Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "a draw-head having a slotted top and a recessed bottom, of a transverse slotted bar journaled in bearings, one end being extended for the attachment of a handle, and the headless coupling-pin having the reduced or flattened portion to permit of its ready insertion and withdrawal from the transverse bar" (lines 73-80).
Date: January 11, 1887
Creator: Dial, Augustus A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive Valve-Gear. (open access)

Locomotive Valve-Gear.

Patent for improvement to the locomotive valve-gear by utilizing a centrally-pivoted lever.
Date: January 11, 1887
Creator: Lewis, Wallace James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Measuring Vessel. (open access)

Measuring Vessel.

Patent for a new and improved measuring vessel. This design consists in "a measuring-vessel provided with a funnel projecting from right angles at the top of it, and a hinged lid wholly covering the opening to the funnel and to the vessel" (lines 54-58).
Date: October 11, 1887
Creator: Reeves, Virgil A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bale Tile. (open access)

Bale Tile.

Patent for a new and improved bale-tie. This design "consists, principally, of a bale-tie jaw stamped from sheet metal and formed with an open hook at one end standing in front of a curved edge, with an opening at the other for attachment to the bale-hoop, said opening being shaped to permit the jaw to have a pivotal side motion upon the hoop. The invention also consists of the combination of two of such jaws applied to the bale-hoop to form a complete tie" (lines 7-16).
Date: January 11, 1887
Creator: Rylander, William P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fifth Wheel. (open access)

Fifth Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved wheel. This design consists in "the combination of the lower section carried by the axle, an upper section bearing on the lower section and having the spaced lugs, a bolster fitted between the said lugs, a reach having its front end resting on the upper section, and the plate secured to the front end of the reach and having the loops at its ends, which fit around the upper and lower sections" (lines 39-47).
Date: January 11, 1887
Creator: Switzer, William C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Ventilator. (open access)

Car Ventilator.

Patent for a new and improved car-ventilator. This design consists in "an eduction pipe arranged lengthwise of the car" (lines 103-104). It further consists in a casing "at the end of the pipe, the fan-wheel mounted upon a shaft within said casing, [another] casing arranged adjacent to the [first] casing, a fan-wheel arranged within [a third] casing upon an extension of the shaft, and valves in the eduction pipe, to be opened and closed by the air" (lines 1-7).
Date: October 11, 1887
Creator: Tull, Francis Shalis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling (open access)

Car-Coupling

Patent for an improved car-coupling, including illustrations.
Date: January 11, 1887
Creator: Young, James D.
System: The Portal to Texas History