Although Lloyd G. Copeman invented many com-mon-use items, such as flexible rubber ice trays,thermostats for electric stoves and an early toaster,

the accomplishments of this DAC member have been almostforgotten.

Tinkering with many early 20th century technologies,Copeman amassed more than 650 patents, ranking him rightat the top of the U.S. Patent Office’s unofficial list of all-timeprolific inventors.

Thomas Edison tops that list with 1,093 patents, the mostfor any individual American inventor. Other figures on thelist include George Westinghouse, who had 361 patents,spaceflight pioneer Robert Goddard with 241 patents andGeneral Motors researcher and Charles Kettering (also aDAC member) with 140 patents.

“In general, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,Detroit was a hotbed of inventors, inventions, innovationsand new products, of which motor cars were only one,” saidMike Davis, a local expert on technology history, an authorand former director of the Detroit Historical Society.

“The trick about patents is that they are cheap to file andobtain, and hard to make productive. If they are not turned

26 DAC NEWS JULY-AUGUST 2006

DAC member remains forgotten

inventorMichigan

By Joseph Cabadas

Lloyd Copemanphotographed in his

workshop for a1954 Popular

Mechanics article.

All photos in thisstory provided by

his grandson KentCopeman.

into a product, they are insignifi-cant,” added Davis, a retired FordMotor Co. manager.

Several of Copeman’s patentswere, indeed, turned into productiveproducts. At least one of his prod-ucts was aimed at easing the mess ofgreasing the bearings of early auto-mobiles and other mechanicalequipment.

Copeman invented CopemanLubri-Caps, which were paper cupsthat were pre-filled with grease forlubricating wheel bearings.Previously, mechanics or the do-it-yourself motorist regularly had toremove the grease cups, fill themwith grease, and then screwed backon to force the lubricant into thebearings.

The Alemite Co. of South Carolinabecame so interested in Copeman’sinvention that it bought his patent for$178,000 sometime about 1920. (Lateradvances in automotive technologymade lubri-caps obsolete.)

Even though his name does notappear on the Patent Office’s list, dur-ing his heyday Copeman was wellknown among early Detroiters andcounted a number of Club memberswho were important to the early devel-opment of the automobile as his closefriends.

Besides hobnobbing with fellowDAC inventors and friends, Copemanworked closely with people like GeneralMotors board member Charles S. Mott,Flint auto pioneer J. Dallas Dort andGM founder William Crapo Durant(all DAC members).

In fact, one of his noteworthy inven-tions was actually conceived while hav-ing lunch at the DAC.

“My grandfather was one of thoseinventors who have long been forgottenbut truly deserves to be recognized fortheir accomplishments,” said Lloyd’sgrandson Kent Copeman. “Men likeLloyd helped create and foster the early

technological revolution that changedAmerica at the beginning of the lastcentury.”

A resident of Hadley (MI), KentCopeman lives just a few miles fromwhat is left of his grandfather’s estate inthe town of Farmer’s Creek. Today hehas become the keeper of the LloydCopeman legacy, putting together thepieces of the inventor’s past, maintain-ing a marvelous scrapbook of Lloyd’swork and helping to develop a Web sitedevoted to the family name.

“He was a great idea man, but henever talked about any of his earlyinventions,” Kent Copeman said. “Idon’t think he ever mentioned the stovecompany or the invention of the toast-er or how it came about. He was alwaystalking about a new invention or apatent.

“He was always thinking of thefuture, not what went on yesterday.You never heard about the past fromhim.”

A Tinkerer is bornThe son of a Canadian couple who

settled near Metamora in LapeerCounty to farm, Lloyd Groff Copemanwas born on Dec. 29, 1881, nearly fourmonths after Michigan’s “Great ThumbFire.” That catastrophe occurred inSeptember of that year when a fast mov-ing blaze destroyed more than a millionacres of land – including parts of Lapeer– and killed 282 people in a single day.

After graduating from high school,Copeman studied engineering at theMichigan Agricultural College (nowknown as Michigan State University)and became an apprentice at theBaldwin Locomotive works inPhiladelphia. Afterward, he worked forelectric utilities in Philadelphia,Spokane (WA) and Detroit Edison andConsumers Power where he studiedelectrical, marine and mechanical engi-neering, and learned about steam fit-tings.

27DAC NEWS JULY-AUGUST 2006

Albert Marsh,a DACmember whosedesignCopemanimproved.

Charles Mott,Copeman’s good

friend and anearly automotive

pioneer.

A youngLloydCopeman in1916, a yearafter theDACopened.

Left, a patent drawing forthe Copeman stove datedfrom 1915.

28 DAC NEWS JULY-AUGUST 2006

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Although growing in acceptance,electricity was still a novelty with manyhomes only having a few light bulbsand hardly any had wall sockets.Copeman made a significant contribu-tion to electricity in 1909 when heinvented and patented the thermostatthat warned when high-tension powerlines were about to burn out. Also, hisinvention of the electro-thermostaticheat regulator provided a solution tothe problems of early electric stoves andtoasters.

“The biggest problem with the heat-ing elements in stoves and toasters wasthere was no way to heat the wire with-out it burning up,” Kent Copemanexplained. “Albert Marsh came in andpatented a chromium-nickel alloy(chromel) wire that could be heatedwithout it going to pieces.”

A native of Illinois, Marsh joined thechemical firm Mariner & Hoskins inChicago. That’s where he inventedchromel wire in 1906 and would laterbe called the “father of the electricalheating industry.”

The firm moved to Detroit where itwas renamed as HoskinsManufacturing Co. and initially pro-

duced electric stoves and toasters beforefocusing on making chromel wire forother appliance companies. Marshbecame Hoskins’ president in 1915 andwas a Resident DAC member fromMay 1917 until his death in 1944.

The major drawback to Marsh’sdesign, however, was that consumerscould not control the electric heatingelement’s temperature until Copemaninvented the thermostat.

In a conversation with Dort,Copeman told the horse-and-buggymaker turned automotive pioneer thathe planned to start his own electricstove company. Dort enthusiasticallyagreed to join the venture and proceed-ed to raise nearly $500,000 as herecruited 22 stockholders.

One of those stockholders wasEdwin Wood Atwood, son of formerFlint mayor and lumber baron WilliamA. Atwood. Edwin Atwood later joinedthe DAC in 1919 and served as Flint’smayor in 1920 and 1921. He also wasactive with Flint’s Hurley Hospital andthe American Red Cross.

The Copeman Electric Stove Co.was born and moved into Flint’s firstbrick building, which had been called

29DAC NEWS JULY-AUGUST 2006

Left, theCopeman electricstove.

Below, EdwinAtwood, Flintmayor andCopeman partner.

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the “Scotch Store” on Saginaw Street.The original building, which no longerexists, had also been briefly used by thelumber concerns of Gov. Henry H.Crapo (Durant’s grandfather).

In a front page story in November1911, the Flint Journal reported thatthe fledgling firm was “rushed withbusiness” and was turning out 40 stovesa day.

These first stoves resembled heavilyinsulated, oak-clad iceboxes withremovable circular hotplates and smallovens with electric heating elements.They were marketed as the “firelesscooker” – playing off the fact that manywomen at the time used heated soap-stones to slowly cook food in other fire-less stoves of the day.

Copeman stoves were also equippedwith electric timers – essentially lookinglike old-fashioned wind-up clocks.Despite its innovative features, stovesales languished far below expectations,

but a quirk of fate intervened, accord-ing to a story that had appeared inPopular Mechanics magazine.

In August 1916, as World War Iraged in Europe and on the seas of theAtlantic, Copeman was sitting alone ina booth at the electrical engineers con-vention in Philadelphia. That’s when alarge, well-dressed man approachedCopeman and asked him how his stovebusiness was doing.

“Well, we’ve got a good product, butdarned poor sales organization – that’sme,” the Michigan inventor replied.

“Well, we’ve got a good sales organi-zation and no likely cooking products,”the man said.

The man thoroughly examined theworkmanship and design of Copeman’sstove and stated that he thought it wasan exceptional product.

“I’d like to add it to our line ofhousehold appliances,” the man contin-ued. “That is, if you are authorized to

Top, the Copemanbuilding in a 1920spostcard.

Left, a Copemandisplay at a 1912convention inSeattle.

Far left, aCopeman logo.

31DAC NEWS JULY-AUGUST 2006

discuss the sale of the patent and man-ufacturing rights?”

The man revealed himself to beGeorge W. Westinghouse III, son of thefamed inventor (who had died twoyears before) and was president of theelectric appliance manufacturer.

A deal was struck and Westinghousepurchased Copeman’s stove companyin 1917, moving its operations fromFlint to Mansfield (OH). Buildingupon Copeman’s design, Westinghouseturned the electric stove into a success-ful product.

1926, however, Copeman’s patentbecame obsolete.

Copeman, though, was busy work-ing on other products. Some made it tothe market such as Flexo-Line, astretchable clothesline made frombraided rubber tubing, while othersdon’t seem to have fared well, such ashis effort in the early 1930s to raisechickens that could produce eggs highin Vitamin D. Interestingly, Flexo-Lineis still made and sold to this day.

After the sale of his stove company,Copeman was sponsored by his friend

Dort to join theDAC during thesummer of 1917. Betty Gerlach,Copeman’s nowdeceased daugh-ter told the FlintJournal in 1984that her father“often went tothe DetroitAthletic Club fora roundtable dis-cussion with hisfriends, ThomasEdison, HenryFord, the Fisher

brothers and the Dodges.”Another DAC-related story was

shared by his grandson, KentCopeman, who called his grandfather“Lloyd” because the eccentric inventoralways wanted to be called by his firstname.

“Lloyd decided, sometime in theearly ’50s before I graduated from highschool, to take me down to the DACfor lunch,” said Kent. “But, when wegot in there, Lloyd didn’t have his topjacket on and it was against the rules toeat there without your jacket.

“They offered to loan him a jacket,but Lloyd said, ‘Nope, I’m not going todo that.’ So, I missed my only chanceto eat at the Detroit Athletic Club andwe went somewhere else.”

Meanwhile, Copeman’s restlessinventive mind moved him onto otherventures besides the electric stove. Forexample, in 1914 he created the designso consumers could easily flip over thebread without touching it. The patent,however, was issued to Copeman’s wife,Hazel B. Copeman.

According to family history, HazelCopeman had worked on an earlymodel using hairpins, so that’s why shereceived credit on the patent.

Toaster manufacturers had thechoice of either paying a royalty toCopeman or coming up with their ownnovel inventions, including one firmthat developed a conveyor to carry thebread through the machine. When thepop-up Toastmaster hit the market in

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By 1918 Copemanand Atwood had estab-lished the CopemanLaboratories Companyso the inventor couldcontinue his work. Thefirm was housed in thefourth floor of the oldDurant-Dort CarriageCo. factory in Flint’s“Carriage Town.”

In Flint, Copemanwas neighbors withAlbert Champion, the French émigréand former bicycle racer. A DAC mem-ber, Champion was founder of theChampion Ignition Co. which was laterrenamed as the AC Spark Plug Co. andbecame a division of GM.

“Lloyd lived in Flint for many years,but he was particularly interested infarming so he moved back to the fami-ly farm at Farmer’s Creek,” KentCopeman said. “He was a gentlemanfarmer and always had people around towork. He had a housekeeper, a garden-er and others... And his favorite carswere Chevrolets.”

Copeman purchased additionalproperty around his family’s originalfarm and dubbed the place“Kinnikinic.” He drew a salary fromCopeman Laboratories, but worked onprototypes in his basement workshop.Much of the equipment that he used,though, had been supplied by Mott.

“Lloyd and C.S. Mott were goodfriends,” Kent Copeman said. “The firsttime I remembered Mott was when Irode my bike over there one day andLloyd said, ‘There’s someone I want

32 DAC NEWS JULY-AUGUST 2006

you to meet.’ He introduced me to oldC.S. Mott, who was driving an oldCorvair.

“It wasn’t until years later when Iworked for the Mott Foundation, that Ihad any idea of how important a personI had shaken hands with.”

Mott was one of the auto industry’spioneers. He had joined GM in 1908when Durant bought out his wire wheelbusiness in 1908. Mott also served onthe GM board of directors from 1913until his death in 1973.

Copeman’s most successful inven-tion – and the patent that earned him$1 million in royalties – was the cre-ation of the rubber ice cube tray.

The idea for the invention occurredin 1928 while Copeman was havinglunch at the DAC with his patent attor-ney John M. Kisselle. According to aDetroit News story about Kisselle, theattorney said that Copeman was wor-ried that a number of his patents wereabout to expire and that his royaltyincome would severely drop.

During that lunch, Copemanremembered an incident that had

Left, Copeman’s original DAC Non-Residentmember card.

Below, a Flint Journal photo of Copeman in1954 with his ice cube tray and itsinspiration, the rubber boot.

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occurred while he was gathering maplesyrup. Slush had collected on his rubberhunting boots and had frozenovernight, but he had been able to easi-ly remove it without resorting to usinghot water.

Asking for rubber cups, Copemandirected the DAC staff to put water intothem and put them into the freezer.After lunch, Copeman found that it waseasy to remove the ice that had formed.

From that initial experiment,Copeman filed for patents on threetypes of ice tray designs – a completelyrubberized tray, for a metal tray with arubber separator, and one with remov-able cube holders. He sold this patent toGM, but his invention made life mucheasier for consumers who were used toeither using an ice pick or hot water toget their cubes.

During the 1930s, Copemaninstalled a 100,000-gallon, in-groundconcrete pool – the first of its kind inthe Flint area – at his estate, known asKinnikinic.

When the DAC discontinued divingin its Natatorium, Copeman apparentlyobtained the Club’s diving board.Although weather beaten, the boardstill hovers over the pool and is used atwhat remains of Copeman’s estate (stillowned by the family).

“We’ve always heard that the boardhad come from the DAC,” KentCopeman said.

Other ideas that Copeman workedon included: creating non-run silkhosiery using latex, but the resultingproduct didn’t breathe or stretch well;developing a beer cooling device usingdry ice; spending $60,000 to drill a nat-

ural gas well in Lapeer County, but aftergetting enough gas to cook an egg, thewell filled with water and created aswamp; a process to coat cigarettepapers so that cigarettes would self-extinguish; various paper “logcote”birdhouses; a latex paper to cover autoparts for rust inhibiting; and a wagonthat could make a 45-degree turn.

The U.S. Army was interested in thewagon project, so Copeman first creat-ed a prototype using a toy tractor andwagon before modifying a full-size farmwagon.

“Lloyd never got it to work becausethe axles kept failing,” Kent Copemansaid.

One of Copeman’s last few projectswas trying to get ice cubes to come outof a tube, like a modern ice machine.

He kept working on projects untilhis death at age 74 on July 5, 1956. Justprior to Copeman’s final hospitalizationwhile battling cancer and diabetes hefiled a patent for a “moisture impervi-ous container.” That patent was award-ed seven months after his death inFebruary of 1957.

Using and perfecting the technologyof the day, this early DAC member,nearly forgotten by those outside of theFlint area, changed American life andother inventors came along to buildupon his foundation.

What is purportedto be the DAC’soriginal diving

board still gracesthe pool at

Copeman’s estate.

Below right, aCopeman product

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