Blacking Brush. (open access)

Blacking Brush.

Patent for a new and improved blacking brush. This design "relates to an improvement in boot-blacking brushes so disposed that fluid blacking may be used; and to this end [the design] provide[s] a reservoir at one end with a forwardly-projecting tube or nozzle therefrom, the said reservoir having a disk at one side, so that when pressed the liquid will be forced through the nozzle upon the boot" (lines 13-20).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: England, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn-Planter. (open access)

Corn-Planter.

Patent for a cotton or corn planter with detachable parts.
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Yarborough, William O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Copy Holder. (open access)

Copy Holder.

Patent for a new and improved copy-holder. This design "is [for] an improved copy-holder intended especially for holding deeds when being transcribed to the records, and seeks to provide a simple, inexpensive construction by which the deed may be held and to and from which the deed or other paper may be adjusted without difficulty, such construction serving also to mark or indicate the particular line of the paper being copied" (lines 7-15).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Adair, Irvine James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Air Compressor for Deep Well Pumps. (open access)

Air Compressor for Deep Well Pumps.

Patent for a new and improved air-compressor. This design "relates to improvements in air-compressing mechanism for the purpose of pumping for forcing from deep wells and performing similar work; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of a larger and smaller air-cylinder, and the combination therewith of mechanism to force the air from the larger into the smaller cylinder to increase the air-pressure in the latter" (lines 22-30).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Adams, John R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bill or Paper File. (open access)

Bill or Paper File.

Patent for a new and improved bill or paper file. This design "relates to hook-files, the object being to so improve their construction as to prevent the bills or papers on the file from working off. The invention consists, essentially, in a file provided with a tongue pivoted near the point of the hook" (lines 7-13).
Date: August 9, 1887
Creator: Gilbert, Frank B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Cleaner and Condenser. (open access)

Cotton Cleaner and Condenser.

Patent for a new and improved cotton cleaner and condenser. This design "is to provide a machine that will take the cotton as it comes from the gin and clean and condense it at one operation; and to this end the novelty consists . . . in an inclosing-shell having a foraminous drum revolving about an open-ended shell which has a longitudinal opening in its periphery, so as to remove the sand and dirt, and . . . in a foraminous drum revolving within a semicircular wire cage, whereby the cotton will be carried around in rolls on the drum and inside of the cage, so as to remove the leaf and trash" (lines 16-28).
Date: August 9, 1887
Creator: Hess, Daniel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clutch Clamp. (open access)

Clutch Clamp.

Patent for a new and improved clutch-clamp. This design "is to provide a simple and effective device for lowering or hoisting the pipe or rods of pumps into bored wells or other places, such as mines or shafts, and without injury to the pipe or rod, such device being not only readily and easily handled in connecting it to or disconnecting it from the object to be raised or lowered, but capable of being manufactured at comparatively small cost" (lines 20-29).
Date: August 16, 1887
Creator: McCoy, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bridge. (open access)

Bridge.

Patent for "improvements in bridges of that class which are used for crossing streams or country roads, and for such other purposes as a bridge may be desired" (lines 15-18), with instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 16, 1887
Creator: Mitchell, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Auger. (open access)

Auger.

Patent for a new and improved auger. This design consists in "[t]he combination of a shank provided with a conveying-screw and the cutters at the lower end of the screw, the sides of the cutters being extended beyond a vertical line drawn across the edges of the screw, and a tube or casing enclosing the screw and connected at its lower end with the cutters, said tube being of less diameter than the cutters and arranged within the outer sides thereof" (lines 56-64).
Date: August 23, 1887
Creator: Tevebaugh, Henry Clay
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bobbin Winder for Sewing Machines. (open access)

Bobbin Winder for Sewing Machines.

Patent for a new and improved bobbin-winder for sewing machines. This design consists in "the combination, with the shaft provided with a screw-threaded aperture at one end and having a groove formed near the other end, and a carrying pulley, of the spindle provided with a threaded extension entering said screw-threaded aperture of the shaft, said spindle having a taper and made of highly tempered metal" (lines 66-73).
Date: August 23, 1887
Creator: Evetts, Thomas Frankling
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cultivator and Corn-Planter (open access)

Combined Cultivator and Corn-Planter

Patent for "a planter that shall be self-covering and adjustable as to the transverse and longitudinal space between the hills and rows, and which at the same time may be regulated as to the amount of material fed at each throw of the seed-slide, and which will also mark off the adjacent row as the machine advances" (lines 10-16).
Date: August 23, 1887
Creator: Westhoff, Emil
System: The Portal to Texas History
Composition To Be Used As A Non-Conductor Of Heat And For Other Purposes. (open access)

Composition To Be Used As A Non-Conductor Of Heat And For Other Purposes.

Patent for a non-conducting material designed to prevent heat loss from radiation, prevent damage from frost, for fire-proofing, and for "the deafening of floors and partitions" (lines 21-22). Ingredients and proportions are listed.
Date: August 30, 1887
Creator: Clayton, Nicholas Joseph.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon Brake (open access)

Wagon Brake

Patent for an improvement in wagon brakes
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Templeton, Absalom
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Top. (open access)

Vehicle Top.

Patent for a new and improved vehicle roof. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the rabbeted vehicle-top-supporting bows, of strips mounted in said rabbets and provided with overlapping upper ends, curtain-supporting frames, and clips carried by said frames and arranged to engage the overlapping strips" (lines 92-97).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: McCurdy, Thomas B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lock. (open access)

Lock.

Patent for a new and improved lock that which "provide a lock for doors, safes, drawers, and the like, the bolt of which is adapted to be unlocked from he outsides by means of a combination, and while being release will instantly ring the door-bell by means of connecting wires, and which, when operated from the inside, can be opened without giving the signal on the bell, and in either operation the parts of the lock will automatically return to their position and lock the bot in the striker-plate unless otherwise adjusted" (lines 14-25)
Date: August 30, 1887
Creator: Rau, Louis Carl
System: The Portal to Texas History
Warning Strip for Wire Fences. (open access)

Warning Strip for Wire Fences.

Patent for a new and improved warning strip for wire fences. This design "relates to warning-strips for wire fences designed as a visible signal to indicate the presence of the fence, and thus prevent cattle from running against the same and tearing themselves on the barbs" (lines 9-13).
Date: August 9, 1887
Creator: Cloud, William Johnston
System: The Portal to Texas History
Standard for Logging Cars. (open access)

Standard for Logging Cars.

Patent for a new and improved standard for logging-cars. This design "consists of a pivoted standard connected by links to a lever a short distance from its pivot, so that when the lever is turned out of alignment with the links the standard will be firmly locked in position. . . . The object of [the] invention is to provide a standard for cars and wagons which can be readily turned down out of the way when loading, and which, when turned up into position, will be firmly and securely held" (lines 7-16).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Minnock, Edmund Junius
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam Engine Governor. (open access)

Steam Engine Governor.

Patent for a new and improved steam-engine governor. This design consists in "the combination, with the valve-stem and governor-balls, of a lever connected with the said valve-stem, a weighted lever connected with the said valve-stem lever, a piston-rod connected with the said weighted lever, a piston attached to the said piston-rod, and a small cylinder in which the said piston operates, and which is connected at one end with the interior of the steam-chest" (lines 93-102).
Date: August 16, 1887
Creator: Arnold, Eliphalet L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam Engine (open access)

Steam Engine

Patent for an "new and improved steam-engine in which a dead center position is obviated and the pressure of the live steam is completely and very advantageously utilized" (line 7-11)
Date: August 30, 1887
Creator: Rush, Peter S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Store-Awning. (open access)

Store-Awning.

Patent for a new awning design for shops that is easily raised and lowered, including illustrations.
Date: August 30, 1887
Creator: Persohn, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Animal-Traps. (open access)

Improvement in Animal-Traps.

Patent for improvements to animal-traps to wound or kill rats, mice, and game with the size and strength being adjustable to the size of animals sought.
Date: August 15, 1887
Creator: Martin, Josiah
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway-Switch (open access)

Railway-Switch

Patent for "automatic switches wherein the operative devices are under the control of the engineer, brake-man, or other authorized person on the train or a portion thereof" (lines 12-16).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Robberson, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Folding and Self Supporting Ironing Table. (open access)

Folding and Self Supporting Ironing Table.

Patent for a new and improved ironing board. This design consists in "the combination of a board, a leaf hinged thereto near one end, and adapted to bear against the same when turned to an upright position, a reach pivotally connected at one end with the leaf, the supporting-feet pivoted to the leaf, the supporting-feet pivoted to the free end of the reach, and the arm intermediate the free ends of the reach and board to support the latter in position when unfolded for use" (lines 24-33).
Date: August 16, 1887
Creator: White, Andrew Asbrey & King, Charles Rufus
System: The Portal to Texas History
Door Check. (open access)

Door Check.

Patent for a new and improved door check. This design "is to provide a means for preventing the jarring and noise incident to the sudden stoppage of a door or window-blind in closing . . . and to this end it consists of a hinge having one leaf provided with a case or box extending laterally from the back thereof, the said case or box inclosing a spring-actuated bolt which normally projects beyond the point of the leaf, and is arranged to engage with the other leaf of the hinge when the door is closed" (lines 7-19).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Byrne, Matthew Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History