Car Axle Box. (open access)

Car Axle Box.

Patent for a new and improved car-axle box. This design "consists in an improved cap for the box, a dust guard or plate, and packing for the same, the object being to render the axle-box dust and oil tight" (lines 14-17).
Date: May 30, 1882
Creator: Scott, James O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Circular Railroad or Round About. (open access)

Circular Railroad or Round About.

Patent for novel improvements on circular railroads, and also to means for propelling a turn-table on which the carriages are secured.
Date: August 22, 1882
Creator: Sturm, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Saddle Pad. (open access)

Saddle Pad.

Patent for a new and improved saddle pad. This design "consists of a saddle-pad formed of an upper and lower cover connected by lacing, provided with pockets, and filled intermediately with layers of felt or cloth" (lines 13-16). The saddle pad was designed to increase comfort for the rider while maintaining comfort for the animal.
Date: May 30, 1882
Creator: Hake, Francis Anton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing Machine. (open access)

Washing Machine.

Patent for a new and improved washing machine. This design consists of "the rotating disk or circular-washboard, faced with radial ribs and operated by a crank which is supported in a plane parallel to the bottom of the box, so that the circular board shall rotate at a right angle thereto; the galvanized-sheet-iron inner box, made with a semi-cylindrical bottom to receive the circular wash-board; and the separate detachable wash-board, provided with a semicircle of radial ribs, and which fits into the sheet-iron box opposite to the circular rotating board" (lines 18-28).
Date: May 30, 1882
Creator: Fuchs, Benjamin F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Time-Signal for Telephones (open access)

Time-Signal for Telephones

Patent for standard time-signaling instruments and consists of "an instrument for and a manner of signaling standard time through an entire system or systems of telephones."(lines 10-14) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 29, 1882
Creator: Oram, John M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Heating Frame for Lamps. (open access)

Heating Frame for Lamps.

Patent for a new and improved heating frame for lamps. This design seeks to "simplify and improve the adjustable supports for the top plate upon which the vessel [to be heated] is supported; secondly, to improve the construction of said top plate . . . allowing the warm air to circulate both under and around the vessel . . . thirdly, to construct and combine the top plate and a base-ring with the supporting-rods in a firm, durable, and efficient manner" (lines 27-38).
Date: May 23, 1882
Creator: Melvin, Josiah W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Provision Safe. (open access)

Provision Safe.

Patent for a new and improved safe. This design "provide[s] a household safe that will prevent rats and mice from gaining access thereto, and at the same time allow a ready handling of the articles contained in it; and the novelty consists in the construction of the same," utilizing jointed covers, spring-locks, metallic bottoms, caster-rollers, and a clasp (lines 11-15).
Date: May 23, 1882
Creator: Sykes, Robert R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon Brake. (open access)

Wagon Brake.

Patent for a new and improved wagon-brake. This goal of this design "is to provide an automatic brake for wagons and other wheeled vehicles running on dirt roads" (lines 11-13).
Date: May 23, 1882
Creator: Le Roy, Charles Jerome & Henson, John Wesley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Axle and Wheel (open access)

Car Axle and Wheel

Patent for a new and improved wheel and axle for cars. This design calls for "providing each of the axle with a fixed ratchet-wheel and providing the car-wheels with spring-pawls adapted to engage with the ratchets" (lines 21-24). This overcomes the strain that the wheels place on the axles when making turns, which reduces the chance of the car leaving its tracks.
Date: May 16, 1882
Creator: Pendleton, William S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Composition For Staining Wood. (open access)

Composition For Staining Wood.

Patent for a “paint or stain, which, when applied, will harden on the common woods of commerce, render them durable and smooth, and give them the exact appearance of black walnut” (lines 15-18).
Date: May 16, 1882
Creator: Gloger, Anton F., Jr. & Gloger, Joseph P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grave Guard. (open access)

Grave Guard.

Patent for a new and improved grave guard. This design allows for a grave guard that receives fence posts, headstones, and water for neighboring plants, which compiles these effects from various other devices.
Date: May 16, 1882
Creator: Gent, Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sulky Plow and Cotton Scraper. (open access)

Sulky Plow and Cotton Scraper.

Patent for a new and improved sulky plow and cotton scraper. This design "relates to an improvement in sulky-plows, its object being to render the plow right or left hand for operation, to adjust the angle of presentation of the plow with relation to the line of draft, and to adapt the plow as a cotton-scraper; and it consists of the combination and arrangement of parts" (lines 14-20).
Date: May 16, 1882
Creator: Baucum, Samuel C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Composition For Roofing And Paving. (open access)

Composition For Roofing And Paving.

Patent for a process "to produce a compound which is strong, tenacious, and pliable, which will not be affected by climatic changes, and which will resist the corrosive action of acids and alkalies; and to this end my invention consists in a compound composed of asphaltum, pine-tar, and oxide of iron, as will more fully hereinafter appear.” (Lines 8-15) Includes instructions.
Date: May 9, 1882
Creator: Lee, Archibald K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam, Air, or Water Engine. (open access)

Steam, Air, or Water Engine.

Patent for simplifying the construction of steam-engines allowing them efficiently use the power of steam" gas, vapor or air in varying positions, vertical, horizontal, or inclined.
Date: May 9, 1882
Creator: Adams, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Plow, Harrow, and Cultivator. (open access)

Combined Plow, Harrow, and Cultivator.

Patent for improvement in the construction of combined plows, harrows, and cultivators.
Date: May 2, 1882
Creator: Moss, John Carlton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sulky Plow. (open access)

Sulky Plow.

Patent for a new and improved sulky plow. This design "obviate[s] certain minor defects of the sulky-carriage for plows" (lines 15-17). More specifically, it "provide[s] simple and effective means for properly balancing the plow-carriage or frame and taking the weight off the horses' necks, provision being also made for using plows with or without guide-handles and of varying heights" (lines 39-44).
Date: May 2, 1882
Creator: Ward, James
System: The Portal to Texas History