Call Number:

024.002

Repository:

Science History Institute Archives

Extent:

320 photographic prints (3 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Photographs from the Bendix Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer Collection, Science History Institute Archives, Philadelphia, PA.

Date:

1959-1973 (inclusive) and 1970 (bulk)

Creator:

Bendix Corporation and McGinnis, Patrick F.

Form:

Photographs and Photograph collections

Abstract:

Photographs documenting the creation, production, and marketing of the Bendix Corporation's flagship analytical instrument, the Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TOFMS).

The Bendix Corporation was founded in South Bend, Indiana in 1924 by Vincent Bendix and initially specialized in the manufacture of automobile brake systems. In 1928, Bendix acquired the Eclipse Machine Company of Elmira, NY and, as the company subsequently expanded its business to aviation products, rebranded itself as the Bendix Aviation Corporation in 1929. By the 1950s, Bendix was a leading manufacturer and supplier of automotive components, housebuilding products, and other equipment, including scientific instrumentation. Bendix's flagship scientific product was the Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TOFMS), which dominated the market until newer instruments like the quadrupole mass spectrometer eventually eclipsed the TOFMS. The company reverted to the name Bendix Corporation in 1960 and became a subsidiary of Allied Corporation in 1983; in turn, Allied Corporation subsequently merged with Honeywell in 1999.

This collection consists of photographs documenting the creation, production, and marketing of the Bendix Corporation's flagship analytical instrument, the Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (TOFMS), predominately dating from the 1960s and 1970s. Photographs of different models of the TOFMS and its various component parts, including mass sequencers, cell sample inlet systems, respiratory gas analyzers, and magnetic electron multipliers, make up the bulk of the collection, with a small subset of photographs devoted to gas chromatographs. By and large, the photographs are staged publicity images used for advertising and manuals and only a few photographs capture the instruments in use in a laboratory setting. Photographs of the Bendix Corporation and sales booths of competing companies at the 1973 PITTCON round out the collection.