started a small casting company called OMARK, now known as "Omark Industries". In time, Oregon Saw Chain became a subsidiary of Omark Industries which was in turn acquired in 1985 by Blount, Inc., of
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital city of the U.S. state of Alabama and the county seat of Montgomery County. Named for the Irish soldier Richard Montgomery, it stands beside the Alabama River, on the coastal Plain of the Gulf of Mexico. In the 202 ...
. Blount
merged
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred to or consolidated with another company or business organization. As an aspect ...
in 1999 with
Lehman Brothers Merchant Banking Partners and became known as
Blount International, Inc. Today the company is known as
Oregon Tool, Inc. Most chainsaws, with the exception of some
Stihl
Stihl (, ) is a German manufacturer of chainsaws and other handheld power equipment including trimmers and blowers. Their headquarters are in Waiblingen, Baden-Württemberg, near Stuttgart, Germany. Stihl was founded in 1926 by Andreas Stihl, an ...
saws, use an Oregon chain based on the invention of Joseph Buford Cox.