Inventor database
Verified
Frederick McKinley Jones
Invented practical mobile refrigeration
At a glance
- Inventor
- Frederick McKinley Jones
- Life
- 1893–1961
- Birthplace
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Country
- United States
- Region
- United States
- Era
- 1900–1950
- Fields
- Transportation, Agriculture
- Evidence
- Verified
- Records
- 1 in this archive
What they did
A self-taught mechanic, Jones designed a shock-resistant refrigeration unit that could be mounted on a truck and keep running over rough roads; he co-founded Thermo King.
Historical context
Perishable food travelled on ice. Long-haul shipment of fresh produce, and later of blood and medicines, was effectively impossible.
The legacy
The cold chain — supermarkets stocked year-round, vaccines delivered across continents — begins with truck-mounted mechanical refrigeration. Jones held some 60 patents.
The evidence
US Patent 2,475,841 — Removable cooling unit for compartments
Frederick McKinley Jones papers