Blind Slat Adjuster. (open access)

Blind Slat Adjuster.

Patent for a new and improved blind adjuster. This design consists in "[a] shutter-stop consisting of a slotted bar linked to the end of the slat-actuating rod of a shutter, in combination with a plate having a spur on one side and a screw-threaded stud on the other, a washer, and a thumb-nut" (lines 93-97).
Date: May 4, 1886
Creator: Lewis, Paulinus Aloysius
System: The Portal to Texas History
Child's Carriage. (open access)

Child's Carriage.

Patent for a new and improved stroller. This design consists in "[a] running-gear, of the vertical hoop secured thereto, the brackets extending outward and upward from the hoop, and notched in their upper ends, the body, the brackets at opposite sides of the body, and the knife edge projections resting on the upper notched ends of the brackets . . . a vertical encircling hoop carrying buffers, standards, and brackets formed with edges, which rest upon the standards . . . an axle, wheels fitted to the axle, a forwardly extending bracket carrying a fixed wheel . . . and a sunshade" (lines 81-98).
Date: June 22, 1886
Creator: England, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Window Lock. (open access)

Car Window Lock.

Patent for a new and improved car-window lock. This design consists in "the sliding crank-shaped spring-actuated bolt for locking the window, in combination with the oscillating cam acting upon the bolt to unlock it, said cam having a lateral arm with a spring-guide hinged thereto, a spring surrounding the guide, and means for swinging the cam and thus retracting the bolt" (lines 21-27).
Date: October 5, 1886
Creator: Cutter, Martin A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wood Working Machine. (open access)

Wood Working Machine.

Patent for a new and improved wood-working machine. This design "relates to improvements in wood-working machines, and is designed to produce a machine for automatically tapering material in either straight or curved lines. The improvement consists, essentially, in the employment of movable cutters approached or receded by means of a cam or cams, and is adaptable in forming staves and other portions of barrels or other articles in which the parts require a taper in straight or curved lines" (lines 8-17).
Date: August 10, 1886
Creator: Hourigan, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ventilating Apparatus. (open access)

Ventilating Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved ventilator. This design consists in "a fan casing, constructed and arranged . . . of the fan arranged therein, the gearing placed above the fan, the air-ducts leading to the fan-chamber, the endless weighted chain or cord, and drums and pulleys . . . [and] an open bottom secured to a ceiling and communicating with air-ducts passing between the floor and ceiling of a building" (lines 80-90).
Date: September 21, 1886
Creator: Garfield, John Morris
System: The Portal to Texas History
Process of and Machine for the Use of Compressed Air as a Motive Power (open access)

Process of and Machine for the Use of Compressed Air as a Motive Power

Patent for "a new and useful Process of Operating Locomotives by Compressed Air," (lines 6-8) including illustrations.
Date: March 16, 1886
Creator: Tull, Francis Shales; Kuehn, Herman & Beers, William Francis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Time-Calculator. (open access)

Time-Calculator.

Patent for a machine that easily calculates the number of days within a given time span, up to one year, with illustrations.
Date: October 18, 1886
Creator: Wood, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shutter Fastener. (open access)

Shutter Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved shutter fastener. This design consists "[i]n a blind-fastening, the case, constructed . . . and provided with [a] projection in combination with the bolt having recess, the spring, the swinging catch, and the keeper secured in the window sill" (lines 45-49).
Date: March 9, 1886
Creator: Cutter, Martin A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sash Holder. (open access)

Sash Holder.

Patent for a new and improved sash holder. This design "consists in supplying the sash with two spring-actuated cams—one upon each side—which cams in their normal condition press against the frame and hold the sash, but are simultaneously withdrawn and held out of contact with the frame by the partial rotation of a cylindrical operating-handle, with which the cams are connected by suitable rods, said handle also furnishing the means by which the sash is raised and lowered" (lines 41-50).
Date: January 19, 1886
Creator: Cutter, Martin A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Door Check. (open access)

Door Check.

Patent for a new and improved door-check. This design "consists in a slotted plate provided at one end with a buffer for arresting the door, and having in the walls of the longitudinal slot series of diagonal slots, in combination with a counterweighted latch provided with trunnions received in the diagonal slots" (lines 21-27).
Date: December 28, 1886
Creator: Hinkle, William A. & Jeffery, Franklin C.
System: The Portal to Texas History