List John login Baird patents
Executive summary
John Logie Baird is credited with a large and varied patent portfolio — contemporary sources report dozens of filings during his life and as many as 178 patents attributed to him by later compilations — but the provided reporting does not supply a definitive, itemized list of patent numbers or full titles [1] [2]. What follows is a focused, sourced catalogue of the principal inventions and patent claims attributed to Baird in the available reporting, plus a candid accounting of the limits of those sources.
1. The early “televisor” and mechanical television patents — the breakthrough that defined him
Baird’s name is inseparable from his mechanical television system, the “televisor” built around a spinning Nipkow disk that he publicly demonstrated in January 1926; reporting emphasizes that Baird developed and patented systems for electromechanical scanning and transmission of moving images that underpinned his early broadcasts and demonstrations [3] [4] [5]. These patents and demonstrations are the core items usually cited when listing Baird’s intellectual property, and multiple biographical sources treat his 1920s television apparatus as patent-protected innovations [3] [5].
2. A 1926 patent for imaging from reflected radio waves — an early radar-like concept
Biographical accounts and family recollections cite a 1926 Baird filing described as “a device that formed images from reflected radio waves,” often characterized as an early form of radar and known to have prompted correspondence with the British government [2] [6]. Secondary web histories repeat the claim that this patent predated other radar work, but the sources provided do not include the patent number or the full filing text to independently verify technical scope or priority [7] [2].
3. Colour, stereoscopic (3‑D) and “Telechrome” patents — pushing beyond mechanical TV
Later in his career Baird patented and demonstrated systems for colour television (demonstrated in 1928) and for a “Telechrome” electronic colour/3‑D approach; reporting notes a 1941 3‑D television patent at roughly 500-line definition and Telechrome work with dual electron guns and patterned phosphor plates [5] [3] [2]. These filings show Baird shifting from mechanical scanning toward electronic display patents, but the articles summarize the inventions rather than listing patent identifiers [3] [2].
4. Ancillary patents and inventive breadth — optics, facsimile, fibre optics, socks and navigation ideas
Several sources attribute a wide array of additional patents and patent-like ideas to Baird: early facsimile/image-transmission concepts (including proposals using arrays of transparent rods), experimental fibre‑optics work, an early radio‑based navigation concept (proto‑sat‑nav), and even non-electronic devices such as a thermally insulated sock from his youth [8] [7] [9]. Compilations and museum summaries state that by 1930 he had dozens of granted patents (about 88) and that his lifetime tally has been reported as high as 178, but these totals come from retrospective accounts rather than primary patent-office searches in the provided material [1].
5. What the sources do not give — no complete, authoritative patent list in the reporting
The evidence assembled here is robust for identifying the major inventions commonly listed as Baird patents (television systems, radar‑like imaging, Telechrome/colour/3‑D, facsimile and optics work), but the provided reporting does not include a systematic, itemized catalogue of patent numbers, filing dates, or full titles that would constitute a complete “list” [2] [3] [1]. For a verifiable, exhaustive list one would need to consult primary patent databases (for example the UK Patent Office or USPTO records) or an archival inventory — steps not contained in the supplied sources. The retrospective claims of 88 patents by 1930 and 178 patents ultimately attributed to Baird are useful signposts but not a substitute for a patent‑by‑patent ledger [1].