Balance Staff and Wheel for Watches (open access)

Balance Staff and Wheel for Watches

Patent for an improved design of a balance staff and wheel used for watch repair. The new design allows for an easier repair when replacing a broken staff and decreases the chance that the wheel would be damaged when replacing the staff. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 18, 1880
Creator: Bugbee, George G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stake-Pin. (open access)

Stake-Pin.

Patent for stake-pin that improves upon previous stake-pins that are used for picketing horses and attaching the ropes. This design allows for the rope to stay out of the dirt. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 18, 1880
Creator: Carnes, William, Sr. & Penfield, Charles W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Windmill. (open access)

Windmill.

Patent for an improved design for windmills that are in regular use. The design implements two sets of hinged vanes and uses weights to control the amount power that the windmill can generate. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 18, 1880
Creator: Rudolph, Calvin Foster
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Cloth Fan for the Destruction of Insects. (open access)

Wire-Cloth Fan for the Destruction of Insects.

Patent for an improved fly-swatting fan that employs wire mesh to create less of a shadow so that the user has more of a chance to hit the insect. This improved fan also allows for easier flow of air that creates less of an air flow that might blow the insect away from the fan and allow for the insect to avoid injury or death. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 18, 1880
Creator: Taylor, Morse K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gag Runner. (open access)

Gag Runner.

Patent for a new and improved gag runner. This design "relates to a bearing device on a bridle for the reins; and it is [the design's] object to afford such a device, the construction of which shall permit its adjustment in position in the bridle without sewing it to the throat-latch" (lines 8-12).
Date: May 18, 1886
Creator: Kay, William V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harness Saddle. (open access)

Harness Saddle.

Patent for a new and improved harness-saddle. This design is "to provide a harness-pad and saddle-tree in which the pads or saddle shall be self-adjustable to the backs of the animals to which they are applied, and this without the employment of inner plates to enable the tree to be used for folded-leather, slip, or stuffed pads, as may be desired" (lines 9-15).
Date: May 18, 1886
Creator: Kay, William V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Dentistry. (open access)

Mechanical Dentistry.

Patent for new and improved mechanical dentistry. This design consists in "[a] dental plate provided with a series of holes or perforations and a continuous groove upon the upper surface of the plate communicating with the holes or perforations therein" (lines 62-65).
Date: May 18, 1886
Creator: Mayfield, William Dudley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing Machine. (open access)

Washing Machine.

Patent for a new and improved washing machine. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the boiler having the transverse rollers, of the [other] roller having peripheral corrugations and the intermediate slots, the bail, and the counterweight whereby the roller may be balanced on the end wall of the boiler" (lines 85-90).
Date: May 18, 1886
Creator: Pinkerton, John Franklin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon Break (open access)

Wagon Break

Patent for improvements in wagon-breaks, with the object of providing simple, effective, and durable means by which the breaks may be applied by either foot or hand power (lines 8-12). Additionally, provides "improved means for altering the power of the breaks" (lines 18-19).
Date: September 18, 1888
Creator: Baker, Owen T.
System: The Portal to Texas History