Arc Lamp (open access)

Arc Lamp

Patent for improvements arc lamps that "will be uninfluenced by the jar of the locomotive" (lines 17-19). Consisting of carbon-carriers rotated by clock-train.
Date: July 10, 1888
Creator: Gaston, E. James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Trap. (open access)

Animal Trap.

Patent for a new and improved animal trap. This design consists in "the combination of the wire frame having the parallel base-arms, the coiled-springs, the upwardly-extending arms, and the downwardly-extending loop, the loop or ring on the bend and engaged portions of said wire, and the trigger-wire having the frontwardly-projecting point engaging said ring" (lines 80-87).
Date: July 10, 1888
Creator: Beversdorf, Louis, Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Railway-Rail Chair and Tie (open access)

Combined Railway-Rail Chair and Tie

Patent for an improved railway-rail chair and tie
Date: January 10, 1888
Creator: Marks, Nicholas Marie
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spark-Arrester. (open access)

Spark-Arrester.

Patent for the "construction of a spark-arrester adapted to the smoke-stack of any locomotive" (lines 12-13) detailing a new and better combination and arrangement of plates and screens.
Date: February 10, 1880
Creator: Wiggin, John E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Appliance for Training Horses. (open access)

Appliance for Training Horses.

Patent for a new and improved appliance for training horses. This design "consists, essentially, in a leg-halter composed of chains or ropes connected by a common ring, or otherwise, and connected with gyves or shackles to encircle the pastern of each leg, a yoke or frame placed upon the withers, or forward or back thereof, and provided with a clamp, and a band passing through the clamp and down to one of the shackles, or to the horse's leg, the other end being carried to a convenient point to be passed by the trainer or attendant" (lines 9-20).
Date: August 10, 1886
Creator: Dodge, Israel Alexander
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tug. (open access)

Tug.

Patent for a new and improved hame tug. This design consists in "the carrier . . . adapted for connection with the belly and back bands, constructed with a recess for the spring and provided with guides or ways for the tug-bar, such guides or ways leading forward and back from the spring-recess, whereby the tug-bar may extend entirely through and beyond the opposite ends of the spring-receiving recess, combined with the tug-bar and the spring" (lines 68-77).
Date: July 10, 1888
Creator: French, Stephen H. & Maltby, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Spring. (open access)

Vehicle Spring.

Patent for a new and improved vehicle spring. This design consists in "front wheels [that] are set well under the wagon-bed, so as to facilitate turning; and . . . the spring-braces, while they greatly assist in strengthening the spring and supporting the load as it grows heavier, do not in any way interfere with the action of said springs. . . . By this improved construction a simple, strong, and durable vehicle is provided, in which heavy loads may be carried with ease" (lines 46-55).
Date: July 10, 1883
Creator: Payne, Joseph Mott
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle. (open access)

Vehicle.

Patent for a new and improved horse carriage. This design calls for "the rider [to] press the treadles so as to hold the wheels in contact with the ground. When sufficient speed has been acquired the treadles are released, and the springs will then raise the wheels from contact with the ground, and the momentum will then be sufficient to keep the wheel erect. Should it be inclined to tilt, it may easily be righted by pressing either treadle so as to throw the wheel on the tilting side in contact with the ground" (lines 61-74).
Date: July 10, 1883
Creator: Smith, James Franklin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Violin Tail Piece. (open access)

Violin Tail Piece.

Patent for a new and improved tail piece for violins. This design "has for its object to raise or lower the pitch of the strings simultaneously, when required" (lines 10-12).
Date: June 10, 1884
Creator: Smith, John J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lock for Sliding Doors. (open access)

Lock for Sliding Doors.

Patent for a new and improved lock. This design consists "[i]n a lock, the combination of the latch, the spring pressing upon it, and the trip-lever, provided with upper and lower arms and the former serving as a seat for the spring and the latter having a projection for the key to act upon" (lines 97-102).
Date: November 10, 1885
Creator: Hayden, Miles & Dixon, William Cason
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Basket. (open access)

Wire Basket.

Patent for a new and improved wire basket. This design "consists in a wire basket formed of a circular bottom, and a wire frame bent to form a cylinder, in the lower part of which cylinder the circular bottom is held" (lines 13-16).
Date: February 10, 1885
Creator: Elliott, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wood Working Machine. (open access)

Wood Working Machine.

Patent for a new and improved wood-working machine. This design "relates to improvements in wood-working machines, and is designed to produce a machine for automatically tapering material in either straight or curved lines. The improvement consists, essentially, in the employment of movable cutters approached or receded by means of a cam or cams, and is adaptable in forming staves and other portions of barrels or other articles in which the parts require a taper in straight or curved lines" (lines 8-17).
Date: August 10, 1886
Creator: Hourigan, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Loading Cartridges. (open access)

Machine for Loading Cartridges.

Patent for mechanizing and streamlining the steps involved in loading a cartridge.
Date: October 10, 1886
Creator: Franklin, Edward A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Loading Cartridges. (open access)

Machine for Loading Cartridges.

Patent for "improvement in machines for loading cartridges" (lines 5-6), with instructions and illustrations
Date: August 10, 1886
Creator: Franklin, Edward A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Log-Turner (open access)

Log-Turner

Patent for "that class of log-turners which is operated by power, and has for its object to provide a device that will be quick and positive in its operation" (lines 39-42).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Ferris, Henry Murry & Gallon, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Folding and Compressing Cotton Batting. (open access)

Machine for Folding and Compressing Cotton Batting.

Patent for a new and improved cotton folder and compressor. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a table provided with a series of transverse rolls of the same size, a reciprocating carriage mounted on the rolls, and a pair of super-imposed feeding-rolls arranged in line with the carriage, of a base arranged at the end of the table and provided with two opposite pairs of standards, the pair nearest the end of the table having vertically-opposite rolls, and the other pair of standards having a single roll, and a series of transverse feeding-rolls mounted on the base" (lines 46-57).
Date: December 10, 1889
Creator: Rembert, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tramping Attachment for Baling Presses. (open access)

Tramping Attachment for Baling Presses.

Patent for a new and improved attachment for baling presses. This design "consists of a contrivance of trampers and a crank with power mechanism for working them, in a simple arrangement for beating in the cotton on the follower preparatory to closing the press and completing the pressing by the follower, the device being calculated to enable the bales of full size to be made in a smaller case, and with less range of movement of the follower and more economically than they can be made without the tramper" (lines 8-18).
Date: June 10, 1884
Creator: Thompson, Gedeon Philip
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well Bucket. (open access)

Well Bucket.

Patent for a new and improved well-bucket. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the well-bucket, having the rabbeted opening in its bottom, and provided with the apertured cross-bars of the valve-rod passing through the apertures in said cross-bars and the opening in the bottom of the bucket, and the valve secured to the lower end of said rod" (lines 56-62).
Date: June 10, 1884
Creator: Foat, Robert H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design "relates to an improvement in . . . the construction of the mold-board and to the arrangement thereof relative to the plowshare. The mold-board, instead of being curved or concave, as has usually been the case, is . . . made perfectly flat, and so constructed that it projects at one corner slightly beyond the upper edge of the plowshare. . . . [C]onsequently the plow can be moved through the soil with less difficulty" (lines 13-25).
Date: January 10, 1882
Creator: Domschke, Charles.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Medicinal Compound. (open access)

Medicinal Compound.

Patent for an anti-inflammatory compound intended for use on both humans and animals.
Date: April 10, 1883
Creator: Bright, Harvey S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Power. (open access)

Mechanical Power.

Patent for a new and improved engine. This design "relates to mechanical powers, the object being to combine with an ordinary tread-wheel mechanical advices adapted to be operated by horse-power to revolve said wheel. The invention consists in the features of construction and combination of parts" (lines 9-14).
Date: July 10, 1883
Creator: Perrin, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Press. (open access)

Press.

Patent for a new and improved press. This design consists in "the combination of the manipulating-levers, the followers, and the toggle-arms, of which arms the outer ends of two are connected to the outer ends of the levers, while their inner ends are connected to the sides of the follower near its inner end, and the outer ends of the others are connected to the levers" (lines 96-102). The inner ends of these other toggle-arms have "their inner ends . . . connected to the sides of the other follower near its inner end" (lines 1-3).
Date: January 10, 1888
Creator: Gordon, Lorenzo Dow
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stock for Plow Trucks. (open access)

Stock for Plow Trucks.

Patent for a new and improved stock for plow-trucks. This design "provide[s] an improved stock and suitable devices for connecting a plow to any pair of wheels and axle forming a part of a wagon, by which simple additional connections a farmer may construct a sulky-plow in a cheap and simple manner" (lines 8-13).
Date: January 10, 1882
Creator: Hinson, Asa Chandler
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nut Lock. (open access)

Nut Lock.

Patent for a new and improved nut lock. This design "is to provide a spring-washer of great stiffness and strength, which, when applied to a bolt beneath a nut, serves to prevent the latter from turning, and also acts to firmly hold the parts of a rail-joint after there has been some wear thereof, thus keeping the bolts from becoming loose and rattling from such wear" (lines 13-20).
Date: June 10, 1884
Creator: Campbell, Eli F.; Noble, Laroy C. & Howe, Milton G.
System: The Portal to Texas History