Metal Cross Tie for Railroads. (open access)

Metal Cross Tie for Railroads.

Patent for a new and improved cross-tie for railroads. This design consists, "with a plate-metal cross-tie body having inclined sides which are integrally joined at an apex and longitudinally-slotted, forming rail-seats, and integral lips on said apex, of a rod oppositely threaded at its ends, nuts which fit in the cross-tie body and are adapted to engage the right and left hand threads on the ends of the rod, integral lugs formed on the nuts, means to rotate the rod, and means to lock the rod from rotation" (lines 29-39).
Date: May 27, 1890
Creator: Taylor, James P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Platform for Harvesters. (open access)

Platform for Harvesters.

Patent for a new and improved platform for harvesters. This design "has particular reference to the platform thereof or that portion designed to receive the grain as it is cut by the reaping mechanism; and among the main objects in view is to provide a platform located in rear of the reaping mechanism that is capable of being contracted and extended, and also to provide other parts that may be withdrawn inward, whereby the machine, as a whole, is decreased in width, and its passage through farm-gates from field to field and over unbroken ground is facilitated" (lines 11-22).
Date: May 27, 1890
Creator: Lewis, Thomas E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fence. (open access)

Fence.

Patent for a new and improved fence. This design "compris[es] the main end and intermediate posts anchored in the ground, the longitudinal wires connected to said main end posts and let into said intermediate posts, said end posts being suitably braced and said longitudinal wires being connected together by tie-wires, and the supplemental posts, to which are also bound or secured said longitudinal wires, having the horizontal feet of approximate figure-8 shape resting squarely on the ground or surface" (lines 69-79).
Date: May 27, 1890
Creator: Kerr, James, Sr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rule Gage. (open access)

Rule Gage.

Patent for a new and improved rule-gage. This design "relates to improvements in gages for carpenter's rules; and it consists of a gage formed of sheet metal adapted to be detachably applied to an ordinary two-foot rule to convert it instantly into a gage-rule" (lines 7-11).
Date: May 27, 1890
Creator: Dickins, Sam
System: The Portal to Texas History