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Antifriction Clasp. (open access)

Antifriction Clasp.

Patent for a new and improved anti-friction clasp. This design "is to provide means whereby the wear due to the rubbing of inclosed rods or ropes against an inclosing casing may be reduced to a minimum and whereby the central alignment of the rods or ropes with respect to the inclosing casing may be accurately preserved" (lines 11-17). It consists in "a series of friction balls or rollers mounted therein and projecting from the periphery thereof and being divided into sections adapted to be clamped at any point around the rod or rope" (lines 97-101).
Date: October 25, 1892
Creator: Black, William L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Feeding Seed-Cotton to Gins (open access)

Apparatus for Feeding Seed-Cotton to Gins

Patent for an improvement to seed feeders "to improve and simplify the feed mechanisms of such machines or apparatus and provide means whereby a number of rigidly depending chutes
Date: December 20, 1892
Creator: Murray, Stephen D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Attachment for Disk Harrows. (open access)

Attachment for Disk Harrows.

Patent for improvements in disk harrows, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 10, 1889
Creator: Moffitt, William E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adjustable Standard for Plows. (open access)

Adjustable Standard for Plows.

Patent for improvements to foot pieces that allow for easy adjustment of plowing depth. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 1, 1891
Creator: Teague, Jasper K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Elevating and Cleaning Seed-Cotton. (open access)

Apparatus for Elevating and Cleaning Seed-Cotton.

Patent for a steam-powered device for cleaning seed-cotton. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 10, 1891
Creator: Robinson, Albert S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Trap. (open access)

Animal Trap.

Patent for a new and improved animal-trap. This design consists "[i]n a trap comprising a well having ingress-openings in diametrically-opposite sides, the combination, with a cage constructed to move vertically in the said well, of plates mounted in ways and constructed to slide past and cover the said openings and having connection with the cage to counterbalance the same" (lines 86-93).
Date: April 5, 1892
Creator: McLeod, Charlie Mike
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Elevating, Distributing, and Feeding Seed-Cotton to Gins (open access)

Apparatus for Elevating, Distributing, and Feeding Seed-Cotton to Gins

Patent for improvements to cotton gins so that seed cotton can be fed to two gins at the same time, while using the same power as would normally be necessary for one gin.
Date: April 12, 1892
Creator: Murray, Stephen D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Aerial Ship (open access)

Aerial Ship

Patent for "a ship for navigating the air, which shall be almost or quite as easily governed and controlled as regards its course of travel, irrespective of the direction of the wind and in other respects, as a ship provided with propelling means, used to sail in or through the water" (lines 9-15).
Date: April 19, 1892
Creator: Riddle, William Nelson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design "compris[es] the sides adapted to encompass an anthill and composed of a bottom, inclined walls, and horizontal top portions, having depending inclined flanges, one of the sides having an opening in its bottom and provided with ways arranged on opposite sides of the opening, a removable receptacle provided with flanges arranged in said ways and having inwardly-inclined walls, and a discharge-tube arranged at one corner of the trap" (lines 77-87).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Royse, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Poke. (open access)

Animal Poke.

Patent for a new and improved animal poke. This design "is to construct a device which may be secured to horses, cattle, and other animals, and which will effectually prevent fence-jumping, while at the same time allow the animal free use of [its] head and limbs, doing away with any tendency to cramp the wearer" (lines 17-23). It consists, "with bar and a means for suspending it beneath the animal's body and the bar, which is secured at its outer end to the animal's head, of a hinge to the opposite side of which the adjacent ends of the said bars are pivoted" (lines 78-83).
Date: May 17, 1892
Creator: Stracener, Upton W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Anti-Friction Sucker-Rod Coupling. (open access)

Anti-Friction Sucker-Rod Coupling.

Patent for an anti-frictioin sucker-rod coupling. This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in sectional sucker-rods for artesian, oil, and other wells, and has for its object to provide an improved construction of coupling-joint for connecting the sections of the rods together.
Date: January 26, 1892
Creator: Black, William L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Baling Cotton. (open access)

Apparatus for Baling Cotton.

Patent for improvements to an apparatus that softens and compresses cotton, and prevents clogging and breakage. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 5, 1890
Creator: Goldthwaite, Joseph G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Stretcher. (open access)

Wire-Stretcher.

Patent for wire-stretching levers, with instructions and levers.
Date: October 20, 1891
Creator: Richardson, Jerome Shipley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrecking-Frog. (open access)

Wrecking-Frog.

Patent for "an improved frog for use in placing derailed cars or locomotives upon the rails, exceedingly simple and durable in construction, and formed substantially in one piece - that is, not in sections - and having improved means to lock the frog to the rail." (Lines 17-22) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 11, 1891
Creator: Wilmore, William Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Stretcher. (open access)

Wire-Stretcher.

The patent is for a wire stretcher used to repair fencing.
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Dean, G. A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Stretcher and Fastener. (open access)

Wire Stretcher and Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved wire stretcher and fastener. This design consists in "[t]he combination of a bar constructed of metal and provided at one end with a claw and having its other end bent at right angles to form an arm provided with a slot or bifurcation forming prongs, one of the prongs being longer than the other, the stud secured to the bar on the side opposite the arm and arranged adjacent to the same and forming a hammer-head, and a handle arranged on the same side of the stud and located adjacent to the claw" (lines 55-65).
Date: September 27, 1892
Creator: Chamberlain, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle-Hub. (open access)

Vehicle-Hub.

Patent for improvements to vehicle wheel hubs, with instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 12, 1892
Creator: Jones, George W. & Green, Furney F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Two-Wheeled Delivery-Vehicle. (open access)

Two-Wheeled Delivery-Vehicle.

Patent for "a light and convenient vehicle for the use of mail-collectors in cities, and for the transportation and delivery of parcels, milk, or other articles," (lines 8-12) with instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 12, 1891
Creator: Boone, Manly Breaker
System: The Portal to Texas History
Keel. (open access)

Keel.

Patent for an improved type of keel construction, "of which the distance between the keel and covering-boards is equalized throughout the length of the vessel and a vessel of exceptional strength and advantageous construction is afforded." (Lines 16-20) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 4, 1891
Creator: Grothgar, John & Garfield, John M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insect Trap. (open access)

Insect Trap.

Patent for a new and improved insect trap. This design is "for catching such insects as are attracted by light, more especially cotton-flies, potato-bugs, and the like" (lines 11-13). It consists "of a frame having a bottom provided with an approximately star-shaped opening, the transparent walls mounted in the frame and forming re-entrant angles and providing entrance-openings and being adjustable to vary the size of the entrance openings, a receptacle arranged beneath the opening in the bottom of the frame, and a lamp arranged within the frame" (lines 72-80).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Edwards, Joseph H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Type-Writing Machine (open access)

Type-Writing Machine

Patent for improvements to typewriting machines with the aim of providing "a machine of simple and durable construction, capable of use for the ordinary purposes to which type-writers are applied, but especially adapted and designed for typewriting upon blank books, thereby facilitating the making of official records and producing records that are more legible and compact than it is possible to obtain by handwriting" (lines 11-18).
Date: June 14, 1892
Creator: Borden, William J. & Johnson, Jahu W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Turping Implement. (open access)

Turping Implement.

Patent for a new and improved turfing implement. This design "is to produce a . . . handle . . . together with improved means for threading the needle (lines 10-12). It consists "with a tubular needle having a longitudinal slit, the outer end of the needle being open and its upper side being formed into a tongue near its inner end, which is bent upwardly and whose extremity projects into the needle, of a handle into which the needle is passed and a presser-foot adjustably connected at its inner end to the handle and having its outer end turned up and provided with an opening" (lines 85-93).
Date: June 21, 1892
Creator: Robinson, Laurence Benjamin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Step. (open access)

Vehicle Step.

Patent for a foldaway step that can be mounted on the side of a vehicle.
Date: June 28, 1892
Creator: Walton, Sam H. & Smith, James H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ironing Board. (open access)

Ironing Board.

Patent for a new and improved ironing-board. This design "is to provide a simple and inexpensive ironing-table adapted to be readily attached to the edge of a table or to a cleat on the wall and capable of being adjusted vertically to accommodate itself to the height of the table or other support" (lines 10-15). It consists in "[a]n ironing-table comprising an ironing-board provided at its rear end with parallel slots . . . the ribs secured to the lower face of the ironing-board and forming grooves or ways, a prop or leg composed of parallel bars adapted to fold in said grooves or ways" (lines 68-73).
Date: August 2, 1892
Creator: Chapin, Frederick N.
System: The Portal to Texas History