Language

Air-Compressor. (open access)

Air-Compressor.

Patent for "new and useful improvements for air-compressors" (lines 5-6), with instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 20, 1886
Creator: Harrold, Mahlon
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant-Trap. (open access)

Ant-Trap.

Patent for a new ant trap design using a conical shape and reservoirs for holding kerosene to destroy ants, including illustrations.
Date: March 20, 1888
Creator: Kell, Mathew
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Making Soap. (open access)

Apparatus for Making Soap.

Patent for a new and improved soap-making machine. This design "consist[s] of grease and soda tanks, the latter tank having a diaphragm . . . a register-tank, pipes leading from said grease and soda tanks to said register-tank, a pivoted converter, a rotary shaft in said converter and blades, a shaft journaled in uprights attached to said converter and provided with a crank and a bevel wheel, the latter gearing with a bevel-wheel on said rotary shaft in the converter, and removable furnaces for said grease tank and converter" (lines 21-32).
Date: September 20, 1887
Creator: Grant, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Service Cock. (open access)

Automatic Service Cock.

Patent for a new and improved automatic service cock. This design "furnish[es] an improved automatic valve to form the connection between the water-main or distributing pipe and the service-pipe of a building for regulating the flow and pressure of water in such service-pipe and preventing overpressure" (lines 7-12).
Date: December 20, 1881
Creator: Freeman, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Axle Skein. (open access)

Axle Skein.

Patent for a new and improved axle skein. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the axle-spindle having a collar at its inner end and provided with a longitudinal groove at its outer end, and the bushing having a rib which engages the groove and a projection which engages the notch in the collar" (lines 29-35).
Date: September 20, 1887
Creator: Nott, Henry William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Balanced Pump. (open access)

Balanced Pump.

Patent for a new and improved balanced pump. This design "relates to improvements in balanced pumps having two vertical receiving-cylinders provided with vertically-reciprocating plungers, and two vertical delivery-cylinders provided with plunging-barrels, all being provided with suitable valves operating automatically in conjunction therewith; and the objects of [the] invention are, first, to provide a pump by means of which water or other fluids may be conducted or raised with but little propelling power, and . . . to afford facilities for readily attaching it to be driven by any steam-engine" (lines 15-27).
Date: April 20, 1886
Creator: Ramsey, Haley S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bee Hive. (open access)

Bee Hive.

Patent for a new and improved bee hive. This design consists of "the combination, with the removable section, having the right-angled slots and the comb-frames of the securing-bar" (lines 95-98).
Date: September 20, 1881
Creator: Norwood, John M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bell Collar. (open access)

Bell Collar.

Patent for a new and improved collar. This design "consists in the combination of a flat metallic band, which passes over the top of the neck, two metallic blocks, which extend down opposite sides of the neck and are provided with locks, two perforated slides, which are connected together at their lower ends by a metallic loop . . . The object of [the] invention is to provide a bell-collar for animals, and which is not only adjustable in size, so as to be adapted to necks of different sizes, but which, when placed upon an animal's neck, can only be removed by some one who has a key to one or both of the locks" (lines 13-29).
Date: September 20, 1887
Creator: Marshburn, Joseph J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boiler Feeder Regulator. (open access)

Boiler Feeder Regulator.

Patent for a new and improved regulator for boiler feeders. This design "consists in certain novel details of construction, arrangement, and operation whereby a superior machine is produced for the purpose of regulating and supplying boilers with water, keeping the water at a uniform height, preventing explosions from low water, and automatically removing sediment, impurities, and foam as fast as it accumulates" (lines 14-22).
Date: March 20, 1888
Creator: Riedel, Gustav Adolph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boot and Shoe Box. (open access)

Boot and Shoe Box.

Patent for a new and improved box for boots and shoes. This design is "to be arranged beneath the counter, between the guide-strips upon the floor, and mounted on wheels, and provided with mechanism connected to the hinged lids of the boxes to raise the lid as the box is pulled out, and to close it when the box is pushed back to place again. This may be accomplished in several ways" (lines 26-33).
Date: November 20, 1883
Creator: Cook, Emmanuel Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Box for Washing Material for Concrete. (open access)

Box for Washing Material for Concrete.

Patent for "a new and useful improvement in boxes for washing aggregate or rough material for making concrete" (lines 5-7), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 20, 1886
Creator: Carrico, Thomas W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brace for Bedsteads. (open access)

Brace for Bedsteads.

Patent for a new and improved brace for bedsteads. This design has for its object "to provide an attachment for bedsteads whereby the side rails are prevented from springing outward or expanding from any cause, and thus allowing the slats to fall through" (lines 14-18).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Holmes, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
BUCKLE (open access)

BUCKLE

Patent for "a new and improved buckle" (lines4-5)
Date: July 20, 1880
Creator: Bardwell, Henery G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Burglar Alarm. (open access)

Burglar Alarm.

Patent for a new and improved burglar alarm. This design "consists in a wire attached to the anchor or escapement-lever of a clock-work for ringing or sounding an alarm bell, which wire has a hook at its outer end, which is passed into a loop, ring, or hook at the end of a wire connected with the key-bolt or knob-bolt of a lock, or with a wire leading to places a considerable difference from the alarm" (lines 11-18).
Date: September 20, 1881
Creator: Holloman, Harvey Allen
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cantalever. (open access)

Cantalever.

Patent for a new and improved cantilever. This design consists in "the combination of the central post or column supported upon a pier or tower, the upwardly-inclined struts or beams bearing with the inner ends against the base of the post or column, the rods or cables extending from the top of the post to the ends of the struts, the rods or cables extending from the middle of the post to near the inner ends of the struts, the rods or cables extending from the ends of the struts to the middle of the post" (lines76-86).
Date: January 20, 1885
Creator: Davis, Benjamin F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
CAR-BRAKE (open access)

CAR-BRAKE

Patent for new and useful improvements for Caboose Cars' brakes. The brakes can be applied from within the car, and no strain is applied to the car frame or body.
Date: July 20, 1880
Creator: Dwyer, Denis R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the fork-shaped draw-heads having under-beveled bearings between the branches, the slotted coupler-bars having hook-lugs in front of the slots and adapted to interlock, the side bearings or ledges on each side of each hook-lug, designed to support the sides of the bar and to allow the hook-lugs to enter the slots in coupling" (lines 19-27).
Date: June 20, 1882
Creator: Anderson, Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for a new automatic car coupling design for train cars, including illustrations.
Date: December 20, 1887
Creator: De May, Eugene A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for "construction and arrangement of arrow-shaped draw-heads and lever-bars adjustable upon rack-bars for the purpose of raising and lowering the draw-heads" (lines 16-20)including instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 20, 1880
Creator: Gray, John D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "[t]he combination . . . of the laterally and vertically movable draw-head having the hook at its outer end, the keeper depending from the lower side of the car, and in which the draw-head is confined, the spring connected to one side of the draw-head and bearing thereon, and the arm pivoted in a slot in the draw-head, and having the head projecting in rear of the lip or shoulder of the hook, and the lever fulcrumed to the end of the car and connected to the car" (lines 87-97).
Date: July 20, 1886
Creator: Gorny, Jacob
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design is of a car-coupling with a bumper having recesses and slots, "having [a] lip and transverse inner wall, the hook pivoted therein, the bumper, the stirrup suspended beneath the bumper, vertical rods or connections, levers pivoted in suitable bearings on the car-roof, locking-plate, and the [additional] levers" (lines 1-6).
Date: February 20, 1883
Creator: Hawkins, William A. & Hawkins, Charlie S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Door Fastening. (open access)

Car-Door Fastening.

Patent for sliding car-door fastening to improve the fastening of said car-door.
Date: January 20, 1880
Creator: Buser, William H. & Shaw, Burrell L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Chair for Railroad Rails. (open access)

Chair for Railroad Rails.

Patent for a new and improved chair for railroad rails. This design utilizes a metal key and wrought-iron straps so that "the rails are held firmly both laterally and vertically, so that they are kept level at the joint and any sagging is prevented. At the same time endwise movement by expansion or contraction is not hindered, and the chairs being fastened to the ties, the expansion and contraction will take place entirely between the several chairs" (lines 49-57).
Date: February 20, 1883
Creator: Armstrong, Charles & Abbott, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cloth-Measuring Machine. (open access)

Cloth-Measuring Machine.

Patent for a cloth cleaning machine to "furnish bagging-reels, so constructed that the bagging can be conveniently unwound from the roll, measured automatically, and again wound into a roll" (lines 13-17).
Date: January 20, 1880
Creator: Dodson, Orson W.
System: The Portal to Texas History