Motor. (open access)

Motor.

Patent for a new and improved motor. This design consists in the reciprocating "bar, the shaft mounted in the lower portion of the chair, the drum on said shaft, cord coiled around the drum and connected to the bar, the rest secured to the upper end of the bar, and the spring coiled around the said bar between the chair-seat and the rest" (lines 1-6).
Date: April 30, 1889
Creator: Lovejoy, De Soto
System: The Portal to Texas History
Beef Tenderer. (open access)

Beef Tenderer.

Patent for a new and improved meat tenderizer. This design consists in "the combination, with the triangular end plates having the bearing-notches, the detachable connecting-bar provided with the threaded ends and shoulders, the thumb-nuts, the smooth rollers, and the coiled springs, of the crank-handle and the [other] roller provided with the teeth having square flat faces and flat sides at right angles to said faces and arranged in aligned longitudinal series and spirally arranged circumferentially, the areas of the teeth being one-fourth of an inch" (lines 7-18).
Date: July 17, 1888
Creator: Welch, Lee L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Standard for Logging Cars. (open access)

Standard for Logging Cars.

Patent for a new and improved standard for logging-cars. This design "consists of a pivoted standard connected by links to a lever a short distance from its pivot, so that when the lever is turned out of alignment with the links the standard will be firmly locked in position. . . . The object of [the] invention is to provide a standard for cars and wagons which can be readily turned down out of the way when loading, and which, when turned up into position, will be firmly and securely held" (lines 7-16).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Minnock, Edmund Junius
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Shovel Cleaner or Knife. (open access)

Design for a Shovel Cleaner or Knife.

Design patent for a "shovel cleaner or knife" that has a particular configuration of a handle with a blade. The accompanying illustration is not included.
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: Legler, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Button. (open access)

Button.

Patent for a new and improved button. This design consists "[i]n a detachable button, the combination, with the hollow threaded shank of the button-head, having end serrations, and the base-disk, having a central screw, of the loose clamp-disk, applied on the screw, and having a spring-pawl or projection to engage the serrations of the shank" (lines 70-76).
Date: March 11, 1884
Creator: Matthews, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Saddle Mail Bag. (open access)

Saddle Mail Bag.

Patent for new and improved saddle bags. This design calls for a saddle with two metal boxes with hinged doors at the bottom, through which metal pouches, to contain the mail, are inserted. The air left between the top of the pouch and the inside of the box prevents water from seeping into the box and ruining the contents, even when fully submerged.
Date: March 29, 1881
Creator: Beazley, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History