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By Andrew Jackson Beard
Before automatic couplers, railway workers had to link cars manually at great risk. Beard himself lost a leg in a coupling accident, which motivated his research into a safer, autonomous process.
Beard patented five improvements to the automatic coupler. His system featured two horizontal jaws that locked automatically upon joining. His 1897 patent was sold for $50,000, a record transaction for the time.
Although other models were eventually standardized, his work pushed the industry toward increased safety. His invention coincided with the Federal Safety Appliance Act, which made automatic couplers mandatory by law.
In honor of his contribution to safety, he was posthumously inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006.
