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Harwil Corporation was formed as a partnership between Harold Hutchinson (Hutch) and William Gregg in 1956. Hutch held a Master's of Science in Physics from UCLA and Bill was a creative draftsman. They worked together on many inventions.
Out of college, Hutch worked for an aerospace company developing remote control anti-tank missiles. It was in an aerospace environment where he met Bill Gregge. When the aerospace company moved out of the area, Hutch, Bill and a few others formed their own company. For one reason or another, most dropped out at the beginning, leaving Hutch and Bill as partners. Although Bill left the company later, Harwil Corporation remains a strong, viable company in Oxnard, CA. Harwil Corp manufactures and ships a large proportion of the fluid flow switches used in the pool and spa industry today. Flow and level switches made entirely in the US at Harwil Corp are shipped all over the globe for enviornmental, oil, water, and other fluid control applications.
In 2004, Hutch commissioned Gary Heathcote of Heathcote and Associates (www.heathcote.net) to design an industrial building specifically for Harwil Corporation in Oxnard. The building houses the design and manufacturing of Harwil Corp flow and level switches. The administrative offices orient toward the Camarillo Airport because Hutch and Bruce Bowmar, Vice President, are passionate about aviation. Heathcote added the contemporary aerodynamic "wing" design above the entrance due to Hutch's strong interest in flight.
During its early days, the Harwil Corp was housed in Santa Monica. At one time, Hutch developed and patented a device to apply wax to skis. This was not successful so he modified the hot waxer and in 1963, developed a plastic bag sealer. Harwil Corporation continues to make and sell the bag sealers. Visit www.harwil-bag-sealer.com.
The idea for inventing a flow switch came from one of Hutch’s professors at UCLA, Dr. McKinsey. He suggested that cyclotrons need reliable flow switches to monitor coolant flow to the huge magnets. That gave Hutch and Bill the idea they needed to get started on fluid flow control.
Harwil Corporation developed the first Q-1 flow switch in 1965. The Q-4 followed in 1968 and the Q-5 in 1970. These heavy brass flow switches were patented and determined the direction of Harwil Corporation. Develping and improving fluid flow and liquid level switches continues to be the focus for Harwil.
In 1976, the Q-8 was developed from plastic materials to provide a less expensive fluid flow switch that provides a wider range of chemical resistance. The Q-8 switch also adapted well to a liquid level switch, the L-8N and L-8CR. These level switches were patented and became part of the Harwil line.
The L-21 was developed in 1981 with its unique characteristic of switching at high and low levels, ranging between 1, 2, 3 and 5 inches. To this day there are improvements and new products being developed at Harwil Corporation. The newest developments include temperature sensors in the Q-12N and Q-12CR flow switches. |
