John Standard - Refrigerator and Stove

John Standard improved the refrigerator by implementing a manually filled ice chamber for chilling. He registered his patent for an improved refrigerator design on June 14, 1891.

 

John Standard was an African American inventor from Newark, N.J., responsible for the patent on an improved refrigerator cooling system. John Standard found a way to improve the existing design of refrigerators by developing a non-electrical and unpowered design. He combined parts of the refrigerator's design to create a new arrangement of parts that improved the functioning and efficiency of refrigerators.                            John Standard was also instrumental in improving the design of the oil stove by using a design he patented on Oct. 29, 1889. He managed to create a space-saving oil stove design that could be used in various settings, such as buffet meals on moving trains                                                                                                                           .
John Standard is considered a notable inventor not only because of his inventions, but because he managed to create novel solutions for problems during a time when segregation and racial tensions reserved the right of intellectual property to the predominant race. He is one of many African American inventors that contributed to the development of modern tools and devices that were used by industries and people across the industrialized world.