Hand Propelling Device for Sewing Machines. (open access)

Hand Propelling Device for Sewing Machines.

Patent for a new and improved crank for sewing machines. This design "is to provide propelling device for sewing-machines and similar treadle-power machines which shall dispense with the treadle-action and injurious strain which its use imposes . . . It consists in a rod jointed to the fly-wheel after the manner of a pitman, but which, instead of connecting with a treadle, is fashioned into a handle, which extends obliquely upward toward the operator, and is combined with and held in place by a guide-frame made in the form of a pendent metal loop with flanged ends and screw-holes" (lines 8-21).
Date: April 10, 1888
Creator: Beaird, Kate Palmer
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
Cotton-Cleaner. (open access)

Cotton-Cleaner.

Patent for a machine "for the purpose of cleaning the cotton before it is ginned, and thus free it from foreign substances and produce a better grade of cotton than that which is ginned without being previously cleaned" (lines 15-19).
Date: April 28, 1885
Creator: Tucker, Stephen
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Cutting Boiler Tubes. (open access)

Device for Cutting Boiler Tubes.

Patent for a new device for cutting boiler-tubes. This design "is to be adjusted a distance from the head sufficiently in excess of the thickness of the tube sheet to prevent injury to the latter. The device is then inserted into the end of the tube, with the head abutting against the outside of the tube-sheet. By turning the screw the wedges may then be drawn toward each other, thus forcing the block carrying the cutter outward. The device is now to be turned by the shank alternately with feeding the cutter outward until the tube has been cut through, after which it may be readily removed" (lines 75-88).
Date: April 18, 1882
Creator: Franklin, James Johnson
System: The Portal to Texas History