Resource Type
Degree Department
Country
States
Decade
Month
Day
Leaf Turner.
Patent for a new and improved leaf-turner for sheet music. This design consists "of a rack having attached guides, the horizontally-slidable rods arranged in said guides, one above the other, the leaf-turning fingers carried by one end of said rods, the elastic cords connected with the other ends of said rods for retracting the fingers, devices for holding the rods against the tension of the cords, and a finger-piece for successively disengaging said holding devices" (lines 56-64).
Date:
July 6, 1886
Creator:
Richards, Augustus, Sr.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Riding Saddle.
Patent for a new and improved saddle. This design "provide[s] a flexible or elastic seat, consisting of a number of thicknesses of tanned sheepskin, with the wool on, between the saddle-tree covering and the ordinary external rawhide or other covering, thus preventing the said covering from resting on the inner edges of the saddle-tree side bars, which forms a comfortable and easy saddle; and, in addition to this, [the] invention relates to the opening rearwardly and laterally in the saddle-tree for attaching the girth-rigging thereto, in place of the ordinary rings" (lines 30-41).
Date:
July 6, 1886
Creator:
Hake, Francis A.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Band for Paper, Currency, &c.
Patent for a new and improved money clip. This design consists in "[a] band for packages provided with tongues projecting toward each other and an elastic, whereby when the band is in use the tongues will project in opposite directions to receive the elastic" (lines 57-61).
Date:
September 6, 1887
Creator:
Matthews, Oscar Semmes
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling.
Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the platform . . . having a spring buffer and a projection adjacent to and to one side of the buffer . . . the catch pivotally secured below the same and having a series of coupling shoulders on one side, the spring, and the stop arranged to act upon the side of the catch from which the coupling shoulders project" (lines 89-98).
Date:
September 6, 1887
Creator:
Ashford, Thomas Gresham.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Bottle.
Design patent for "a bottle or similar receptacle designed in the configuration of a trunk, or so formed that the outline presented resembles a trunk" (lines 13-16). The accompanying illustration is not available for this design.
Date:
September 6, 1887
Creator:
Powell, Thomas W.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Gearing for Operating Windmill Pumps.
Patent for new and improved gearing for windmill pumps. This design has for its object "to raise water from wells by suitable mechanism connected with a fan, from which the power is communicated to the pump through said mechanism" (lines 13-16).
Date:
September 6, 1887
Creator:
Jordan, John E.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Safety-Guard for Railway-Trucks.
Patent for a new design of a guard-rail to make train wheels move more safely, with illustrations.
Date:
September 6, 1887
Creator:
Tull, Francis Shalis.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Bed Stay.
Patent for a new and improved bed stay. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a bed-stay, of wires connected to the corners of the bed-stead, blocks on the wires, loops connected to the blocks, a lever hung to the loop, and a latch device locking the free end of the lever to the loop" (lines 10-15).
Date:
December 6, 1887
Creator:
Bethea, Cade
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling.
Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "the draw-head having the open space at its front end, the longitudinal groove in its side, extending rearward from said space, and the transverse recess at the rear end of said groove, the coupling bar resting in the groove and having a lug at its rear end" (lines 92-98). Said lug is "pivoted in the recess, and the hook at its front end arranged within the open space, and the spring having its rear end secured to the side of the draw-head in rear of the recess" (lines 1-4).
Date:
December 6, 1887
Creator:
Keith, John David
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Badge or Medal.
Design patent for a round souvenir badge or medal that has an image of a star on the front with a portrait in the center, and rays emanating toward the outside edge used for text. The back of the medal has an image of the Texas state capitol and spaces for additional text. The design also includes a suspending-bar shaped as a bald eagle with spread wings, holding crossed rifles.
Date:
December 6, 1887
Creator:
Maxcy, John Wharton
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Nut Lock.
Patent for a new and improved nut-lock. This design "is to produce a nut-lock which will require a minimum number of parts to adjust, will require no other tools than a wrench, which will stay where adjusted in spite of any amount of pounding or concussion, and which, when desired, may be removed without difficulty. To this end [the] invention consists in a nut provided with a serrated face and a washer having sharp spring-lips engaging with the serrations. [The] invention also consists in a peculiarly-constructed washer for locking the nut" (lines 18-30).
Date:
December 6, 1887
Creator:
Parks, John W.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Rail-Joint
Patent for an improvement in rail joints, including illustrations.
Date:
December 6, 1887
Creator:
Ferguson, George Jones
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Bin.
Patent for a new and improved bin. This design consists in "[t]he combination of a casing having bearing blocks or shoulders, a tilting bin located in said casing and provided with a sloping top, and an automatic cover placed loosely in the casing above the shoulders and provided on the under side, near its front edge, with a cleat fitting within the upper part of the bin, whereby said cover is adapted to close the upright bin and limit its forward movement when opened" (lines 7-16).
Date:
March 6, 1888
Creator:
Hunter, Edward T.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper and Cultivator
Patent for a more durable and simple in construction, efficient in operation, and can also double as a planter.
Date:
March 6, 1888
Creator:
Heller, Louis
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Fire-Escape
Patent for a fire escape "which will be capable of lowering people or goods for a high structure with perfect ease and comfort, and without danger of breaking" (lines 21-24) while also being "very simple and durable of construction thoroughly efficient in operation, and cheap to manufacture" (lines 26-28).
Date:
March 6, 1888
Creator:
Glasscock, James H.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Washing Dishes, Fruits, &c.
Patent for a new and improved washing machine. This design "is supported horizontally over a proper fireplace or stove and . . . water introduced to fill it to a point just below the perforated detachable bottom, and the pump mechanism then set in motion. When the plunger ascends, it draws water from the water-space and extension through the valve up into the pump-chamber. When the plunger descends, it forces said water upward past the valve into the water-spaces . . . through the perforations . . . and into the washing-chamber, the water . . . washing quickly and thoroughly the articles" (lines 78-91).
Date:
November 6, 1888
Creator:
King, Charles Rufus
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Windmill.
Patent for a new and improved windmill. This design "relates to that class of windmills in which semicircular wings are employed upon a vertical shaft; and it has for its object to provide simple and efficient means to govern the speed of the same, and also to throw the windmill into or out of operation when desired . . . A further object of the invention is to provide a windmill of the above-mentioned class which will possess merit in point of durability, inexpensiveness, and general efficiency" (lines 11-21).
Date:
November 6, 1888
Creator:
Moore, Charles M.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Plow.
Patent for a new and improved plow. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a plow carriage, having a sprocket-wheel attached to the driving-wheel, and a rotary mold-board provided with a sprocket-hub having bearings in the plow-beam, of a shaft journaled upon the carriage-frame provided with toggle or universal joints, and suitable chain or belt connections for the sprocket-wheels" (lines 69-76).
Date:
August 6, 1889
Creator:
Kirk, Johnathan P.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Filter
Patent for "a new and improved filter which is simple and durable in construction and easily and conveniently cleaned without disturbing the gravel" (lines 13-17).
Date:
November 6, 1889
Creator:
Fretz, Emil & Waespi, Jacob
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Plow
Patent for "an improved attachment for the mold-boards and landsides of plows, the object being to furnish a plow or similar impliment with an attachable and removable covering for the landside and mold-board, which will prevent the adhesion of soil thereto" (lines 12-18).
Date:
November 6, 1889
Creator:
Miles, Fredrick Alanson
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Cut-off for Rotary Engines
Patent for improvements "to the means for actuating the valves controlling the steam supply" (lines 10-12).
Date:
March 6, 1890
Creator:
Wallerich, Nicholas
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper, Scraper, and Cultivator
Patent for improvements so that the "choppers may be raised, in order to leave standing such of the growth of the cotton as is necessary, or while turning corners; third, in means hereinafter to be described, by which the depth at which the scrapers and choppers run into the ground maybe adjusted" (lines 16-22).
Date:
May 6, 1890
Creator:
Ellis, David P,
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Plow Cleaning Attachment.
Patent for a new and improved plow cleaner. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the mold-board of a plow, having parallel longitudinal slots . . . of upper and lower rollers, belts passing around the same beneath the mold-board, scrapers connected to said belts in line with the slots and adapted to pass over said mold-board, and means for rotating said belts" (lines 93-99).
Date:
May 6, 1890
Creator:
Dyer, Charles Valentine.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Clinometer or Slope Measurer.
Patent for a new and improved clinometer. This design "is to provide a simple and inexpensive device for taking measurements in prismoidal formula and to avoid the calculation of the triangle and enable the slope to be readily written from the instrument" (lines 16-21). It "compris[es] the square composed of the stationary short bar or arm and the stationary long bar or arm rigidly secured to one side of the short arm or bar and provided on its face with a spirit-level and having a scale of graduations of which the length of the short bar or arm is the unit, the curved brace connecting the said parts" (lines 60-68).
Date:
January 6, 1891
Creator:
Parks, James Harvey
System:
The Portal to Texas History