Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for an improved, simple, and effective car coupling that couples automatically and without anyone having to go between the cars. It consists of a drawhead with a slot on one side, upper and lower slides in the drawhead, a coupling pin that sits in the upper slide, a lever that is connected to the slide, a spring that holds the lower slide in place, and a bolt that connects the lever with the upper slide.
Date: May 30, 1893
Creator: Cundiff, Middleton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Fireplace-Lining and Andiron-Support. (open access)

Combined Fireplace-Lining and Andiron-Support.

Patent for a combined fireplace-lining and andiron-support meant to improve the construction of fireplaces and can accommodate fireplace construction.
Date: September 3, 1895
Creator: Perkins, Oliver B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator. (open access)

Cultivator.

Patent for improving the cultivator-plow by providing "a standard of novel construction comprising a stationary member bolted to the beam and a foot member having a pivotal relation with said stationary member and capable of being adjusted as to its angle, and also capable of yielding backwardly when the shovel meets with an obstruction for the purpose of preventing the fracture or twisting of said standard." (lines 20-28) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 3, 1896
Creator: Collard, Job Brown & Hensarling, Hiram Johel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Stretcher. (open access)

Wire-Stretcher.

Patent for improvements in wire stretchers by using a T-shaped lever “to stretch the wire readily to the desired tension, and is capable of maintaining the wire at that tension until after stapling or otherwise fastening the same to a post.” (Lines 61-65) Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Kennedy, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow Attachment. (open access)

Plow Attachment.

Patent for a plow attachment that guides and aids the plow, and regulates "the depth at which the plow or cultivator shovel shall run in the ground" (lines 13-15).
Date: November 17, 1896
Creator: White, Hedley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay Press. (open access)

Hay Press.

Patent for an improvement in the hay-press that involves operation by horse-power. Includes illustrations.
Date: May 10, 1892
Creator: Finch, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate. (open access)

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
Gate. (open access)

Gate.

Patent for a gate that relates to a patent (no. 363,964) granted to the inventor, which is a gate opener that operates by pulling a chord connected to a mechanism that swings the gate open and closes upon release. The current patent simplifies the previous invention. The operator pulls a chord which makes the gate swivel on a central point. When the chord is released, the gate swivels back into place.
Date: November 10, 1896
Creator: Philpott, Horatio V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle-Wheel Scraper. (open access)

Vehicle-Wheel Scraper.

Patent for "a novel device for removing dirt from the peripheries of vehicle-wheels while the vehicle is in motion, and has for its objects to provide a novel, simple, and very efficient device of the indicated character which is readily attachable to the running-gear of a wagon or other wheeled vehicle, which may be readily adjusted thereon to remove dirt from its wheels, which will afford a reliable guard to prevent mud and slush from being thrown by the wheels on the body of the vehicle, and that may be conveniently removed from the vehicle when the improved scrapers are not needed for service." (Lines 7-20) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 19, 1896
Creator: Smith, William F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Saddle-Jack. (open access)

Saddle-Jack.

Patent for improvements in saddle-jack in which it “can be readily adjusted to hold the saddle-tree in any desired position to enable the workman to conveniently finish the saddle.” (Lines 9-12) Illustration is included.
Date: September 29, 1891
Creator: Bateman, Eugene E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pinless Clothes-Line. (open access)

Pinless Clothes-Line.

Patent for "a simple device constructed of connected links and provided with means for engaging articles to be suspended therefrom, such means being so constructed as to prevent displacement when subjected to severe strains." (Lines 9-14) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 25, 1896
Creator: Cooper, John A.
System: The Portal to Texas History