Hans Rudolph, Incorporated

Hans Rudolph, Inc., in its advertisements for some of its products, claims it got its start in 1938, when founder Hans Rudolph began designing PFT equipment. However, it later that Rudolph started what became Hans Rudolph, Inc. Hans Rudolph, the founder, moved to the Kansas City metropolitan area in 1941, and in 1955, began a partnership with Glade Ives to work on various pieces of equipment and to design new respiratory devices and parts. In 1955, the partnership ended and Rudolph started a machine shop in his basement, where he manufactured his high velocity valve. He produced other items in his shop.

In 1960, Hans and his son, John H. Rudolph incorporated the company under its present name and moved it to a much larger location, at 7200 Wyandotte, in Kansas City, Missouri. The company stayed there forty-six years. Hans and John worked on new equipment and improvements on existing equipment. They began designing continuous positive airway (CPAP) masks in the early 1980s. Hans' grandsons Kevin, Kelly and John later joined the company. They helped with equipment design and took leadership roles in the company. Hans died in 1994 and the first CPAP and bilevel PAP masks went into production only a few years earlier.