A flood at a steel factory led to the invention of the air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pump.
Wilden®, part of PSG®, a Dover company and a worldwide leader in air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pump technology, has celebrated 60 years in business. Jim Wilden began the company in a walnut grove in San Bernardino County, Calif., in 1955. As the legend goes, the company was born when a large water pipe ruptured several feet below ground, flooding a shop at the steel factory where Jim worked. Amid the chaos, a cool-headed foreman surveyed the damage and told Jim, “You would make a million dollars if you could invent a pump to get this stuff out of here.” Jim would go on to invent the AODD pump.
Jim’s AODD pump was based solely on the need to create a pump tough and reliable enough to handle the harsh demands of the mining and heavy construction industries, which have an ongoing need to pump water, slurry, and other finely divided substances. He developed a new type of pump that featured the right air valve and diaphragms needed to perform in these types of applications. After a few years of trial and error, he began successfully manufacturing and selling M16 and M14 model AODD pumps.