Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Cars (open access)

Apparatus for Coupling and Uncoupling Cars

Patent for "a coupling of such construction as will permit the coupling and uncoupling of the cars to be effected by the engineer and to be entirely and at all times under his perfect control" (lines 16-20).
Date: July 8, 1890
Creator: McWhirter, Robert & Scheble, Eugene S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Seed Planter. (open access)

Cotton Seed Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design "consists in, first, a hopper having its rear side or board extended downward so as to form the standard or furrow-opener; second, the combination of two endwise adjustable castings provided with shoulders or offsets, and which are made adjustable in relation to each other, and by means of which the quantity dropped is regulated . . . [An object] of [the] invention [is] to extend the rear side of the seed-box downward, so as to form a furrow-opener or standard, to attach the combined seed-box and standard to the two iron beams" (lines 13-28).
Date: July 29, 1890
Creator: Kennedy, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Tightener. (open access)

Wire Tightener.

Patent for a new and improved wire tightener. This design "has for its object to provide a novel, simple, economical, and efficient implement or tool for tightening wire fences by forming twists or loops in the fence-strands to take up the slack, and to provide a novel implement of this type wherein a rod or bar can be conveniently applied to increase the leverage in turning the implement to form the twists or loops" (lines 8-16).
Date: July 15, 1890
Creator: Bellah, William N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine-Gun (open access)

Machine-Gun

Patent for an improvement in a "battery of guns, and has for its object the operating of any one of the guns by the recoil of another and in succession as long as may be deemed necessary" (lines 7-11).
Date: July 1, 1890
Creator: Greer, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Sharpening Gin-Saws (open access)

Machine for Sharpening Gin-Saws

Patent for "a machine of this class which shall be simple, durable, an d easily manipulated, and by means of which the teeth of gin-saws may be sharpened in a rapid, convenient, and effectual manner" (lines 9-14).
Date: July 1, 1890
Creator: Smith, John Quince
System: The Portal to Texas History
Propeller Shaft Bearing. (open access)

Propeller Shaft Bearing.

Patent for a new and improved propeller-shaft bearing. This design consists, "with the horizontal propeller-shaft, of the single central stationary thrust-block through which the shaft snugly extends, the opposite ends of said block being each flattened and provided with a circular groove concentric with the shaft, the pair of collars rigidly secured to the shaft at the opposite ends of said central block, the inner ends of said collars each having a groove corresponding with the grooves in the block, and series of balls confined and running in each set of grooves and between the collars and block" (lines 5-17).
Date: July 8, 1890
Creator: Gaffield, William Z.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam-Engine (open access)

Steam-Engine

Patent for "a new and improved steam-engine in which the motive agent is utilized to the fullest advantage" (lines 8-10).
Date: July 8, 1890
Creator: Robey, James G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design is "to combine a single and double plow so that they may be used either conjointly or independently of each other, and to provide means for the ready adjustment of the plow-beams with relation to each other and for the adjustment of the shovels so as to present the same at different inclinations for penetrating the ground at various depths" (lines 8-16).
Date: July 15, 1890
Creator: Walton, Sam Houston
System: The Portal to Texas History
Printing Plate. (open access)

Printing Plate.

Patent for a new and improved printing-plate. This design "relates to an improvement in printing-plates designed particularly for printing mailing-lists for newspapers and other periodicals" (lines 8-11). To this end, it consists in "[t]he combination of the bar or holder having the downwardly and inwardly turned ends, and the printing-plates secured on the former . . . of the loop loosely mounted on the plate, and the interposed wedge-shaped locking-key" (lines 5-16).
Date: July 22, 1890
Creator: Eberhardt, Theophilus Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow (open access)

Plow

Patent for "a plow of simple and inexpensive construction capable of being readily and easily changed from an ordinary plow to a ditching-plow, and vice versa" (lines 10-14).
Date: July 29, 1890
Creator: Lesueur, Sam C. & Holsey, Theodric M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Movable Shelving for Stores. (open access)

Movable Shelving for Stores.

Patent for new and improved shelving. This design "consists of three sections, a central main portion and two half-sections hinged at each end of the main section, said side sections being one half the length of the main section and adapted to fold face inward against the middle section, and the whole supported upon brackets that terminate in caster-rollers, and is removably secured to the store-wall by hooks on the shelving engaging eyes in the wall . . . The object of this invention is to so construct the shelving of stores that in case of fire the sections of shelving may be quickly closed together" (lines 13-28).
Date: July 15, 1890
Creator: Thomas, Oscar P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nail Driving Tool. (open access)

Nail Driving Tool.

Patent for a new and improved nail-driving tool. This design consists, "with the shell of the tool formed with recesses and a guide-groove . . . the driving-bar provided with notch, die, and roller, spline guided in the groove of the shell, and the returning-spring, of the levers having toes, the former of said levers bearing normally upon the roller, the spring secured to said shell, bearing by its ends upon the ends of the said levers, and the magazine obliquely attached to the shell, provided with an opening and a spring-closing device" (lines 32-43).
Date: July 15, 1890
Creator: Brady, William B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Paint Compound (open access)

Paint Compound

Patent for "a fire and water proof compound for roofs and the like, possessing great elasticity and capable of contracting and expanding under cold and heat without cracking and peeling off [while also forming] a body equal to cement for covering the nail-heads of roofs and the like" (lines 12-20).
Date: July 15, 1890
Creator: Jackson, Abner A. & Neal, Columbus M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tire Heater. (open access)

Tire Heater.

Patent for a new and improved tire heater. This design "consists in providing a rotary circular box revolving in a horizontal plane and carrying a rack, upon which is supported the tire, said box having a stationary bottom provided with openings to admit the flames of oil, gas, or vapor burners to immediate contact with a rotated tire. . . . The object of [the] invention is to provide a tire-heater, which shall be simple and economical of construction, adapted to the use of gas, oil, or vapor fuel, but free of all connections for supplying and burning the same" (lines 18-29).
Date: July 29, 1890
Creator: Nevill, William Birt
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stem Winding and Setting Watch. (open access)

Stem Winding and Setting Watch.

Patent for a new and improved watch. This design "has relation particularly to an improvement in mechanism for winding and setting the watch, so that the 'movement' may be rendered interchangeable for application to a case, whether arranged for a hunting-case watch or an open-face watch. In watches as commonly constructed a different arrangement is made for the winding and setting mechanism for a hunting-case watch from that of one having an open face" (lines 12-21).
Date: July 29, 1890
Creator: Heidbrink, Bernard
System: The Portal to Texas History
Paris Green Distributer. (open access)

Paris Green Distributer.

Patent for a new and improved bug sprayer. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a device for distributing insect-powder, of a blower suspended from the saddle in position to be operated by the foot of the rider, a tube leading from the bellows, and a hopper communicating with the tube" (lines 18-23).
Date: July 29, 1890
Creator: Tucker, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sweeping Machine. (open access)

Sweeping Machine.

Patent for a new and improved sweeping machine. This design consists, "with the frame mounted upon supporting-wheels at its front and rear ends and having the rotating rear axle, of the vertically-adjustable revolving brush receiving motion from the said axle, and a dust pan or receptacle having laterally extending pins or plugs, whereby it is supported detachably upon the frame of the machine in front of the revolving brush" (lines 13-21).
Date: July 1, 1890
Creator: Le Tellier, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate. (open access)

Gate.

Patent for a new design for a gate that "will prevent the post to which it is hung from being drawn out of line by its weight" (lines 12-14) and will stay open unaided and "automatically lock itself when closed" (line 18) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 1, 1890
Creator: Snow, Abner
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sod Cutter. (open access)

Sod Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved sod-cutter. This design consists, "with a sod-cutter comprising the frame, the horizontal blade, the beam, the handle-bars, and the brace-rod connecting the said beam with the outer handle-bar . . . of the upwardly and outwardly curved guide-rods secured to the rear of the said blades, the curved cutting-blades secured to said rods for dividing the cut sod into separate portions, and the fender provided with a forwardly-bent flange at its upper edge and secured to the said brace-rod diagonally of the machine and behind and above the said blades" (lines 76-88).
Date: July 29, 1890
Creator: White, Maston Timothy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire-Extinguishing Apparatus (open access)

Fire-Extinguishing Apparatus

Patent for "a more simple, efficient, and convenient arrangement than has hitherto been known" for fire extinguishers (lines 16-17).
Date: July 29, 1890
Creator: Stamps, William Oscar
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wick Material (Illinois Patent). (open access)

Wick Material (Illinois Patent).

Patent for wick material, "composed of raw fibrous matter in layers or slivers in adhesive substance" (lines 16-17).
Date: July 1, 1890
Creator: Chapin, Myron H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Flour-Separator (open access)

Flour-Separator

Patent for "a machine of this class by means of which by a single operation the flour may be separated from the middlings and the tine from the coarser grade of middling-s, thus performing at a single operation that which heretofore has required two separate operations to accomplish" (lines 10-16).
Date: July 29, 1890
Creator: Sadravezt, Peter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Extension for Bedsteads (open access)

Extension for Bedsteads

Patent for "an adjustable, folding, and removable attachment that can be adjusted to various heights, one that can be easily attached to and detached from the bedstead, and one that when so detached can be neatly folded into a compact mass,which will occupy very little space" with an adjustable guard (lines 11-19).
Date: July 22, 1890
Creator: Belsher, Julia A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mosquito Bar Frame. (open access)

Mosquito Bar Frame.

Patent for a new and improved mosquito-bar frame. This design "consist[s], essentially, of the upright bars having their upper ends reduced . . . and provided with staples, the brackets, having loops at opposite ends and a pintle on its lower branch to enter the staples in the posts, the lateral rods carrying the loop brackets at opposite ends, and sockets . . . to receive the upper ends of the posts, the inner cross-bar arranged in the inner brackets of the lateral rods, the outer cross-bar arranged in the outer brackets of said rods, and the longitudinally-adjustable slide-bar carrying guide-eyes" lines 82-95).
Date: July 29, 1890
Creator: Meyers, John Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History