Thill Coupling. (open access)

Thill Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for thills. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the clip having the ears provided with the openings of the draft-iron having the eye at its inner end adapted to be inserted between the ears of the clip and having the transverse central opening" (lines 94-98). Further, it has "the coupling-bolt having the inclined shoulder and the nut provided with the [other] inclined shoulder and the sleeves having the inclined inner ends adapted to enter the inclines of the draft-iron and provided at their outer ends with the inclined recesses" (lines 1-7).
Date: March 1, 1887
Creator: Findley, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Arc Lamp. (open access)

Electric Arc Lamp.

Patent for a new and improved electric-arc lamp. This design is "for utilizing a part of the magnetic field of the electro-magnet to act as a retarding medium or a brake to the carbon-holder, which consists of a system of gear-wheels provided with a ratchet and pawl . . . actuated from rack-teeth cut in the side of the upper-carbon rod, on the last spindle of which is adjustably secured a disk of soft iron or other magnetic material, so located as to be within the influence of the magnetic field of one end of the electro-magnet" (lines 36-47).
Date: March 29, 1887
Creator: Crowdus, Walter A. & Sutton, Henry M.
System: The Portal to Texas History