Park Tool

Infobox_Company
company_name = Park Tool Company
company_
company_type = Private
company_slogan = The Big Revolution
foundation = 1963
location = St. Paul, Minnesota
key_people = Eric Hawkins, Howard Hawkins, and Art Engstrom
industry = Tools
products = Bicycle Tools
homepage = [http://www.parktool.com www.parktool.com]

Park Tool Company is a leading U.S. designer, manufacturer and marketer of bicycle tools and equipment for bicycle mechanics and hobbyists. They manufacture over 300 products that range from wheel truing stands to Allen wrenches.

History

In 1963, Howard Hawkins and Art Engstrom were the owners of three bicycle shops in the Twin Cities area when they started noticing that there were no tools available to repair the increasingly complex bicycles of the 1960s., and began creating their own tools. The first tool that was created was a stand that held the bike off the ground allowing convenient access to any part of the bike. Other area bike shops and Schwinn Bicycle Company liked the stands and requested a production model [ [http://www.parktool.com/about/history.asp Park Tool Website ] ] . Soon after, the company expanded to include wheel truing stands, then expanded further into consumer wrenches and gauges. By the early 1980s, Hawkins and Engstrom had sold their bicycle shops to focus their efforts on the tool business.

Patents

The founders of Park Tool along with James E. Johnson developed a clamping device on their original bike repair stand, for which they received a United States Patent in 1976. [ [http://www.google.com/patents?id=fB51AAAAEBAJ&printsec=description&zoom=4&dq=arthur+Engstrom US Patentt #3,514,091.] ] . The company has applied for and has been granted many patents since then including one for a Pizza Cutter mounted on a small bicycle frame. [http://www.google.com/patents?id=LE0cAAAAEBAJ&dq=bike+pizza+cutters US Patent #5,428,898]

References

External links

* [http://www.parktool.com Park Tool official site]