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October 12th 2008 		a non-profit education organization
May 17

Frederick M.
Jones
This date marks the birth of Frederick McKinley Jones, an African-American inventor, in 1893, who was one of the most prolific Black inventors ever. Frederick Jones patented more than 60 inventions, but is best known for inventing a practical automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks.

Jones was born in Covington, Kentucky, near Cincinnati, Ohio, on May 17, 1893. He served in France in World War I. After he returned home he worked as a garage mechanic, and with this experience, he developed a self-starting gasoline motor. His mastery of electronic devices was largely self-taught, through work experience and the inventing process. He arrived in Minnesota in 1912 and soon took a job as a mechanic on railroad magnate James J. Hill's famous farm in Kittson County.

In the late 1920s, Jones designed a series of devices for the developing movie industry, which adapted silent movie projectors to use talking movie stock. He also developed an apparatus for the movie box-office that delivers tickets and returns change to customers. He invented a snowmobile. Frederick Jones was granted more than 40 patents in the field of refrigeration.

In 1935, he invented the first automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks and railroad cars in 1935 (a roof-mounted cooling device). This system eliminated the risk of food spoilage during long-distance shipping trips, and was later adapted to a variety of other common carriers, including ships and railway cars.

Jones's pioneering designs for mobile refrigeration units led to the formation of the Thermo-King Corporation (Minneapolis) in 1935 and revolutionized the field of transport refrigeration for trucks, railcars, and ships.

His invention radically altered American consumer's eating habits; now people could eat eat fresh produce across the United States during the middle of summer or winter. Frederick Jones also developed an air-conditioning unit for military field hospitals and a refrigerator for military field kitchens.

Frederick Jones died February 21, 1961.

Reference:
Minnesota Historical Society
345 W. Kellogg Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55102-1906
 

    

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