Resource Type
States
Music-Leaf Turner.
Patent for a music-leaf turner to be used on pianos. It can turn pages to the right or left and the pianist need not use their hands. The pianist depresses a pedal with their foot to turn a page.
Date:
June 30, 1896
Creator:
Stinson, James C.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
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
Trolley-Wire Crossing.
Patent for "means of which trolley-wires may be made to cross each other without contact and at the same time admit of the passage of trolley-wheels over each of the cross-lines." (Lines 11-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date:
September 8, 1896
Creator:
Handshy, Henry Milton
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Tie-Plate Machine.
Patent for "a machine for properly positioning and securing metal plates to the cross-ties in the construction of railways, and which will obviate the coupling, buckling, or warping of the said plates when applying them to the wooden ties." (Lines 8-13) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date:
September 8, 1896
Creator:
Greenshield, William H.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Paper Box.
Patent for a paper box that can be easily and securely locked. The ends of the box are locked into place with inwardly-curved edges, and slits receive the end portions of the inwardly -curved edges.
Date:
September 15, 1896
Creator:
Girard, Alexandre Ferdinand
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Stem for Tobacco-Pipes or Cigar-Holders.
Patent for a stem for tobacco-pipes and cigar-holders designed to prevent nicotine from being inhaled. "The object in view is to provide a stem consisting of detachable members to facilitate cleansing when foul" (lines 11-14). The pipe is a serpentine shape and contains cotton filters in its crooks.
Date:
September 29, 1896
Creator:
Sjolander, Eric O.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Stock-Guard.
Patent for a stock-guard meant for use in railway-tracks. It has many beveled caps, "each having a flange or projection on one side, and adapted to fit over the cross-ties" (lines 46-18). There are also slats, each with a flange on its upper edge, and the slats are arranged between the caps.
Date:
November 10, 1896
Creator:
Lee, Jacob Martin
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Musical Hoop.
Patent for "a musical hoop or wheel which is intended to interest and amuse children." (Lines 12-14) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date:
December 8, 1896
Creator:
Milledge, John Henry
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Tag.
Patent for a tag that is glued to the board that cloth is wrapped around, forming a "bolt". This invention allows bolts of fabric to be labeled without damaging the fabric.
Date:
December 15, 1896
Creator:
Brown, Sampson H.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Telephone Attachment.
Patent for "a device which will support the weight of the telephone-receiver on the switch-lever whether the receiver be hung on the hooks of said lever or carelessly dropped, [the] object being to provide against the short-circuiting of the local battery when the telephone is not being used, whereby it would become uselessly exhausted, and also to insure that the signal-bell shall at such times always be in operative circuit with the central station, so that the annoyance to a distant exchange or subscriber by a failure of the call-bell to respond is avoided." (Lines 9-21) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date:
December 22, 1896
Creator:
Christopher, William O.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Hat-Pouncing Machine.
Patent for a felt hat-pouncing machine that can automatically pounce a hat no matter its contour, and means are "provided for setting the pouncer or pouncing-roll to bear uniformly on all parts of the convex surface to be pounced" (lines 13-15).
Date:
March 17, 1896
Creator:
Clarke, George R.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Horse-Check.
Patent for an automatic that prevents horses from starting off when left unattended. It detects when the vehicle begins moving and pulls back on the reins.
Date:
July 21, 1896
Creator:
Lee, Charles
System:
The Portal to Texas History
General Index and Alphabetical Record.
Patent for a general index and alphabetical record that organizes records in an index instead of a book.It is a chest of shallow drawers, each having a letter of the alphabet printed on its front. Attached to each drawer is a blank book.
Date:
July 28, 1896
Creator:
Ward, George C.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Governor for Steam-Engines.
Patent for "a steam engine governor for shutting off the supply of steam to the engine in the event of the governor-belt breaking or slipping from the pulley, which is operatively connected with the weighted arms of the governor, so as to control the motion of the latter." (Lines 9-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date:
August 25, 1896
Creator:
Wilcox, Ferdenand, S.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Hand-Car.
Patent for an improvement on the construction of the driving mechanism and brake on hand-cars.
Date:
September 8, 1896
Creator:
Small, Henry
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Hay-Press.
Patent for a hay-press where "the plunger or traverser is arranged in a suitable frame and is drawn toward its rearward position by means of a spring. rods are connected to the opposite sides of the plunger or traverser, and these are in turn connected to a cross-head, which in turn is connected with a pitman provided on its outer end with a hook that engages mechanism to give it a motion which imparts a reciprocating motion to the plunger" (lines 15-25).
Date:
September 8, 1896
Creator:
McIntosh, Alexander
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Hay-Press.
Patent for a hay-press that has an easily detachable tie-box and power-head, and the plunger-beam has an improved construction. Loose hay "fed into the feed-box [is] gathered or collected by the plunger through the instrumentality of teeth on a peculiarly-formed power-head engaging teeth on the plunger-beam and then compressed by a finger or arm on the power-head baring against the end of the plunger-beam" (lines 22-28). The press does not need to pinned to the ground.
Date:
December 22, 1896
Creator:
Jones, Charles E.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Hook for Spoon-Handles.
Patent for a detachable hook, made of wire, for spoon-handles and the like, and is used to prevent a spoon or similar article from slipping into the vessel in which it is placed. It can be easily removed from the spoon-handle.
Date:
December 29, 1896
Creator:
Gannon, Robert M.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Snap-Hook.
Patent for a snap-hook that holds together the miscellaneous parts of a harness and dispenses "with a spring for holding the parts together and which cannot in use accidentally open" (lines 12-14).
Date:
January 7, 1896
Creator:
Nalley, John T.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Sweep.
Patent for sweep that is improved with the addition of a middle-break so that it "will be adapted to do its work thoroughly with the least possible draft and which will not be liable to get out of kilter." (Lines 16-19) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date:
May 12, 1896
Creator:
Schoenfelder, August
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Gate.
Patent for a rotary gate that has latch-posts and spring-latches at its ends. The spring-latches are designed to employ the latches. "Levers fulcrumed on the top of the gate and connected with each other, connecting-rods connecting said levers with the spring-latches, and vibratory braces rising from the sides of the gate and secured to said levers" (lines 33-37).
Date:
July 21, 1896
Creator:
Holder, Elisha G.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Grass and Weed Exterminator.
Patent for a grass and weed exterminator, especially those weeds that roots are a network of runners that can't be pulled up. The destroyer plows them up, ten inches or more, and sifts through the dirt, pulling up the network of plants.
Date:
September 29, 1896
Creator:
Briggs, George, W.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Sofa or Lounge.
Patent for improvements in sofas and similar articles. The improvements have guide-strips on the ends, with blocks that fit over the guide-strips. The upper side has a double set of ratchet-teeth, and they can be used to tighten a woven-wire fabric that sits below the cushions and is held in place by the blocks.
Date:
October 13, 1896
Creator:
Baucum, Samuel C. & Ball, Aaron T.
System:
The Portal to Texas History
Grate-Bar.
Patent for an improved grate-bar that has a "semicylindrical journal rounded below, and its upper surface forming part of the grate-surface, with draft-spaces between the cross-walls forming the bearing portions, in combination with a supporting bar matching with said cross-walls and open under said draft-spaces, substantially as described" (lines 13-19). It is meant to sift ashes.
Date:
October 13, 1896
Creator:
Fuller, James T.
System:
The Portal to Texas History