Language

Stalk Cutter. (open access)

Stalk Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter. This design "consists in certain improvements in the construction of [devices for cutting corn and cotton stalks] . . . [and] [t]he object of the invention is to simplify and cheapen the construction and arrangement of means for adjusting the pitch of the sides without affecting the usefulness or efficiency of the device; and to that end such means consist, essentially, in a single-rack bar, an operating-lever, and two links connecting said lever with the side bars" (lines 15-28).
Date: October 25, 1881
Creator: Horn, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk and Weed Cutter. (open access)

Stalk and Weed Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter for plows. This design "consist[s] of the beam having rearwardly, downwardly, and forwardly curved standard, the arrow-point, having the stem or shank formed entire or open at its bottom, rear side, and top to receive the said standard, and the diamond-shaped cutter consisting of two wings inclined upwardly from their front to rear edges, and curved inwardly at their outer ends from their cutting-edges to their back edges" (lines 72-82).
Date: January 5, 1886
Creator: Faires, Joseph J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Store-Awning. (open access)

Store-Awning.

Patent for a new awning design for shops that is easily raised and lowered, including illustrations.
Date: August 30, 1887
Creator: Persohn, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk-Cutter. (open access)

Stalk-Cutter.

Patent for an improved and practical stalk cutter that cuts corn or cotton stalks at their roots "while the machine is drawn along a row of the standing stalks, and simultaneously reduce[s] the latter to small pieces which can be plowed under the soil and serve as a fertilizer, the complete reduction of the stalks to fine fragments adapting them for quick decomposition and prevent them from becoming and obstruction to a plow or harrow used to till the soil" (lines 12-20).
Date: December 12, 1893
Creator: Herring, James H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Huller-Cotton-Gin Attachment (open access)

Huller-Cotton-Gin Attachment

Patent for closure for the base of the huller chamber on a cotton gin.
Date: January 21, 1915
Creator: Taylor, James E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Printer's Galley. (open access)

Printer's Galley.

Patent for a new and improved printer's galley. This design consists of a novel arrangement of the galley parts that "dispenses with the time, labor, and expense incurred in manipulating quoins and side-sticks, mallet, shooting-stick, &c." (lines 60-62).
Date: March 7, 1882
Creator: Rudolph, Elijah K. & Wolfe, Joseph A. L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Bale-ties. (open access)

Improvement in Bale-ties.

Patent for "an improvement on the patented bale-tie" (lines 15-16) which includes lugs to "lock" the tie (line 22) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 29, 1876
Creator: Horton, Jesse R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk Cutter. (open access)

Stalk Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter. This design has "the combination of the A-shaped frame, consisting of side pieces hinged together at their forward ends, and provided with lateral projecting knives or cutters and horizontal slots, in which work set-screws for adjusting the cross-braces, tongue or pole, hinged at its rear-end to a bracket, vertically adjustable on the front side of [the] cross-brace, and the seat-bar hinged or otherwise secured to the underside of [the] cross-brace" (lines 76-85).
Date: April 26, 1881
Creator: Horn, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Putty Trowel (open access)

Putty Trowel

Patent for a putty trowel. Illustration included.
Date: August 16, 1910
Creator: Wright, Sam F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Putty-Trowel. (open access)

Putty-Trowel.

Patent for a putty trowel for use in installing windows.
Date: March 5, 1912
Creator: Wright, Sam F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a plow, of the landside share attachment, provided with the horizontal blade, sloping outward from the point of the plow, made sharp on the said sloping-edge, and having the flange projecting upward from the horizontal blade, and the bolts for securing the said flange and plow together, and the removable landside attachment" (lines 81-89).
Date: September 1, 1885
Creator: Cummins, John Randolph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Towel-Holder (open access)

Towel-Holder

Patent for improvement of towel holders. "Constructed to provide a fresh, clean portion of toweling for each successive user." (lines 12-14)
Date: February 12, 1918
Creator: Hudson, Richard E. & Bickley, William P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Universal Vise and Carpenter's Tool. (open access)

Universal Vise and Carpenter's Tool.

Patent for a universal vise and carpenters tool designed for the use of clamping and holding a door or window frame open.
Date: December 17, 1918
Creator: Minnis, Henry M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Umbrella-Stand. (open access)

Umbrella-Stand.

Patent for an umbrella-stand. It is meant to display umbrellas, parasols, walking-canes, etc. The frame is made from tubing secured by wire, a channeled plate along the sides of the frame, and the base is adapted to support umbrella tips.
Date: November 26, 1895
Creator: Perry, Thomas C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine (open access)

Washing-Machine

Patent for "a new and improved washing-machine arranged for use on any kind of tub and adapted to insure a perfect uniform washing of all the clothes in the tub by the use of yieldingly-mounted pounders, which intermittently change their position relatively to the clothes under treatment" (lines 9-16).
Date: May 28, 1901
Creator: Staggs, Henry F. & Staggs, Robert H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Swimming Device (open access)

Swimming Device

Patent for a device to be attached to a person's feet and/or hands so that the person can swim faster and further as well as dive deeper.
Date: May 30, 1911
Creator: Wells, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate Latch (open access)

Gate Latch

Patent for a new and useful improvements in gate latches.
Date: December 7, 1897
Creator: Turley, John Breckinridge
System: The Portal to Texas History
Storm-Cellar (open access)

Storm-Cellar

Patent for a storm cellar. Illustrations included.
Date: February 21, 1911
Creator: Leddy, Herbert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Smoke Stack Protector (open access)

Smoke Stack Protector

Patent for adjustable smoke stack protector that stays open when in use and covers the opening when not in order to protect from rain, wind, dirt to protect the stack from deteriorating.
Date: March 17, 1914
Creator: French, Elmer C. & Craig, Thomas E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hand-Car. (open access)

Hand-Car.

Patent for "a hand-car with an auxiliary spring-actuated mechanism which can be used with or without the lever mechanism to propel at a rapid rate of speed." (Lines 12-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 15, 1897
Creator: Rousey, William N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay-Press. (open access)

Hay-Press.

Patent for "a novel form of baling-press which will be readily transportable and owing to its peculiar construction can be manipulated by hand, a still further object being to provide such an improved baling-press that the wire ties can be wrapped around the bale after its formation easily and quickly and the bale can be readily removed from the press after it has been wired." (Lines 16-24) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 27, 1897
Creator: Hawk, Nathaniel H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Car Door (open access)

Grain-Car Door

Patent for a grain-car door.
Date: May 19, 1903
Creator: Church, Josiah W. & O'Gorman, M. J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horse Collar (open access)

Horse Collar

Patent for a horse collar. Illustration included.
Date: August 15, 1905
Creator: Cooper, Joseph P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Door For Freight-Cars. (open access)

Grain-Door For Freight-Cars.

Patent for a new and improved grain door for freight cars, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 19, 1899
Creator: Morten, Edward W.
System: The Portal to Texas History