Anal Speculum. (open access)

Anal Speculum.

Patent for a new and improved anal speculum. This design is "to so construct the several parts that there will be no rough or raised edges to interfere with its insertion in the anal passage; secondly, to so construct [the] improved speculum that it may be readily used as a bi-valve or dilator; thirdly, to form a locking-joint on the meeting edges of the shells forming the speculum, whereby the sections are prevented from overlapping each other to avoid pinching or injury to the walls of the anal passage while the instrument is being inserted; fourthly, to provide a plug for [the] improved speculum" (lines 17-29).
Date: March 25, 1890
Creator: Shuford, Quincy Adams
System: The Portal to Texas History
Folding Frame or Support for Mosquito Canopies. (open access)

Folding Frame or Support for Mosquito Canopies.

Patent for a new and improved frame for mosquito canopies. This design consists in "the combination, with the fixed standards and the forwardly-projecting bearings, of the braces pivoted to [the] bearings and united by cross-bar, the short arms pivoted to the upper ends of the fixed standards, and parallel side-bars connected by cross-bars to form a rectangular frame to support the canopy or curtain and pivoted intermediate, respectively, in the outer ends of the short arms and brace" (lines 22-31).
Date: March 25, 1890
Creator: Bailey, Alfred Holt
System: The Portal to Texas History
Attachment for Chairs. (open access)

Attachment for Chairs.

Patent for a new and improved chair. This design consists "[i]n a reading and writing attachment for chairs, the combination of a bail-shaped clamp adapted to be applied to a chair-arm, an upright slotted arm, a set-screw passing through said slotted arm and engaging the clamp, a plate carried by the upper end of said slotted arm, and a table pivotally connected to said plate, whereby the table may be adjusted vertically, horizontally, and obliquely" (lines 66-75).
Date: February 25, 1890
Creator: Hutton, Milton C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press (open access)

Baling-Press

Patent for "an exceedingly rapid baling of the hay, to provide for the easy transportation of the press and the power employed in connection therewith, and to provide for the adjustment of the size of the baling-chamber" (lines 9-13).
Date: February 25, 1890
Creator: Mattijetz, Andreas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cartridge-Loading Machine (open access)

Cartridge-Loading Machine

Patent for "an improvement in cartridge-loaders adapted to load cartridge shells automatically, the machine being operated by suitable power. It consists in improved power mechanism and devices which may be arranged and combined with the loading mechanism of a machine cartridge-loader" (lines 38-45).
Date: November 25, 1890
Creator: Franklin, Edward A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Bending and Embossing Sheet Metal (open access)

Machine for Bending and Embossing Sheet Metal

Patent for "new and improved machine which is simple and durable in construction, very effective in operation, and especially designed for simultaneously curving and embossing sheet-metal plates for use as cornices, metal shingles, &c" (lines 8-13).
Date: February 25, 1890
Creator: Baldwin, Benjamin J., Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon Spring. (open access)

Wagon Spring.

Patent for a new and improved wagon spring. This design "is to provide a vehicle in which springs of great strength may be employed which will not require stay-chains, and which will not increase the height of the wagon-body and cause inconvenience in loading and unloading the vehicle and in getting in and out, and, furthermore, to provide a vehicle in which the wagon-body may be but slightly elevated above the axles, and in which the springs will have great play" (lines 17-26).
Date: February 25, 1890
Creator: Conley, Miles D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lumber-Kiln (open access)

Lumber-Kiln

Patent for a "kiln proper . . . constructed with special reference to combustion of cinders or sparks, and thereby preventing their escape into the chamber containing the lumber" (lines 7-10)
Date: February 25, 1890
Creator: Anderson, Andrew T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trace Carrier. (open access)

Trace Carrier.

Patent for a new and improved trace carrier. This design consists, "with the back-band and its depending loop, of the . . . improved trace-carrier, consisting of the inverted-U-shaped carrier-frame terminating in opposite trace-receiving eyes, and the V-shaped bifurcating tongue, the lower end of which is adapted to engage a link of the trace-chain and the upper branches or bifurcations of which are bent to form eyes, loosely receiving the frame intermediate its terminals and at each side of the loop" (lines 72-82).
Date: February 25, 1890
Creator: Strole, James P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gunpowder Can. (open access)

Gunpowder Can.

Patent for new container for holding and dispensing gunpowder with illustrations consisting of "glass vessel incased within a metallic jacket and having an exteriorly-screw-threaded neck, in combination with a cap or cover" (page 2, lines 1-3) to increase safety and prevent corrosion of vessel.
Date: March 25, 1890
Creator: Lee, Newton M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing Machine. (open access)

Washing Machine.

Patent for a new and improved washing machine. This design consists in "a boiler, a cylinder journaled therein and having closed ends, its outer periphery composed of a series of open troughs arranged in pairs, the troughs in each pair opening toward each other, a series of open-ended funnel-shaped tubes arranged in a line drawn centrally around the periphery of the cylinder, [and] the said tubes extending inwardly from the outer face of the cylinder and having their contracted discharge ends near the center of the cylinder" (lines 22-32).
Date: February 25, 1890
Creator: Rose, Horatio
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design is "to provide a [sweep-]plow . . . [that] is extremely light in draft, may be run deep or shallow, and will plow or cut its entire width at all times and without turning the ground" (lines 9-14). It consists, "with the plow-standard provided at opposite sides with adjustable brackets, of a triangular-shaped convexed sweep bolted to the brackets and having the angles of its base in the same plane with the apex or point and its rear edge disposed at a right angle to the beam, and opposite triangular wings" (lines 3-10).
Date: November 25, 1890
Creator: Marley, James D.
System: The Portal to Texas History