This week's theme is Influencer.
A very early post on this blog was about my great-grandfather, Percy Earle Hunter (1873-1937) and his occupation as a civil engineer.
 |
| Percy E. Hunter, 1895 |
For many years, he was president of the Independent Bridge Company in Pittsburgh, a company that literally built one of the bridges over the Monongahela River in Pittsburgh (the Liberty Bridge), among many other bridges.
Between 1915 and 1937, Percy obtained several patents for annealing boxes, welding apparatuses, bridge structures, and other manufacturing tools.
Percy E. Hunter has 29 patents to his name, discovered at the Patent Public Search (searching for Applicant Name = Percy AND Applicant Name = Hunter). (You can also search for patents at Google Patent Search by entering Percy Hunter in the Google Search box provided.)
In June 1930, he was awarded patent number 1,765,488 for a Bridge Structure, specifically guard railings. Here is the first part of that one:
In March 1931, he was awarded patent number 1,796,712 for a Bridge Railing:
These are two of several patents that were awarded to Percy that he used to develop safety railings for bridges to help reduce injury and death from auto accidents.
In my collection of family mementos is an undated 15-page brochure for safety railings from the Hunter Steel Company, formerly the Independent Bridge Company. I estimate it as being published about 1937. Percy died in May 1937 at the age of 63, so was likely involved with the compilation of this brochure, but it's hard to know if he saw the final copy before his untimely death.
My apologies for the cropped images, the brochure is slightly larger than my 12" x 8.75" flatbed scanner.
 |
| Cover page of brochure |
I descend from Percy as follows:
Wow, 29 patents! A major influence on safety, for sure. Enjoyed your post.
ReplyDeleteIt makes you wonder what was used before these safety railings were promoted. Thanks for your comment!
Delete