Adjustable Pipe-Wrench. (open access)

Adjustable Pipe-Wrench.

Patent for an adjustable pipe wrench "in which the opposing jaws of the wrench are maintained at an angle to each other, so hat they converge toward their extremities, thus enabling a firmer hold to e obtained upon the pope or other article to be gripped by said jaws." (Lines 15-20) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 20, 1897
Creator: Fauver, Addis E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for a simple and reliable car-coupling that embodies "novel features of construction that adapt[s] said coupling for an automatic coupled engagement with a similar coupling, and that may be safely uncoupled from the side of the car whereon the improvement is secured" (lines 11-16).
Date: September 3, 1895
Creator: Tiner, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for a novel, simple, and practical car coupling that has a link and gravity pin. It "may be set to coupe two of the improved couplings on approaching cars, when these devices engage each other, and also that may be manipulated by the usual lever or chain attachment to uncouple two connected drawheads, effecting such a detachment from the sides or roof of the car" (lines 12-19).
Date: October 17, 1893
Creator: Tiner, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench. (open access)

Wrench.

Patent for a nut-wrench capable of tightening different sized nuts. The lower jaw of the wrench has different levels, the overall effect being that of a staircase, while the upper jaw is flat with a bite that holds the nuts in place.
Date: December 15, 1896
Creator: Tiner, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ironing-Table. (open access)

Ironing-Table.

Patent for an ironing table with an improved construction that makes it easily adjustable so a person of any height can iron easily and keeps clothes being ironed off the floor.
Date: April 4, 1893
Creator: Smith, Millage M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon-Tongue Support. (open access)

Wagon-Tongue Support.

Patent for "improvements in the running gear of draft wagons, and has for its objects to provide a novel, simple device for the support of the wagon tongue, and an improved means for obviating friction between the coupling pole of the vehicle, and the slide bar on the front hounds of the wagon running gear" (lines 8-15).
Date: December 12, 1893
Creator: Tiner, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Umbrella-Holder. (open access)

Umbrella-Holder.

Patent for a new and useful simplicity umbrella holder for "use on sulky-cultivators of that class in which the seat-support is constructed to form a crotch" (line 9-12).
Date: March 8, 1898
Creator: Holcombe, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water-Elevating Device. (open access)

Water-Elevating Device.

Patent for a simple, inexpensive, efficient, and durable water-elevating device meant to be used in collecting water from wells, cisterns, &c., and can be used in domestic and commercial settings. "Power may be increased [in the invention] to enable an operator to raise large quantities of water with facility" (lines 13-15).
Date: April 30, 1895
Creator: Taylor, James B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pump. (open access)

Pump.

Patent for a pump "of the double-cylinder type, in which a continuous and steady stream of water is sucked from the well and forced to the point of use, and in such a pump to provide means for operating the same, whereby the same power will be required to raise the plunger that it does to force the same downward, and to this end providing such improved mechanisms and connections which will evenly distribute the power exerted by the operator to actuate the pump" (lines 9-19).
Date: October 4, 1892
Creator: Smith, Millage Math.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spring Draft Attachment. (open access)

Spring Draft Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved spring-draft attachment. This design "is to do away with the ordinary doubletree . . . which is especially adapted for a two-horse vehicle, which . . . prevents the horses from pulling against one another, [and ] prevents the pole from swaying sidewise" (lines 10-18). It "consist[s] of a frame provided with an eye at one end and with a cross-bar near its center, a draw-bar having one end screw-threaded and provided with an eye at its other end and with a collar at its screw-threaded end, a nut on the draw-bar, and a spring surrounding the draw-bar" (lines 65-71).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Tiner, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed-Sowing Attachment for Plows. (open access)

Seed-Sowing Attachment for Plows.

Patent for a seed-sowing attachment for plows which can "drop the seed in a furrow as it is made by the plow, and after it is covered by the formation of a successive furrow, and thereby complete the sowing or drilling process simultaneously with the plowing operation" (lines 14-19).
Date: June 19, 1894
Creator: Johnson, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Refrigerator. (open access)

Refrigerator.

Patent for an efficient refrigerator meant to preserve meat, dairy, and produce. The refrigerator uses evaporating water to cool the food, not ice. There are inner and outer layers, a large water pan with vertical drip openings, and inner screen walls.
Date: April 17, 1894
Creator: Denson, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History