Another immigrant, Hugo Unruh, arrived in America in 1924 as Kollmorgen Optical Company was expanding and leaving the challenging post-World War I Germany.
At the New York-based Arneson Electrical Company, Hugo discovered his expertise in the production of different motors.
He was 42 years old, had a net worth of around $4000, and was suddenly jobless due to the war’s adverse economic effects.
With the help of a business partner. He utilized that cash to buy secondhand tools and materials for the start of their new company, “Inland Motor.”
In 1948,
Inland Motor began operating out of the partners’ basements, garages, and even kitchens due to a significant problem: locating an appropriate location.
The earliest armatures were wound by Hugo’s wife, Eleanor, who baked the insulation on the kitchen stove.
The fast-paced expansion of Inland Motor necessitated a 1949 transfer of production to a larger garage in Pearl River, New York.
For the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, Hugo had previously constructed generators and gyro spin motors.
Hugo’s assistance was still needed by the laboratory at Inland to deal with unique issues involving rotating machines, such as those that came up with the early inertial guidance systems for missiles and spacecraft.
A completely new type of motor was needed for the gimbal drives on these devices.
Hugo’s “frameless torque,” which was groundbreaking, was the result.
The area of Inland’s business with the fastest growth and greatest significance became frameless torque.
In reality, frameless torque sales had risen by 1957, and the Pearl River shop was at capacity.
The first million-dollar year for Inland Motor occurred in 1960.
Kollmorgen was also kept busy by the need for periscopes following World War Two.
It was reaching its breaking point for Inland and Kollmorgen.
Hugo and his friends Otto Kollmorgen, the company’s president, and Friedreich’s son. Quickly realized that working together would be advantageous for both parties because Kollmorgen had the means to assist Inland.
Kollmorgen Corporation, a publicly traded business, was formed in May by the merger of Kollmorgen Optical Company and Inland Motor Corporation.
In 1967, Kollmorgen proposed a merger with Macbeth Corporation. Also, citing the compatibility of the Macbeth product lines with its color and spectrophotometry operations.
the opportunity as method to expedite the development of artificial daylighting. According to renowned inventor Norman Macbeth, whose father created it.
