Resource Type

Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Cars (open access)

Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Cars

Patent for "a coupling of such construction as will permit the coupling and uncoupling of the cars to be effected by the engineer and to be entirely and at all times under his perfect control" (lines 16-20).
Date: July 8, 1890
Creator: McWhirter, Robert & Scheble, Eugene S.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Band Cutter and Feeder. (open access)

Band Cutter and Feeder.

Patent for an improvement of band-cutters, involving cutting bands and spreading grain in regulated quantities and intervals. Includes illustration.
Date: October 28, 1890
Creator: Izard, William H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History

Temple Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1896
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History

Georgetown Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1893
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Sprayer Attachment for Washing-Machines. (open access)

Design for a Sprayer Attachment for Washing-Machines.

Design patent for a sprayer attachment for washing machines that includes a conical base-plate with a circular spout projection at its apex.
Date: November 16, 1897
Creator: Bessonette, William T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History

Temple Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1892
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History

Gatesville Sheet

Topographic map of a portion of Texas from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) project. The map includes towns, historic or notable sites, bodies of water, and other geologic features. Scale 1:125000
Date: 1894
Creator: Geological Survey (U.S.)
Object Type: Map
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wood-Working Machine. (open access)

Wood-Working Machine.

Patent for improvements in wood-working machine by using a combination of a toothed bar, a retractable slotted bar, a weight attached to the frame and a revolving wheel. With each single revolution of the drive-wheel, the slotted "bar is fed forward the distance of one tooth, and thus the cutter is gradually embedded in the material being operated upon at the same time it is rotated at a high rate of speed," (lines 94-97) illustration is included.
Date: March 17, 1891
Creator: Walton, George Washington
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Type-Writing Machine (open access)

Type-Writing Machine

Patent for improvements to typewriters "to provide means whereby a number of sheets of paper may be inserted at one time and removed successively after each page is written, there by obviating the necessity of removing the completed sheet and replacing it by a new one at the end of each page" (lines 14-20).
Date: January 14, 1890
Creator: Pierce, Jesse W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine (open access)

Washing-Machine

Patent for "improvements in the water-wheel and in the, mechanism for imparting motion thereto, whereby the washing-liquid is made to flow upward between the sides of an outer and inner pan and downward upon the articles to be washed, which are inclosed in the said inner pan, as will be now described and claimed, and is adapted to wash any articles that may be placed within the said inner pan" (lines 17-26).
Date: May 13, 1890
Creator: McCausland, William, I.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon Brake. (open access)

Wagon Brake.

Patent for a new and improved wagon brake. This design consists, "with the vehicle, of the rock-shaft arranged upon opposite sides of the rear wheels, the bell-crank lever fulcrumed on the body between said shaft, the rod connecting the rear shaft and one arm of said lever, the bar pivoted to the other arm of the lever and the front rock-shaft, and the operating lever provided with the integral arm arranged at an angle to the lever and connected with the front rock-shaft" (lines 92-101).
Date: August 19, 1890
Creator: Walton, George Washington
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Type-Writing Machine. (open access)

Type-Writing Machine.

Patent for improvements in type-writers by compactly arranged many parts together, such as the sliding block, the vibrating plate, the feed-roller and etc..., "and in which the work can at all times be viewed by the operator. The printing is accomplished on a flat surface... new sheets thus saved,” (p. 4, lines 111-118). Illustration is included.
Date: February 17, 1891
Creator: Pierce, Jesse W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Journal-Lubricator. (open access)

Journal-Lubricator.

Patent for improvements in lubricators by mounting a box, with a pair holes near its ends, on a bearing; with partitions across the box adjacent each holes, a pair of cord shape wicks and a depending flange, depressing the wicks to the bottom of the box. “When the box filled with liquid lubricant and the cover closed, the lower edge of the flange depresses the wicks, submerging them at the center of the box, and the wicks absorb oil at this point, the oil is lead thence by capillary attraction along the wicks down through the holes in the bottom of the box and into the groove, whence it is delivered by direct contact upon the upper side of the rotating shaft which it is desired to lubricate.” (Lines 52-63) Illustration is included.
Date: May 19, 1891
Creator: Hubbard, Benjamin V.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Step. (open access)

Vehicle Step.

Patent for a foldaway step that can be mounted on the side of a vehicle.
Date: June 28, 1892
Creator: Walton, Sam H. & Smith, James H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window-blind and awning (open access)

Window-blind and awning

Patent for a pair of swinging window blinds.
Date: June 18, 1897
Creator: Gluck, Solomon & Keach, George D.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive Ash Pan. (open access)

Locomotive Ash Pan.

Patent for a new and improved locomotive ash pan. This design "relates to ash-pans for locomotive and other fire-boxes; and it has for its object to provide a simple and improved device of this character in which the contents of the pan may be discharged therefrom by a single operation of a controlling-lever. To this end the invention consists . . . in a sliding frame working in guides, a series of slats forming the entire bottom of the pan pivoted to the frame and carried thereby, a lever for operating said frame, and means for sustaining the slats normally in horizontal position" (lines 11-23).
Date: May 31, 1892
Creator: Johnson, Charles J. W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lock-Hinge. (open access)

Lock-Hinge.

Patent for a combined lock and door hinge for a door where it "is automatically locked or held in a set position without special adjustment or manipulation, and by which, by the adjustment of a member provided for that purpose, the door may be locked permanently in any desired position" (lines 12-17). It is especially meant for screen doors, coach doors in railway cars, shutters, &c.
Date: June 12, 1894
Creator: Bessonette, William T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lifting-Jack. (open access)

Lifting-Jack.

Patent for a strong, simple, and easily-operable lifting-jack meant for use in railroad car-axle boxes. It is a lifting bar with ratchet teeth, a lever that pivots against the lifting bar, a mechanism that holds and releases the bar, a pawl, and a double-arm spring connected to the pawl.
Date: August 13, 1895
Creator: Hough, William S.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Knee-Pad. (open access)

Knee-Pad.

Patent for knee pads that are "simple, inexpensive, and durable, and which is so constructed as to hold the knee of the user in an elevated position above the ground or other surface upon which the pad may be placed, thereby preventing the knee contacting with the ground or other surface and causing injury to the knee (lines 10-17).
Date: December 29, 1897
Creator: Rice, John T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle-Wheel Scraper. (open access)

Vehicle-Wheel Scraper.

Patent for a "device adapted to be readily applied to a vehicle to prevent mud from clinging to the wheels, and thereby make the draft lighter on a horse or team, and at the same time prevent mud from being thrown upon the body of a vehicle and the occupants thereof." (Lines 12-17) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 20, 1897
Creator: Taylor, Mascener
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tongue-Bar-Supporting Clamp. (open access)

Tongue-Bar-Supporting Clamp.

Patent for a clamp that holds the hammers in a piano. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 24, 1897
Creator: Moyer, Jesse Hechler
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Thill-Tug. (open access)

Thill-Tug.

Patent for a simple thill-tug that can be easily connected and disconnected, and is strong and durable. It does not use spring latches, and the device attaches to the harness.
Date: January 29, 1895
Creator: Carton, William
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pump. (open access)

Pump.

Patent for improvements in pumps especially adapted for deep wells by using different approaches to construct and arrange the strainer, the working barrel, the conical valve seat and other parts to pump the water upward. Illustration is included.
Date: October 20, 1891
Creator: Branham, Robert
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mode of and Means for Baling Fibrous Materials. (open access)

Mode of and Means for Baling Fibrous Materials.

Patent for a mode of and means for baling fibrous materials, especially materials that can be made into a lap or web. The invention doesn't have the issues that other balers have and uses a core, supported by the base, to wind the material around. The bale it forms is square so it can be easily shipped and the risk of fire is decreased. Caps for the bale are secured before the bale leaves the compress.
Date: November 5, 1895
Creator: Bruner, Thomas H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History