Dates

• Usage: 1928 - 1931

Historical Note

Radio Wire and Coil Company was founded by William P. Lear in late 1928 and was in operation in Chicago, Illinois until 1931.

Lear had designed a more efficient frequency coil for radio than was currently being used. The radio industry had been using a "large coil two to two and a half inches in high and wide with one strand of copper wire around it." Lear cut the size in half by utilizing ten strands of enamel-coated Litzendrat wire and twisted them into a single silk-coated strand.

He also designed a coil-winder and a wiremaking machine. Lear then hired mechanic Melvin King to build both machines and placed Don Mitchell, an engineer and designer, in charge of production. Lear sold the company to Paul Galvin and Galvin Manufacturing (later known as Motorola) in 1931.

Source:

Rashke, Richard. Stormy Genius: The Life of Aviation's Maverick, Bill Lear. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985.