Beard began his career working for Oakley's, a firm of brass-finishers who were involved in the manufacture of magic lantern. As an inventor he developed an automatic regulator for high-pressure oxygen cylinders, a necessity for lantern illuminants, and set up his own company to manufacture it. He also invented the Eclipse slide carrier, which made magic lantern operation easier, and gave a primitive mix on the screen. Beard went on to develop cinema projectors that were used into the twentieth century.