hddennis Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 (edited) Just found components of a Mitchell Electric Gasoline Gauge C. J. Sykes MFG. Company Chicago Patented . It is an accessory aftermarket electric mechanical sender for the rear mounted style gas tank that has a needle showing 1/4 1/2 3/4 full on the tank and at the same time it sends electric signal to a gauge on the dash that has a red lighted circle that reads empty and 4 green lighted circles that read 1/4 1/2 3/4 full. I will post pictures when I receive these but would like any help anyone can give on dates, advertisements or patent numbers. Howard Dennis Edited March 3, 2021 by hddennis (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted March 3, 2021 Author Share Posted March 3, 2021 Just posted new pictures. Does anyone know how to search for patents on this. I can't find anything. Is it possible it never was patented? Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
30DodgePanel Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 (edited) Hi Howard, as you know I've spent hours trying to locate it with no luck as I mentioned in PM.. I have an email in to my patent attorney to see if that's a possibility.... Edited March 6, 2021 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
30DodgePanel Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 On 3/3/2021 at 9:30 AM, hddennis said: Just posted new pictures. Does anyone know how to search for patents on this. I can't find anything. Is it possible it never was patented? Howard Dennis Here's the response from my patent attorney: HI David, The Mitchell patent is attached. It is hard to find as it is so old, and is a Canadian patent. Text scanning for OCR is problematic in older patents. I got a good hint from google patents, and went to the Canadian Patent Website. Patent 231103 Summary - Canadian Patents Database (ic.gc.ca) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 Dave, I can't thank you and your attorney enough. It's even older than I thought. I'll pass this information on to the other forums I posted questions on. I sure appreciate the help. Howard Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
30DodgePanel Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 You're quite welcome,... Now if we could find out more about it in regards to types of vehicles it may have been used in. An old advert would be good to see one day too. Good luck with it. That's one heck of a find 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 I'd sure like to see the rest of the patent, the part that explains the numbers on the drawings. I'm amazed at how close the gauge is to the drawings. Usually the item varies a bit when actual production starts. I'm also curious why an item patented in Canada ends up made in Chicago and nothing can be found about the manufacturer. The hunt continues......... Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 2 hours ago, hddennis said: I'd sure like to see the rest of the patent, the part that explains the numbers on the drawings. I'm amazed at how close the gauge is to the drawings. Usually the item varies a bit when actual production starts. I'm also curious why an item patented in Canada ends up made in Chicago and nothing can be found about the manufacturer. The hunt continues......... Howard Dennis Success!! I was able to find the other pages. Howard Dennis 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
30DodgePanel Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 9 hours ago, hddennis said: I'm also curious why an item patented in Canada ends up made in Chicago and nothing can be found about the manufacturer. That part has had me very curious since I first read it as well... Why would a resident of Seatlle WA file in Canada in order to make and distribute an item in Chicago (USA)? Hopefully he can help with that also... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 Now that we know it was patented in Canada do any Canadian collectors have any 1920's or 30's automotive literature that has announcements or advertisements on this accessory? Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
30DodgePanel Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 My attorneys follow up response to our question. See his response below in bold and in quotations: My question: Now I'm curious why a resident of the USA in Seattle WA files for a patent in Canada that ends up made in Chicago and nothing can be found about the manufacturer (Sykes MFG)... Why would they have filed in Canada if they planned on making/selling in the US? His response: "Without more information, you could spend a lot of time speculating. I did not find the US Patent, but that doesn't mean it was never filed. Without accurate OCR on old patents, it takes far too much time for me to dig up a patent. I would have to back track to the application/patent time frame from the Canadian patent, and guess the classification, guess various title misspellings, etc. The US Patent Office does not use OCR on patents older than 1976, so you have to search google patents or a similar database that has the OCR for those patents. Patents at the USPTO from 1790 through 1975 are searchable only by Issue Date, Patent Number, and Current Classification (US, IPC, or CPC)." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hddennis Posted March 8, 2021 Author Share Posted March 8, 2021 Thanks Dave, Guess I'll just have just have to keep stumbling around on periodicals and the patent website. At least we have a time frame thanks to the help you and your lawyer gave me. Howard Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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