Automatic Car Brake. (open access)

Automatic Car Brake.

Patent for a new and improved automatic car brake. This design "consists, first, in the combination of the draw-heads . . . connecting-rods . . . and a partially-rotating shaft provided with suitable slotted cams, which cams are attached to the brake-beams, so that when the draw-heads are forced inward or drawn out the brakes will move out of contact with the wheels; second, in the combination, with the slotted cams and a mechanism for moving them, of the rods which are connected thereto, and which pass through the brake-beams, the sliding sleeves, the springs, and the nuts" (lines 13-27).
Date: January 22, 1884
Creator: Miller, John D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Press. (open access)

Cotton Press.

Patent for a new and improved cotton press. This design "consists of a horizontal press with reciprocating follower, worked by power, the press being arranged to receive the cotton from a chute descending from the floor above the press, the said press and the driving mechanism being constructed and arranged . . . specifically" (lines 7-13).
Date: January 22, 1884
Creator: Allen, John Chapman
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Tool. (open access)

Combination Tool.

Patent for a new and improved multi-tool. This design "consists in a combination-tool embodying in a single implement a nail and staple-puller, pinchers, nail-straightener, and wire-cutters, the device being more particularly designed for use in constructing, taking down, and resetting wire fencing" (lines 7-12).
Date: July 22, 1884
Creator: Beazley, James Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
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
Anti Friction Journal. (open access)

Anti Friction Journal.

Patent for a new and improved anti-friction journal. This design "relates to anti-friction devices adapted especially for hoisting pulleys; and it has for its object to provide a device in which the shaft or axis of the main hoisting-pulley shall be supported or mounted upon the peripheries of wheels of a considerable diameter as compared with that of the hoisting-pulley, whereby the friction may be lessened to the greatest possible extent" (lines 24-32).
Date: July 22, 1884
Creator: Taylor, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boot and Shoe Box. (open access)

Boot and Shoe Box.

Patent for a new and improved shoe box. This design "has relation to store-boxes for boots and shoes, designed to open automatically when drawn forward, and to close automatically when pushed back into place on the shelf or on the floor; and the invention consists in the construction and novel arrangement of a swinging hanger pivoted to a bearing above the box, and a slideway secured to the cover, which is hinged to the back of the box" (lines 18-27).
Date: July 22, 1884
Creator: Cook, Emmanuel T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ventilating and Adjustable Rain Proof. (open access)

Ventilating and Adjustable Rain Proof.

Patent for a new and improved rain-proof cap for chimneys. This design "is to provide a . . . rain-proof or chimney tube for receiving that part of a stove-pipe that projects above the roof, which rain-proof is so constructed that pipes can be held in the same at different inclinations. The invention consists in a rain-proof formed of a conical tube held on the roof, in the upper end of which conical tube the upper end of the stove-pipe is held. A hood is held on the upper end of the stove-pipe" (lines 8-18).
Date: July 22, 1884
Creator: Atkin, Samuel T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Reflector Holder for Lamps. (open access)

Reflector Holder for Lamps.

Patent for a new and improved reflector holder for lamps. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a lamp and a lamp-collar, provided with a circumferential flange, of a reflector provided with a keeper, spring-clasp, springing around said collar under the flange at its lower end, and having its free ends bent angularly at their upper ends and secured in said keeper by their tension and slide" (lines 2-9).
Date: April 22, 1884
Creator: Williams, Daniel Ruggles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Engine. (open access)

Rotary Engine.

Patent for improvements to rotary engine designs.
Date: April 22, 1884
Creator: Griffin, George L.; Shoup, William A. & Cade, James Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History