Wire-Stretcher (open access)

Wire-Stretcher

Patent for a wire stretcher for stretching wire to build fences.
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Burdick, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Top. (open access)

Vehicle Top.

Patent for a new and improved vehicle-top. This design "is to simplify, improve, and cheapen the construction of vehicle-tops . . . and enable the sliding curtain to be more readily and securely fastened to the standards and bows of the carriage-top" (lines 12-18). To this end, it consists in "[t]he combination of the supporting-bows provided with longitudinal grooves, and the curtain-carrying frame comprising flat flexible strips arranged in the said grooves and provided at intervals with inwardly-extending plates having perforations, and the parallel cross-pieces secured to the plates" (lines 84-90).
Date: September 30, 1890
Creator: McCurdy, Thomas B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Type Writing Machine. (open access)

Type Writing Machine.

Patent for a type writing machine that is small and portable, including illustrations.
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Depuy, Gilbert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Type-Writing Machine for the Blind (open access)

Type-Writing Machine for the Blind

Patent for "an improvement in machines for the production of writings for the blind, under what is technically termed the point system" (lines 8-11).
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Sthreshley, Lizzie
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well Drill. (open access)

Well Drill.

Patent for a new and improved well-drill. This design consists "[i]n a drill, the cylinder closed at its upper end by a head with a stuffing-box and a tapering opening and provided at its lower end with suitable cutters, in combination with an operating-rod passing through the upper head and a weight, said operating-rod being provided with spring-arms adapted to engage and raise said weight within the cylinder and at the top thereof automatically to release it" (lines 27-35).
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Welke, William Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trace Carrier. (open access)

Trace Carrier.

Patent for a new and improved trace-carrier. This design "consist[s] of a rectangular frame, a central integral transverse bar provided at its upper and lower edges with pairs of spaced-apart superficial ribs having central aligning bores, a spring-pressed bolt mounted in one of said ribs, adapted at its inner end to take into the opposite rib and provided at its outer end with a knob or head, a pintle mounted in the lower pair of ribs, a tongue pivoted upon the pintle, said tongue having its upper end reduced to fit between the upper pair of ribs and provided with an eye for the reception of the bolt" (lines 82-94).
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Harbour, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tongs. (open access)

Tongs.

Patent for new and improved tongs. This design "is especially adapted for the recovery of tools, broken sections, stones, or débris from artesian-well borings" (lines 54-57). It consists "of a solid or tubular shank provided with spring-metal tines, a ring to slide thereon, and a hollow weight sliding on the tube adapted to drive the ring down upon the tines" (lines 12-16).
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Welke, William Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay Press. (open access)

Hay Press.

Patent for a new and improved hay-press. This design "consists in a horizontal frame having at its open end a pivoted and weighted abutment, a plunger adapted to reciprocate in the frame, a toggle-lever connecting the plunger with the closed end of the frame, and means for actuating the toggle-lever" (lines 14-20).
Date: September 30, 1890
Creator: Smith, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Snap-Hook (open access)

Snap-Hook

Patent for a snap hook in order to "provide a hook of simple construction that shall be securely locked when in use" (p. 2)
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Adams, Don B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rod for End Gates. (open access)

Rod for End Gates.

Patent for a new and improved rod for wagon gates. This design is "first, to provide a rod that can be readily attached or detached to the end-gate of any wagon or vehicle; second, to provide a rod that will effectually and rigidly hold the end-gate in position and afford practical facility whereby the end-gates of vehicles can be quickly opened or closed and detached from the wagon-bed or placed in their normal position therein" (lines 15-23).
Date: September 30, 1890
Creator: Coyle, Dan
System: The Portal to Texas History
Reamer. (open access)

Reamer.

Patent for a new and improved reamer. This design "relates to reamers for use in boring artesian wells and other similar purposes; and it consists, essentially, of a hollow cylindrical body adapted to be attached to a suitable driving-head and provided with peripheral expansion-cutters operated by an internal plunger" (lines 11-17).
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Welke, William Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator. (open access)

Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved cultivator. This design "relates to cultivators; and it has for its object to construct a device of this class . . . in which the blades or shovels shall be attached to the standards in such a manner that in the event of obstacles such as rocks or stumps being encountered during the operation of [the] machine the blades shall become detached, thereby avoiding injury to the machine" (lines 9-18).
Date: September 30, 1890
Creator: Messer, Jeremiah Clark; Garner, Allen & Williams, John Winn
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gas-Cylinder for Elevating Heavy Ordnance (open access)

Gas-Cylinder for Elevating Heavy Ordnance

Patent for "improved means for effecting the desired movements of the gun, to elevate the latter for discharge, and retract it for loading and concealment" (lines 19-24).
Date: September 30, 1890
Creator: Payne, John J. E. H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Back Band Buckle. (open access)

Back Band Buckle.

Patent for a new and improved back-band buckle. This design "is to provide a simple and inexpensive back-band buckle adapted to protect the sides of an animal against rubbing, and capable of enabling the tug-chain to be readily secured thereto and removed therefrom and of securely holding the same without liability of the chain becoming accidentally unfastened" (lines 10-17).
Date: September 30, 1890
Creator: McCall, Dugald B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Fire Extinguisher. (open access)

Automatic Fire Extinguisher.

Patent for a new and improved fire extinguisher. This design is "to provide for automatically putting out a fire in any building in which [the] apparatus may be located, upon the temperature in said building or room reaching any predetermined degree. This result is accomplished by the action of an expansible fluid—such as mercury—in a contained vessel, which actuates certain . . . mechanism, causing the structure to be flooded with water or with a fire-extinguishing gas or fluid" (lines 22-32).
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Fuller, Wily Scott
System: The Portal to Texas History