Lloyd Groff Copeman

Lloyd Groff Copeman ( born December 28, 1881 in Farmers Creek, Michigan; † July 5, 1956 ) was an American inventor with 700 patents. He designed, among others, the first electric stove.

He grew up on a farm in the east of Flint ( Michigan) and studied mechanical engineering to previous Michigan Agricultural College (Michigan State University). Around 1906 he worked at the Washington Electric Company. During this time he developed an electric version of the gas range. His first successful patent was in 1906 an electric thermostat for oven, toasters and high voltage lines. In 1912 he founded the Copeman Electric Stove Company to produce his Copeman Electric Stove in Flint. The operation he sold in 1917 to Westinghouse.

In 1913 he developed the Automatic toaster that automatically turned the toast. This invention was made in 1926 made ​​obsolete by the invention of the pop-up toaster.

In 1928 he made ​​his most successful invention, the ice cube container made ​​of rubber, which he earned $ 500,000.

In 1904 he married his wife, Hazel, with whom he had three children: Lloyd Berger Copeman ( 1907-1968 ), Elizabeth Jane Copeman Gerlach ( 1918-1998 ) and Ruth Mary Copeman Ronstadt ( 1914-1982 ) ( the mother of Linda Ronstadt ).