Confederate veteran Major Eli Hamilton Janney (born Nov. 12, 1831, Loudoun County, Virginia, and died June 16, 1912, Alexandria, Virginia.) of Alexandria, VA received Patent No. 138,405 in April 25, 1873, for an automatic car coupler which, closed automatically when the cars came together. The coupler consists of a knuckle joined to the end of a drawbar, which itself is fastened to a housing mechanism on the car. A knuckle is a clamp that interlocks with its mate, just as two cupped hands—placed palms together with the fingertips pointing in opposite directions--interlock when the fingers are curled. When cars come together, the open knuckle on one car engages a closed knuckle on the other car, automatically coupling the cars.

Andrew Beard was born a slave in Jefferson County, Alabama in 1849. He invented the Automatic Railroad Car Coupler, commonly referred to as the "Jenny" coupler. The patent for his invention was issued on November 23, 1897. Andrew Beard's invention, was improved in 1899.

Congress passed the Safety Appliance Act (SAA), requiring knuckle couplers on all cars by 1898 (an extension was granted, giving the railroads until 1900).
Which coupler was the final choice?


hankmorris@earthlink.net

...my understanding

John H White, Jr. cites (The American Railroad Freight Car, pg 515)that the task of standardizing fell to the Master Car Builders (MCB)Association Executive Committee which strongly favored the Janney coupler. "They could not openly endorse it, of course, because the association was prohibited from adopting patented or brand-name products. In fact the curious term 'vertical plane coupler' was invented so that the membership might talk about the Janney design without mentioning its specific name."

The link below shows Beard's design. While there are similarities in appearance, it seems to me that the primary pivoting for the coupling action occurs in the wrist (using the two hands analogy) instead of in the finger knuckles as did the adopted design.

Therefore, the Janney and not the Jenny.

doc



"Jenny" Coupler Patent Drawing
utweyesguy@aol.com