Box Fastener. (open access)

Box Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved box-fastener. This design "is an improvement in cover-fasteners; and it has for its objects to produce a cover-fastener which will securely fasten the cover to a box, which will be simple, cheap, and effective" (lines 8-12). It consists in "the base-plate provided with a perforation adapted for the reception of a bolt, a movable plate mounted on the base-plate and having a perforation and a slot connected with the same and having its movement limited by guides and provided with an outwardly-turned lug, a bolt provided with a neck, and a gravity locking-pin" (lines 90-98).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Giesberg, John George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain Conveyer for Binders, &c. (open access)

Grain Conveyer for Binders, &c.

Patent for a new and improved grain-conveyer for binders. This design "relates to improvements in reciprocating grain-conveyers for binders and harvesters in which arms fold for the rearward movement of the conveyer and unfold for the forward movement to shift the grain on the platform to the inner inner end or off the inner end of the platform. The objects of the invention are, first, to provide the vertical side arms with extensions hinged to said vertical arms so that the upper ends of said side arms will fold grainward and so that they can be unfolded at the grainward end of the platform" (lines 12-24).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Schubert, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spring Draft Attachment. (open access)

Spring Draft Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved spring-draft attachment. This design "is to do away with the ordinary doubletree . . . which is especially adapted for a two-horse vehicle, which . . . prevents the horses from pulling against one another, [and ] prevents the pole from swaying sidewise" (lines 10-18). It "consist[s] of a frame provided with an eye at one end and with a cross-bar near its center, a draw-bar having one end screw-threaded and provided with an eye at its other end and with a collar at its screw-threaded end, a nut on the draw-bar, and a spring surrounding the draw-bar" (lines 65-71).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Tiner, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stove Flue Cleaner. (open access)

Stove Flue Cleaner.

Patent for a new and improved stove-flue cleaner. This design "has for its objects, among others, to provide a simple device by which the soot may be removed from the flue and gathered into a receptacle without danger of getting it on the floor" (lines 11-15). It "consist[s] of a vessel with a tube extending therethrough and a handle fitted to slide through said tube and carrying a scraper" (lines 52-55).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Mothershed, Thomas Bortley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway Tie. (open access)

Railway Tie.

Patent for a new and improved railway-tie. This design "is to produce a simple and inexpensive tie which may be easily secured in a road-bed and to which the rails may be solidly and conveniently fastened and which is also adapted to be used in connection with wooden sleepers, being constructed so that it may be easily placed in position between wooden sleepers without tearing up the rails" (lines 9-16).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Budington, Albert G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rock Drill. (open access)

Rock Drill.

Patent for a new and improved rock-drill. This design "is to construct a simple and efficient rock-drill in which the forward feeding and rotating of the drill are accomplished automatically" (lines 15-18). It consists in "the drill-rod, a tappet-plate placed loosely on the drill-rod, clutch mechanism connected with the tappet-plate for engaging the drill-rod, a spring for impelling the drill-rod, a cam provided with conical ends for lifting the tappet-plate, and the guide" (lines 20-26).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Belt, Perley P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Quilting Frame for Sewing Machines. (open access)

Quilting Frame for Sewing Machines.

Patent for a new and improved quilting-frame for sewing machines. This design consists, "with the track and the carriage consisting of the U-shaped bail formed from a single piece of metal, having the ends bifurcated and provided with grooved wheels" (lines 97-100). It also consists "of the screw-threaded rod having a head at its lower end, passing through an aperture in the bail, the burr or nut consisting of the interiorly-sccrew-threaded collar, with which said rod engages, the beam having an aperture, through which said rod loosely passes, the depending bars, the side bars, and the rollers" (lines 1-8).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Moore, George McNair & Steen, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Method of Converting Mesquite Beans. (open access)

Method of Converting Mesquite Beans.

Patent for a new and improved method of treating mesquite beans. This is a design "whereby they are converted into a healthful easily-digestible article of food . . . or may be infused in liquid for producing a healthful or agreeable drink" (lines 8-13). It consists, "first, in a preliminary drying of the bean as a whole to eradicate moisture; second, breaking the thus-dried bean into short pieces to render it more readily affected by the heat . . . third, roasting the broken particles to render friable or more brittle; fourth, grinding the mass, and fifth, separating the powdered bean and outer pod from the hull" (lines 13-21).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Jacobs, Thomas H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Newspaper File. (open access)

Newspaper File.

Patent for a new and improved newspaper file. This design "is adapted and designed to be laid upon a table or placed in the usual rack or suspended by a hook, and . . . it may be held in one hand by means of its handle at the base while perusing the paper" (lines 17-22). It consists, "with a standard formed at or near its upper and lower ends . . . with a suitable perforation extending through the same from the back to the front thereof, of springs arranged upon the back of the standard, one near each end thereof and each formed at its free end with an eye" (lines 22-28).
Date: July 26, 1892
Creator: Jaehnig, Charles H.
System: The Portal to Texas History