Book Adjuster. (open access)

Book Adjuster.

Patent for a new and improved book-adjuster. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the holder having the horizontal longitudinal recess and the vertical screw-threaded aperture, of the base-piece, the adjusting-screw swiveled at its lower end in the said base-piece, and the spring-catch" (lines 3-8).
Date: February 8, 1887
Creator: Adair, Irvine James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Copy Holder. (open access)

Copy Holder.

Patent for a new and improved copy-holder. This design "is [for] an improved copy-holder intended especially for holding deeds when being transcribed to the records, and seeks to provide a simple, inexpensive construction by which the deed may be held and to and from which the deed or other paper may be adjusted without difficulty, such construction serving also to mark or indicate the particular line of the paper being copied" (lines 7-15).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Adair, Irvine James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Air Compressor for Deep Well Pumps. (open access)

Air Compressor for Deep Well Pumps.

Patent for a new and improved air-compressor. This design "relates to improvements in air-compressing mechanism for the purpose of pumping for forcing from deep wells and performing similar work; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of a larger and smaller air-cylinder, and the combination therewith of mechanism to force the air from the larger into the smaller cylinder to increase the air-pressure in the latter" (lines 22-30).
Date: August 2, 1887
Creator: Adams, John R.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Stretcher. (open access)

Wire Stretcher.

Patent for a new and improved wire stretcher. This design consists in "a frame having two arms, one carrying a fixed clamp and the other a roller, a windlass mounted on said frame having a rope passing over said roller and adapted to be fixed to an end of wire, and a central clamp consisting of a rigid bar on the frame between its arms, a notched clamp pivoted thereon, and a ring for retaining the clamp" (lines 6-14).
Date: February 22, 1887
Creator: Ainsworth, Phineas Hardaman
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk Knocker. (open access)

Stalk Knocker.

Patent for a new and improved stalk knocker. This design consists in "the combination, with the running-gear of a wagon, of a frame-work mounted thereon and provided with vertically-adjustable hangers at its rear end carrying stalk-knockers and their shaft, a diagonal adjustable brace connecting the hanger and the frame-work, and a driving-pulley formed in sections, having spoke-embracing lugs, and connected to the knocker-shaft by means of a belt" (lines 10-18).
Date: November 8, 1887
Creator: Allen, William A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire-Arm. (open access)

Fire-Arm.

Patent for an improvement to adjusting rifle barrels and holding those adjustments in place. Includes illustrations.
Date: March 8, 1887
Creator: Alston, William F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rail-Joint (open access)

Rail-Joint

Patent for improvements in the construction and design of rail-joints.
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Anderson, Lee
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway Signal. (open access)

Railway Signal.

Patent for a new and improved railroad signal. This design consists in "[a] continuous electric conductor extending beside a railroad, a contact-maker borne by a train, an electric galvanic battery, a stationary transmitter, and a train provided with transmitting and receiving instruments on two or more members of the train and connected with the electric circuit in multiple arc . . . whereby a message can be sent to each member simultaneously" (lines 8-17).
Date: June 7, 1887
Creator: Armstrong, James Henry
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam Engine Governor. (open access)

Steam Engine Governor.

Patent for a new and improved steam-engine governor. This design consists in "the combination, with the valve-stem and governor-balls, of a lever connected with the said valve-stem, a weighted lever connected with the said valve-stem lever, a piston-rod connected with the said weighted lever, a piston attached to the said piston-rod, and a small cylinder in which the said piston operates, and which is connected at one end with the interior of the steam-chest" (lines 93-102).
Date: August 16, 1887
Creator: Arnold, Eliphalet L.
Object Type: Patent
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 "[t]he combination of the platform . . . having a spring buffer and a projection adjacent to and to one side of the buffer . . . the catch pivotally secured below the same and having a series of coupling shoulders on one side, the spring, and the stop arranged to act upon the side of the catch from which the coupling shoulders project" (lines 89-98).
Date: September 6, 1887
Creator: Ashford, Thomas Gresham.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn Planting Attachment for Plows. (open access)

Corn Planting Attachment for Plows.

Patent for a new and improved corn-planting attachment for plows. This design "consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of such an attachment, which may be secured to the rear end of the beam of a common breaking-plow, having a wheel running in the furrow operating the dropping mechanism" (lines 22-28).
Date: October 18, 1887
Creator: Aten, Frank L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brake for Vehicles (open access)

Brake for Vehicles

Patent for "a brake which shall be easy in operation, cheap in construction, and not liable to get out of order" (lines 13-17).
Date: October 25, 1887
Creator: Bacon, Edward Hamlin
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the frame and the operating-gearing, of the vertical shaft, supported by the frame and acted on by the operating-gearing, the horizontal plate rigidly secured to the lower end of the shaft and provided with radial grooves, and slots in said grooves, the feet having their upper ends bent at right angles, fitted in said grooves and adjustably secured therein by bolts passing through the radial slots, the lower ends of the feet carrying choppers" (lines 39-49).
Date: October 25, 1887
Creator: Ballard, John J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Seed Dropper. (open access)

Cotton Seed Dropper.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists in "the frame, the roller journaled in the rear side thereof and having the crank, the seed-spout, the supporting bars on opposite sides of the frame, the rigid shaft connecting the said bars, the seed-disk rigidly secured to the said shaft and having the curved fingers or teeth, the hopper journaled on the shaft and adapted to oscillate thereon, the said hopper having the discharge-opening in its lower side, through which the lower edge of the seed-disk connects, and the pitman connecting the crank with the hopper" (lines 26-37).
Date: October 25, 1887
Creator: Ballard, John J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Splicer. (open access)

Wire Splicer.

Patent for a new and improved wire-splicer. This design "consist[s] of a handle having an integral lateral offset at one end, provided with a transverse perforation formed substantially in line with the handle, a groove being formed in the angle formed by the lateral offset and the handle, and an enlarged recess being formed in the side of the handle and top of the offset concentrically with the groove" (lines 53-61).
Date: December 13, 1887
Creator: Batters, William Francis
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Cutting off the Soiled Butts of Grain Stalks. (open access)

Machine for Cutting off the Soiled Butts of Grain Stalks.

Patent for a new and improved cutting machine for grain stalks. This design consists in a "table slotted in its middle part and slotted and recessed at or near one edge, the parallel endless bundle-carrying chains working in said slots and having arms, the chain-wheels, the shafts thereof and their supports, the circular saw in the recess at the edge of the table, the mandrel and the gage-plate" (lines 98-105).
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: Becker, Lothar
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Planter. (open access)

Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists in "slides over opposite holes in the bottom of its hopper and a dropping-cylinder provided with seed-cups on its periphery and removable screws rising from within the cups, whereby it may be changed . . . so as to plant corn or cotton" (lines 59-65).
Date: September 20, 1887
Creator: Becker, Philipp William Adolph
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Filter. (open access)

Filter.

Patent for a new and improved filter. This design is for "[a] filter consisting of sections secured together at their meeting edges by a lapped joint, the upper edge of [a] section being fitted wholly within [another] section and forming a shoulder for the support of a screen-plate, and the body of filtering material above, a shoulder on [a] section below [the] shoulder, and screen plates resting on and held to the shoulders by the weight of the body of filtering material, whereby, when the filter-sections are inverted, the [other] shoulder serves to support [the] screen and the filtering material above" (lines 45-56).
Date: February 15, 1887
Creator: Begemann, Charles Fredrich William
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gin-Saw-Sharpening Machine (open access)

Gin-Saw-Sharpening Machine

Patent for improvements of gin saw sharpening machines.
Date: June 28, 1887
Creator: Behan, William & Friensehner, Paul
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton or Hay Press. (open access)

Cotton or Hay Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling-press. This design consists in "[a] duplex cotton or other press comprising connected pressing-boxes, each having a loose lower platen and platen-supports on its sides, devices . . . for raising said lower platens, a truck for supporting said boxes, traveling wheels or rollers journaled to said truck and having bevel or V-shaped treads or peripheries, a track mounted upon suitable supports and having a V-shaped or recessed top face to receive and guide said wheels or rollers during the reciprocatory movements of said truck and the thereto-connected boxes" (lines 15-27).
Date: April 26, 1887
Creator: Berry, William Robert
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bed Stay. (open access)

Bed Stay.

Patent for a new and improved bed stay. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a bed-stay, of wires connected to the corners of the bed-stead, blocks on the wires, loops connected to the blocks, a lever hung to the loop, and a latch device locking the free end of the lever to the loop" (lines 10-15).
Date: December 6, 1887
Creator: Bethea, Cade
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mosquito Bar and Carriage Umbrella. (open access)

Mosquito Bar and Carriage Umbrella.

Patent for a new and improved mosquito bar and carriage umbrella. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a tube adapted to be applied to the head-board of a bed, and having a lateral slot and roller therein, of a set-screw passing into the said tube, a curved tube adjustably supported in the straight tube, a parasol on the end of the curved tube, and a cord passing through the tubes to operate the parasol" (lines 58-65).
Date: November 29, 1887
Creator: Blunt, Walter F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Tightener. (open access)

Wire Tightener.

Patent for a new and improved wire tightener. This design consists in "the combination of the disks or sections connected by the central bar, the oppositely-pointing lever-arms, the transverse pin fitting into corresponding openings in the disks or sections on one side of the central bar, the locking-pin adapted to fit into any two corresponding openings of the concentric series of openings made in the disks, and a rope or similar device connecting the wire to be stretched with the disks and their connections" (lines 93-103).
Date: April 26, 1887
Creator: Boyd, James W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
The Federal Reporter. Volume 30: Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States. April-July, 1887. (open access)

The Federal Reporter. Volume 30: Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit and District Courts of the United States. April-July, 1887.

The Federal Reporter contains the text of decisions and commentary regarding cases tried in circuit and district courts throughout the United States. The opinions printed in the volumes include both written statements and oral comments transcribed for publication. Index of cases starts on page xv.
Date: 1887
Creator: Boyle, Peyton
Object Type: Legislative Document
System: The UNT Digital Library