Billiard Table Leveler. (open access)

Billiard Table Leveler.

Patent for a new and improved billiard-table leveler. This design consists in "the vertical case having the closed bottom, the open upper end, and provided with the removable plate, the vertical guide-rods extending through openings in the plate, the follower in the upper end of the case and having openings to receive the guide-rods, and provided with an interiorly-threaded opening, the vertical shaft having its lower end stepped in the bottom of the case and journaled in the plate, the said shaft having the miter-pinion and the threaded upper end working in the threaded opening of the follower" (lines 58-70).
Date: May 11, 1886
Creator: Himes, Frank
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mailing-Box. (open access)

Mailing-Box.

Patent for a mailing box with curves and grooves to fit the cover and securing string with illustrations and assembly instructions.
Date: May 11, 1880
Creator: Sabin, Chauncey Brewer
System: The Portal to Texas History
Two Wheeled Vehicle. (open access)

Two Wheeled Vehicle.

Patent for a new and improved vehicle. This design "is to provide a vehicle in which a person can ride over rough ground without serious inconvenience or discomfort incident to travel over such roads. . . . [and] to so construct a gig that a person can get into the same without serious inconvenience, and to this end it is made low, the rear of the shafts being extended in line with the axle and the step secured to the shaft and extending somewhat below it. . . . [and] to provide a gig with springs that will work in two directions—laterally and vertically" (lines 20-34).
Date: May 11, 1886
Creator: Buckel, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hydraulic Motor. (open access)

Hydraulic Motor.

Patent for a hydraulic motor designed for water intake through top ring.
Date: May 11, 1886
Creator: Cooper, Benjamin F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Medicine Case. (open access)

Medicine Case.

Patent for a new and improved medicine case. This design is "to provide a series of receptacles for the medicine to be taken or administered, said receptacles being of different colors, to avoid mistakes or errors in the distributions of the medicines; to provide means for accurately indicating the medicine to be taken; to indicate the time which said medicine shall be taken; to provide means for holding a spoon or other article within the cases for taking the medicine when in a liquid or powder form" (lines 15-25).
Date: May 11, 1886
Creator: Zanetti, Fortonato Clemente
System: The Portal to Texas History
Safety Valve Attachment for Lamps. (open access)

Safety Valve Attachment for Lamps.

Patent for a new and improved safety attachment for oil lamps. This design is "to permit of the escape of any gas which may be formed in the upper part of the oil-reservoir by the evaporation of its contents; and the object thereof is to provide a simple form of valve stamped from a single piece of sheet metal, with a shank adapted to be inserted through a slot in the lamp-collar and the valve afterward bent down over the valve-opening, thus presenting a valve that will be sensitive to the pressure of gas within the reservoir, and consequently insure its successful operation at all times" (lines 18-29).
Date: May 11, 1886
Creator: Ingle, Ezra William
System: The Portal to Texas History