los angeles california united states 1907 1907 founder alphonse plomb jacob weninger charles williams headquarters new britain connecticut united states products industrial tools parent stanley black & decker website protoindustrial.com stanley proto more commonly known simply as proto and historically known as plomb is an american industrial hand tool company . it is a division of stanley black & decker . the company is credited with creating the first combination wrench . contents 1 history 2 gallery 3 references 4 see also 5 external links history edit proto was founded in 1907 by alphonse plomb jacob weninger and charles williams as the plomb tool company a small blacksmith shop making chisels in los angeles . in 1933 plomb released what is commonly credited as the first combination wrench . 1 plomb acquired a number of companies during the 1940s including cragin tool of chicago illinois in 1940 p & c tool of oregon in 1941 penens tool of cleveland ohio in 1942 and j.p. danielson of jamestown new york in 1947 . 2 penens tool would produce tools under the fleet and challenger brand names after its acquisition . 3 in 1946 plomb was sued by another tool manufacturer fayette r. plumb inc. now a brand of cooper hand tools 4 for trademark infringement . 5 the company began manufacturing its tools with the proto name a portmanteau of professional and tools in 1948 . in 1957 the company began operating as pendleton tool industries . 6 in 1964 proto was acquired by ingersoll rand and in 1984 it was acquired by stanley and became stanley proto industrial tools . 7 gallery edit a 1933 5 8 plomb combination wrench . a proto big dawg ratchet . a proto adjustable wrench . references edit plomb a gallery of tools . alloy artifacts . p. 2 . retrieved 2010 01 31 . stanley proto . company history . retrieved 2014 03 14 . the proto empire . alloy artifacts . p. 1 . retrieved 2014 03 14 . lamond tom . fayette r. plumb co. . yesteryearstools . retrieved 2010 03 27 . corporations plumb v. plomb . time . 1948 12 06 . retrieved 2010 03 27 . plomb a gallery of tools . alloy artifacts . p. 1 . retrieved 2010 01 31 . thomas bob . company history . retrieved 2010 01 31 . see also edit blackhawk by proto external links edit official website plomb tools pictures and history . alloy artifacts plomb a gallery of tools alloy artifacts the proto empire plomb and proto tool catalogs v t e stanley black & decker subsidiaries best lock corporation black & decker blackhawk bostitch craftsman tools dewalt husky kwikset mac tools niscayah porter cable proto sidchrome stanley hand tools people nolan d. archibald leonard bailey alonzo g. decker jr. frederick trent stanley products stanley odd jobs v t e hand tool manufacturers current dasco pro inc. apex tool group allen armstrong tools crescent diamond gearwrench k d tools lufkin nicholson plumb sata tools wiss xcelite bondhus buck bros. channellock cornwell tools digitool solutions disston saw works ega master eklind emerson ridgid empire level estwing felo few fiskars gerber gardner bender gedore gray tools dynamic tools hazet hans tools heyco ideal industries pratt read sk hand tools western forge klein tools knipex kukko leatherman lie nielsen toolworks lisle corporation lowell corporation matco tools martin tool & forge newell brands irwin lenox otc park tool pb swiss saltus sandvik senco snap on bahco cdi torque products williams stahlwille stanley black & decker blackhawk bostitch dewalt facom mac tools proto sidchrome stanley hand tools textron greenlee klauke paladin tools techtronic industries milwaukee thorsen manufacturing tom f teira toptul vaughan victorinox wenger wera tools wescott westward tools wiha tools witte tools wright tool historic coes wrench company easco hand tools forest city screwdriver and drill company goodell pratt hinsdale holtzapffel indestro mathieson mckaig hatch new britain machine company norris north brothers manufacturing company h. d. smith & co. utica tools bonney forge herbrand vlchek house brands ace hardware ace tools autozone duralast blain s farm and fleet duracraft canadian tire mastercraft the home depot husky lee valley veritas lowe s kobalt menards masterforce montgomery ward powrkraft sears craftsman retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title proto tools & oldid 741548430 categories industrial tool manufacturerstool manufacturing companies of the united statesstanley black & decker brandsmanufacturing companies based in connecticutmanufacturing companies established in 1907american brands navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata 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