Blind Stop. (open access)

Blind Stop.

Patent for a new and improved blind-stop. This design consists "[i]n blind-stops, the rod, consisting of two parts connected by a thin piece of metal, in combination with a blind provided with a median open-slotted tapering screw and thumb-nut" (lines 49-53).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Warren, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Milk Pan and Curd or Cheese Mold. (open access)

Combined Milk Pan and Curd or Cheese Mold.

Patent for a new and improved combined milk pan and curd or cheese mold. This design "consists in a dairy or kitchen utensil composed, mainly, of a pan with spout and stopper, and a detachable screen-cover to the pan constructed to also form a mold, and otherwise of peculiar construction" (lines 8-12).
Date: August 11, 1885
Creator: Noessel, Sarah J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Axle Lubricator. (open access)

Axle Lubricator.

Patent for a new and improved axle lubricator. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the barrel or reservoir, its piston, and screw of the passage leading up from the top of the barrel-chamber, and the tube passing through the axle-collar and into a cavity of the axle arm" (lines 92-97).
Date: October 7, 1884
Creator: Keller, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blind Stops. (open access)

Blind Stops.

Patent for a new and improved stop for blinds. This design "is to provide a convenient means by which blind-slats may be swung on their pivots, so as to open or close to the extent desired" (lines 8-11).
Date: June 5, 1883
Creator: Vandervoort, Charles Frederick
System: The Portal to Texas History
Latch and Lock Combined. (open access)

Latch and Lock Combined.

Patent for a new and improved latch and lock. This design consists "[i]n a lock, the combination, with the bushing extending through and rigidly secured to the door and having a screw-thread on its inner end, of the lock-case having the circular screw-threaded aperture into which the threaded end of the bushing is screwed, the spring-actuated bolt and knob-spindle connected therewith, and the outer plate having the notch engaging with the lug on the case, and the downwardly projecting side-pieces [and] provided with screw-holes" (lines 75-85).
Date: March 26, 1889
Creator: Overton, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lock Stitch Ripper. (open access)

Lock Stitch Ripper.

Patent for a new and improved multi-tool. This design "relates to an improved combination tool or implement designed to be used in connection with sewing-machines, and combining in a convenient form several instruments which operators on sewing-machines should always have ready at hand" (lines 9-14).
Date: April 8, 1884
Creator: Wheeler, Elijah Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spring-Bottom Camp-Bed (open access)

Spring-Bottom Camp-Bed

Patent for an improved, less expensive, and easier to use camp bed granted to William Green Holden.
Date: April 1, 1884
Creator: Holden, William Green
System: The Portal to Texas History
Feed Water Heater. (open access)

Feed Water Heater.

Patent for a new and improved feed-water heater. This design "is to provide a boiler with a feed-water heater which will serve as a spark-arrester, and which will also purify the water and prevent the formation of scale in the water, and whereby, also, the heating surface will be increased and fuel economized. The invention consists of a feed-water heater composed of a series of pipes attached to half-cylindrical heads, placed diagonally in the fire-box of the boiler, and connected with the water-space of the boiler" (lines 8-19).
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Green, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fastening for Blind Slats. (open access)

Fastening for Blind Slats.

Patent for a new and improved fastening for blind slats. This design "consists in a device for use with a blind to clamp the slat-rod, and thereby retain the slats more or less open or closed" (lines 7-9).
Date: August 4, 1885
Creator: Evans, George F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pistol Game Apparatus. (open access)

Pistol Game Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved pistol game. This design "consists of a pistol device of novel construction, in combination with a horizontal revolving table having stalls for reception of a ball, the said pistol device being to drop the ball into the table while revolving for playing a game in which the score of the game is to be counted by the number of the stall into which the ball chances to fall" (lines 8-15).
Date: March 4, 1884
Creator: Mestier, John Reni
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Attaching Pumps to Oil and Other Cans. (open access)

Device for Attaching Pumps to Oil and Other Cans.

Patent for a device for attaching pumps to oil and other cans.
Date: June 12, 1883
Creator: Holden, William G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "is to provide a . . . car-coupling link which automatically uncouples cars in case one or more of the cars runs off the track" (lines 7-10).
Date: February 27, 1883
Creator: Keller, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History