Resource Type

Device for Cutting Boiler Tubes. (open access)

Device for Cutting Boiler Tubes.

Patent for a new device for cutting boiler-tubes. This design "is to be adjusted a distance from the head sufficiently in excess of the thickness of the tube sheet to prevent injury to the latter. The device is then inserted into the end of the tube, with the head abutting against the outside of the tube-sheet. By turning the screw the wedges may then be drawn toward each other, thus forcing the block carrying the cutter outward. The device is now to be turned by the shank alternately with feeding the cutter outward until the tube has been cut through, after which it may be readily removed" (lines 75-88).
Date: April 18, 1882
Creator: Franklin, James Johnson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit Picker. (open access)

Fruit Picker.

Patent for a new and improved fruit picker. This design "is to provide a picker that may be adjusted in length to suit trees of different heights. A further object is to provide a picker with a fruit-receptacle, which is constructed of wire gauze or netting to adapt the same to be introduced readily between branches that are close together; and a further object is to provide a picker which is simple in construction, and can be cheaply made and not liable to get out of order" (lines 16-26).
Date: June 18, 1889
Creator: Harpst, Edgar S.
System: The Portal to Texas History