Book-Support. (open access)

Book-Support.

Patent for improvements in book support: "book are held in an upright position on the shelves" (lines 9-10).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Muir, James Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for improvements to churns, "and has special reference to what are known as 'vibrating-dasher' churns." (lines 11-12) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 3, 1891
Creator: Anderson, Henry C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gear-Shifting Mechanism for Harvester-Conveyers. (open access)

Gear-Shifting Mechanism for Harvester-Conveyers.

Patent for a locking-lever for the gear-shifting mechanism for harvester-conveyers. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 27, 1891
Creator: Schubert, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gear Shifting Mechanism for Harvesters. (open access)

Gear Shifting Mechanism for Harvesters.

Patent for a new and improved gear-shifting mechanism for harvesters. This design "has reference more especially to a gear-shifting mechanism for a reciprocating conveyer in which a gear is engaged and automatically disengaged as the conveyer nears the end of its stubbleward movement" (lines 10-15). It consists, "with a bar provided with a guide having a slot and a depression in said slot, an antifriction roller on said guide, a block or track having a recess, a movable bearing pivoted to the harvester-frame with one end and extending with its other end to the guide" (lines 106-112).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Schubert, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Calculator. (open access)

Mechanical Calculator.

Patent for improvements in pivoting arm and sliding arm calculators. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 28, 1891
Creator: Mader, Theodore
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pneumatic Conveyer for Unloading Cotton. (open access)

Pneumatic Conveyer for Unloading Cotton.

Patent for a new and improved pneumatic conveyer. This design "relates to improvements in pneumatic conveyers of that class or style adapted for unloading cotton from a wagon and depositing it on the gin-stand or other place; and the object is to provide a machine whereby cotton may be readily, conveniently, and expeditiously taken from the wagon or other vehicle or dumping-platform and carried or conveyed through a pneumatic tube and deposited on the gin-stand or similar floor for ginning" (lines 9-19).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Stafford, George A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Support for Wire Fences. (open access)

Support for Wire Fences.

Patent for improvements to supports for wire fences, so that wooden posts and other supplemental devices are not necessary. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 1, 1891
Creator: Weeks, Frank B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nut and Bolt Wrench. (open access)

Nut and Bolt Wrench.

Patent for a new and improved wrench. This design consists in "a wrench-head having a handle and a longitudinal slot through the wrench-head, a slidable bar having a jaw moving in said slot, a rack upon said bar, a worm-wheel in the wrench-head, meshing with the rack, and a jaw upon the wrench-head, jointly with a screw-driver inserted in the end of the slidable bar, said wrench-head having a plane outer surrounding surface in proximity to the longitudinal slot" (lines 1-10).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Hoval, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hoisting Apparatus. (open access)

Hoisting Apparatus.

Patent for "an improved hoisting apparatus for use in loading and unloading freight from and upon a wharf, bluff, bank, or other elevated place." (Lines 8-11) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 14, 1891
Creator: Davis, Benjamin F. & Davis, Matilda L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine. (open access)

Washing-Machine.

Patent for improvements to washing machines that allow the water to be heated to any temperature. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: September 22, 1891
Creator: Eddleman, Dudley E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine. (open access)

Washing-Machine.

Patent for improvements in washing machines, with instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 26, 1891
Creator: Turpen, George Sidney
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Spoon. (open access)

Design for a Spoon.

Design patent for a souvenir spoon typical or representative of the state of Texas; "The leading feature of [the] design is a head and bust of Davy Crockett, which forms the outer and wide end of the handle...About the middle of the shank and projecting on each side of the same is the lone star, while on the bowl of the spoon is a representation of the old building known as the 'Alamo'" (lines 14-22).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Hughes, Joseph A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shoe-Fastening. (open access)

Shoe-Fastening.

Patent for the improvement of shoe fastenings by making them out of leather and with more fashionable eyelets. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 11, 1891
Creator: Hamilton, Samuel McCleary
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horseshoe. (open access)

Horseshoe.

Patent for improvements in horseshoes, which will have two parts that pivot together at the toe. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 18, 1891
Creator: Custer, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for this plow relates to an improvement in plows commly known as "sweeps;" and provides a device of cheap and simple construction adapted to be applied to the rear or upper edge of an ordinary sweep.
Date: February 23, 1892
Creator: Hill, David Jeferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Protector for Trunks or Shipping-Cases. (open access)

Protector for Trunks or Shipping-Cases.

Patent for trunk protectors "which can be readily attached and detached from the receptacle, and when attached will protect each corner." (lines 20-22) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 29, 1891
Creator: Jennings, Joseph Joshua
System: The Portal to Texas History
Memorandum Tablet. (open access)

Memorandum Tablet.

Patent for a new and improved memo pad. This design "consists, essentially, in a tablet or tickler consisting of fifty-two connected sheets divided into six spaces for the six business days of the week, with the day of the week, month, and day of month provided above each space, the pages being indexed at the bottom—the first six months of the year at the left and the last six months at the right—with an intermediate space for advertisements" (lines 22-31).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Seymour, George H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Penholder. (open access)

Penholder.

Patent for a new and improved pen holder. This design "relates to improvements in penholders whereby the pen may be automatically discharged or ejected from the holder" (lines 8-11). It consists "of a staff with tenoned end, a portion of which is cut out of its upper surface with a downward bevel to its lower end, a beveled slide adapted to fit and slide upon the beveled cut in the staff, said slide being provided with a slight shoulder upon its upper side and a hole through the same for a screw or pin, a tube longitudinally slotted inclosing said staff and slide" (lines 38-47).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Blalock, William Benjamin & Muir, James Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History