Axle Box for Locomotives. (open access)

Axle Box for Locomotives.

Patent for a new and improved axle-box for locomotives. This design "has relation to self-adjusting wedges for axle or driving boxes for locomotives, and has for its objects to produce a wedge that is controlled by a spring, which can be readily and easily adjusted for removing the pounding and lost motion between the axle-box and pedestal" (lines 11-17).
Date: May 21, 1889
Creator: Carlson, Frank August
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fare-Box (open access)

Fare-Box

Patent for new and useful improvements in electrical fare boxes.
Date: May 15, 1888
Creator: Crowdus, Walter A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bed Spring. (open access)

Bed Spring.

Patent for a new and improved bed-spring. This design consists in "the adjustable tie that connects the springs beneath the slats. This device is simple, cheap, convenient, and durable. It is adjustable to slats placed at different distances apart, and will remain in position when placed upon the slats, holding the diagonal rows of springs in a straight line, causing the springs to remain uniform all over the bed" (lines 72-80).
Date: May 19, 1885
Creator: Davis, Charles Robert
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
Saw Jointer. (open access)

Saw Jointer.

Patent for a new and improved saw-jointer. This design consists in "two casts having longitudinal triangular grooves upon their inner facing sides, having the lower portions of their inner facing sides cut away to form a longitudinal groove, and having the upper portions of their inner facing sides bulged to form longitudinal halves of a socket, with a screw passing through the castings in the space between the bulged socket portions and the longitudinal grooves, the said grooves being adapted to receive a triangular file having its lower face at right angles to the sides of the groove" (lines 64-76).
Date: May 26, 1885
Creator: Fitzpatrick, Francis B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Account Book (open access)

Account Book

Patent for an account book that is to be used "to receive in condensed form the dates and other particulars when sums are due to and from a person or firm are payable" (p. 2).
Date: May 21, 1889
Creator: Goldberg, Samuel W. & Tillmann, Emanuel M.
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
Spark Arrester. (open access)

Spark Arrester.

Patent for a new and improved spark-arrester. This design consists in "[t]he combination of an inverted-U-shaped pipe joined to the smoke-stack of an engine, a suitable damper located at the junction, a water receptacle suspended from the free end of said pipe, and a water-pipe leading into said end from the boiler of the engine" (lines 85-90).
Date: May 4, 1886
Creator: Ledbetter, William Hughes
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
Cotton-Gin Brush (open access)

Cotton-Gin Brush

Patent for "a cheap, durable, efficient, and simple brush adapted for use in cotton-gins, the parts of which may readily be assembled or detached for purposes of construction, renewal, replacement, or repair" (lines 9-14).
Date: May 28, 1889
Creator: Swann, Warner Minor & Swann, Richard Tompkins
System: The Portal to Texas History