Language

Vehicle Axle Box. (open access)

Vehicle Axle Box.

Patent for a new and improved axle box for vehicles. This design consists of a novel combination of spindle, detachable and reversible bearing-sleeve, interposed elastic sleeves, hub, axle-box, and lubricator (lines 74-90).
Date: February 15, 1881
Creator: Applewhite, David Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horse Collar. (open access)

Horse Collar.

Patent for a new and improved horse collar. This design "is to supply a cheap, durable, easy fitting and self adjusting or flexible horse-collar for farm and other use, and which shall readily adapt itself to the form of the animal, and thereby obviate those abrasions which are so common with the use of a rigid and unyielding collar. To these and other ends [the] collar is made for the most part of what is known as "moss-yarn," with its strands or fibers arranged and the body of the collar subjected to pressure in a mold or press" (lines 9-20).
Date: June 15, 1886
Creator: Bailey, William Luther; Knight, Leonard Thaddeus & Knight, Lenis Douglas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling press. This design consists in "the frame, drum, the power-ropes to be wound thereon, and the platen combined with the levers having rounded upper and lower ends to operate in rounded sockets in the said platen and the upper part of the frame and the toggle-joints near the centers of the said levers, comprising the rounded projection on one of the members adapted to fit a corresponding cavity or recess in the adjacent end of the other member, the lateral ears and the pin to pass through said ears and the rounded projection" (lines 12-23).
Date: May 15, 1888
Creator: Bartle, John Nelson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Filter. (open access)

Filter.

Patent for a new and improved filter. This design is for "[a] filter consisting of sections secured together at their meeting edges by a lapped joint, the upper edge of [a] section being fitted wholly within [another] section and forming a shoulder for the support of a screen-plate, and the body of filtering material above, a shoulder on [a] section below [the] shoulder, and screen plates resting on and held to the shoulders by the weight of the body of filtering material, whereby, when the filter-sections are inverted, the [other] shoulder serves to support [the] screen and the filtering material above" (lines 45-56).
Date: February 15, 1887
Creator: Begemann, Charles Fredrich William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing Machine. (open access)

Washing Machine.

Patent for a new and improved washing machine. This design has a reversible trough, "having bearings for the detachable rollers and provided with a pair of flat springs affixed rigidly to opposite sides and at opposite ends of the trough, hooked screw-bolts having thumb-screws, and shaft of the main roller" (lines 1-6).
Date: November 15, 1881
Creator: Blake, Llewellyn A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Child's Crib. (open access)

Child's Crib.

Patent for a new and improved child's crib. This design utilizes "a rock-shaft with inward-projecting arms, from the inner ends of which the cords are suspended, [and it] avoid[s] the friction and wear of the cords incident to the carrying of these through the screw-eyes, as shown in [a previous patent], making them last much longer, beside simplifying the construction of the crib" (lines 67-74).
Date: March 15, 1881
Creator: Brown, Fred Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Motive Power. (open access)

Motive Power.

Patent for a new and improved Motive Power. This design consists "[i]n a motor, the frame, in combination with a windlass or drum, a rope adapted to be wound thereon, a pulley-block provided with a series of pulleys, a weight also provided with pulleys, the rope being passed through the respective pulleys, devices for winding the windlass, and mechanism for transmitting the movement of the windlass while the rope is being unwound" (lines 35-43).
Date: December 15, 1885
Creator: Brown, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hopple. (open access)

Hopple.

Patent for a new and improved hopple. This design consists in the combination of the surcingle, the bands connected to the bottom thereof, the supporting straps secured to one of said bands, and the knee-bands constructed of stiff leather in semi-cylindrical form, attached to said straps and having the securing-straps" (lines 37-42).
Date: November 15, 1887
Creator: Burris, John Albert Wilson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Center and Other Tables. (open access)

Center and Other Tables.

Patent for a new and improved table. This design consists "[i]n a table, stool, or other like article of furniture, the combination, with a slotted standard and rods extending across the slots, of the legs having dowel-pins entering holes in the under side of the table-top, and cam-shaped hooks connected to the legs and engaging with the slots and rods of the standard" (lines 73-79).
Date: September 15, 1885
Creator: Burroughs, William Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate Latch. (open access)

Gate Latch.

Patent for a new and improved gate-latch. This design consists in "the rings loosely suspended on opposite sides of a central line, levers extended past such central line, and having their inner ends engaged with the rings on the opposite sides of the center from the handle ends, and partition-plates interposed between such levers and the rings past which they are extended" (lines 79-86).
Date: November 15, 1887
Creator: Charleville, George William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Folding Cradle. (open access)

Folding Cradle.

Patent for a new and improved folding cradle. This design "consists of a cradle formed of two triangular folding end frames provided with folding braces and connected by longitudinal rods, from which the canvas bottom is supported, which frames are pivoted at their apex on the top of two connected triangular folding standards, and are provided with a crank for swinging the cradle. . . . [The cradle] is simple in construction and may be provided with a fan attachment" (lines 10-19).
Date: February 15, 1881
Creator: Clark, Chester Cady
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Planter (open access)

Cotton-Planter

Patent for "a device which shall be simple in construction and by meansof which the planting of the seed may be performed in an even and regular manner" (lines 9-13).
Date: October 15, 1889
Creator: Cook, John R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bottle Stopper. (open access)

Bottle Stopper.

Patent for a new and improved bottle stopper. This design "consists in the combination of the tubular body, having its lower end closed by means of a cork, and having its upper end formed into a measuring-chamber, which is adapted to be closed by means of a cork, so as to protect the measuring chamber from dust and dirt" (lines 13-19).
Date: July 15, 1884
Creator: Cotten, Jefferson Davis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Portable Flour and Meal Bin. (open access)

Portable Flour and Meal Bin.

Patent for a new and improved bin for flour and meal. This design "consist[s], essentially, of the casing having compartments provided with contracted curved bottoms, the spouts in said bottoms, the spirally-grooved shafts in said spouts, the chambers the bottoms of which are hinged to the casing and provided with the sieves, and the stirrers on the ends of the shafts and within the hinged chambers" (lines 81-89).
Date: March 15, 1887
Creator: Cox, Thomas Jefferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fare-Box (open access)

Fare-Box

Patent for new and useful improvements in electrical fare boxes.
Date: May 15, 1888
Creator: Crowdus, Walter A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railroad Switch. (open access)

Railroad Switch.

Patent for a new and improved railroad switch. This design "consists in securing the short switch-rail to a long guard-rail, instead of pivoting it to the end of the sliding-rail or supporting-plate, the said guard-rail having the end remote from the short switch-rail spiked securely to the track, and the end carrying the switch-rail provided with lever or other moving devices whereby the switch-rails are thrown" (lines 21-29).
Date: January 15, 1884
Creator: Crowley, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Split Switch (open access)

Split Switch

Patent for a split switch, with illustrations. The "invention relates to split switches; and the object of our invention is to provide a switch which will be normally in condition to prevent a train from running on the main track from the siding, and yet always keep the main track in condition for the rapid movement of trains, and at the same time allow the shunting of a train from the main track to the side track" (lines 16-24).
Date: May 15, 1883
Creator: Crowley, John Henry & Temple, Bernard Moore
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil Can. (open access)

Oil Can.

Patent for a new and improved oil can. This design "relates to that class of oil-cans which are used for supplying lubricating material to various kinds of machinery, and which usually consists of a can or receptacle having an orifice through which it may be filled, and a tapering spout for supplying the lubricant to the place where it is needed; and the invention has for its object to produce an oil-can which shall be specially designed for lubricating vehicle-axles, and which shall possess superior advantages in point of simplicity, durability, and general efficiency" (lines 19-30).
Date: December 15, 1885
Creator: Denton, Winfield Scott
System: The Portal to Texas History
Refrigerator. (open access)

Refrigerator.

Patent for a new and improved refrigerator. This design "consist[s] of the cooling-box having top doors, the over-hanging frame, guide-pulleys, cords, and weights, the ice-box having an ice support or grate in its lower end, a water-tank in the upper end of said ice-box, and a discharge-pipe connected with the tank and having its lower portion disposed in coils below the ice support or grate" (lines 13-21).
Date: February 15, 1887
Creator: Dunn, William W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Saw Gummer and Sharpener. (open access)

Saw Gummer and Sharpener.

Patent for a multiple saw gummer and sharpener.
Date: February 15, 1887
Creator: Eidelbach, Andrew C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk and Clod Cutter. (open access)

Stalk and Clod Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter. This design "consist[s] of . . . any desirable number of cutting-wheels constructed with heavy spherical hubs of cast metal and spokes carrying at their extremities horizontal knives. The said cutting-wheels are mounted . . . on a horizontal shaft provided with a longitudinal key-slot from end to end, so that the cutting-wheels may be adjusted in the desired positions thereon, the said shaft turning in boxes at the rear ends of a pair of longitudinal beams secured in front to an axle provided with two carrying-wheels and a driver's seat" (lines 9-21).
Date: December 15, 1885
Creator: Farley, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for "a new and useful improvement in car-couplings" (lines 5-6), with instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 15, 1886
Creator: Ferguson, George Jones
System: The Portal to Texas History
Game Apparatus. (open access)

Game Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved ring for games. This design is "part of a game apparatus, a ring of wood of a form adapted to be rolled over a flat surface, having a ring of metal cast in a groove cut in its inner surface" (lines 57-60).
Date: July 15, 1884
Creator: Fisher, Charles A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "has for its objects to provide a coupling-pin which can be reversed when one end becomes worn, to provide a reversible pin of novel construction, which is adapted to automatically engage the ordinary coupling-link, and to provide a coupling-pin of novel construction, with a device for holding it elevated when it is not desired to engage a coupling-link" (lines 10-18).
Date: May 15, 1883
Creator: Fowler, Joseph C.
System: The Portal to Texas History