Introduction
Michael Joseph Owens (January 1, 1859 – December 27, 1923) was an inventor of machines to automate the production of glass bottles.
Biography
He was born in Mason County, West Virginia on January 1, 1859. He left school at the age of 10 to start a glassware apprenticeship at J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company in Wheeling, West Virginia.
In 1888 he moved to Toledo, Ohio and worked for the Toledo Glass Factory owned by Edward Drummond Libbey. He was later promoted to foreman and then to supervisor. He formed the Owens Bottle Machine Company in 1903. His machines could produce glass bottles at a rate of 240 per minute, and reduce labor costs by 80%.
Owens and Libbey entered into a partnership and the company was renamed the Owens Bottle Company in 1919. In 1929 the company merged with the Illinois Glass Company to become the Owens-Illinois Glass Company.
He died on December 27, 1923.
Patents
- U.S. Patent 534,840 Apparatus for blowing glass
- U.S. Patent 548,587 Machine for blowing glass
- U.S. Patent 548,588 Machine for blowing glass
- U.S. Patent 766,768 Glass Shaping Machine
- U.S. Patent 774,690 Glass Shaping Machine