GB 4

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GB 4 refers to Class 4, Aeronautics, of the scheme apparently developed for the publication of Abridgment of patent specifications. Before 1884 then "Class 4" contained patents relating to Preservation of Food, but helpfully, it seems that the Patent Office in issued retrospective Abridgments including Class 4, Aeronautics.

The Abridgments for each series of years contain an index, listing the numbers of each patent by year for each keyword. We are abbreviating these slightly and treating them as the British system for tech classifications of patents:

Name Wiki Year added
aërial machines with aërostats or buoyant bodies GB 4 with buoyant 1884
aërial machines without aërostats or buoyant bodies GB 4 without buoyant 1884
aëroplanes and the like GB 4 aëroplanes 1884
aërostats or buoyant bodies GB 4 aërostats 1884
anchoring GB 4 anchoring 1897
cars and cabins GB 4 cars and cabins 1884
framework GB 4 framework 1884
life-saving, marine, apparatus used for GB 4 life-saving 1889
military machines[1] GB 4 military 1884
motors GB 4 motors 1884
parachutes GB 4 parachutes 1884
propelling & steering arrangements GB 4 propel & steer 1884
propelling ships and boats, machines[1] used for GB 4 propel boats 1884
propelling vehicles, apparatus used for GB 4 propel vehicles 1889
railways, aërial GB 4 aërial railways 1884
resistance at various speeds, determining GB 4 resistance 1901
search-light apparatus GB 4 searchlight 1889
shock of landing, deadening GB 4 landing 1889
starting GB 4 starting 1884

In 1901, "propelling & steering arrangements is subdivided as follows:

driving-gear for screw and other rotary propellers GB 4 propeller driving gear
means for propelling and steering (other than screw and like propellers) GB 4 propeller means
screw and like propellers, arrangement of GB 4 screw propeller arrangement
screw and like propellers, construction of GB 4 screw propeller construction

The Abridgments for 1905–1908 and 1909–1915 add a number of additional classifications and subclassifications.These are presented in outline at GB 4, 1905 and GB 4, 1909. (The volumes covering these periods were published in 1910 and 1921, respectively.)

Notes:

  • 1884 taken as starting point. Haven't yet confirmed whether this class existed in 1877–1883
    • In the volume for dates 1815–1866, aeronautics may have been numbered 41; but the organization of the system at this point requires further study.[2]
  • "Year added" is the first year of patents classified with the new term; these classifications were not necessarily published or assigned, until a few years later.
  • "kites" – see aëroplanes & c. above
  • Indexes have other cross-references, internally and to other classes. Toys are in a different abridgment class.
  • Patents can be classified under many headings; e.g. Patent GB-1893-1064. Not even "with buoyant" and "without buoyant" are mutually exclusive, though they don't usually overlap: Patent GB-1884-2589 and Patent GB-1897-7012 are listed under both.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1889: "machine" changed to "apparatus"
  2. Abridgments of Specifications relating to Aeronautics, A.D. 1815–1866 on HathiTrust.
Enclosing categories British patent classifications
Subcategories GB 4 with buoyant, GB 4 without buoyant, GB 4 aëroplanes, GB 4 aërostats, GB 4, 1905, GB 4, 1909
Keywords
Start year
End year