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Patent holder profile

Richard B. Spikes and the beer-tapper patent record

Spikes's beer-tapper route reads beverage dispensing as business infrastructure while preserving assignment and OCR uncertainty rather than smoothing it away.

Why this belongs on CultureUp

Spikes 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 7 priority 8 / not final rankStatus: source_reviewedSource grade: B+

Patent: 850070: Beer-Tapper
Issue date: 1907-04-09
Place: Bisbee, Arizona Territory
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: 8 / not final rank
Cluster: Black enterprise and patent commerce
Needed before promotion: Keep assignment/OCR uncertainty visible and add stronger identity-source review before stronger public promotion.
Why this record matters: The record connects valves, beer tapping, saloon/bar infrastructure, and business use while keeping assignment and name/OCR uncertainty visible.

What the public record supports

U.S. Patent No. 850070, published April 9, 1907.
Bisbee, Arizona Territory, as recorded place.
Beer-tapper mechanism as beverage-service infrastructure.

What remains open

Assignment/OCR reconciliation around Marine C. Spires / Spikes.
Identity-source and public biography trail.
Commercialization and later beer-tap impact claims.

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

850070 was issued on 1907-04-09 for Beer-Tapper.

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

Bisbee, Arizona Territory 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.

Identity and correction note

CultureUp treats this as Black American patent memory only through public, reviewable sources. The page does not certify ancestry, descent, tribe, nationality, family history, or private identity.

Send stronger patent images, assignment records, employer records, licensing documents, public biographies, or source corrections through CultureUp's correction path.

Patent records do not prove final rank, private identity, solo credit when co-inventors appear, employment ownership, commercialization, adoption, or later public impact.

Indexable as a source-led Sprint 7 profile with visible source limits.

Employer, assignee, and inventor status are not interchangeable. CultureUp names assignees when the patent record does.

Do not overstate later beer-tap commercialization without a separate source trail.

Patent records

Grant trail

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

backfill_candidateSprint priority 8Not public rankutility patentmedium high

850070: Beer-Tapper

Richard B. Spikes / 1907-04-09

Sprint 7 backfill record. Assignment and OCR trails should be preserved rather than smoothed into later beer-tap commercialization claims.

Residence: Bisbee, Arizona Territory
Category: beverage dispensing / business infrastructure
Source status: medium high
Chronology handling: backfill_candidate
Cluster: Black enterprise and patent commerce
Name variant note: Preserve Richard B. Spikes and the visible assignee/OCR trail until reconciled.
OCR caution: Marine C. Spires / Spikes assignment trail requires source review.
Primary sources: 1 mapped

Source trail

Claims stay tied to source limits.

Black enterprise and patent commerce

Sources for patents tied to business, assignments, recovery work, or professional enterprise where inventorship, ownership, and commercialization remain distinct.

patent text mirrorpatent text with assignment/OCR review

US850070A - Beer-Tapper

Google Patents / 1907 patent record

Supports: Shows Richard B. Spikes tied to a beer-tapper patent published April 9, 1907, with Bisbee, Arizona Territory, and assignee/OCR details that require careful preservation.
Limit: Patent records verify invention data, patent number, date, title, recorded place, and source-visible assignment language. They do not by themselves prove full race/identity, ancestry, biography, commercialization, public memory, economic benefit, sole inventorship, or personal ownership where assignment language appears.
Last checked: 2026-06-10
Source URL: https://patents.google.com/patent/US850070A/en