Combined Record, Diary, and Ledger (open access)

Combined Record, Diary, and Ledger

Patent for improvements to books by combining "a general record, a diary, a ledger, and index leaves, including the months and days of the week and alphabetical and numerical indices" (lines 10-12).
Date: August 30, 1892
Creator: Meyer, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Medical Compound. (open access)

Medical Compound.

Patent for improvements in medical compounds: "provide a new and useful preparation for the treatment and cure of kidney and bladder affections" (lines 9-11).
Date: August 30, 1892
Creator: Page, Thomas L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Messenger's Picket. (open access)

Messenger's Picket.

Patent for a new and improved messenger's picket. This design "is an improvement in means of protection for express-[people] or express-messengers on railway-trains from successful attack by robbers. In other words, it is an improved form of bullet-proof cage or miniature fort in which the express-[person] or messenger may lock himself [or herself] in case of danger and from which he [or she] may watch and fire upon his [or her] assailants with almost perfect safety" (lines 7-15).
Date: August 30, 1892
Creator: Hays, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pickle-Lifter. (open access)

Pickle-Lifter.

Patent for improvements in pickle lifters: "provide a device of the character set forth which is adapted for culinary as well as table use in lifting pickles, olives, or other edibles of a similar nature from bottles or jars, the parts of the same being simple and effective in the construction and operation" (lines 13-19).
Date: August 30, 1892
Creator: Currie, John A., Jr. & Currie, Jose W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow (open access)

Plow

Patent for a "new and useful plow"(line 5). The plow is of "durable construction and adapt the same for a convenient adjustment of the standard, whereby the plow may be adapted to run deep or shallow"(Lines 10-14). Illustration Included.
Date: August 30, 1892
Creator: Jensen, Ole T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Soap. (open access)

Soap.

Patent for a system of making soap and the amount of the ingredients therein.
Date: August 30, 1892
Creator: Gray, John & Simmons, Abner
System: The Portal to Texas History
Windmill. (open access)

Windmill.

Patent for a windmill that qualifies as "a substantial and strong machine capable of withstanding the high winds of the Western prairies, which will be at the same time inexpensive and simple in construction, and which will automatically regulate itself in such a manner as to run with a uniform speed in all kinds of winds" (lines 16-22)
Date: August 30, 1892
Creator: Campbell, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Book-Support. (open access)

Book-Support.

Patent for improvements in book support: "book are held in an upright position on the shelves" (lines 9-10).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Muir, James Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Spoon. (open access)

Design for a Spoon.

Design patent for a souvenir spoon typical or representative of the state of Texas; "The leading feature of [the] design is a head and bust of Davy Crockett, which forms the outer and wide end of the handle...About the middle of the shank and projecting on each side of the same is the lone star, while on the bowl of the spoon is a representation of the old building known as the 'Alamo'" (lines 14-22).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Hughes, Joseph A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gear Shifting Mechanism for Harvesters. (open access)

Gear Shifting Mechanism for Harvesters.

Patent for a new and improved gear-shifting mechanism for harvesters. This design "has reference more especially to a gear-shifting mechanism for a reciprocating conveyer in which a gear is engaged and automatically disengaged as the conveyer nears the end of its stubbleward movement" (lines 10-15). It consists, "with a bar provided with a guide having a slot and a depression in said slot, an antifriction roller on said guide, a block or track having a recess, a movable bearing pivoted to the harvester-frame with one end and extending with its other end to the guide" (lines 106-112).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Schubert, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Memorandum Tablet. (open access)

Memorandum Tablet.

Patent for a new and improved memo pad. This design "consists, essentially, in a tablet or tickler consisting of fifty-two connected sheets divided into six spaces for the six business days of the week, with the day of the week, month, and day of month provided above each space, the pages being indexed at the bottom—the first six months of the year at the left and the last six months at the right—with an intermediate space for advertisements" (lines 22-31).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Seymour, George H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nut and Bolt Wrench. (open access)

Nut and Bolt Wrench.

Patent for a new and improved wrench. This design consists in "a wrench-head having a handle and a longitudinal slot through the wrench-head, a slidable bar having a jaw moving in said slot, a rack upon said bar, a worm-wheel in the wrench-head, meshing with the rack, and a jaw upon the wrench-head, jointly with a screw-driver inserted in the end of the slidable bar, said wrench-head having a plane outer surrounding surface in proximity to the longitudinal slot" (lines 1-10).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Hoval, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Penholder. (open access)

Penholder.

Patent for a new and improved pen holder. This design "relates to improvements in penholders whereby the pen may be automatically discharged or ejected from the holder" (lines 8-11). It consists "of a staff with tenoned end, a portion of which is cut out of its upper surface with a downward bevel to its lower end, a beveled slide adapted to fit and slide upon the beveled cut in the staff, said slide being provided with a slight shoulder upon its upper side and a hole through the same for a screw or pin, a tube longitudinally slotted inclosing said staff and slide" (lines 38-47).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Blalock, William Benjamin & Muir, James Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pneumatic Conveyer for Unloading Cotton. (open access)

Pneumatic Conveyer for Unloading Cotton.

Patent for a new and improved pneumatic conveyer. This design "relates to improvements in pneumatic conveyers of that class or style adapted for unloading cotton from a wagon and depositing it on the gin-stand or other place; and the object is to provide a machine whereby cotton may be readily, conveniently, and expeditiously taken from the wagon or other vehicle or dumping-platform and carried or conveyed through a pneumatic tube and deposited on the gin-stand or similar floor for ginning" (lines 9-19).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Stafford, George A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buckle. (open access)

Buckle.

Patent for a new and improved buckle. This design "is composed of two parts, the upper end forming what may be termed a 'buckle proper,' to secure the end of a strap, and the lower ends formed into curved portions which fit one within the other and constructed to interlock, so that the lower end is adapted to catch a chain, bit, or other device which it is desired to connect a strap to, the . . . parts forming a hinge, whereby they can be turned one upon the other and separated entirely, or at their upper ends to allow the adjustment of the strap secured thereto" (lines 18-30).
Date: August 16, 1892
Creator: Taylor, John Greene
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 "of a draw-head, a depending hook pivotally mounted therein, a transverse pin arranged on the bottom of the mouth of the draw-head and provided intermediate its ends with a notch to permit the passage of the lower end of the hook, a spring for holding the notch away from the hook, and means for sliding the pin to bring the notch opposite the hook" (lines 83-91).
Date: August 16, 1892
Creator: Davis, William Haywood
System: The Portal to Texas History
Draw Bar for Locomotives. (open access)

Draw Bar for Locomotives.

Patent for a new and improved draw-bar for locomotives. This design consists, "with the frame of the locomotive and pilot mounted thereon, of the draw-bar connected to the frame, devices for locking and holding the draw-bar on the pilot, and a counter-weight for automatically elevating the draw-bar when released" (lines 97-102).
Date: August 16, 1892
Creator: Heidelberg, Samuel H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sash Balance (open access)

Sash Balance

Patent for a sash balance in a window frame.
Date: August 16, 1892
Creator: Cayce, Henry P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Attachment for Pianos or Organs (open access)

Attachment for Pianos or Organs

Patent for "an attachment that can be used on pianos or organs, whereby the manipulation of the keys is greatly facilitated and playing upon the instrument greatly simplified, and the attachment is especially designed for those who do not to any great extent understand music or beginners who find it difficult to make the several chords in any particular key, the device being capable of ready attachment to the keyboard of any piano or organ and removed when not required for use" (lines 27-37).
Date: August 9, 1892
Creator: Stukes, John M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Breakwater, &c. (open access)

Breakwater, &c.

Patent for an improved way of constructing piers, jetties, breakwaters, and similar structures. "It can be constructed from boats, barges, or from a trestle, or can be built continuously from a starting-point on shore to the objective point in the lake, bay, gulf, or other body of water" (lines 17-21). This invention is especially useful for places that don't have banks or ledges.
Date: August 9, 1892
Creator: Shannon, Alexander M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for a simple and effective car coupling that is partially automatic, "and in case of accident or breakage the said device is adapted to be used after the manner of an ordinary car-coupling" (lines 17-19).
Date: August 9, 1892
Creator: Felton, Tommas Wesley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Desk Attachment for Chairs (open access)

Desk Attachment for Chairs

Patent for a desk attachment for beds or chairs for which any seated article of furniture can be turned into a desk and adjusted forward or vertically for comfort.
Date: August 9, 1892
Creator: Hutton, Milton C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hydraulic Propulsion of Vessels. (open access)

Hydraulic Propulsion of Vessels.

Patent for a new and improved hydraulic propulsion. This design "is to provide an improved means for the application of the jet principle in the hydraulic propulsion of vessels; and it consists in the combination, with the hull of the vessel, of one or more main or trunk tubes arranged longitudinally to the vessel and of tapering shape, largest at its front end, which is open, and provided along its length with a series of nozzles opening along the side of the vessel in rearward direction, and one or more propeller-wheels arranged within the main tube and adapted to suck water in at the front" (lines 8-20).
Date: August 9, 1892
Creator: Walker, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Quilting Mechanism for Sewing-Machines. (open access)

Quilting Mechanism for Sewing-Machines.

Patent for an improved, simple, inexpensive, and efficient quilting-frame and makes quilting much faster. "The frame is provided with a longitudinal bar having a groove to form a track, in which travels a gage-wheel, which is adjustable and held by a spring-arm, which serves, also, as a means of changing the position of the wheel" (lines 22-26).
Date: August 9, 1892
Creator: Delany, Charles William
System: The Portal to Texas History