Automatic Car Uncoupler. (open access)

Automatic Car Uncoupler.

Patent for a new and improved car uncoupler. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a coupling adapted to hold two cars together, of an uncoupler comprising a lever pivotally connected to the car, a weight supported on the car and connected to said lever, and a connection between the weight-operated lever and the coupling for operating it, to separate the cars upon the dropping of the weight" (lines 4-11).
Date: June 7, 1887
Creator: Flett, John Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design has for its object "to provide a coupler which may be used in connection with an ordinary pin-and-link coupler, or with a novel form of draw-pin formed especially for use in connection with the coupler . . . the object of the invention being to so arrange the parts that cars may be automatically coupled and uncoupled without entering the spaces between the ends of the approaching cars" (lines 8-17).
Date: June 7, 1887
Creator: Flett, John Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design is "for automatically coupling cars of various heights, and also to provide devices for uncoupling the cars without the necessity of going between them. [The] invention consists in a spring-pressed hook attached to or formed upon a rock-shaft extending to the top of the car, and provided with a hand-wheel, by which it may be turned. It also consists in the combination, with the hook, of a rod connected thereto and extending to the side of the car, for uncoupling the car from the ground" (lines 16-27).
Date: June 7, 1887
Creator: De May, Eugene A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for a new improvement in baling presses that improves strength, durability and handling and is cheap to manufacture, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 14, 1887
Creator: Mansfield, James Edward.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton and Cotton Seed Press. (open access)

Cotton and Cotton Seed Press.

Patent for a new and improved press. This design consists in "a suitable frame-work, the follower, two sets of toggle-arms which are operated by a screw, and two sets of toggle-arms which extend at right angles to the two sets which are operated by the screw, and which second set are operated by a rope and tackle . . . The object of [the] invention is to produce a very powerful press in which the follower is operated by four sets of toggle-joints, two of which are operated by a screw and the other two by a rope and tackle, so as to produce twice the amount of power usually exerted in toggle-joint presses" (lines 15-29).
Date: June 14, 1887
Creator: Drew, John Melvin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coin Operated Electrical Weighing Scale. (open access)

Coin Operated Electrical Weighing Scale.

Patent for a new and improved coin-operated electric weighing-scale. This design consists in "the combination of the chute-section adapted to receive a coin or similar metallic piece, and having insulated electrical conductors, a weighing machine having its indicator disconnected from the main portion of the weighing mechanism, a stop on said main portion to limit the movement of the indicator when released, a latch for securing said indicator at the zero-point, and electrical connections between said chute-section and latch" (lines 114-123).
Date: June 21, 1887
Creator: Smith, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a new and improved churn. This design consists in "the staff-head having the slot . . . and opposite inside grooves, in combination with a dasher-stem head conforming to the recesses in the head and carrying a spring in an upper cavity thereof, a plunger having its toe resting upon said spring, and operative mechanism" (lines 77-83).
Date: June 28, 1887
Creator: Catchings, Thomas Jefferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cultivator and Cotton and Corn Planter. (open access)

Combined Cultivator and Cotton and Corn Planter.

Patent for a new implement "for planting cotton-seed, cultivating the soil, and covering the soil" (lines 14-15) and corn (line 61) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 5, 1883
Creator: McCall, Duncan Jefferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bridle Attachment. (open access)

Bridle Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved bridle attachment. This design "consists of a contrivance of nose-clamping strap having end rings through which pass the ends of a chin-strap connected by reign-straps passing through rings of a head-strap of the attachment . . . the invention comprising also a connection of the martingale-straps with the rings of the nose-clamping straps . . . to powerfully check up the horse when required, and also to prevent rearing and plunging" (lines 9-20).
Date: June 5, 1883
Creator: Massey, John T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blind Stops. (open access)

Blind Stops.

Patent for a new and improved stop for blinds. This design "is to provide a convenient means by which blind-slats may be swung on their pivots, so as to open or close to the extent desired" (lines 8-11).
Date: June 5, 1883
Creator: Vandervoort, Charles Frederick
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Level. (open access)

Combination Level.

Patent for a new and improved combination level. This design "is broadly to provide a combined carpenter's and surveyor's level of a cheap, simple, light, and durable form, and adapted for use as a carpenter's plumb and level or a surveyor's level interchangeably without the removal or change of any of its parts; and to this end in consists in the conformation and arrangement of parts" (lines 19-26).
Date: June 12, 1883
Creator: Sands, James Harley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Tent and Bed. (open access)

Combined Tent and Bed.

Patent for improvements in the construction of a combined folding bed and tent.
Date: June 19, 1883
Creator: Perez, Mitchel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Burglar Alarm. (open access)

Burglar Alarm.

Patent for a new and improved burglar alarm. This design "consists in the combination of the lock-frame with a pivoted plate which is connected to it at one end, and which plate carries the nipple to receive the catch, and is provided with sharp points to catch in the jamb of the door, with a sidewise-moving trigger, which is operated by the door, and a set-screw for securing the lock-plate in position upon the door" (lines 13-21).
Date: June 26, 1883
Creator: Wright, William Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Child's Crib (open access)

Child's Crib

Patent for new "suspended cribs or cradles for the use of children" (lines 17-18) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 8, 1880
Creator: Brown, Fred Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Cotton-Chopper (open access)

Rotary Cotton-Chopper

Patent for "new and useful improvements in rotary cotton-choppers" (lines 4-5) that are of "the class of cotton-choppers which travel across the rows, and also to the class which use a revolving drum having blades or hoes spirally arranged on its periphery" (lines 13-17), including descriptions and illustrations.
Date: June 8, 1880
Creator: Lee, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Condenser (open access)

Condenser

Patent for "the construction of surface-condensers for condensing steam, condensing cooling ammonia-gas, and other purposes" (lines 17-20) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 15, 1880
Creator: Lee, Charles Brogden
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brick-Machine (open access)

Brick-Machine

Patent for "that class of brick-machines usually termed 'dry-press machines,' in which clay is taken from the bank and passed into molds in a revolving wheel" (lines 15-19) and "consists more particularly in the construction of details and combination of parts" (lines 23-25) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 15, 1880
Creator: Johnson, Richard M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spinning-Wheel (open access)

Spinning-Wheel

Patent for "an improvement in domestic spinning wheels; and it consists in the combination of parts whereby the spindle or whirl is supported from above so as to hang down within the operator's reach, and is made to constantly revolve at the same time that the whirl is moved from and toward the operator" (lines 12-19) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 22, 1880
Creator: Church, Joshua G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Plow (open access)

Rotary Plow

Patent for "rotary plows for plowing land, preparing the land to receive the seed and cultivating the plants, which shall be convenient in use, effective in operation, and not liable to get out of order" (lines 19-23) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 22, 1880
Creator: Tally, Thomas Jackson.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Game-Board (open access)

Game-Board

Patent for "a game-board having a trough at its head and squared apertures near said head, and numbered cubical blocks adapted to be revolved in said apertures" (lines 18-21) and "has relation to games to be played on bowling-alleys or boards with balls" (lines 16-17) including illustrations.
Date: June 22, 1880
Creator: Thompson, James Whiteford.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Method of Marking the Keys of Key-Boards for Musical Instruments (open access)

Method of Marking the Keys of Key-Boards for Musical Instruments

Patent for "a system of musical notation in which the several notes or note-symbols are shaped so as to approximate in appearance the shape of the letters from which they derive their appellations" (lines 37-41) especially in relation to piano-fortes, organs, and keyed instruments and in teaching music, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 29, 1880
Creator: Black, Jane B. D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for cars. This design "relates to that class of couplers that are self-couplers; and it consists of an open-top hook-shaped draw-bar provided with a pivoted T-shaped vertically-moving coupling-bar, and provided also with an end socket for using the ordinary coupling link" (lines 7-12).
Date: June 21, 1881
Creator: McCray, John Henry Branic
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn Planter and Dropper. (open access)

Corn Planter and Dropper.

Patent for a new and improved seed planter or dropper. This design utilizes a hopper, a shaft provided with cups, a bevel having a countersunk opening provided with a recess, a gate hinged in said recess and held in contact with the cups on the shaft by a spring, and a concave partition fitting the periphery of the shaft, all constructed and arranged in a novel way (lines 68-75). Additionally, this design utilizes a wheel, the motion of which dispenses the seed.
Date: June 28, 1881
Creator: Dawson, John Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "has relation to that class of car-couplings in which the open ends of a coupling bar or link are engaged by hooks in the draw-heads; and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of such a coupling, in which the hooks are projecting from the under sides of arms pivoted upon the draw-heads and dropping down by their gravity, and in which the said hooks project into registering recesses in the upper side of the draw-head" (lines 23-33).
Date: June 29, 1886
Creator: Boyers, Robert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History