Frederick McKinley Jones

Frederick McKinley Jones (May 17, 1893 - February 21, 1961) was an African-American inventor who patented several products in the field of refrigeration. He had over 60 patents. He also made several innovations for sound equipment for "talkie" movies, but them. Several of his unpatented inventions were duplicated and patented by others, such as the portable x-ray machine. The United States government used his portable air conditioner during World War II to preserve medicines and blood serum. He also received over 40 patents in the field of refrigeration.

His refrigeration unit became the first product of the Thermo King Corporation founded by Joe Numero.

Mr. Jones was the first African American to be awarded with the American National Medal of Technology (awarded posthumously on September 16, 1991).

Patents

#2,163,754, 6/27/1939, Ticket dispensing machine
#D 132,182, 4/28/1942, Design for air conditioning unit
#2,336,735, 12/14/1943, Removable cooling units for compartments
#2,337,164, 12/21/1943, Means for automatically stopping and starting gas engines
#2,376,968, 5/29/1945, Two-cycle gas engine
#2,417,253, 3/11/1947, Two-cycle gas engine
#2,475,841, 7/12/1949, Automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks
#2,475,842, 7/12/1949, Starter generator
#2,475,843, 7/12/1949, Means operated by a starter generator for cooling a gas engine
#2,477,377, 7/26/1949, Means for thermostatically operating gas engines
#2,504,841, 4/18/1950, Rotary compressor
#2,509,099, 5/23/1950, System for controlling operation of refrigeration units
#D 159,209, 7/4/1950, Design for air conditioning unit
#2,523,273, 9/26/1950, Engine actuated ventilating system
#2,526,874, 10/24/1950, Apparatus for heating or cooling atmosphere within an enclosure
#2,535,682, 12/26/1950, Prefabricated refrigerator construction
#2,581,956, 1/8/1952, Refrigeration control device
#2,666,298, 1/19/1954, Methods and means of defrosting a cold diffuser
#2,696,086, 12/7/1954, Method and means for air conditioning
#2,780,923, 2/12/1957, Method and means for preserving perishable foodstuffs in transit
#2,850,001, 9/2/1958, Control device for internal combustion engine
#2,926,005, 2/23/1960, Thermostat and temperature control syste

External links

* [http://www.mnhs.org/library/tips/history_topics/63jones.html HISTORY TOPICS: Frederick McKinley Jones] - Minnesota Historical Society
* [http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blf_jones.htm Frederick Jones' bio] - About.com
* [http://web.mit.edu/invent/iow/jones.html MIT's discussion on Frederick Jones]
* [http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/inventions/reftranstimeline.asp Refrigerated Transportation Timeline, pre-WWII]
* [http://www33.brinkster.com/iiiii/inventions/reftruck.asp Early Mechanically Refrigerated Trucks]
* [http://www.blackinventor.com/pages/fredjones.html Profile of Frederick Jones] - The Black Inventor Online Museum