Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "consists in a car-coupling formed of two coupling-hooks pivoted on a pivot projecting from the bottom of the car, which coupling hooks pass through an inverted-V-shaped guide-slot in the guide-plate, held in front of the pivot, and the said coupling-hooks are connected with a vertically-moveable bar for raising the coupling-hooks. The coupling hooks are raised and their free ends are pressed together, and if then the coupling-hooks are released they swing downward and their free ends are separated" (lines 7-18).
Date: June 24, 1884
Creator: Grothaus, Frederick E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for an improved car coupling that is automatic and safer than regular couplings.
Date: June 29, 1884
Creator: Myers, Newton J.
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 the production of a coupling that can be easily and readily applied to the common construction of draw-heads for cars, in which the ordinary coupling link and pin are used, while combining simplicity and economy in construction and effectiveness in operation" (lines 13-19).
Date: June 3, 1884
Creator: Harrold, Mahlon
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gage for Adjusting Planer Knives. (open access)

Gage for Adjusting Planer Knives.

Patent for a new and improved gauge for planer knives. This design is "for use in planing and other mills where side heads are used to supply the need of a convenient appliance for holding the side heads in best position for filing, sharpening, or setting the bits, to afford a strong machine for holding the side heads firmly and securely in any position that the work[person] may desire while sharpening or adjusting the bits to the desired pattern" (lines 30-38).
Date: June 17, 1884
Creator: Thompson, Francis B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Power. (open access)

Mechanical Power.

Patent for motors “designed for running light machinery – such as well-pumps, churns, sewing-machines, washing-machines, &c.; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of parts, as will hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims” (lines 10-15) including instructions and illustrations. “These motors are simple, durable, and efficient, and are not likely to get out of order” (lines 72-73).
Date: June 17, 1884
Creator: Wise, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nut Lock. (open access)

Nut Lock.

Patent for a new and improved nut lock. This design "is to provide a spring-washer of great stiffness and strength, which, when applied to a bolt beneath a nut, serves to prevent the latter from turning, and also acts to firmly hold the parts of a rail-joint after there has been some wear thereof, thus keeping the bolts from becoming loose and rattling from such wear" (lines 13-20).
Date: June 10, 1884
Creator: Campbell, Eli F.; Noble, Laroy C. & Howe, Milton G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tramping Attachment for Baling Presses. (open access)

Tramping Attachment for Baling Presses.

Patent for a new and improved attachment for baling presses. This design "consists of a contrivance of trampers and a crank with power mechanism for working them, in a simple arrangement for beating in the cotton on the follower preparatory to closing the press and completing the pressing by the follower, the device being calculated to enable the bales of full size to be made in a smaller case, and with less range of movement of the follower and more economically than they can be made without the tramper" (lines 8-18).
Date: June 10, 1884
Creator: Thompson, Gedeon Philip
System: The Portal to Texas History
Violin Tail Piece. (open access)

Violin Tail Piece.

Patent for a new and improved tail piece for violins. This design "has for its object to raise or lower the pitch of the strings simultaneously, when required" (lines 10-12).
Date: June 10, 1884
Creator: Smith, John J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well Bucket. (open access)

Well Bucket.

Patent for a new and improved well-bucket. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the well-bucket, having the rabbeted opening in its bottom, and provided with the apertured cross-bars of the valve-rod passing through the apertures in said cross-bars and the opening in the bottom of the bucket, and the valve secured to the lower end of said rod" (lines 56-62).
Date: June 10, 1884
Creator: Foat, Robert H.
System: The Portal to Texas History