Stanley was as an
electrician working with tele keys and
fire alarms of an early manufacturer. In
Philadelphia, Stanley designed one of the first
electrical installations (at a Fifth Avenue store). Shortly thereafter,
George Westinghouse hired Stanley as his chief engineer at his Pittsburgh factory. In 1885, Stanley built the first practical
alternating current transformer based on
Lucien Gaulard and
John Dixon Gibbs' prototype of 1881. This device was the precursor to the modern
transformer. In December, under a new contract with Westinghouse, Stanley moved his operations to
Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Agreeing that the AC system had arrived, Westinghouse further tested the system in summer 1886 in Pittsburgh; it transmitted over a distance of 3 miles, and used an alternator designed by Stanley to replace the Siemens model, which regulated voltage poorly. Satisfied with the pilot system, Westinghouse began commercial production and shipped his company's first commercial alternator to
Buffalo, New York, where a local utility placed it in service. Orders for 25 alternating-current plants followed within months. In 1890, Stanley founded the Stanley Electric Manufacturing Company in
Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1903 the
General Electric Corporation purchased a controlling interest in the firm. The land on which the company once stood is now the site of the William Stanley Business Park of the Berkshires in Pittsfield.
Patents William Stanley Jr. was granted 129 patents for a range of products and electrical devices. A selection of patents follow.
Significant patents are in bold. on May 19, 1915, during the awarding of the
Franklin Medal with
Thomas Alva Edison • , Circuit-closer for incandescent lamps • , Electric lamp • , Filament for incandescent electric lamps • , Multiple incandescent electric lamp •
, Carbon for incandescent lamps • , Socket for incandescent electric lamp • , Holder for incandescent electric lamp • , Globe for incandescent electric lamp •
, Induction coil • , Automatic cut-out for electric-lighting circuits • , Automatic cut-out for electric-lighting circuit •
, Incandescent electric lamp • , System of electric lighting • • • ==Personal life==