Artificial Fruit, Foliage, and Flowers. (open access)

Artificial Fruit, Foliage, and Flowers.

Patent for a new and improved method of making artificial fruit. This design "consists in cutting out a piece of lace or netting of the desired shape, forming the lace or netting into a bag, stuffing the bag with cotton or wool . . . picking the cotton or wool up through the meshes of the lace or netting, cutting narrow strips of tissue-paper, and applying them in layers until a covering similar to pasteboard is formed, drying the article, painting the article, sinking the article in a bath of wax heated to a point beneath boiling . . . letting it drain off, and finally applying a paint finish" (lines 34-47).
Date: May 24, 1887
Creator: Eve, Emma H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Attachment for Wheel-Cultivators (open access)

Attachment for Wheel-Cultivators

Patent for a new and useful improvement in attachments for wheel cultivators, including description and illustrations.
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Brown, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling press. This design "comprise[s] a frame and case having aligned baling-chambers at opposite ends, a follower having two head-blocks working one in each of the baling-chambers, a shaft journaled between the baling-chambers, and two ropes connected at one end to the shaft and at their other ends to the opposite head-blocks" (lines 46-53).
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: Green, William Robert & Green, Newton Jasper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press (open access)

Baling-Press

Patent for improvements in "the class of baling-presses in which the follower is forced upward in the press-box by a lever pivoted or fulcrumed upon the ends of toggle-arms, and having a rope or chain for drawing it into an upright position," (lines 26-31) with illustrations.
Date: May 24, 1887
Creator: Stopple, John Julius
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bath Tub. (open access)

Bath Tub.

Patent for a new and improved bath tub. This design consists in "a removable bottom provided with perforations or openings, and with supports to sustain it above the permanent bottom of the tub, a single opening in said tub below the level of the removable bottom for inlet and outlet purposes, a valve for closing said opening, and a rod within reach of the head of the tub for operating the valve and the cover" (lines 9-16).
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: Watson, David R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brace for Bedsteads, Gates, &c. (open access)

Brace for Bedsteads, Gates, &c.

Patent for a new and improved brace for bed frames. This design consists in "the posts having the hooks or eyes, the head-board, foot-board, and rails, also provided with hooks or eyes, the swivel, the wires, each having one end secured to one of the corner hooks or eyes, passed through the eye-bolt and screw-bolt, respectively" (lines 97-102). Said wires are further "given a half-turn on themselves, and their other ends secured to the opposite corner hooks, and the [other] wire having one end secured to one of the center hooks or eyes and woven in and out over the hooks or eyes" (lines 1-5).
Date: May 31, 1887
Creator: Lenix, John M. & Swann, George B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee Pot. (open access)

Coffee Pot.

Patent for a new and improved coffee pot. This design consists in "the cover, the jointed parts by means of which the cover is connected to the pot, and the guide through which the part has a sliding movement" (lines 79-83). This novel construction "is to produce a coffee pot in which the cover is made adjustable, so as to be adapted to close over the top of the pot, or to be dropped back out of the way when the condenser is used" (lines 17-21).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Cummings, James K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Chair and Sleeping Car. (open access)

Combined Chair and Sleeping Car.

Patent for railway passenger train combined chair and sleeping car. The combined chair and sleeping car were designed to utilized less space on the train.
Date: May 31, 1887
Creator: Goelet, Edward B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton or Hay Press. (open access)

Cotton or Hay Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling press. This design consists in "the combination, with the follower-screw, the worm and worm-shaft, the combined worm-gear and nut, and the base-plate having a peripheral ledge . . . of the plate having bearings for said worm shaft and an annular portion which encircles said base-plate, and the bolts which pass through both such annular portion and base-plate for securing them together and to the base-timbers of the press" (lines 73-82).
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: McGowen, Allexander
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Shovel Cleaner or Knife. (open access)

Design for a Shovel Cleaner or Knife.

Design patent for a "shovel cleaner or knife" that has a particular configuration of a handle with a blade. The accompanying illustration is not included.
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: Legler, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Door Hanger. (open access)

Door Hanger.

Patent for a new and improved hanger for doors and gates. This design consists in "the brackets secured to a door or gate way at intervals apart and having the horizontal supporting arms, the track made of angle-iron and having the horizontal treadway secured to the arms of the brackets, and the upwardly-extending flange at the outer edge of the treadway, and the hangers secured to the door or gate and having their upper portions bent to form an inverted U-shaped yoke or frame, and rollers journaled between the sides of the frame" (lines 80-91).
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Charlton, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dredging Machine. (open access)

Dredging Machine.

Patent for a new and improved dredging machine. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a boat or the like, provided with depending hangers at its bow and stern, of the shaft journaled in said hangers, and provided with a spiral screw extending throughout its length" (lines 88-92). It is "for removing sand-bars and similar obstructions in the beds of harbors or in streams by loosening the sand or the like, so that it will be suspended in the water and carried off by the natural or created current" (lines 22-26).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Crockett, John Richardson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dust Guard for Car Windows. (open access)

Dust Guard for Car Windows.

Patent for a new and improved dust guard for windows. This design consists in "the body . . . which is of concavo-convex form, closed at its upper end by a transverse plate and provided at its lower end with a contracted opening for the discharge of cinders, dust, &c., said body portion being provided with means . . . for affecting its attachment to a window frame" (lines 77-85).
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Duzan, Thomas H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate. (open access)

Gate.

Patent for an automatically opening and closing gate including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 31, 1887
Creator: Philpott, Horatio V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ice Making and Blocking Machine. (open access)

Ice Making and Blocking Machine.

Patent for a new and improved ice machine. This design consists in "the combination of a non-conductive casing containing a freezing tank having water supply and discharge pipes, a water-tight diaphragm supported in said casing above the bottom of said tank having downwardly-tapered hollows in its upper surface and corresponding upwardly-tapered molds in its under surface, and a refrigerating medium contained within the said casing over said diaphragm and filling the hollows in the latter" (lines 82-91).
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Knox, George F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Kitchen Cabinet. (open access)

Kitchen Cabinet.

Patent for a new and improved cabinet. This design "consist[s] of the body having a top . . . adapted to support a bread-board, the elevated casing provided with drawers, and an intermediate receptacle, the shelf thereof forming a recess . . . said recess adapted to receive the back edge of the bread-board . . . the hinged cover provided with a hinged shelf, the inclined abutments for said cover, and the cleat secured to one end of this cover at such an angle to the inclination of said abutments that when the cover bears against them the hinged shelf will be supported in a horizontal position by said cleat" (lines 22-37).
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: Lane, Fernando G. & Acheson, Charles S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Kitchen Cabinet. (open access)

Kitchen Cabinet.

Patent for a new and improved cabinet. This design consists in "the combination, with a hinged door or lid, of [a] . . . separate bail" (lines 99-100). Further, said bail is "pivotally secured at its upper ends to the cabinet, and adapted to support on its middle portion the free end of the said door when the latter is in its horizontal position . . . [and it consists in] a suitable frame, the drawers having compartments on either side thereof, in combination with the hinged pie-board having the opening . . . which when raised closes said compartments" (lines 1-10).
Date: May 24, 1887
Creator: Dollens, Wood C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Knee Pad and Protector. (open access)

Knee Pad and Protector.

Patent for a new and improved knee pad. This design consists in "the combination of a body or main portion, padding contained therein, a re-enforcing piece secured to the said main portion, and a spring interposed and bearing between said main portion and re-enforcing piece . . . [a] cap-piece for knee-protectors slitted from its opposite edges . . . forming flaps, combined with connections for securing said flaps to the body of the cap-piece" (lines 72-81).
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Ridgill, Angus G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Log-Turner (open access)

Log-Turner

Patent for "that class of log-turners which is operated by power, and has for its object to provide a device that will be quick and positive in its operation" (lines 39-42).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Ferris, Henry Murry & Gallon, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Cutting off the Soiled Butts of Grain Stalks. (open access)

Machine for Cutting off the Soiled Butts of Grain Stalks.

Patent for a new and improved cutting machine for grain stalks. This design consists in a "table slotted in its middle part and slotted and recessed at or near one edge, the parallel endless bundle-carrying chains working in said slots and having arms, the chain-wheels, the shafts thereof and their supports, the circular saw in the recess at the edge of the table, the mandrel and the gage-plate" (lines 98-105).
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: Becker, Lothar
System: The Portal to Texas History
Money Changer and Counter. (open access)

Money Changer and Counter.

Patent for a new and improved money changer and counter. This design "is to provide novel means for automatically assorting coins of different denominations . . . [and] to provide a series of graded pockets for the reception and retention of different coins of different denominations, and which will receive the coin only of the denomination for which it is provided; to provide novel means for discharging a coin of a given denomination from its pocket in order to make the proper change, and which will only discharge one coin at a time to prevent too much money from being delivered" (lines 15-30).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Greer, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rail-Joint (open access)

Rail-Joint

Patent for improvements in the construction and design of rail-joints.
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Anderson, Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Safety Shaft Coupling. (open access)

Safety Shaft Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for thills. This design consists in "the combination of the side plates having recesses in their upper edges, the coupling-plates pivoted to the side plates and having recesses in their lower edges registering with the recesses in the side plates, the free ends of the coupling-plates forming detents, the thill having trunnions resting in the registered recesses, and the spring-actuated locking-bar engaging the detents of the coupling-plates" (lines 110-119).
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Spinks, Rudd C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Screen. (open access)

Screen.

Patent for a new and improved insect screen. This design consists in "the combination, with the wire frame and the base to which the ends of the wires of said frame are connected, of the auxiliary strands bracing the arch-wire of said frame, and the book-holder having the upper end of its supporting-wires bent and connected to the longitudinal wire of said frame" (lines 18-24).
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Rice, Robert G.
System: The Portal to Texas History