Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "the combination, with the coupling-head provided with a central tongue and a socket on each side of the tongue, and the forwardly-projecting spring-actuated hooks pivoted to the said head, with their rear ends abutting against the bottoms of the sockets and provided with beveled front edges of the coupling-socket provided with catches for the said hooks to engage with automatically, and the vertical spindle journaled in the central tongue and provided with flexible connections wound upon it" (lines 86-97).
Date: November 19, 1889
Creator: Jones, Ithamer M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Elevated Suspension-Railway (open access)

Elevated Suspension-Railway

Patent for improvements in construction and engineering of elevated railways
Date: November 19, 1889
Creator: Johnston, Lysander
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil Burning Apparatus. (open access)

Oil Burning Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved oil-burner. This design "is in oil burners intended for heating purposes, the combustion being, as in Bunsen burners, so complete as to afford little or no light. The apparatus involves constriction of the flame from a burner to arrest combustion and the admixture of air therewith as the gas rises while still heated through a laterally-perforated tube, at the top of which it is either ignited or conveyed away for subsequent consumption" (lines 11-21).
Date: November 12, 1889
Creator: Streeter, George D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fence-Machine (open access)

Fence-Machine

Patent for "a machine of this character which will effectively do its work,which will be of great capacity, easy to manipulate, and positive in its desired operation" (lines 11-14).
Date: October 29, 1889
Creator: Channell, Emmet W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fence Making Implement. (open access)

Fence Making Implement.

Patent for a new and improved fence-making tool. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the hooks, the bars between the same, the plate connecting the ends of the hooks and provided with the claw, the lever pivoted between the hooks and having the offset and carrying a supplemental lever, and a lever having one end adapted to be inserted between the hooks, and provided on one edge with a stud" (lines 84-92).
Date: September 24, 1889
Creator: Fisher, Conrad H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mold for Making Sewers. (open access)

Mold for Making Sewers.

Patent for a new and improved sewer mold. This design consists in "[a]n expansible and contractible reversible mold for sewers, in form in cross-section of either a semi-circle, semi-ellipse, or semi-ovate, formed of segmental portions hinged together and provided with stay-braces and thrusting tie-rods" (lines 76-81).
Date: June 18, 1889
Creator: Baade, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Box for Matches, &c. (open access)

Box for Matches, &c.

Patent for a new and improved matchbox. This design "relates to boxes or cases of the class having folding securing flaps or covers . . . To this end [the] invention comprises . . . a box or case open at one extremity for insertion and removal of its contents, and provided with a slot or opening extending from its open extremity to or nearly to its opposite extremity to permit access to and removal of its contents, and having a folding flap or cover adapted to close its openings and be detachably secured so as to effectually confine and protect the contents of the box" (lines 8-27).
Date: May 21, 1889
Creator: Marshall, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Railroad Cross Tie. (open access)

Combination Railroad Cross Tie.

Patent for a new and improved railroad-ties. This design "pertains to certain new and useful improvements in railroad-ties, having for its object the production of a metallic tie extremely simple in construction, and by means of which a rail can be readily removed or secured in place and a firm elastic bearing is secured for said rail" (lines 14-20).
Date: May 21, 1889
Creator: Bagby, William Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Watch Case Pendant. (open access)

Watch Case Pendant.

Patent for a new and improved watch-case pendant. This design "is to improve the construction of the bow and crown-holder of stem-winding watches, so that they will be prevented from working loose. Furthermore, to produce a bow and crown-holder which may readily be attached to watches having the ordinary holder thereon, and, finally, to produce a stem which shall be simple of construction, and which may be attached to a watch with but a slight expense" (lines 15-24).
Date: May 21, 1889
Creator: Rohrer, Edmond Charles & Joseph, Isidora
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire Clay Heater. (open access)

Fire Clay Heater.

Patent for a new and improved fire-clay heater. This design "consists in an improved fire-log burner for oil or other fluid or gaseous inflammable substances, said burner being in form of a tube or hollow cylinder, and made of 'fire-clay,' and provided with numerous jet or burner passages in its periphery, and filled with comminuted asbestus or other analogous absorbent or capillary fluid-conducting fire-proof material . . . The object of [the] invention is to provide a practically-operating and fire-proof fire-log for heating steam-boilers, stoves, grates, fire-places, and for other analogous uses" (lines 17-30).
Date: March 5, 1889
Creator: White, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fluid Burner Fire Log. (open access)

Fluid Burner Fire Log.

Patent for a new and improved fluid-burner fire-log. This design consists "in combination, a perforated tubular body, metallic removable heads, a fluid-supplying tube, a perforated air-induction distributing tie-tube provided with screw threads and nuts on its ends outside the heads, and a comminuted or disintegrated fire-proof filling surrounding the perforated portion of the air-tube and occupying the chamber of the body" (lines 25-32).
Date: March 5, 1889
Creator: White, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mattress-Stuffing Machine (open access)

Mattress-Stuffing Machine

Patent "to provide simple means whereby the dimensions of the packing-box, as well as the spout, may be readily increased or diminished, either vertically or laterally, to enable the operator to stuff mattresses of varying sizes, whereby the dimensions of the packing-box and spout shall be at all times varied in the same relative proportions" (lines 12-20).
Date: March 5, 1889
Creator: Stephenson, Edwin N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn or Cotton Dropper (open access)

Corn or Cotton Dropper

Patent for corn or cotton dropper in which improvements are made on general efficiency, "simplicity, expensiveness, [and] durability" (lines 12-13).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Brown, William Franklin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil Distributer for Harbors, &c. (open access)

Oil Distributer for Harbors, &c.

Patent for a new and improved oil-distributor. This design consists "in a device for distributing oil upon the waves in the vicinity of piers and harbors, the combination, with the main tank upon the shore, of a main pipe extending from it into the water, auxiliary tanks along the main line, and perforated auxiliary lines connected with the auxiliary tanks" (lines 23-30).
Date: December 4, 1888
Creator: Lyle, John Newton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machinery for Irrigating Purposes (open access)

Machinery for Irrigating Purposes

Patent for a machine that irrigates with a water wheel. The water wheel is connected to a float and a rod connected that is connected to a crank on the shaft of the wheel.
Date: September 25, 1888
Creator: Owen, Benajah Dotte
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire Kindler. (open access)

Fire Kindler.

Patent for a new and improved fire starter. This design "has for its object to provide novel means for making comparatively inexpensive fire-kindlers; and to such end the invention consists, essentially, in a vessel having two chambers, one capable of being opened at the top and adapted to contain ashes, and the other closed, except as to a bottom passage in communication with the ash-chamber, and adapted to contain a combustible fluid—such as petroleum oil or other liquid hydro-carbon—which flows through the said bottom passage to saturate the ashes and prepare them for use" (lines 8-20).
Date: April 3, 1888
Creator: Streeter, George D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire Kindler. (open access)

Fire Kindler.

Patent for a new and improved fire starter. This design "is to provide novel means for determining when the oil is exhausted from the oil vessel and to provide novel means for keeping the ashes from direct contact with the oil-supply openings . . . [for] ashes possess great capillary attraction and take up more hydro-carbon fluid than is requisite when the ashes are dry and not tightly packed, so that the ashes become soft and mushy" (lines 12-21).
Date: April 3, 1888
Creator: Streeter, George D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bin. (open access)

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
Mattress Stuffing Machine (open access)

Mattress Stuffing Machine

Patent for a device to stuff a mattress, comprising a combination of ropes, pulleys and gears.
Date: January 10, 1888
Creator: Stephenson, E. N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine (open access)

Washing-Machine

Patent for a new clothes washing-machine, with illustrations.
Date: September 27, 1887
Creator: Schrib, Juni.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design is "to provide a novel car-coupling pin and means for operating the same to automatically couple cars through the medium of ordinary links without the use of triggers located within the draw-head . . . The invention consists, essentially, in a vertically-movable coupling-pin adapted to rotate axially in the pin-hole of the draw-head, and having a wing or lug for supporting it in its elevated position, combined with a yielding draw-head having a vertical slot to receive the wing or lug and a shoulder to support the same" (lines 8-22).
Date: July 19, 1887
Creator: Power, Kelsey L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk-Cutting Machine. (open access)

Stalk-Cutting Machine.

Patent for a machine to cut corn and other stalk vegetables and plants.
Date: July 5, 1887
Creator: Killingsworth, Thomas H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Knee Pad and Protector. (open access)

Knee Pad and Protector.

Patent for a new and improved knee pad. This design consists in "the combination of a body or main portion, padding contained therein, a re-enforcing piece secured to the said main portion, and a spring interposed and bearing between said main portion and re-enforcing piece . . . [a] cap-piece for knee-protectors slitted from its opposite edges . . . forming flaps, combined with connections for securing said flaps to the body of the cap-piece" (lines 72-81).
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Ridgill, Angus G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stove Pipe Damper. (open access)

Stove Pipe Damper.

Patent for a new and improved stove-pipe damper. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a damper-blade with a spindle rigidly attached thereto and having at one end a cylindrical pivot projecting beyond the periphery of the blade, and at the opposite end a screw projecting beyond said periphery, of a supporting-ring in which the projecting ends of said spindle are journaled, the bearing of the cylindrical end of said spindle being in an inwardly-bent portion of said supporting-ring" (lines 50-59).
Date: April 19, 1887
Creator: Lederle, Edward Emil
System: The Portal to Texas History