Car-Door Cleat. (open access)

Car-Door Cleat.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in car door cleats or guards, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 30, 1899
Creator: Miller, William M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shoe-Plate. (open access)

Shoe-Plate.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in shoe plates, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 22, 1898
Creator: Long, Francis F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil-Box Cellar and Dust-Guard. (open access)

Oil-Box Cellar and Dust-Guard.

Patent for certain new and improvements in oil box cellars and dust guards, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 5, 1898
Creator: Scrogin, John Moore
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Quilting-Frame Stand. (open access)

Design for a Quilting-Frame Stand.

Design patent for a quilting-frame stand that has U-shaped legs leading up to a horizontal stand with an ornate frame.
Date: July 5, 1898
Creator: Overton, Benjamin F. & Bryant, Louis E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Acetylene-Gas Generator. (open access)

Acetylene-Gas Generator.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in acetylene gas machines, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 1, 1899
Creator: Henderson, Thomas & Stapp, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for Colter Brace (open access)

Design for Colter Brace

Design patent for colter-brace for plows.
Date: July 20, 1897
Creator: Darby, Robert J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brace for Heel-Sweeps. (open access)

Brace for Heel-Sweeps.

Patent for a simple and durable brace for heel-sweeps. The wings of the sweep will not close, and "that portion of the sweep through which the heel-bolt passes will be materially strengthened" (lines 14-16). It also braces sweeps whatever their size, and all the brace's parts are adjustable.
Date: January 7, 1896
Creator: Ferrell, Augustus C. & Hamrick, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Crate. (open access)

Crate.

Patent for "a crate for packing and transporting bottles of such material and such form of construction as will present a minimum liability to breakage of the contents." (Lines 9-13) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 7, 1896
Creator: Riviere, Richard Andrew
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Filling Bottles. (open access)

Apparatus for Filling Bottles.

Patent for an "apparatus for filling bottles with crude petroleum, turpentine, and other liquids; and its object is to provide an improved construction which shall possess superior advantages with respect to efficiency in operation" (lines 14-19).
Date: May 5, 1896
Creator: McKay, Felix Early
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buckle. (open access)

Buckle.

Patent for a back band buckle that consists of a plate with its ends turned up and two upper longitudinal slit, the lower slit having teeth, and a hook with nibs.
Date: August 29, 1893
Creator: Brown, John Anderson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Vegetable Slicer and Grater. (open access)

Combined Vegetable Slicer and Grater.

Patent for a combined vegetable slicer and grater that consists of a main frame with vertical arms and bearings, a screw that attaches the arms to the frame, a shaft journaled with an annular flange into the bearings, a cylinder made of sheet metal that serves as knives, and spring tongues that regulate the thickness of the cut vegetables.
Date: July 10, 1894
Creator: Harpst, Edgar S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Replacer (open access)

Car-Replacer

Patent for invention for new and useful improvements in Car-Replacer. The invention relates to improvements in car replacers which can easily be applied to a track or rail which will quickly and easily cause the car to enter upon the track and which cannot possibly become displaced by the weight and strain of the car
Date: January 3, 1892
Creator: Moore, Francis A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Anal Speculum. (open access)

Anal Speculum.

Patent for a new and improved anal speculum. This design is "to so construct the several parts that there will be no rough or raised edges to interfere with its insertion in the anal passage; secondly, to so construct [the] improved speculum that it may be readily used as a bi-valve or dilator; thirdly, to form a locking-joint on the meeting edges of the shells forming the speculum, whereby the sections are prevented from overlapping each other to avoid pinching or injury to the walls of the anal passage while the instrument is being inserted; fourthly, to provide a plug for [the] improved speculum" (lines 17-29).
Date: March 25, 1890
Creator: Shuford, Quincy Adams
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Band-Brake for Railway-Cars (open access)

Automatic Band-Brake for Railway-Cars

Patent for "a brake of simple and inexpensive construction, that may be readily attached to steam or tramway cars, that is automatic in its working, and to do away with the brake-beams now employed, which through their breaking down are two-thirds of the causes of car derailments" (lines 19-26).
Date: January 27, 1891
Creator: Inglis, Thomas & Schiermann, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Door. (open access)

Car-Door.

Patent for improvements in car doors. These improvements make the doors fire and water proof and allow the door to be locked. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 23, 1891
Creator: Moore, Francis A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Air-Hose Coupling and Stop-Valve. (open access)

Combined Air-Hose Coupling and Stop-Valve.

Patent for a combined air-hose coupling and stop-valve. One must shut off the cut-off valve before the coupling can be disconnected. When the valve is closed, air pressure is balanced so the couplings can be safely disconnected, and prevents dirt from getting into the train-pipe.
Date: August 18, 1896
Creator: Heidelburg, Samuel R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive-Pilot Coupling. (open access)

Locomotive-Pilot Coupling.

Patent for a locomotive-pilot coupling that can lift or elevate locomotive pilot or draw-bars, a cylinder that can turn in all directions depending on how the bars moves and is collecting to the motor fluid supply, a piston in the cylinder that connects the bar to the cylinder, a swinging jaw, and various other parts.
Date: January 21, 1896
Creator: Heidelberg, Samuel R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle-Brake. (open access)

Vehicle-Brake.

Patent for improved vehicle brakes, and the "object is to arrange the brake shoes so that when applied they will bear on the wheels slightly below a point on a line drawn horizontally through the center of the wheel, whereby a greater brake power is obtained with less force exerted, and further, to so construct and arrange the brake shoes that during the backing of a team for any purpose the brakes will automatically release themselves and not bear upon the wheels to interfere with said backing." (Lines 21-31) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 7, 1895
Creator: Christian, John R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle-Axle Point. (open access)

Vehicle-Axle Point.

Patent for a vehicle-axle point that does not require repair. The "invention consists of a thimble that is to be shrunk, pressed, or fastened onto the axle by clips, bolts, or set-screws" (lines 20-22), so that the point does not need to be taken off.
Date: July 16, 1895
Creator: Ford, William Gardner
System: The Portal to Texas History
Valve. (open access)

Valve.

Patent for a valve made up of a shell with a water inlet and a water outlet, a perforation for the valve stem, a gable-shaped seat made from hard metal that is fitted into the shell, a valve stem that works up and down the shell and with a shoulder, a valve with a hollow neck, a soft contact ring between the gable-shaped seat and the face of the valve, a guide and cap that fits in the shell, a stem nut, and a stuffing-box.
Date: July 23, 1895
Creator: Speer, George F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tool for Cleaning Out Nuts. (open access)

Tool for Cleaning Out Nuts.

Patent for a tool for cleaning out internally-threaded apertures. This removes rust and dirt from screw-threads without damaging the threads, and is much less destructive than acid baths, heat, and screw-taps.
Date: September 22, 1896
Creator: Rall, Frederick A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Surface Cattle Guard. (open access)

Surface Cattle Guard.

Patent for a new and improved surface cattle-guard. This design "compris[es] a series of parallel triangular bars tapered at their ends and provided with lateral perforated horizontal flanges, the plates to which said flanges are secured, the cross-tie supports, and the solid plank flooring upon which said ties rest, said flooring being some distance below the guard-bars" (lines 55-62).
Date: September 20, 1892
Creator: Berry, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stirrup. (open access)

Stirrup.

Patent for a saddle-stirrup with springs on the bottom and a spring-catch on the top.
Date: August 11, 1896
Creator: Long, Francis F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate-Latch. (open access)

Gate-Latch.

Patent for a gate-latch. A latch-pin secured in a beam, another latch secured to the inside of another post, with two pivoting hangers, and plates come together to form this latch.
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Berry, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History