Talk:Andrew Jackson Beard

Actual impact?

Janney Coupler
Sketch From 1873 Patent

The diagram from Beard's 1897 coupler patent.

I do not know enough about coupler engineering to make the updates, but this article appears to have some information that cannot be correct.

1. This article calls Beard's design a "Jenny Coupler" but that seems awfully close to the Janney Coupler (the first working design).
2. This article claims that Beard's version of the coupler was revolutionary, but the Coupling (railway) & the Janney Coupler articles mention that there were already many designs by 1893, when the Railroad Safety Appliance Act mandated the use of automatic couplers. (Four years before Beard's design.)

The above raises the key question:

How is Beard's design significant?

• Was it the only design by a black inventor?
• Was it the design most used as the 1893 law went into effect in 1900?

The Janney Coupler

• Is it the basis for the currently used U.S. design?

No

• Was this design better than the ones actually most used? (Suggesting that prejudice against a black inventor compromised safety.)

—MJBurrage^(T•C) 17:02, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Improved wording. Peter Horn User talk 23:49, 13 December 2019 (UTC)

@MJBurrage: I have added the file and the image so that you yourself can compare the two versions and and see what the differences are. Personally I can safely say that Beard's improvements were probably never implemented in as much as, since 1952, I have never seen Beard's external attachments on any coupler. In other words, take a look at any coupler next time you see a railroad car Peter Horn User talk 18:23, 16 December 2019 (UTC)

Did not invent the "Jenny" Coupler.

http://www.narhf.org/nar01/NAR01awards_coupler.html

Was invented by a man named Janney. It is unclear what--if anything--Beard invented. BlackBerryHill (talk) 04:08, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

The coupler that Beard patented was apparently a later improvement, based on Janney's coupler ([1]). phoebe / (talk to me) 08:50, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

@Phoebe: Beard's improvements were U.S. patent 594,059, granted on 23 November 1897 and U.S. patent 624,901 granted 16 May 1899. Peter Horn User talk 23:30, 13 December 2019 (UTC)

@Phoebe: Quote from the article: "Janney couplers are a semi-automatic design, also known as American, AAR, APT, ARA, MCB, Knuckle, or Center Buffer couplers, which were first patented in 1873 by Eli H. Janney (U.S. patent 138,405)." Peter Horn User talk 15:39, 15 December 2019 (UTC)

The difference(s), improvemet(s), is (are) mechanisms behind and inside the coupler head. These improvements were NEVER implemented. See the diagram in the biography of Beard from IEEE. Peter Horn User talk 17:03, 15 December 2019 (UTC)

Basic biographical information

The article says little is known of him after his patent on a variation of the Janney coupler. A primary source or raw data not published by a reliable secondary source for his bio information is the US Census. The 1900 US Census, which shows (Alabama > Jefferson > East Lake > District 95 > image 42) #444 at Ancestry.com: "Andy J. Beard," born May 1848 in Alabama, occupation "Inventor."Per the census, he had been married 30 years to his wife Eddie (born April 1845). In the 1910 Census, Alabama > Jefferson > Precinct 44 > District 0105, entry 275, he is living with his wife and four children and is a farmer. In the 1920 Census (Alabama > Jefferson > Birmingham > District 39) he is a widower and an inmate at the Alms House with no occupation. This is presented here just as a suggestion of what info one might look for in reliable secondary sources for. Edison (talk) 20:22, 3 April 2012 (UTC)

Horrendous sourcing problems

It appears that Beard did have two patents each (not one each) on rotary engines (Andrew Beard) and couplings (Andrew Jackson Beard). That at least is established. I also found a reference for his induction to the National Inventors hall of fame (which is nice) but the biography there repeats the story that he invented the automatic coupler. It is likely therefore that the biography there is not properly researched, and the same must apply to most other biographies that copy from that.

I have found no reliable information about his agricultural inventions so far. All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 04:03, 3 January 2016 (UTC).

@Rich Farmbrough and Rich: Did you find the actual US patents for the rotary engines and the couplings? That would be nice. Would it be possible to search the US Patent data base for any other patents by Andrew Jackson Beard or Andrew Beard? Peter Horn User talk 15:37, 15 December 2019 (UTC)

The couplings patents are listed in the article, with links. I have added all the other patents that are mentioned. All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 17:45, 15 December 2019 (UTC).

Note that the patents for the rotary engine were previously added by me, and were removed at some point. All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 17:53, 15 December 2019 (UTC).

@Rich Farmbrough: Hello,
I see you added the patents back in, U.S. patent 433,847 and U.S. patent US478271, The first one opens, the second one gives "error".
Peter Horn User talk 03:39, 16 December 2019 (UTC)

DUplicate US. Should be U.S. patent 478,271. All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 14:25, 16 December 2019 (UTC).

@Rich Farmbrough: Thanks. "All clear" now. Peter Horn User talk 17:47, 16 December 2019 (UTC)

Absolute nonsense

"Beard's railroad car coupler included two horizontal jaws, which automatically locked together upon joining. Prior to Beard's coupler, railroad cars in the US were joined together by a large metal pin, which railway workers had to drop into place as the cars came together; miscalculations by workers coupling train cars together often led to serious injuries, including crushed fingers, hands, and arms. Beard's coupler was the first automatic coupler widely used in the US.. In 1887, the same year Beard's first automatic coupler was patented, the US Congress passed the Federal Safety Appliance Act, which made it illegal to operate any railroad car without automatic couplers.

Little is known about the period of time from Beard's last patent application in 1897 up until his death." Makes no sense and I blanked that paragraph with Peter Horn User talk 23:13, 13 December 2019 (UTC)

The "Jenny coupler" is in A Brief History of Entrepreneurship: The Pioneers, Profiteers, and Racketeers Who Shaped Our World (p. 175 if anyone has a copy - I don't) which makes me doubt the value of the book in general. We do however use it as a source. All the best: Rich Farmbrough, 22:29, 29 December 2019 (UTC).