Our History
In March of 1908, the United States Electrical Manufacturing Company began
building electric motors in a 4,000 square foot facility in Los Angeles, California, with
17 employees. For close to a century, U.S. Electrical Motors has been introducing
innovative new products to serve the ever increasing demands of the global market.
A history of impressive "firsts" marked our growth as an industry leader in motor, gear and drive products. 1914 saw the company introduce an improved method of constructing sleeve bearing motors, by riveting the motor frame. In 1921, we secured our first export order. This was just the beginning of a year that would make U.S. Motors a world supplier. In 1922, U.S. Motors introduced the revolutionary Vertical Holloshaft® motor for the pumping industry. It was so successful in deep well pumping that the industry quickly standardized on its use.
In 1924, U.S. Electrical Motors introduced the principle of across the line push button starting for induction motors, and began marketing the AUTOSTART motor. Until this time, a cumbersome, two-stage lever and a transformer were required to start motors. All manufacturers soon followed our lead and standardized on this innovation. In 1925, because of the great improvement in the manufacture of ball bearings, we were the first to make ball bearings standard on all motors.
In 1931, we began production of Syncrogear motors for low speed, high torque applications. 1932 brought innovation in the form of the Varidrive motor, the first enclosed unit combining a constant speed motor with a variable speed transmission.
U.S. Motors continued its leadership in the power transmission industry. The Right Angle Syncrogear motor was introduced in 1952, and then the Holloshaft Right Angle Gear drives for deep well pumping.
In 1962, U.S. Motors became U.S. Electrical Motors Division of Emerson Electric Co. The merger strengthened both companies and added a strong group of products to the Emerson family. In addition, U.S. Electrical Motors gained the ability to serve broader markets while working with sister divisions.
In 1969, U.S. Motors pioneered and developed a custom wheel drive for center pivot irrigation systems. 1970, once again, showed U.S. Motors as an innovator in the electric motor industry with the introduction of the extruded aluminum frame motor.
In 1973, Marketing started on a new generation of Speed-A-Matic DC and magnetic variable speed drives. Our motor line was extended to include 42 inch diameters, up to 4,000 horsepower.
U.S. Motors is committed to the belief that its tremendous growth since 1908 has been the result of integrity and reliability to its customers' demands. The innovation and technological advances are not a thing of the past. In 1986, we introduced the first truly "off-the-shelf' modular component system. In 1997, we introduced the World Motor to meet a variety of international applications and national efficiency standards.
In 2000, U.S. Motors joined the Emerson Specialty and Air Moving divisions in forming the Commercial Industrial Motor Group, a new organization within the Emerson Motor Company. Under the Emerson Motor Technologies brand, the Emerson Motor Company provides a complete line of general and special purpose electric motors from 1/200 through 4,000 horsepower including brands such as Doerr, US Electrical Motors, Emerson, Hurst, and Switch Reluctance Drives. More information on the breadth of product and application solutions offered by Emerson Motor Technologies is available on the Emerson Corporate site and at www.emersonmotors.com
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