Bicycle-Gearing. (open access)

Bicycle-Gearing.

Patent for "gearing for bicycles, and has for its object to furnish a train of gearing for the connection of the treadles with the rear wheel of a bicycle, whereby the usual sprocket-and-chain gearing may be dispensed with." (lines 7-12).
Date: August 16, 1898
Creator: Brown, Wilson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bicycle-Tire. (open access)

Bicycle-Tire.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in tires for "use with bicycles" (line 10).
Date: August 22, 1899
Creator: Lewis, George Harris
System: The Portal to Texas History
Breakwater, &c. (open access)

Breakwater, &c.

Patent for an improved way of constructing piers, jetties, breakwaters, and similar structures. "It can be constructed from boats, barges, or from a trestle, or can be built continuously from a starting-point on shore to the objective point in the lake, bay, gulf, or other body of water" (lines 17-21). This invention is especially useful for places that don't have banks or ledges.
Date: August 9, 1892
Creator: Shannon, Alexander M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Record, Diary, and Ledger (open access)

Combined Record, Diary, and Ledger

Patent for improvements to books by combining "a general record, a diary, a ledger, and index leaves, including the months and days of the week and alphabetical and numerical indices" (lines 10-12).
Date: August 30, 1892
Creator: Meyer, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Easel and Phonograph Horn Tripod. (open access)

Combined Easel and Phonograph Horn Tripod.

Patent for a new and improved easel and phonograph horn tripod. This design "is to construct a device which may be used for holding phonograph-horns of different sizes at any desired height, and which also may be employed for holding a painting, or for the use of an artist. [The] invention consists in the combination of a pair of cross-bars, a hinged brace for supporting the bars at any required angle, and an adjustable device for regulating the spread of the bars and of the brace" (lines 22-31).
Date: August 12, 1890
Creator: Minot, Kendall James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blind-Stop. (open access)

Blind-Stop.

Patent for improvements in blind-slat adjusters and locks by providing a plate to secure the cross-stile of the blind; in which the plate having a slotted right-angled portion. “A bar pivoted to the slat-rod and having its lower end bent at the right angle, a screw passed through the slat and provided with a handle. (Lines 96-99) “When the handle is turned to the left, the slats can be adjusted into any desired position, and when in their adjusted position all that it is necessary to do is to turn the handle to the right which binds the parts together and holds the slats against movement.” (Lines 82-87) Illustration is included.
Date: August 18, 1891
Creator: Roll, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coach and Car Step. (open access)

Coach and Car Step.

Patent for an attached coach and car step "to render it unnecessary to carry stools or stepping-boxes, as are now used to facilitate passengers to get on or off the car or coach from an extra height between the ground or depot-floor and the main bottom tread of the step, thus avoiding dangerous and fatal results from overturning of stools and boxes." (Lines 14-21) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 11, 1896
Creator: Taylor, Frederick A.; Farrell, Patrick W. & Quebe, Wesley S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Transplanter. (open access)

Transplanter.

Patent for a machine that transplants small plants while avoiding "clogging of the mud in soft soil" (line 20). It has a cylindrical cutter and a cylindrical plunger that fits just inside it. The plunger is usually away from the base of the cutter, and an adjustable rod extends from the plunger.
Date: August 11, 1896
Creator: Harris, Hiram S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Portable Type-Distributer. (open access)

Portable Type-Distributer.

Patent for improvements in portable “type-distributing device which can be comfortably held in the hand and without strain on the wrist, and which is provided with a suitable main receptacle to hold the matter being distributed and also with auxiliary receptacles for leads and spaces, whereby the labor of distributing is greatly facilitated and lessened and the work much more rapidly accomplished.” (Lines 26-34) Includes illustration.
Date: August 4, 1891
Creator: Clarke, Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Feeder for Printing-Presses. (open access)

Feeder for Printing-Presses.

Patent for a feeder for printing-presses that "takes one sheet of paper at a time from a pile on the feed-board and delivers it within reach of the nippers to the press, as straight and true as it laid on the feed-board" (lines 11-14). The feeder has an improved design with adjustable retaining plates, a feed-board, a guard bar with sleeves that slide on the bar, retaining plates, pins with thumb-screws, brushes, and gage-blocks.
Date: August 8, 1893
Creator: Orser, Levi
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway-Joint. (open access)

Railway-Joint.

Patent for a railway-joint in which "the chairs at the sides of the rails have a dovetail connection with a connecting block or tie extending through the webs of the rails" (lines 9-12). The invention has an improved construction, can be adjusted, and can be laterally removed from the rails.
Date: August 8, 1893
Creator: Brown, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Game Apparatus. (open access)

Game Apparatus.

Patent for a certain new and useful improvement in game apparatus, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 16, 1898
Creator: Hutches, Benjamin F. Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History