Adjustable Bench Hook. (open access)

Adjustable Bench Hook.

Patent for a new and improved bench hook. This design "consists in a bench-hook constructed with a plate carrying a sliding bar, to which is adjustably secured a hook. The sliding bar and hook are locked in place by a clamp and cam attached to the plate, and the plate and its attachments are locked to the bench-front by a stationary lug attached to the plate, and a moveable lug attached to a lever pivoted to the said plate and locked in place by a cam, so that the said hook can be readily adjusted upward, downward, forward, and backward" (lines 20-30).
Date: July 22, 1884
Creator: Cooper, Harry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Truck. (open access)

Car Truck.

Patent for a new and improved car-truck. This design "consists in providing the lateral guide-wheels with long axles which are inclined at an angle of about forty-five degrees to the ordinary truck-wheels, and in providing the bolsters of the truck with a central opening, and otherwise constructing the same with a view to attachment of such inclined axles" (lines 17-24).
Date: February 22, 1881
Creator: Beaumont, Franklin, Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Range-Finder for Rifles. (open access)

Range-Finder for Rifles.

Patent for range-finder for rifles, with illustrations. The invention "is adapted for ready application to a rifle by producing a simple dovetailed groove in the stock or stock-tip, near the front end" (lines 9-12).
Date: May 22, 1883
Creator: Ord, Edward O. C., Jr. & Kress, John A.
System: The Portal to Texas History