Apparatus for Protecting Electrical Circuits. (open access)

Apparatus for Protecting Electrical Circuits.

Patent for an apparatus for protecting electrical circuits, and is an improvement on a previous patent (No. 537,932) issued to the inventor. This patent consists of "an electrical circuit, an alarm or indicator, a continuously-operating signal-transmitter at the protected structure operating to affect or influence the alarm or indicator, and a second or duplicate continuously-operating signal-transmitter located at the watchman's station, operating in unison with the first-named signal-transmitter to affect the alarm or indicator equally and oppositely as regards the first-named transmitter, whereby a signal is sounded or an alarm given only when the two transmitters are out of unison or when one is changed, varied, or interfered with in an unauthorized manner" (lines 72-86).
Date: January 7, 1896
Creator: Oram, John M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Electric Alarm. (open access)

Automatic Electric Alarm.

Patent for an inexpensive, simple, and durable automatic electric alarm that allows people in house or hotel rooms, mines, ships, shops, etc. to signal for another person. The alarm is wired to a clock so it can be programmed to go off at a certain time.
Date: January 7, 1896
Creator: Stansel, Thomas J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Electric Alarm. (open access)

Automatic Electric Alarm.

Patent for an automatic electric alarm meant to be hooked up to an automatic dry-pipe sprinkler system, and protects against fire. The alarm goes off when the air in the sprinkler pipes falls below a predetermined level. This invention also signals an alert when there is a leak in the pipes, and is an improvement on the circuit-wires for similar alarms.
Date: January 7, 1896
Creator: Williams, George Bayley
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brace for Heel-Sweeps. (open access)

Brace for Heel-Sweeps.

Patent for a simple and durable brace for heel-sweeps. The wings of the sweep will not close, and "that portion of the sweep through which the heel-bolt passes will be materially strengthened" (lines 14-16). It also braces sweeps whatever their size, and all the brace's parts are adjustable.
Date: January 7, 1896
Creator: Ferrell, Augustus C. & Hamrick, Thomas J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cloth Bucket or Vessel. (open access)

Cloth Bucket or Vessel.

Patent for a cloth bucket or vessel to place milk or water in to keep it cool when ice is not available. One places the bucket in the shade and the air circulates freely through the bucket. The bucket is thick enough that it will not drip, but is breathable to allow aeration and evaporation.
Date: January 14, 1896
Creator: Slack, Robert A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bicycle-Wheel. (open access)

Bicycle-Wheel.

Patent for an improved rear bicycle-wheel. It has one hub, two rims, two sets of spokes and tires. This invention is meant to be safer and has the qualities of a tricycle. It is meant for a woman's bicycle.
Date: January 14, 1896
Creator: Broers, Henry
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Awning-Bracket. (open access)

Awning-Bracket.

Patent for a rigid, strong, and adjustable to different inclinations awning-bracket meant to be permanently attached to a building. It can be folded for shipment or storage.
Date: January 14, 1896
Creator: Harry, Owen K.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Cleaner and Feeder. (open access)

Cotton Cleaner and Feeder.

Patent for "a machine especially adapted for cleaning cotton and distributing the same to one or more gins; and it has for its object to so construct the machine that it will receive the cotton from the usual suction-pipe or equivalent supply, will clean the cotton, shred or separate the same and deliver it to a carrier, which in its turn will distribute the cotton to the hoppers of one or more gins, the distribution being evenly and expeditiously accomplished; and a further object of the invention is to provide for a steady feed of the cotton at the delivery end of the carrier, said device effectually preventing choking at that point." (Lines 7-21) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 14, 1896
Creator: Moore, Martin L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clothes-Pounder. (open access)

Clothes-Pounder.

Patent for a clothes pounder used in washing clothes. It is a pyramidal vessel that is open in the bottom and has perforations on the top of the inside of the vessel, a cap covering the top of the pyramid with an air-hole, a sleeve that goes through the top of the vessel and through the cap, a handle in the upper portion of the sleeve, a diaphragm with perforations in the base of the vessel, a rectangular box secured beneath the diaphragm, and inclined tubes open at both ends of the angles of the vessel.
Date: January 14, 1896
Creator: Leddy, Owen
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Quilting Frame and Table. (open access)

Combined Quilting Frame and Table.

Patent for a quilting frame which can be quickly set up and collapsed, which folds up to occupy a minimum amount of space, and which can be converted for use as cutting and ironing table. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 14, 1896
Creator: Burns, Robert Llewellwynn
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bolt and Nut-Lock. (open access)

Bolt and Nut-Lock.

Patent for "a nut-lock of such construction that it may be used either as a permanent nut-lock or one in which the locking feature may be thrown out of engagement when it is desired to remove the bolt for any purpose." (Lines 15-20) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 21, 1896
Creator: Nevill, William B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Heating up Locomotive-Boilers. (open access)

Apparatus for Heating up Locomotive-Boilers.

Patent for an "apparatus for kindling fires in locomotives; and it is intended to provide an improved apparatus by which the fires may be rapidly and economically kindled and steam may be gotten up without much of the tedious delay now ordinarily incident to raising steam in a cold locomotive-boiler." (Lines 13-19) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 21, 1896
Creator: Connor, John T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for an automatic car-coupling that is designed to be operated from either side of the car. The danger of an operator passing between cars to couple or uncouple the cars is avoided in this invention, and the coupling can be adapted to couple cars that have draw-bars to unequal height. The coupling can be manually operated if wished.
Date: January 28, 1896
Creator: Boyd, James S.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for "car-couplers of the link-and-pin type which couple automatically and are provided with unlocking-levers operated from the top and side of a car, and designed to avoid the necessity of passing between the cars to couple or uncouple the same." (Lines 11-17) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 28, 1896
Creator: Boyd, James S.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Repeating Railroad-Signal. (open access)

Automatic Repeating Railroad-Signal.

Patent for an automatic repeating railroad-signal designed to be used with semaphore and other train-signaling apparatus. It eliminates mistakes made in notifying the central office and automatically reports "any change in the position or color of the signal to a central office over the ordinary telegraph-wire" (lines 14-16). The signal is a wheel that operates a key to send a message to the central office.
Date: January 28, 1896
Creator: Innes, Robert Hayward
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Antirefilling Bottle. (open access)

Antirefilling Bottle.

Patent for a bottle that can be easily sealed but cannot be resealed after opened. There is a groove in the neck of the bottle, and the cork is placed below the groove. The cork is hollowed out and a plug is placed in the cork. The cork is hollowed out and a plug with a groove around it is placed in the cork.An elastic compressible locking-ring fits in the gap the groove in the bottle and the groove in the plug create.
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Nevill, William B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cattle-Guard. (open access)

Cattle-Guard.

Patent for a railway cattle-guard that is simple, inexpensive, and efficient. It prevents the cattle "from traversing a railway-track in order to pass form one field or inclosure to another" (line 12-14). It has spurred rollers, and has a unique way of mounting rollers or rotary ties, in that they do not block the track.
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Nevill, William Birt
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Hatchet and Wire-Tightener. (open access)

Combined Hatchet and Wire-Tightener.

Patent for a device that operates as a hatchet and as a wire-twisting device, so that "slack may be taken up in fence-wires as fast as it occurs" (lines 11-12). The wire-tightener is two triangles stick out from the side of the hatchet, where the operator can pinch the wire.
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Keck, Edgar A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Chopping-Ax. (open access)

Chopping-Ax.

Patent for an ax that is "provided with a poll made in two sections adapted to be clamped or secured to the handle and receive a removable bit or hardened section presenting the cutting edge" (lines 16-20).
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Crabtree, James G.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for a baling-press meant to bale cotton. In this machine, "the power as applied to the plunger is increased in proportion to the resistance offered by the material being baled and whereby the forward movement of the plunger is automatically checked at the limit of its path and is returned to its initial positioin without effort upon the part of the operator" (lines 10-17).
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Anderson, Alva E.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for "baling-presses of that class wherein motion is communicated to the plunger from a sweep operated by horse or similar power, and the object in view is to improve the construction of the baling-chamber and attachments, and, furthermore, to provide a simple and efficient construction of plunger-operating mechanism" (lines 8-15)
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Pearce, William J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Compress. (open access)

Compress.

Patent for "surgical instruments which are used for stopping the flow of blood during an amputation or other similar operation." (Lines 12-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 12, 1897
Creator: Burton, Edwin L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a churn with an improved dasher-operating mechanism. It simply and effectively combines a "rotary and reciprocatory movement to a churn-dasher to hasten the separation of the butter" (lines 11-13). The dasher is attached to a frame, and is operated through a crank. The churn rests on a platform also attached to the frame.
Date: January 19, 1897
Creator: Wright, William L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Book-Support. (open access)

Book-Support.

Patent for a book-support made to hold large, heavy books used in commercial and government offices. The platforms can be moved up and down by a crank on the side of the support.
Date: January 19, 1897
Creator: Barnes, William A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History