Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "is to make a car-coupler in which the link shall cause the pin to drop within it, which can be coupled or uncoupled from the side or top of cars without danger to the brake[people], and which is provided with means for lifting the link of cars with lower draw-heads" (lines 11-17).
Date: October 7, 1890
Creator: Testard, Adrian
System: The Portal to Texas History
Burglar-Alarm (open access)

Burglar-Alarm

Patent for "a very simple and economically-constructed alarm mechanically connected with windows and doors of a house or a room and adapted to be sounded by a raising or opening of the same, and at the same time to strike a light or illuminate the surroundings (lines 10-15).
Date: October 7, 1890
Creator: Canterbury, Crawford R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a new and improved churn. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the standard, the supporting-arm secured thereon and consisting of a stationary member, a swinging member hinged thereto, a latch secured to the swinging member and engaging the stationary member, and the slotted arm secured to the stationary member and passing around the swinging member, and the dasher-rods supported by and between the members of said arms" (lines 18-27).
Date: October 14, 1890
Creator: Lancaster, John L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists, "with a draw-head and a pin held to slide vertically therein, of a lever pivotally connected with the said link and fulcrumed on the draw-head, a chain connected with the said lever, an eye through which passes said chain, an arm connected with the inner end of the said chain, and a transversely-extending shaft mounted to turn in suitable bearings in the car-body and carrying the said arm" (lines 15-24).
Date: October 14, 1890
Creator: Onzon, François P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "is to provide means for raising the catch to release it from either side or from the top of the car, and holding it in such raised position" (lines 8-12). It consists, "with the draw-head and the catch pivoted therein and having tip extended vertically through the front end thereof, of eyes in said draw-head, a wire frame journaled in said eyes and having forwardly extending arms above and beneath the body of said catch, and means . . . for turning the frame in said eyes" (lines 85-93).
Date: October 21, 1890
Creator: Whatley, Richard I.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Treating Cotton-Seed Hulls (open access)

Apparatus for Treating Cotton-Seed Hulls

Patent for "a simple and durable plant capable of use in carrying out a dry process of reducing the hulls to a finely-divided condition" (lines 8-13).
Date: October 21, 1890
Creator: Bohn, Emil
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Plow. (open access)

Combination Plow.

Patent for improvements on the combination plow that can be converted into a single, double, or three plow, including illustrations.
Date: October 28, 1890
Creator: Walton, Jacob Gipson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Band Cutter and Feeder. (open access)

Band Cutter and Feeder.

Patent for an improvement of band-cutters, involving cutting bands and spreading grain in regulated quantities and intervals. Includes illustration.
Date: October 28, 1890
Creator: Izard, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Liniment (open access)

Liniment

Patent for "a medical compound or liniment for the alleviation and cure of wounds, especially those occasioned by barb-wire fences, burns, bruises, sprains, rheumatism, frost-bites, and hemorrhoids on man or beast" (lines 11-15).
Date: October 7, 1890
Creator: Doppelmayer, Mayer
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ironing Table. (open access)

Ironing Table.

Patent for a new and improved ironing board. This design consists, "with the supporting-frame and hinged board, of the inclined bar pivoted to the under side of said board, the lever hinged at one end to the lower end of the bar and fulcrumed . . . to the under side of the cross-bar, and the treadle hinged to one bottom rail and passing under the other" (lines 75-82).
Date: October 21, 1890
Creator: Wagnon, Andrew W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Two Wheeled Vehicle. (open access)

Two Wheeled Vehicle.

Patent for a new and improved two-wheeled vehicle. This design consists, "with the vehicle-body, the side springs secured thereto, and the bow-shaped brackets secured to said springs, of the axle and the shafts secured to the axle, the links pivoted to the axle and the said brackets and suspending the vehicle-body from the axle, the spring having its rear end secured to the vehicle body and provided with an eye at its front end, the cross-bar connecting the shafts, an eyebolt depending from the said cross-bar, and the adjustable link adapted to be lengthened or shortened" (lines 53-64).
Date: October 21, 1890
Creator: Harper, William D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam Cooker. (open access)

Steam Cooker.

Patent for a new and improved steam cooker. This design consists, "with a water-holder and a funnel-shaped reservoir provided with dependent lugs superimposed thereon, of an open-ended foraminous cylinder fitting within said water-holder, a circular foraminous disk fitting within said cylinder, said disk having a raised rim or flange adapted when the disk is lifted to engage the lugs on the reservoir, and a cover for said water-holder, with means for securing said cover within the reservoir" (lines 31-41).
Date: October 21, 1890
Creator: Thomason, Gustave
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lamp Holder. (open access)

Lamp Holder.

Patent for a new and improved lamp-holder. This design relates to "brackets for supporting lamps and other like articles; and it has for its object to provide a device of this character which shall be adjustable in various directions and extensible" (lines 15-19). It consists "of a casting having a rectangular portion provided with holes and from which extend parallel horizontal ears, the horizontal tubular arm formed at its inner end with enlargement arranged between the ears, the vertical pin passed through holes in said ears and a coincident hole in said enlargement intersecting the bore of the arm" (lines 18-26).
Date: October 14, 1890
Creator: Jefferson, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stirrup Leather Stay. (open access)

Stirrup Leather Stay.

Patent for a new and improved stirrup-leather stays. This design "is to provide a stay which will cause the stirrup to hang in proper position for insertion of the rider's foot in the mounting; and the invention consists in a stay the body of which is U-shaped in cross-section to receive the stirrup cross-bar and provided with a loop on its convex side at the bottom for the stirrup leather or strap" (lines 13-20).
Date: October 14, 1890
Creator: Padgitt, Jesse D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Table Screen. (open access)

Table Screen.

Patent for a new and improved table-screen. This design "is to provide a screen of strong and durable construction, adapted to be supported from the ceiling of a room and be arranged above a table, and be lowered thereon and entirely cover the same and securely prevent access of flies to the contents of the table" (lines 9-15). It is "constructed of sheet metal and provided with flanges at the top and bottom thereof, the lower flanges being arranged to rest upon the top of the table around the edges thereof, the semi-cylindrical wire-gauze screen secured to the flanges at the top" (lines 70-76).
Date: October 21, 1890
Creator: Spikes, Lizzie
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate. (open access)

Gate.

Patent for improvements in gates, including illustrations.
Date: October 28, 1890
Creator: Austin, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed-Planter (open access)

Seed-Planter

Patent for "a seed-planter for planting corn, cotton, and other seeds; and it has for its object to provide a device of this class which shall be simple, inexpensive, and efficient in operation" (lines 9-13).
Date: October 7, 1890
Creator: Cromer, Thomas L. & Schuwirth, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shuttle Operating Mechanism for Looms. (open access)

Shuttle Operating Mechanism for Looms.

Patent for a new and improved shuttle-operator for looms. This design "has for its objects to provide novel, simple, and efficient mechanism for actuating the picking-sticks which effect the flight of the shuttles; to avoid the use of the ordinary lower picker-shaft; to avoid lateral angles in the picking-levers, which actuate the picking-sticks to throw the shuttles, and to otherwise improve the picking motion of looms for obtaining simplicity, strength, durability, power, and efficiency" (lines 8-18).
Date: October 21, 1890
Creator: Fisher, Finis E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine (open access)

Washing-Machine

Patent for "a washing-machine which will rapidly wash clothes of coarse or fine texture without injury thereto. This object I accomplish by my improved washing-machine, which consists, essentially, of a cylindrical body, a flexible and adjustable wash-board in the lower half thereof, and a corrugated drum rotating in the body above the wash-board" (lines 9-16).
Date: October 28, 1890
Creator: Baugh, Reuben P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow Slide. (open access)

Plow Slide.

Patent for a new and improved plow slide. This design consists in "[a] combination tool for use with plows, consisting of a suitable bar having one end turned upward, provided with a beveled edge at the other end, a suitable cross-strap, and having openings at the sides, and bent ends adapted to the nuts used in a plow" (lines 70-75).
Date: October 7, 1890
Creator: Bowers, Thomas Martin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design "relates to plows; and it consists in certain improvements of construction of the same, having for its object to admit of the adjustment of the heel-bar of the plow with relation to the standard of the same, and also to provide the said heel-bar with an adjustable knife or cutter which shall serve as a rudder to prevent the plow from swerving to either side during operation" (lines 8-16).
Date: October 7, 1890
Creator: Echols, Christopher Columbus
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the plow-beam and plow, of the semicircular stay-brace pivotally secured to the beam at one end and at the other end formed with a slot and a horizontal portion extending across the top of the beam, the bolt passed through the slot into the beam, the colter, and the adjustable wedge-shaped block having a plurality of depressions upon its inner face to receive the horizontal portion of the brace" (lines 81-90).
Date: October 14, 1890
Creator: Dickerman, Lewis M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design consists in "the combination of the beam having the downwardly and forwardly extending standard and foot, the seat-plate secured to the foot and having perforations, the arm or bracket extending laterally from the standard, and the share bolted to the seat-plate and having the landside and the moldboard bolted to the plate and arm and resting upon said plate and arm and upon the upper edges of the mold-board and landside" (lines 64-74).
Date: October 21, 1890
Creator: Stone, James Micajah
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pulley Hub. (open access)

Pulley Hub.

Patent for a new and improved pulley-hub. This design "relates . . . to the means employed for attaching the hubs thereof firmly but removably to the shaft upon which the pulleys are mounted; and the object of the invention is to effect improvements upon the well-known 'spline-and-groove' connection. To this end the invention consists of a hub having upon its interior two outwardly-tapering grooves, wedges moving within said grooves, and a screw having a pointed tip passing between the inner ends of the wedges to separate them" (lines 8-20).
Date: October 14, 1890
Creator: Collier, William Reid
System: The Portal to Texas History