Article
Solon Celebrates 60 Years of Innovation!
April 4, 2009
The year was 1949. It was a time of post war industrialism in northeast Ohio, and four fraternity brothers from Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland joined together to create Solon Manufacturing Company. These four men were engineers, inventors, risk takers and forward thinkers. A 3000 sq. ft. building was built on South Miles Road in Solon, Ohio where manufacturing began. Six employees worked with hydraulic punch presses, manual lathes and deburring machines to produce the first products.
The first successful product developed and marketed by Solon was a conduit bender designed as a portable unit to bend Republic Steel’s Electro Mechanical Tubing. By the middle 1950’s Solon’s Chief Engineer Eldon K. Ralston began developing applications for products that used Belleville springs. A relief valve was designed and developed using a snap action Belleville spring that was used on John Glenn’s flight suit worn during his first Earth orbit in 1962. A commercial grade of Belleville Spring called a compression washer was developed in various sizes and thicknesses to produce high loads in bolted connections. All types of Belleville springs remain in Solon’s product mix in 2009.
Solon Manufacturing Company moved to Chardon, Ohio in 1960 by building a new plant where there was room to expand and develop new products. The Solon Belleville Spring® line was expanded to include designing and manufacturing special springs for customer applications. Solon Flange Washers® were introduced for use on flange piping where high loads on bolted sections are required to keep flanges from leaking. Recently Solon Disc Springs® have been added to the Belleville spring line. Solon Manufacturing Company is the longest standing Belleville manufacturer in the United States. A new product designed and developed in Chardon was a line of industrial pressure switches that provided the customer with a wide variety switching options and pressure ranges in both standard and explosion proof housings.
Solon Manufacturing Company has expanded its plant and facilities three times since moving to Chardon. Solon’s modern plant and equipment, with employees committed to customer satisfaction, provide the customer with Solon Belleville Springs and Industrial Pressure Controls of great reliability built on the principle of quality. Solon maintains an extensive inventory of standard Belleville springs for customers requiring fast delivery. Solon’s engineering department can quickly answer customer’s questions regarding Belleville spring applications and then design the spring for the application. The same type of inventory stocking and engineering allows the Controls Division to quickly produce special pressure switching devices for customer’s applications.
“Solon’s corporate philosophy is and has always been a commitment to complete customer satisfaction by meeting customer requirements for engineered solutions, quality, performance and customer service through continual improvement in all areas of the organization.” Tim Dunn, President.
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