Bobbin Winder for Sewing Machines. (open access)

Bobbin Winder for Sewing Machines.

Patent for a new and improved bobbin winder. This design consists in "the combination, with the main driving-shaft carrying a disk and rotated by the driving-belt of the sewing-machine, of a second shaft in axial line with the said driving-shaft and having a longitudinal movement, a disk held on the said second shaft, a bobbin held by its flanges in said disks, and rollers pressing against the bobbin in the front and rear" (lines 50-58).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: Lewis, Annie
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling (open access)

Car-Coupling

Patent for "an automatic car-coupling which may be uncoupled from the sides of the cars, and which will allow of a car on which it is provided being coupled to a car provided with the ordinary link-and-pin coupling" (lines 7-12).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: Eddleman, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn or Cotton Planter. (open access)

Corn or Cotton Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the frame, the seed-tube secured therein, the box secured around the upper end of the seed-tube and having the upper beveled edge, the hopper having its lower end resting on the said beveled edge, and the straps secured to the hopper and the box" (lines 52-58).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: Womack, George Edwin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling (open access)

Car-Coupling

Patent for "a car-coupler which will be automatic in its operation in coupling the cars as they come together on the track, and at the same time to provide a positive uncoupling device which may be operated on any part of any of the cars, as well as by an engineer, when it is desired to uncouple the cars or a car from the engine" (lines 14-21).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: Carolan, Eugene P. & Lee, Patrick H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bed Stay. (open access)

Bed Stay.

Patent for a new and improved bed stay. This design "consist[s] of wires doubled at their center parts and twisted . . . to form loops . . . and diverged from said twisted parts and attached to the corner portions of the bedstead, and a tension and locking device consisting of a straining-lever fulcrumed to one of the loops and adapted to lock thereon and engaging the other loop" (lines 90-97).
Date: October 2, 1888
Creator: Bethea, Cade
System: The Portal to Texas History
Compound Tool. (open access)

Compound Tool.

Patent for a new and improved multi-tool. This design "consist[s], essentially, of the lever having a cutter recessed and centrally-perforated enlargement, a notch at the outer end of the said enlargement, and a curved and tapering jaw, and a lever, similarly enlarged and recessed . . . and centrally perforated, and having a head, a notch, and a curved and tapering jaw, and the rivet for uniting the two levers at the recessed enlargement" (lines 73-82).
Date: October 2, 1888
Creator: Benson, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Brake. (open access)

Car Brake.

Patent for a new and improved car-brake. This design consists in "the combination of the swinging arms arranged in front of the wheels, the curved brake-shoes pivoted at their front ends to the lower ends of the arms, and the swinging slotted links connecting intermediate points of the brake-shoes to a stationary part of the car, whereby the free end of the shoe is capable of a swinging movement independent of the links" (lines 76-84).
Date: October 2, 1888
Creator: Otenhouse, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boot (open access)

Boot

Patent for a boot design that contains a counter-support of coil springs while also being inexpensive, durable, and efficient.
Date: October 2, 1888
Creator: Benson, Henry L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Fan. (open access)

Automatic Fan.

Patent for a new and improved automatic fan. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the attaching-plate, the depending rod, the fixed plate on the lower end thereof, the socket arms pivotally connected to said plate at their inner ends, and the fans held in the sockets in said arms, of the plate loosely mounted on the rod above [the] plate, having arms, the rods pivotally connecting the outer ends of said arms, the pitman connected to [another] plate, and the operating crank" (lines 67-76).
Date: October 9, 1888
Creator: Goodspeed, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Picker's Sack. (open access)

Cotton-Picker's Sack.

Patent for improvements in a cotton-picker's sack, allowing for easy access to deposit and empty picked cotton while remaining nearly closed to hold and protect the cotton.
Date: October 16, 1888
Creator: Cliett, Taylor
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Railway Signal. (open access)

Automatic Railway Signal.

Patent for a new and improved railroad signal. This design, "[w]hen the wheels of a passing train come in contact with the spring and bent end of the lever . . . said end is lowered or depressed, causing the movement in the same direction of the outer end of said lever, which, through the agency of the wire, will cause the ringing or sounding of the gong or bell as the wheels . . . come in contact with the end of the lever. . . .[A]fter the wheels of the last car of a train have passed the point where the lever is located, said lever will be returned to its normal position by means of the coil-spring" (lines 57-71).
Date: October 16, 1888
Creator: Ross, Albert James & Darter, John T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Writing Pen. (open access)

Writing Pen.

Patent for a new and improved pen. This design has for its object "to provide a simple implement which may be readily employed for writing purposes; and it consists in a thimble-like sleeve having a writing-pen arranged at its outer end, adapted to be easily applied to the index or fore-finger; and it further consists in the peculiar construction of implement" (lines 7-14).
Date: October 16, 1888
Creator: Seabaugh, Conrad
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wheel. (open access)

Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved wheel. This design, when "traversing soft and marshy soil[,] the ribs or lugs engage in the surface in the ordinary way; but in passing over hard or stony soil the flange bears on the surface and prevents jarring. The ribs and the flange are flush with each other . . . and this height may be considerably more than that of the ordinary ribs . . . for the reason that the said height does not affect the regularity of motion of the wheel in passing over hard soil. The advantage in tapering the ribs or lugs and the inner side of the flange is to prevent earth from clogging therein" (lines 51-53).
Date: October 16, 1888
Creator: Hatch, Jerome B. & Stroud, Wiley N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Windmill. (open access)

Windmill.

Patent for a new and improved windmill. This design is "to combine with a windmill a horse-power, so that when the wind ceases to operate the wheel, horse-power may be brought into use for the purpose of continuing the revolution of the wheel, so as to enable the windmill to be used like an ordinary horse-power, and to place the slides or doors upon suitable supports, so that they can be moved back and forth in relation to the wheel for the purpose of cutting off the wind from it" (lines 14-23).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: Watkins, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Movement. (open access)

Mechanical Movement.

Patent for a new and improved mechanical movement. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the vertical post or upright having guideways formed therein, and the horizontally-disposed shaft having the pinion secured thereon, of the slidable block or frame, the rack-bars pivotally secured to the lower end thereof and having oppositely-projecting teeth, and the spring connected to the lower ends of said rack-bars" (lines 68-75).
Date: October 9, 1888
Creator: Kincaid, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Station-Indicator (open access)

Station-Indicator

Patent for "an apparatus which will indicate to the passengers of railway or street cars when the car is approaching, standing at, or leaving a station, the station or street name, distance from the last station passed or to the next station, or any point upon the line that may be desired, and wherein all of the above data may be displayed simultaneously or any one or more items" (lines 10-18).
Date: October 23, 1888
Creator: Helland, Hans & Matzow, Frantz
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tongue-Support (open access)

Tongue-Support

Patent for "an improved tongue-support adapted to be applied to any ordinary vehicle, and combining simplicity and cheapness of manufacture with strength and effectiveness" (lines 8-12).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: CanterBury, Crawford R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Medicine Dial. (open access)

Medicine Dial.

Patent for a new and improved medicine-dial. This design "consists in the combination of an upright or standard, which is suitably bent, with a revolving dial, which is placed thereon and which can be turned so as to indicate the time when the next dose of medicine is to be taken. The object of [the] invention is to produce a medicine-dial which can be stuck into the cork of the bottle of medicine or cover of any kind and set so as to indicate when the next dose is to be administered" (lines 13-23).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: Wesson, Miley B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pump. (open access)

Pump.

Patent for a new and improved pump. This design "consists in the combination, with a suitable base or support which rests upon the bottom of the well and is provided with cogs upon its upper surface, of a rotating cylinder and delivery-pipe, a crank-shaft journaled in the cylinder and provided with a pinion upon its outer end, a connecting-rod at its inner one, and a vertically-moving piston" (lines 13-20).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: Clark, Alexander Evans
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spring Connection for Pump Rods. (open access)

Spring Connection for Pump Rods.

Patent for a new and improved spring-connection for pump-rods. This design "is designed more particularly for pumps or windmills, and has for its object to provide for the working of the pump with less power and to utilize the downstroke for the purpose of storing power to aid the piston-rod in its upstroke" (lines 15-20).
Date: October 9, 1888
Creator: Klaus, Wenzel F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spark-Arrester (open access)

Spark-Arrester

Patent for "spark-arresters of that type in which the sparks are extinguished by water contained in a suitable receptacle forming part of the apparatus" (lines 22-25).
Date: October 23, 1888
Creator: Smith, James Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Motor (open access)

Motor

Patent for improvements in the construction and design of motors.
Date: October 23, 1888
Creator: Haley, William Louis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hammock. (open access)

Hammock.

Patent for a new and improved hammock. This design "is to provide a . . . hammock which is simple and durable in construction, very comfortable, and yielding to the motion of the body, at the same time avoiding the catching of buttons on the dress, as is frequently the case with hammocks having meshes. The invention consists of a number of slats, each provided at its ends with a transverse aperture, through which passes a cord or wire for holding the slats together to form the hammock" (lines 7-18).
Date: October 2, 1888
Creator: Norris, Barry A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Show-Case (open access)

Show-Case

Patent for novel improvements in the construction and design of show cases.
Date: October 23, 1888
Creator: McNeil, Alexander
System: The Portal to Texas History