Improvement in Fence-Post Sockets. (open access)

Improvement in Fence-Post Sockets.

Patent for improvement in fencing where posts are held more securely with galvanized plates, sockets, and wires.
Date: September 9, 1873
Creator: Durant, George W. & Durant, James B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Running-Gears for Wagons (open access)

Improvement in Running-Gears for Wagons

Patent for an improvement on running-gears for wagons.
Date: September 9, 1879
Creator: Gibson, William T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Permutation-Locks. [PAGES MISSING] (open access)

Improvement in Permutation-Locks. [PAGES MISSING]

Patent for an improvement to combination locks. "It consists of various devices, which are operated by a revolving wheel having a number of projections or pins upon its periphery, which differ so materially from each other in shape that they can be easily recognized by day or night by the touch alone." (Lines 13-19) Illustration included.
Date: September 9, 1873
Creator: Hall, Phildello W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Solar-Time Instrument. (open access)

Solar-Time Instrument.

Patent for a new and improved solar-time instrument with "the telescopic tube provided at one end with a lens, and at the other end with a removable diaphragm having horizontal and vertical lines marked thereon" (page 2).
Date: September 9, 1879
Creator: Hayford, Samuel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Hay and Cotton Presses. (open access)

Improvement in Hay and Cotton Presses.

Patent for a press that reduces the bulk of cotton, "allowing it to be baled into convenient form for transportation. It consists in a novel mode of attaching the side of the press-box, so that they can be speedily thrown down from the cotton after compression to allow its convenient manipulation. It also consists in a new mode of connecting the follower with its superposed lever, so that it can be readily turned up out of the way when the cotton is being filled into the press-box. It also consists in a peculiar mode of combining lever and the two followers to clamp and press the cotton in between them as if in a vise." (Lines 13-26) Illustration is included.
Date: July 22, 1873
Creator: Nelson, David A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Speed and Time Recorders. (open access)

Improvement in Speed and Time Recorders.

Patent for improvements in recording instruments to "document of all the movements of a locomotive while in charge of the engineer, to record any stoppages that may be made; the duration of such stoppages, and any backward motion of the locomotive at any point during the trip." (Lines 7-13) Illustration is included.
Date: September 9, 1879
Creator: Richardson, John D.
System: The Portal to Texas History