Stirrup. (open access)

Stirrup.

Patent for a new and improved stirrup. This design is "to provide a stirrup of simple and inexpensive construction, to form the buckle for attaching the side straps integral with the hanger in such position that the stirrup will hang at right angles to the saddle-skirts, and, further, to hinge or pivot the foot-rest at one end to the hanger and supported at its opposite end by means of a spring-controlled catch that automatically releases the foot-rest by means of a lever and prevents the rider's foot from hanging in the stirrup and the rider being dragged should he [or she] be thrown from [the] horse" (lines 17-29).
Date: May 24, 1892
Creator: Anderson, Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wick Trimmer. (open access)

Wick Trimmer.

Patent for a new and improved wick trimmer. This design "is to provide a lamp-wick trimmer with adjustable guides that will afford means to retain the implement in correct position for use on lamp-wick tubes of different sizes, and furthermore to furnish the wick-trimmer with blades that will shear the wick from each side edge toward the center simultaneously" (lines 7-14).
Date: May 31, 1892
Creator: Andrews, Daniel L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fish and Game Trap. (open access)

Fish and Game Trap.

Patent for a design for improvements of fish and game traps, including illustrations.
Date: May 31, 1892
Creator: Bolling, Allen G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Marking Goods. (open access)

Device for Marking Goods.

Patent for a new and improved price tag. This design "consist[s] of a strip of ductile metal or any other material comprising a tapering finger, having a pointed hook or prong at its outer end and a square or rectangular plate integral with the tapering finger" (lines 96-100). It it further "provided on three sides with overturned edges or flanges and on the fourth side with a raised shoulder or offset adapted to form a stop for the removable marking-tag, so as to hold the same in place removably" (lines 1-5).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Brown, Sampson H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate Latch. (open access)

Gate Latch.

Patent for a new and improved gate-latch. This design "relates to gate-latches; and it has for its object to provide a device of this character which will be simple in construction and efficient in operation, and to provide a gate-latch that not only permits the gate to be opened in both directions, but also prevents the same from being opened or lifted from its hinges by the stock, and also a latch that can be easily manipulated without dismounting from the horse" (lines 8-17).
Date: May 10, 1892
Creator: Brown, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Baling Apparatus (open access)

Cotton-Baling Apparatus

Patent for a cotton baling machine in which "the condensing and bat-forming devices will condense and press the lint-cotton so close that the spring of the cotton is broken, thereby avoiding the necessity of providing additional compressing-rollers intermediate the condenser and the press-box. A further object of my invention is to arrange a condenser in such a manner as to save room in the gin-house and to provide means for carrying off the dust and air made by the gin and condenser to the outside of the building" (lines 12-24).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Carter, Edward D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Extension-Ladder. (open access)

Extension-Ladder.

Patent for a new extension ladder, including illustrations.
Date: May 31, 1892
Creator: Crews, Dayton H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Side Guide for Printing and Lithographic Presses. (open access)

Side Guide for Printing and Lithographic Presses.

Patent for a new and improved side guide for printing and lithographic presses. This design consists "in a novel construction of . . . feed-guides . . . and a double guide on a single support . . . which may be adjusted a short distance or entirely across the feed board or base of a printing or other press and can be used either on the right or left hand side of the press" (lines 13-23).
Date: May 24, 1892
Creator: Davis, Frederick C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clothes Pounder. (open access)

Clothes Pounder.

Patent for a new and improved clothes pounder. This design "consist[s] of an outer cone with openings and socket near its upper end, a plurality of smaller cones with open bottoms within the outer cone and having their upper ends secured to the bottom of the said socket of the larger cone, and a conical guard around the upper end of the outer cone and extended below said openings independent of the outer cone and terminating in a vertical depending flange at a distance from the said outer cone" (lines 77-87).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Davis, Jordan G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Stretcher. (open access)

Wire-Stretcher.

The patent is for a wire stretcher used to repair fencing.
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Dean, G. A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hydraulic Excavator (open access)

Hydraulic Excavator

Hydraulic dredging machine in which a revolving bucket wheel is used in excavating silt and sand
Date: May 31, 1892
Creator: Douglas, William M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insect Trap. (open access)

Insect Trap.

Patent for a new and improved insect trap. This design is "for catching such insects as are attracted by light, more especially cotton-flies, potato-bugs, and the like" (lines 11-13). It consists "of a frame having a bottom provided with an approximately star-shaped opening, the transparent walls mounted in the frame and forming re-entrant angles and providing entrance-openings and being adjustable to vary the size of the entrance openings, a receptacle arranged beneath the opening in the bottom of the frame, and a lamp arranged within the frame" (lines 72-80).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Edwards, Joseph H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cabinet for Holding Postage Stamps, &c. (open access)

Cabinet for Holding Postage Stamps, &c.

Patent for a new and improved cabinet. This design "consists in a commercial postage-stamp holding, preserving, and denomination-indicating book, the same having its blank leaves formed of paper so prepared that postage-stamps will not adhere to them, and some of said leaves being provided at intervals with exposed tabs which have numerical indices marked upon them and serve for indicating the denomination of the stamps placed between the leaves at different parts of the book. It also consists in . . . a rigid outer supporting-cabinet provided with means for confining the book" (lines 12-27).
Date: May 24, 1892
Creator: Exline, Marcus P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay Press. (open access)

Hay Press.

Patent for an improvement in the hay-press that involves operation by horse-power. Includes illustrations.
Date: May 10, 1892
Creator: Finch, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stringed Instrument (open access)

Stringed Instrument

Patent for "an instrument that may be conveniently supported upon the lap of the player without any supporting-bands, that is of unique and handsome appearance, that is strong and durable, not liable to be injured by ordinary falls, in which the bridge is secure, the neck properly braced, and to give to the body such shape as will increase its resonance, while at the same time preserving the musical sweetness inherent in instruments of this class" (lines 13-22).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Ganss, Albert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adjustable Fire Guard and Screen. (open access)

Adjustable Fire Guard and Screen.

Patent for a new and improved fireplace screen. This design "is to provide a simple and efficient device which may be suspended in front of open fireplaces or grates for the purpose of preventing the frequent and sometimes fatal accidents which are directly due to the absence of reliable safe-guards. The invention consists of a series of shields or plates of suitable size and material, which are so connected that when not in use they may be easily drawn upward in succession side by side and compactly placed in an appropriate receptacle attached to the front of a mantel or to a wall above a fireplace" (lines 16-29).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Gibson, Nathaniel B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Artificial Stone Block. (open access)

Artificial Stone Block.

Patent for a new and improved artificial-stone block. This design "consists in the particular formation of the protuberances by which interlocking joints or seams of the building-blocks are attained, the object of which is to so form the prolific protuberances of said blocks as to permit joining them in close proximity on all the sides or faces of the seam, to reduce the binding material for the same and increase the strength of the same" (lines 14-22).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Graham, George M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pier. (open access)

Pier.

Patent for a new and improved pier. This design "is to provide a new and improved pier which is simple and durable in construction, possesses great stability and strength, is readily sunk in the water and fastened in place, arranged to be built up to any desired height, and designed so as to cut the water in order to reduce the power of the current to a minimum. The invention consists of a series of rods formed at their lower ends with augers and adapted to pass through ears of an exterior shell forming the wall or casing of the pier" (lines 9-20).
Date: May 10, 1892
Creator: Haerem, Ommund
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate Latch. (open access)

Gate Latch.

Patent for a new and improved gate latch. This design "will automatically lock the gate or door when swung closed and which will firmly hold the same, which can be readily opened by hand or otherwise" (lines 17-20). It consists in "[t]he latch consisting of the case, the two triangular catches, the transverse pivots therefor in the lower outer corners of the case, the rigid stops at the lower outer corners of the case to prevent outward swing of said catches, the inwardly and laterally extending arms at the upper inner end of said catches, and the horizontal lifting-bar normally resting on said pivots" (lines 24-32).
Date: May 24, 1892
Creator: Haggar, Morys
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Attachment for Pianos and Organs (open access)

Mechanical Attachment for Pianos and Organs

Patent for a "mechanical attachment for pianos and organs whereby and musical composition executed upon the instrument shall be automatically recorded upon a travelling strip or band or, if preferred, on the cylindrical surface of a revolving drum" (lines 10-15).
Date: May 31, 1892
Creator: Harriman, John Emery, Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Pump and Motor. (open access)

Combined Pump and Motor.

Patent for a new and improved pump and motor. This design "is to produce a simple apparatus which may be connected with a main water or service pipe and which will operate by the fluctuation of pressure in said main or pipe so as to operate the pump. The device is especially advantageous in raising water from a well or cistern to a tank placed at a higher elevation, or it may be placed on a pump in place of an air-chamber and used as a feed-pump for a boiler or on a hydraulic ram as an auxiliary pump" (lines 9-18).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Henderson, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Staple Extractor. (open access)

Staple Extractor.

Patent for a staple extractor used for removing wire from the posts of wire fences. Includes illustrations.
Date: May 24, 1892
Creator: Hunt, Thomas M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design "relates to mold-boards for plows; and it has for its object to provide a combined wooden and metallic mold-board which shall possess superior advantages in point of simplicity, durability, and general efficiency" (lines 9-14).
Date: May 24, 1892
Creator: Jackson, Luther C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive Headlight. (open access)

Locomotive Headlight.

Patent for a new and improved train headlight. This design "has for its object to improve locomotive head-lights by so constructing the reservoir and burner and mounting the same that they may be easily removed from and connected with the reflector without moving the latter; and it consists of a reservoir for the head-light having certain features of novelty and in various improvements in the apparatus as a whole" (lines 11-19).
Date: May 17, 1892
Creator: Jobling, Lance L.
System: The Portal to Texas History