Acetylene-Gas Generator. (open access)

Acetylene-Gas Generator.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in acetylene gas machines, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 1, 1899
Creator: Henderson, Thomas & Stapp, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Anal Speculum. (open access)

Anal Speculum.

Patent for a new and improved anal speculum. This design is "to so construct the several parts that there will be no rough or raised edges to interfere with its insertion in the anal passage; secondly, to so construct [the] improved speculum that it may be readily used as a bi-valve or dilator; thirdly, to form a locking-joint on the meeting edges of the shells forming the speculum, whereby the sections are prevented from overlapping each other to avoid pinching or injury to the walls of the anal passage while the instrument is being inserted; fourthly, to provide a plug for [the] improved speculum" (lines 17-29).
Date: March 25, 1890
Creator: Shuford, Quincy Adams
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Filling Bottles. (open access)

Apparatus for Filling Bottles.

Patent for an "apparatus for filling bottles with crude petroleum, turpentine, and other liquids; and its object is to provide an improved construction which shall possess superior advantages with respect to efficiency in operation" (lines 14-19).
Date: May 5, 1896
Creator: McKay, Felix Early
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Band-Brake for Railway-Cars (open access)

Automatic Band-Brake for Railway-Cars

Patent for "a brake of simple and inexpensive construction, that may be readily attached to steam or tramway cars, that is automatic in its working, and to do away with the brake-beams now employed, which through their breaking down are two-thirds of the causes of car derailments" (lines 19-26).
Date: January 27, 1891
Creator: Inglis, Thomas & Schiermann, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brace for Heel-Sweeps. (open access)

Brace for Heel-Sweeps.

Patent for a simple and durable brace for heel-sweeps. The wings of the sweep will not close, and "that portion of the sweep through which the heel-bolt passes will be materially strengthened" (lines 14-16). It also braces sweeps whatever their size, and all the brace's parts are adjustable.
Date: January 7, 1896
Creator: Ferrell, Augustus C. & Hamrick, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buckle. (open access)

Buckle.

Patent for a back band buckle that consists of a plate with its ends turned up and two upper longitudinal slit, the lower slit having teeth, and a hook with nibs.
Date: August 29, 1893
Creator: Brown, John Anderson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Door. (open access)

Car-Door.

Patent for improvements in car doors. These improvements make the doors fire and water proof and allow the door to be locked. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 23, 1891
Creator: Moore, Francis A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Door Cleat. (open access)

Car-Door Cleat.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in car door cleats or guards, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 30, 1899
Creator: Miller, William M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Replacer (open access)

Car-Replacer

Patent for invention for new and useful improvements in Car-Replacer. The invention relates to improvements in car replacers which can easily be applied to a track or rail which will quickly and easily cause the car to enter upon the track and which cannot possibly become displaced by the weight and strain of the car
Date: January 3, 1892
Creator: Moore, Francis A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Air-Hose Coupling and Stop-Valve. (open access)

Combined Air-Hose Coupling and Stop-Valve.

Patent for a combined air-hose coupling and stop-valve. One must shut off the cut-off valve before the coupling can be disconnected. When the valve is closed, air pressure is balanced so the couplings can be safely disconnected, and prevents dirt from getting into the train-pipe.
Date: August 18, 1896
Creator: Heidelburg, Samuel R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Vegetable Slicer and Grater. (open access)

Combined Vegetable Slicer and Grater.

Patent for a combined vegetable slicer and grater that consists of a main frame with vertical arms and bearings, a screw that attaches the arms to the frame, a shaft journaled with an annular flange into the bearings, a cylinder made of sheet metal that serves as knives, and spring tongues that regulate the thickness of the cut vegetables.
Date: July 10, 1894
Creator: Harpst, Edgar S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Crate. (open access)

Crate.

Patent for "a crate for packing and transporting bottles of such material and such form of construction as will present a minimum liability to breakage of the contents." (Lines 9-13) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 7, 1896
Creator: Riviere, Richard Andrew
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Quilting-Frame Stand. (open access)

Design for a Quilting-Frame Stand.

Design patent for a quilting-frame stand that has U-shaped legs leading up to a horizontal stand with an ornate frame.
Date: July 5, 1898
Creator: Overton, Benjamin F. & Bryant, Louis E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for Colter Brace (open access)

Design for Colter Brace

Design patent for colter-brace for plows.
Date: July 20, 1897
Creator: Darby, Robert J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Attaching Horseshoes. (open access)

Device for Attaching Horseshoes.

Patent for a new and improved device for attaching horseshoes. This design "relates to improvements in means for attaching shoes to the hoofs of horses or mules without the use of nails; and the invention consists in . . . a nailless shoe [that] can be firmly and securely attached to the foot and detached therefrom without requiring the services of a smith" (lines 9-18). To this end, it consists in "the combination, with the shoe-plate and the toe-plate, of the toe-bar having a flange to engage the toe-plate, the bits, half-bands, and clamping-bolts" (lines 61-65).
Date: November 4, 1890
Creator: Mayow, Daniel L. & Castle, John M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dumping-Car (open access)

Dumping-Car

Patent for a dumping car to be used on railways for the purposes of dumping gravel and soil and other such materials.
Date: January 3, 1893
Creator: Womelsdorff, Henry Clay
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fastening for Nailless Horseshoes. (open access)

Fastening for Nailless Horseshoes.

Patent for a detachable nailless horseshoe that consists of a shoe-plate with front and side wings, links attached to the front wings, half-bands that are attached to the side wings, and lugs.
Date: February 28, 1893
Creator: Mayow, Daniel L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fluid-Fuel Burner. (open access)

Fluid-Fuel Burner.

Patent for "a simple and efficient device adapted to feed the fuel as required for the support of combustion and avoid flooding and hence the danger of explosion, and, furthermore, to provide a compact arrangement of parts whereby the device may be arranged in the fire-box of an ordinary stove or range." (Lines 9-16) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 4, 1896
Creator: Stapp, William A. & Hamilton, Charles P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit-Picker. (open access)

Fruit-Picker.

Patent for a fruit-picker that has a jaw or jaws that severs the stem of the fruit, a fabric tube that brings the fruit to the operator or a basket. It bruises the fruit less than other pickers do.
Date: September 24, 1895
Creator: Williams, Thomas Page
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gas-Generator. (open access)

Gas-Generator.

Patent for a gas generator "which will be entirely automatic in its action so long as the supply of oil is kept up and thereby render the use of weights and winding apparatus unnecessary." (Lines 21-24) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 17, 1895
Creator: Henderson, Thomas & Stapp, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate-Hinge. (open access)

Gate-Hinge.

Patent for a "gravity-hinge for causing a gate to automatically close, and which is susceptible of such adjustment that if the gate-post and the latch-post, either or both, become disarranged as regards their perpendicular position, or if they are not exactly coincident with relation to each other, the gate can be centered relatively to the latch-post, or rather the hinged end of the gate can be set precisely perpendicular or be shifted laterally to any required angle of inclination for the purpose of causing the gate to properly close and engage the latch on the latch-post." (Lines 11-24) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 27, 1897
Creator: Berry, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate-Latch. (open access)

Gate-Latch.

Patent for a gate-latch. A latch-pin secured in a beam, another latch secured to the inside of another post, with two pivoting hangers, and plates come together to form this latch.
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Berry, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate-Latch. (open access)

Gate-Latch.

Patent for a gate latch that works by having stop-pins secured to the gate, while a rod goes through the post, with a handle on one end and a latch on the other end. The latch is shaped so that it catches the pin.
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Berry, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grease-Trap. (open access)

Grease-Trap.

Patent for a grease trap "in which the grease is designed to be removed from the trap automatically and the object of my invention is to cause the water passing through the trap to carry the grease out with it" (lines 8-12).
Date: March 19, 1895
Creator: Henderson, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History