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Patent holder profile

Frederick McKinley Jones and the mobile refrigeration patent record

Jones's vehicle air-conditioning patent belongs in CultureUp's systems lane because it connects mobile refrigeration, co-invention, corporate assignment, and public logistics memory.

Why this belongs on CultureUp

Jones is a public-record memory story.

This belongs on CultureUp because the patent record connects invention to place, public institutions, work systems, laboratories, employers, federal or corporate assignment, and the limits of public records.

Sprint 5 priority 3 / not final rankStatus: source_reviewedSource grade: A-
Patent
2303857: Air Conditioner for Vehicles
Issue date
1942-12-01
Place
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Record strength
Patent-record facts are attached with at least one public context source. CultureUp still separates patent proof from biography, adoption, commercialization, and identity claims.
Identity evidence
Public context source attached where available; CultureUp does not use the patent row alone as race, ancestry, lineage, or Indigenous Black identity proof.
Sprint priority
3 / not final rank
Cluster
20th-century systems
Co-inventors
Joseph A. Numero
Assignee
U.S. Thermo Control Co. / corporate assignee
Needed before promotion
Promotion language should remain limited until source-led context, assignment, co-inventor, and commercialization review is complete.
Why this record matters
The route shows how Black patent memory enters mobile cold-chain systems, wartime logistics memory, co-invention, and company assignment.

What the public record supports

  • U.S. Patent No. 2303857, issued December 1, 1942.
  • Joseph A. Numero as co-inventor.
  • U.S. Thermo Control Co. as assignee.
  • NIHF public context for mobile refrigeration.

What remains open

  • Assignment and company-ownership history.
  • Separate source trail for wartime use and cold-chain impact.
  • How to distinguish Jones's work from company ownership in public copy.

Article profile

Read the person, place, invention, and record separately.

CultureUp keeps each layer visible so a patent record does not get stretched into claims the source trail cannot support.

The patent record

2303857 was issued on 1942-12-01 for Air Conditioner for Vehicles. The route preserves Joseph A. Numero as co-inventor. The route also names U.S. Thermo Control Co. as corporate assignee, because inventor status and assignment are different public-record facts.

The person in the record

The attached public context sources support a reader-facing profile frame. Any deeper life history, family record, school record, employment file, or community memory needs its own source trail.

Place attached to the claim

Minneapolis, Minnesota is the public place anchor used for this route. CultureUp does not infer local family continuity from the patent row alone.

The invention

The invention is summarized from the public patent title and source trail. Technical, market, institutional, and adoption claims stay limited to what the attached sources can support.

Business, labor, and use

Modern patent records often separate inventor, employer, assignee, licensee, and beneficiary. CultureUp keeps those categories apart instead of treating a patent as proof of ownership, wealth, adoption, or public impact.

What the record cannot prove

The patent record does not by itself prove full biography, race, ancestry, Indigenous Black identity, commercialization, institutional adoption, economic benefit, modern product lineage, or community memory.

Patent records

Grant trail

Grant rank and unique-holder rank are shown separately so repeat patentees do not distort the chronological sequence.

systems_era_candidateSprint priority 3Not public rankutility patenthigh

2303857: Air Conditioner for Vehicles

Frederick McKinley Jones / 1942-12-01

Sprint 5 systems-era candidate. The record must preserve Joseph A. Numero as co-inventor and U.S. Thermo Control Co. as assignee.

Residence
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Category
mobile refrigeration / vehicle systems
Source status
high
Chronology handling
systems_era_candidate
Cluster
20th-century systems
Co-inventors
Joseph A. Numero
Assignee
U.S. Thermo Control Co. / corporate assignee
Primary sources
2 mapped

Source trail

Claims stay tied to source limits.

Employer, corporate, and federal assignee records

Sources that make the difference between inventorship, co-inventorship, employer context, and patent ownership visible.

patent text mirrorco-inventor and assignee patent record

US2303857A - Air Conditioner for Vehicles

Google Patents / 1942 patent record

Supports
Shows Joseph A. Numero and Frederick M. Jones as inventors, U.S. Thermo Control Co. as assignee, and a vehicle air-conditioning patent published December 1, 1942.
Limit
The patent record verifies invention data, co-inventor names, assignee, and issue date. It does not by itself prove full identity, biography, commercialization, wartime logistics impact, ownership benefit, or public memory.
Last checked
2026-06-09
Source URL
https://patents.google.com/patent/US2303857A/en
Public memory

Objects, museums, and public interpretation records that help readers see how an invention remains visible.

public inventor profilepublic inventor context

Frederick McKinley Jones

National Inventors Hall of Fame / current public profile

Supports
Identifies Jones with mobile refrigeration and U.S. Patent No. 2,303,857.
Limit
Supports public inventor context; it does not erase Joseph A. Numero's co-inventor status or U.S. Thermo Control Co.'s assignee status.
Last checked
2026-06-09
Source URL
https://www.invent.org/inductees/frederick-mckinley-jones

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