"Jubilee Clip" is often used erroneously to describe any worm-drive hose clip, but the name is actually a registered trademark of L. Robinson & Co. The Jubilee Clip was the first such clip, and was invented by Commander Lumley Robinson in 1920.Most people will have come across the Jubilee Clip or its imitators on their garden hose, but in fact this ingenious clip was invented as a precision engineering device for use in engines and machinery, particularly in the aviation and automotive industries. Jubilee Clips are now used in everything from domestic appliances to fighter planes and Formula One racing cars.
The Jubilee Clip was invented in 1920 by Commander Lumley Robinson (England), and comprises a grooved metal collar with a worm drive to tighten the collar around the hose, securing it firmly to a tube or pipe. Robinson served in the Royal Navy during the First World War, and he perceived the need for a hose clip while working in the engine room of his ship. Three years after the war ended, he invented the Jubilee Clip and founded L. Robinson & Co. to manufacture it; when he died in 1939, on the eve of the next world war, his wife, known to all as "Mrs E.B.", took control of the company.
Wartime demand for Jubilee Clips was huge, particularly for use in military aircraft, and Mrs Lumley-Robinson (who had hyphenated her surname in order to preserve her late husband's Christian name) rose to the challenge, producing Jubilee Clips at a rate of more than 1 million a month.
L. Robinson & Co. (Gillingham) Ltd remains a family firm; the founder's son, John was managing director from 1948 until 1988, when his son-in-law, John C.B Jennings (England), took over. Jennings put the success of the Jubilee Clip down to good old-fashioned values: "Our patent actually ran out in 1948 and since then we've had numerous competitors. Where we profit over them is that we adhere to the Commander's original idea that quality comes first." So the secret of success is simple, but the secret of the name, now registered as a trademark in 130 countries, remains a mystery - there was no royal jubilee in 1921, and the Commander never told anyone the reason why he had chosen the name Jubilee for his clip.
Source - The Book Of Inventions by Ian Harrison.
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