Composition For Staining Wood. (open access)

Composition For Staining Wood.

Patent for a “paint or stain, which, when applied, will harden on the common woods of commerce, render them durable and smooth, and give them the exact appearance of black walnut” (lines 15-18).
Date: May 16, 1882
Creator: Gloger, Anton F., Jr. & Gloger, Joseph P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Axle and Wheel (open access)

Car Axle and Wheel

Patent for a new and improved wheel and axle for cars. This design calls for "providing each of the axle with a fixed ratchet-wheel and providing the car-wheels with spring-pawls adapted to engage with the ratchets" (lines 21-24). This overcomes the strain that the wheels place on the axles when making turns, which reduces the chance of the car leaving its tracks.
Date: May 16, 1882
Creator: Pendleton, William S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination-Lock for Money-Drawers, &c. (open access)

Combination-Lock for Money-Drawers, &c.

Patent for improvement to a combination lock for money drawers to make it more secure.
Date: March 16, 1886
Creator: Sturgis, Herbert M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Railway Signal. (open access)

Automatic Railway Signal.

Patent for a new and improved railroad signal. This design, "[w]hen the wheels of a passing train come in contact with the spring and bent end of the lever . . . said end is lowered or depressed, causing the movement in the same direction of the outer end of said lever, which, through the agency of the wire, will cause the ringing or sounding of the gong or bell as the wheels . . . come in contact with the end of the lever. . . .[A]fter the wheels of the last car of a train have passed the point where the lever is located, said lever will be returned to its normal position by means of the coil-spring" (lines 57-71).
Date: October 16, 1888
Creator: Ross, Albert James & Darter, John T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Compressed-Air and Steam Apparatus for Sinking Wells (open access)

Compressed-Air and Steam Apparatus for Sinking Wells

Patent for "a simple and inexpensive apparatus for drilling the rock and earth until sufficient loose material has accumulated in the shaft, and then remove such material by the pressure of an aeriform fluid - such as steam or compressed air" (lines 23-29).
Date: July 16, 1889
Creator: Goodrich, Hervey K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Tool. (open access)

Combination Tool.

Patent for a new and improved multi-tool. This design consists in "the combination of the two overlapping fulcrumed or pivoted levers having handles and forward ends of flattened crescent shape bent in reverse directions to cause their extreme reduced ends to abut to form nippers, and provided with beveled shoulders at the bases of their inner edges to form cutters and with serrated projections in rear of the pivot or fulcrum, and an angular arm movably attached to said pivot or fulcrum, carrying a receptacle adapted to be adjusted under the nippers for the reception of staples" (lines 29-42).
Date: July 16, 1889
Creator: Carter, James T.
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 in "the combination of the draw-heads provided with forwardly-projecting portions having curved faces and notches in the rear thereof, bails pivoted centrally on vertical pins passing through the center of the draw-heads, springs exerting a rearward pressure on the rear ends of the bails, and chains secured to the forward ends of the bails to move them in opposition to the pressure of their springs" (lines 78-87).
Date: July 16, 1889
Creator: Neal, Adam S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Dish-Washer and Churn (open access)

Combined Dish-Washer and Churn

Patent for a combined dish-washing machine and churn, with illustration and description of parts.
Date: June 16, 1885
Creator: Fletcher, William Nelson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "relates to car-couplings, and it has for its object to provide a device of this character which shall be automatic in its action, simple in its construction, positive and effective in operation, and one that will be strong and durable. A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for supporting the link in a horizontal position, so that it will engage the draw-head of the adjacent car. The invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts" (lines 10-21).
Date: June 16, 1885
Creator: Hogan, John James & Miller, Rudolph Albert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brick-Truck (open access)

Brick-Truck

Patent for improvements in trucks for carrying bricks.
Date: April 16, 1889
Creator: Weekes, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clutch Clamp. (open access)

Clutch Clamp.

Patent for a new and improved clutch-clamp. This design "is to provide a simple and effective device for lowering or hoisting the pipe or rods of pumps into bored wells or other places, such as mines or shafts, and without injury to the pipe or rod, such device being not only readily and easily handled in connecting it to or disconnecting it from the object to be raised or lowered, but capable of being manufactured at comparatively small cost" (lines 20-29).
Date: August 16, 1887
Creator: McCoy, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bridge. (open access)

Bridge.

Patent for "improvements in bridges of that class which are used for crossing streams or country roads, and for such other purposes as a bridge may be desired" (lines 15-18), with instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 16, 1887
Creator: Mitchell, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "relates to car-couplings; and it has for its object to provide a device of this character which shall be so constructed as to couple the cars automatically as they are brought together, and one which will securely hold the cars coupled, and yet allow a free movement of the same in turning curves" (lines 9-15).
Date: December 16, 1884
Creator: Jourde, Alfred John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling press. This design "relates to certain improvements in portable and stationary baling-presses more especially designed for baling hay; and the invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts" (lines 6-10).
Date: December 16, 1884
Creator: Hampton, John Andrew
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn Cover Attachment. (open access)

Churn Cover Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved churn-cover attachment. This design "consists in a loose supplementary ventilating-lid, designed to be slipped onto or over the staff or handle of the churn above the lid proper" (lines 25-28).
Date: December 16, 1884
Creator: Risien, Edmund Ebenezer
System: The Portal to Texas History
Case for Eyeglasses. (open access)

Case for Eyeglasses.

Patent for a new and improved glasses case. This design "consists of a case for eyeglasses provided at the back with a pin or other device, for attaching the same to the vest or coat, said case being provided at the upper end with a retaining device that prevents the dropping of the eyeglasses from the case" (lines 11-17).
Date: September 16, 1884
Creator: Hawkes, Albert K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Forcing Liquids from Barrels. (open access)

Apparatus for Forcing Liquids from Barrels.

Patent for a new and improved device for extracting liquids from sealed containers. This design utilizes a bellows apparatus, and "by simply compressing [it] air is forced into the space in the barrel or vessel above the liquid, when the pressure of this air will exhaust the liquid through the faucet at the bottom under pressure" (lines 65-70).
Date: October 16, 1883
Creator: Park, Hardy B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bell Cord Coupling. (open access)

Bell Cord Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved bell cord coupling. This design consists in "[a] cord connecting and tension device comprising essentially a shell or tube, a spiral spring, and a pair of slotted balls arranged therein, and a flat strip having round ends adapted to slide through said balls . . . [and] a sliding spring-encircled plate provided with screw-threaded and split end portions, and nuts fitted on the latter, in combination with a tube or shell, and balls arranged in said tube" (lines 89-100).
Date: January 16, 1883
Creator: Tumey, Charles Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Buncher. (open access)

Cotton Buncher.

Patent for a new and improved cotton buncher. This design utilizes a wheel that "is to press down the plants and weeds that are to be destroyed, so that the plows, whether used along with the wheel or afterward, will cover them up with fresh earth, and thus assist in destroying them, and at the same time cultivating the plants to be retained and facilitating the subsequent thinning process" (lines 62-68).
Date: January 16, 1883
Creator: Goodin, James Louis
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 in the construction and novel arrangement of the rack-bars seated in ways recessed in the sides of the draw-head, toothed segments engaging therewith, a shaft carrying said toothed segments, and also bearing within the cavity of the draw-head a vibratory arm and a setting-lever, from which the coupling-pin is suspended, connected to said vibratory arm" (lines 24-32).
Date: August 16, 1881
Creator: Stephens, Lawrence Earnest. & Pool, George Washington.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Life Boat. (open access)

Life Boat.

Patent for a new and improved life boat. This design consists "[i]n a life-boat, the combination of a hull having the portion of its sides above the water-line overhanging and concave and having the portion of its sides below the water-line convex, with air-chambers having their inner walls curved corresponding to the curves of the upper portion of the sides and converging into the sides at their lower edges, the said chambers increasing in capacity toward the upper edges of the sides of the hull" (lines 22-31).
Date: June 16, 1885
Creator: Dwyer, Daniel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locking Device for Baling Press Doors. (open access)

Locking Device for Baling Press Doors.

Patent for a new and improved lock for baling-press doors. This design "is to provide a . . . locking device for the doors of the baling chamber of a baling-press, which locking device is so constructed that all the doors can be locked in a single operation and by means of the same device, and may be loosened simultaneously" (lines 8-14).
Date: February 16, 1886
Creator: Clark, Frank S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Liquid Toilet Preparation. (open access)

Liquid Toilet Preparation.

Patent for scented 2 in 1 hair and body wash which includes ingredients and their measurements and instructions. “It is designed to remove dandruff, and to prevent the hair from falling out. It has great cleansing properties, and will be found excellent for washing fine jewelry, nursing-bottles, and in fact all articles upon which the action of free acids or alkalies is not desirable” (lines 30-38).
Date: September 16, 1884
Creator: Bicksler, William Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Basket. (open access)

Wire Basket.

Patent for a new and improved wire basket. This design "consists in a certain combination, arrangement, and connection of a series of wires, whereby great strength is attained, the same including upper and lower hoop wires, upright or straight wires arranged to connect said hoops and wire frame bottom, and reversely-arranged diagonal wires or braces also connecting the top and bottom hoops, and twisted or wrapped around the upright wires intermediately of their length" (lines 13-22).
Date: October 16, 1883
Creator: Moore, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History