Nikola Tesla's Complete Patents
There Are 111 Authenticated, Unique, Nikola Tesla Patents
As recently as yesterday, July 15, 2017, I saw an article on Dailybeast about Tesla; crediting him with 700 patents: http://www.thedailybeast.com/how-nikola-tesla-sparked-the-electric-age -- Tesla's patent attorneys frequently filed for patent protection in foreign countries, but these foreign patents are duplicates on the list of 111 unique Tesla patents presented here... And if you actually count them (I have) you will find there are 112 on this list: US Patent 655,838 was reissued and legally bears the number 11,865... So if you are searching for this, both patent numbers have to be included, but it is the same patent, same technology, in both documents. All other duplicates have been eliminated from this list. Unique unpatented Tesla, and patented Tesla related technologies are presented at the very bottom of the page.
Patents are listed here by their US patent number, and the dates provided throughout are the filing dates, (unless otherwise specified) not the publication or issuing date. We don't care when the US Patent Office finally issues a Tesla patent: to follow his work we need the dates when Tesla signed off that the applications were ready. Some applications were delayed in processing for years: they failed examination, they were appealed by Tesla, they failed again, they were appealed again. So the dates the patents were issued do not necessarily reflect the same order they were filed in.
Tesla links his patents, lectures, and articles together within the text. He frequently refers back to a patent by file date, serial number, or patent number. In two instances in the documentation provided, Tesla refers to entire batches of related patents by the US Patent Office publication dates. Having worked from text documentation for years, I am able for the first time to have my patent documentation cross-linked for my own personal reference, and yours. With the patents in HTML I am starting the process of linking and grouping, both by linking Tesla's specific references in the text, and by listing related patents (and other references) after the text.
Also: The printed versions of Tesla patent diagrams are frequently awful, worse than useless for a person who would like to understand the technology at a level that is reproducable... In places, the original patent diagrams are exquisitely detailed: with important electrical connections diagrammed; tiny iron cores shown in transmitter patents as a single dot, etc.. Understanding the technology at that level requires the highest resolution patent diagrams obtainable, and those png files are linked to the lower resolution images displayed at the bottom of these pages:
11,865
Method of Insulating Electrical Conductors - Sept 21, 1900
334,823
Commutator for Dynamo-Electric Machines - May 6, 1885
335,786
Electric-Arc Lamp - March 30, 1885
335,787
Electric-Arc Lamp - July 13, 1886
336,961
Regulator for Dynamo-Electric Machines - May 18, 1885
336,962
Regulator for Dynamo-Electric Machines - June 1, 1885
350,954
Regulator for Dynamo-Electric Machines - Jan 14, 1886
359,748
Dynamo-Electric Machine - Jan 14, 1886
381,968
Electro-Magnetic Motor - Oct 12, 1887
381,969
Electro-Magnetic Motor - Nov 30, 1887
381,970
System of Electrical Distribution - Dec 23, 1887
382,279
Electro-Magnetic Motor - Nov 30, 1887
382,280
Electrical Transmission of Power - Oct 12, 1887
382,281
Electrical Transmission of Power - Nov 30, 1887
382,282
Method of Converting and Distributing Electrical Currents - Dec 23, 1887
382,845
Commutator for Dynamo-Electric Machines - April 30, 1887
390,413
System of Electrical Distribution - Dec 23, 1887
390,414
Dynamo-Electric Machine - April 23, 1888
390,415
Dynamo-Electric Machine or Motor - May 15, 1888
390,721
Dynamo-Electric Machine - April 28, 1888
390,820
Regulator for Alternate-Current Motors - April 24, 1888
396,121
Thermo-Magnetic Motor - Mar 30, 1886
401,520
Method of Operating Electro-Magnetic Motors - Feb 18, 1889
405,858
Electro-Magnetic Motor - Jan 8, 1889
405,859
Method of Electrical Power Transmission - March 14, 1889
406,968
Dynamo-Electric Machine - March 23, 1889
413,353
Method of Obtaining Direct from Alternating Currents - June 12, 1889
416,191
Electro-Magnetic Motor - May 20, 1889
416,192
Method of Operating Electro-Magnetic Motors - May 20, 1889
416,193
Electro-Magnetic Motor - May 20, 1889
416,194
416,195
Electro-Magnetic Motor - May 20, 1889
417,794
Armature for Electric Machines - Tesla-Schmid - June 28, 1889
418,248
Electro-Magnetic Motor - May 20, 1889
424,036
Electro-Magnetic Motor - May 20, 1889
428,057
Pyromagneto-Electric Generator - May 26, 1887
433,700
Alternating-Current Electro-Magnetic Motor - Mar 26, 1890
433,701
Alternating Current Motor - Mar 26, 1890
433,702
Electrical Transformer or Induction Device - Mar 26, 1890
433,703
Electro-Magnetic Motor - April 4, 1890
445,207
Electro-Magnetic Motor - May 20, 1889
447,920
Method of Operating Arc Lamps - Oct 1, 1890
447,921
Alternating-Electric-Current Generator - Nov 15, 1890
454,622
System of Electric Lighting - Apr 25, 1891
455,067
Electro-Magnetic Motor - Jan 27, 1889
455,068
Electrical Meter - Mar 27, 1891
455,069
Electric Incandescent Lamp - May 14, 1891
459,772
Electro-Magnetic Motor - May 20, 1889
462,418
Method of and Apparatus for Electrical Conversion and Distribution - Feb 4, 1891
464,666
Electro-Magnetic Motor - July 13, 1891
464,667
Electrical Condenser - Aug 1, 1891
487,796
System of Electrical Transmission of Power - May 15, 1888
511,559
Electrical Transmission of Power - Dec 8, 1888
511,560
System of Electrical Power Transmission - Dec 8, 1888
511,915
Electrical Transmission of Power - May 15, 1888
511,916
Electric Generator - Aug 19, 1893
512,340
Coil for Electromagnets - July 7, 1893
514,167
Electrical Conductor - Jan 2, 1892
514,168
Means of Generating Electric Currents - Aug 2 1893
514,169
Reciprocating Engine - Aug 19, 1893
514,170
Incandescent Electric Light - Jan 2, 1892
514,972
Electric Railway System - Jan 2, 1892
514,973
Electrical Meter - Dec 15, 1893
517,900
524,426
Electromagnetic Motor - Oct 20, 1888
555,190
Alternating Motor - May 15, 1888
567,818
Electrical Condenser - Jan 2, 1892
568,176
Apparatus for Producing Electrical Currents of High Frequency and Potential - April 22, 1896
568,177
Apparatus for Producing Ozone - June 17, 1896
568,178
Method of Regulating Apparatus for Producing Currents of High Frequency - June 20, 1896
568,179
Method of and Apparatus for Producing Currents of High Frequency - July 6, 1896
568,180
Apparatus for Producing Electrical Currents of High Frequency - July 9, 1896
577,670
Apparatus for Producing Electrical Currents of High Frequency - Sept 3, 1896
577,671
Manufacture of Electrical Condensers, Coils, & Etc. - Nov 5, 1896
583,953
Apparatus for Producing Currents of High Frequency - Oct 19, 1896
593,138
Electrical Transformer - Mar 20, 1897
609,245
Electric Circuit Controller - Dec 2, 1897
609,246
Electric Circuit Controller - Mar 12, 1898
609,247
Electric Circuit Controller - Mar 12, 1898
609,248
Electric Circuit Controller - Mar 12, 1898
609,249
Electric Circuit Controller - Mar 12, 1898
609,250
Electrical Igniter for Gas Engines - Feb 17, 1897
609,251
Electric Circuit Controller - Dec 2, 1897
611,719
Electric Circuit Controller - Feb 28, 1898
613,735
Electric Circuit Controller - Apr 19, 1898
613,809
Method of and Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vessels or Vehicles - July 1, 1898
645,576
System of Transmission of Electrical Energy - Sept 2, 1897
649,621
Apparatus for Transmission of Electrical Energy - Sept 2, 1897
655,838
Method of Insulating Electrical Conductors - Sept 21, 1900 reissued as 11,865
685,012
Means for Increasing the Intensity of Electrical Oscillations - Mar 21, 1900
685,953
Method of Intensifying and Utilizing Effects Transmitted Through Natural Media - June 24, 1899
685,954
Method of Utilizing Effects Transmitted Through Natural Media - Aug 1, 1899
685,955
685,956
Apparatus for Utilizing Effects Transmitted Through Natural Media - Aug 1, 1899
685,957
Apparatus for Utilization of Radiant Energy - Mar 21, 1901
685,958
Method of Utilizing Radiant Energy - Mar 21, 1901
723,188
Method of Signaling - July 16, 1900
725,605
System of Signaling - July 16, 1900
787,412
Art of Transmitting Electrical Energy Through Natural Media - May 16, 1900
1,061,142
Fluid Propulsion - Oct 21, 1909
1,061,206
1,113,716
1,119,732
Apparatus for Transmitting Electrical Energy - Jan 18, 1902
1,209,359
Speed-Indicator - May 29, 1914
1,266,175
Lightning-Protector - May 6, 1916
1,274,816
Speed-Indicator - Dec 18, 1916
1,314,718
1,329,559
Valvular Conduit - Feb 21, 1916
1,365,547
1,402,025
Frequency Meter - Dec 18, 1916
1,655,113
Method of Aerial Transportation - Sept 9, 1921
1,655,114
Apparatus for Aerial Transportation - Oct 4, 1927
Related technology
Tesla's Death Ray
Tesla's Unpatented Defensive Particle Beam Weapon
US7973296
Electromagnetic systems with double-resonant spiral coil components - Mar 5, 2009
Ark
Acoustic Piezo-Electric Field Generator
Additional Information About This Portfolio
There are 111 unique patents in this list, however there are a number of patents that were divided or "split" into two separate applications. This was done by patent attorneys to increase the patent protection into "Means, Methods or Systems" and "Apparatus". Tesla and his patent attorneys were aware that competetors could construct a high-frequency generator (for instance) that would be unique enough to qualify for it's own patent and thereby evade or avoid conflict with apparatus that Tesla documented. To broaden the patent protection the "Means, Methods, or Systems" portion of a patent application was split off and language was added to state that the specific apparatus illustrated was irrelevent in the protection of the idea being presented. What you end up with are two patents showing the exact same technology, but they are two different, unique documents.
Lab-Tesla is hosting a high-resolution master file containing all of these patents... It's HUGE, 260 megs, but it has the complete collection and the PDF quality is very good: Tesla's Complete Patents - High Resolution - 260 megabytes
To the Archive Page Discussion on Tesla's Wireless
Lab-Tesla disclosures on the technology just presented
Tesla's Laboratory Power
