From Mary Bellis,
Your Guide to Inventors.
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Rufus Stokes was an inventor born in Alabama in 1924. He later moved to Illinois, where he worked as a machinist for an incinerator company.

In 1968, Rufus Stokes was granted a patent on an air-purification device to reduce the gas and ash emissions of furnace and powerplant smokestack emissions. The filtered output from the stacks became almost transparent. Stokes tested and demonstrated several models of stack filters, termed the "clean air machine", in Chicago and elsewhere to show its versatility.

Benefits of Rufus Stokes' Invention

The system benefited the respiratory health of people, but also eased the health risks to plants and animals. A side-effect of reduced industrial stack emissions was the improved appearance and durability of buildings, cars, and objects exposed to outdoor pollution for lengthy periods.

Patents Issued to Rufus Stokes

• #3,378,24 issued on 14/16/1968 for an exhaust purifier
• #3,520,113 issued on 7/14/1970 for an air pollution control device (see photo right)