Rocket PoweR, InteRstellaR tRavel and eteRnal lIfe

AUTOMOTIVE BRAKE
AND ACCELERATOR PEDAL
Robert Boyles has observed Daniel Hungerford was a
genius who could do anything mechanically. Boyles, as
a young man spending time at the Hungerford shop,
saw many of Hungerford’s inventions which did not
pay off. For example, there was a device for taking a car
out of gear when the driver’s foot was applied to the
brake pedal which Hungerford installed on a
Terraplane car he owned.
A surviving, rough, pencil drawing showing a similar
device is labeled “Combination Foot Brake and Acc.
Pedal Invented by D. D. Hungerford Oct. 10-1962”. The
names of Guy W. Harder, a Hungerford neighbor, and
Russell L. Barr, an inventor and Hungerford colleague,
are attached to the sheet as “witnesses”. 181
A 1965 letter from Joseph Crupi, of the Ford Motor
Company’s engineering “New Devices” staff to
Hungerford acknowledges receipt of a Hungerford letter
concerning the combined brake and accelerator system.
Crupi noted a number of “similar constructions”
were proposed both by Ford employees and outsiders.
He indicated that in the case of a “particularly novel
construction” the Ford Company would consider it,
preferring to deal with patented ideas as an indication
of novelty with the “rights of the patentee . . . established.”
182
An undated newspaper clip notes:
Only six years ago, Dan picked me up at my store
and took me for a test ride in an old car wherein the
accelerator and brake all worked on the SAME
pedal. He’ll never know until he reads this how
scared I was that afternoon. As I recall, you pushed
your foot part way down to feed the gas, and all the
way down to apply the brakes. Gosh, I shiver at the
thought of one-pedal cars downtown on Friday
Nights, but then . . . Dan’s invention was only in the
blueprint stage at that time…and traffic was
lighter. 183
KEY EJECTOR
H. Steven Sekella recalls a Daniel Hungerford device to
prevent a person from leaving a key in a lock. Primarily
intended for house doors, the device was also applicable
to automobile locks. A spring would eject the key if
the user did not pull it from the lock. The experimental
model Hungerford devised was “too powerful”, throwing
the key from the test lock across the Hungerford
yard. 184
VINE TYING TOOL
In an August 1966 letter, Daniel Hungerford noted that
“loosing [sic] 823 [his house at 823 West Second Street]
and loss of my arm has tied up work on the Vine Tiiing
[sic] Tool.” Then on November 7 [?], 1966, Hungerford
wrote to Harry O. Bright, an attorney at Winston-Salem,
North Carolina, to seek compensation of $2,000,000 for
an injury working with the Elmira Water Board. This
injury then led to
My inability to complete a contract, to develope
[sic] a tool for one of the wine companie’s [sic] in
Hammondsport, N.Y. Shortly be fore [sic] my
injury, I was most fortunate the agreement was
verbal and not bonded. I don’t [sic] mean that I
wanted to squirm out of the deal. Not at all. I was
making good progress with the invention, until
[sic] two and one half years ago. When I had a
relapse of my condition, rendering my right arm
almost completely, [sic] I could barely lift my
crutch, much less handle tools. . . .
Returning to my invention, for a moment, same
when completed, and put on the market is worth,
millions of dollars. 185
Unfortunately, the author has no additional information
about this device.
SNOW PLOW
In the fall of 1966 in an undated letter to Mayor Howard
H. Kimball and the Elmira city council, Hungerford
mentioned that he, and his late brother Floyd, had
devised “an invention, to be attached, to road scraper
and, [sic] snow plow blades.” During the previous winter,
he had sent “drawings, specifications, and, letter of
terms, under which we would be willing to let Elmira,
develope [sic] and use our invention”. Hearing nothing
from the city, Hungerford in his letter asked for the
return of the material, enclosing “postage to cover cost
of mailing.” 186
MOTORCYCLE
Robert Boyles remembers a motorcycle Hungerford
“built from scratch”. Boyles added, “I never saw the
motorcycle in operation, but noted that it was chain
driven.” 187
Chapter Two: Hungerford Inventions 45