Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "[t]he combination of a draw-head, the laterally-movable pin-retaining arms supported therein, and a pivoted wing normally held in the path of an approaching link, and arranged to distend the arms to drop the pin when acted on by the links" (lines 30-35).
Date: April 6, 1886
Creator: Thomason, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator. (open access)

Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved cultivator. This design "is to provide a device to enable the shovels of the cultivator to yield when they strike an immovable object—such as a stone or stump—and thereby prevent the cultivator-shovels from being broken, and more especially in time-saving in readjusting the shovel for plowing" (lines 14-20).
Date: April 13, 1886
Creator: Eubanks, Thomas Jefferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design consists in "[t]he combination of an axle, a frame, a shaft journaled longitudinally in the frame, radial arms mounted on the said shaft, gear connecting the said shaft with the axle, rectangular blades secured upon the ends of the said arms, the said blades being set diagonally, making their side edges parallel with the spiral path of the arms . . . and one blade being narrower than the others . . . whereby each blade will exactly coincide with the spiral path of its motion and stands will be left uncut at equal intervals" (lines 24-36).
Date: April 13, 1886
Creator: Ferriott, Charlie L.
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 tube having the threaded outer end, of the cap threaded to close said end, and the shank or stem carrying the conical plug at its lower or inner end, and screw-threaded to work through a threaded perforation of the cap, a shoulder being provided on the stem or shank at the base of the threads, operating to cause the unscrewing of the cap by the continued turning of the shank or stem" (lines 80-89).
Date: April 13, 1886
Creator: Hawkins, Andrew Jackson & Allen, Sam Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Balanced Pump. (open access)

Balanced Pump.

Patent for a new and improved balanced pump. This design "relates to improvements in balanced pumps having two vertical receiving-cylinders provided with vertically-reciprocating plungers, and two vertical delivery-cylinders provided with plunging-barrels, all being provided with suitable valves operating automatically in conjunction therewith; and the objects of [the] invention are, first, to provide a pump by means of which water or other fluids may be conducted or raised with but little propelling power, and . . . to afford facilities for readily attaching it to be driven by any steam-engine" (lines 15-27).
Date: April 20, 1886
Creator: Ramsey, Haley S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Box for Washing Material for Concrete. (open access)

Box for Washing Material for Concrete.

Patent for "a new and useful improvement in boxes for washing aggregate or rough material for making concrete" (lines 5-7), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 20, 1886
Creator: Carrico, Thomas W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator and Cotton-Chopper. (open access)

Cultivator and Cotton-Chopper.

Patent for an more efficiently designed cotton chopper.
Date: April 27, 1886
Creator: Brown, Thomas Jefferson.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Wheel (open access)

Vehicle Wheel

Patent for Vehicle-Wheel. "I am enabled to produce a wheel which can be put together, taken apart, repaired, renewed or tightened, with no tools or appliances other than a wrench, and by persons wholly unskilled in the manufacture of wheels in the ordinary way." (lines 13-18)
Date: April 6, 1886
Creator: Horrne, Henry M. & Rutherford, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle-Wheel (open access)

Vehicle-Wheel

Patent for an improved wheel for vehicles, with description of parts and illustrations.
Date: April 6, 1886
Creator: Horrne, Henry M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lubricant (open access)

Lubricant

Patent for a lubricant which consists "of a gelatinous and fibrous material" (lines 14-15), containing description of creation and uses.
Date: April 6, 1886
Creator: Marshall, Edward S. & Savage, Robert W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ventilator. (open access)

Ventilator.

Patent for a new and improved ventilator. This design is "to provide a ventilator which shall automatically accommodate or turn the collecting-hood thereof to the direction in which the wind is blowing, to collect and conduct fresh pure air into buildings, cars, &c.; to provide means for regulating the distribution of the air to the compartments or different parts of the buildings, &c.; to diminish the friction and wear between the swiveled collecting-hood and its supporting devices whereby said hood and its attached vane are enabled to turn more freely and readily" (lines 17-29).
Date: April 27, 1886
Creator: Sellars, James K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ventilator. (open access)

Ventilator.

Patent for a new and improved ventilator. This design consists in "[t]he improved combined flue and ventilator . . . consisting of an outer casing surmounted by a cap and provided with a central flue, funnels hinged to the outer casing and provided with flexible connections for elevating the same, and means for conducting the air downward from said funnels" (lines 8-15).
Date: April 27, 1886
Creator: Shanley, Michael H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mold and Angle-Piece Used in Constructing Concrete Walls (open access)

Mold and Angle-Piece Used in Constructing Concrete Walls

Patent for tools to create uniform concrete pieces and angles, with description of use and improvements and illustrations.
Date: April 13, 1886
Creator: Carrico, Thomas W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lamp. (open access)

Lamp.

Patent for a new and improved lantern. This design "has relation to that class of lamp in which the reflector is secured to the lamp, having an aperture in its upper portion for the passage of the chimney of the lamp, and in which the reflector may be adjusted to throw the light from the lamp in different directions without moving the lamp; and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of the same" (lines 23-31).
Date: April 27, 1886
Creator: Williams, Robert E. & Trammell, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a plow-beam, of a plow-standard pivotally secured to the rear end of said beam, a brace pivotally secured to the standard, and a sliding clamp for securing the front end of the brace to the beam" (lines 90-94).
Date: April 13, 1886
Creator: Ketchum, Joel Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stock Collar. (open access)

Stock Collar.

Patent for a new and improved stock-collar. This design is "for the purpose of positively and unmistakably identifying cattle and other like stock, and to obviate the necessity of marking and branding cattle, &c., which shall be light, simple, strong, and durable in construction, thoroughly effective for the purposes designed, easily attached to and removed from the necks of cattle, &c., which shall be cheap and inexpensive of manufacture, and not liable to become lost, misplaced, broken, or detached by the animal in its efforts to release itself" (lines 16-26).
Date: April 6, 1886
Creator: Roberts, John Harrison
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam Vacuum Pump. (open access)

Steam Vacuum Pump.

Patent for a new and improved steam vacuum-pump. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a pump-cylinder, the water inlet and outlet pipes, a condenser-pipe, a steam-pipe, and valves located in the several pipes, of a vertically-movable rod having stops thereon, levers connecting the rod with the valves in the condenser-pipe and steam-inlet pipe, and a float loosely mounted on the rod and adapted to actuate the same" (lines 62-70).
Date: April 13, 1886
Creator: Hensley, Frank A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nut Lock. (open access)

Nut Lock.

Patent for a new and improved nut lock. This design consists "[i]n a nut-lock, the combination, with a screw-threaded bolt and nut, of a pair of arms pivoted or hinged together, said arms having annular screw-threaded grooves formed therein adapted to register with the threads on the bolt, and means for locking the arms together" (lines 76-81).
Date: April 27, 1886
Creator: Clark, Fred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Riding Saddle. (open access)

Riding Saddle.

Patent for a new and improved saddle. This design "relates especially to devices intended for use in coupling or connecting girths to saddles in stock countries or elsewhere where it is desirable to quickly adjust the saddle onto a horse . . . in drawing [a] strap to tighten the girth the inner portion, by reason of the friction of the parts passing through the rings, becomes rolled or creased up and straightened out, and loosens the girth in a short time . . . [the] invention seeks to overcome [these] objections" (lines 12-36).
Date: April 27, 1886
Creator: Newman, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rein Holder. (open access)

Rein Holder.

Patent for a new and improved rein-holder. This design "has relation to that class of driving rein-holders in which a bracket is employed for attaching to the dash-board of the vehicle, and provided at one end with a standard, to which is pivoted a swinging jaw held down in position to hold the reins by means of a spring coiled around the pivot, the jaw having a convex corrugated face to more securely hold the reins" (lines 16-24).
Date: April 27, 1886
Creator: Winfrey, Edgar M. & Branham, Albert G.
System: The Portal to Texas History