Bank-Punch (open access)

Bank-Punch

Patent for "a punch for the use of banks, counting-houses, &c., which will cut figures and characters out of the material of la check or other paper, and which will cut in the said paper before and after the figures representing the value of the check a star or other character to prevent the raising of the check by the addition of other figures" (lines 21-28).
Date: March 18, 1890
Creator: Lane, Alvin V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Jack Wrench for Oiling Vehicle Wheels. (open access)

Jack Wrench for Oiling Vehicle Wheels.

Patent for a new and improved jack-wrench. This design consists "of the flat bar which has its inner end bent into a hook, so as to catch over the top of the axle, and which has secured to its outer end a rod, upon which the wheel is to be moved, and a handle which has a wrench formed in its outer end, with a slide which is adjustable . . . a screw-rod which passes through the slide and has its upper end bent so as to catch underneath the axle, and a thumbscrew . . . The object of [the] invention is to provide a combined wrench and jack" (lines 15-29).
Date: March 4, 1890
Creator: Henshaw, Fred M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk-Cutters. (open access)

Stalk-Cutters.

Patent for a stalk-cutter that has simple and inexpensive frame with cutting attachments. The attachments are independently adjustable or adjustable as one unit, and can be adjusted and operated from the operator's seat.
Date: March 13, 1894
Creator: Nehrmeyer, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mine-Door. (open access)

Mine-Door.

Patent for an mine door that has an improved locking mechanism. A rope is strung through pulleys, and is operated by pushing a lever that moves the rope and the door swings open.
Date: March 6, 1894
Creator: Warren, Governor D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Speed-Gearing. (open access)

Speed-Gearing.

Patent for improvements in “gearing mechanism in which the speed or rotation of a drum or wheel is greatly increased through the intervention of gearing-wheels mounted upon a single shaft.” (Lines 11-14) Illustration is included.
Date: March 1, 1898
Creator: Scofield, John R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Motor for Street-Cars. (open access)

Motor for Street-Cars.

Patent for an improved motor design for street-cars in which each car has its own motor. The motor is steam powered.
Date: March 12, 1895
Creator: Slaughter, Joel C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Planter and Cultivator. (open access)

Planter and Cultivator.

Patent for a planter and cultivator that plants three, five, seven, or more rows at the same time. The planters are interchangeably connected, and can be used for planting, cultivating, cutting, and other similar activities. It is not difficult for one person to operate.
Date: March 13, 1894
Creator: Nehrmeyer, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Cotton or Corn Planter. (open access)

Automatic Cotton or Corn Planter.

Patent for an automatic cotton or corn planter that is simple and inexpensive, and is a line of planters that sows in parallel rows that does not need to be guided by hand. The devices are independently adjustable.
Date: March 13, 1894
Creator: Nehrmeyer, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Whiffletree-Hook. (open access)

Whiffletree-Hook.

Patent for whiffletree-hook that provides "a novel device of this character in which it is impossible for the trace ring or link to become accidentally detached, but which may be readily removed or disengaged from the hook when desired" (lines 15-20). The invention has a flattened circular plate.
Date: March 26, 1895
Creator: Flatau, Louis S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Straddle-Row Cultivator. (open access)

Straddle-Row Cultivator.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in straddle row cultivators.
Date: March 8, 1898
Creator: Schofield, James Drummond
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary-Disk Plow. (open access)

Rotary-Disk Plow.

Patent for a light rotary-disk plow that is as strong as other plows, and has multiple concave plow disks that are arranged diagonally to the line of draft. The disks are adjustable and avoid excess friction. The plow's motion drives it into the ground.
Date: March 24, 1896
Creator: Hardy, Clement A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dish-Cleaner. (open access)

Dish-Cleaner.

Patent for a dish-cleaner that improves on previous patents for washing machines granted to the inventor (No. 377,765 and No. 427,601). The dish cleaner is especially adapted for use on plates, cups, dishes, and similar things, without an operator working to clean dishes.
Date: March 6, 1894
Creator: McCausland, William I.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Conveying and Cleaning Apparatus. (open access)

Cotton Conveying and Cleaning Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved conveyer and cleaner of cotton. This design consists, "with the cotton pneumatic tube and the fan for producing an air-current therein, of the branch-tubes connecting the segments of the tube first named, the cotton-arresting screens, the enlarged mouth upon the tube-segment opposite the fan, the rotating cylinder mounted between said branches, the wings thereon completely filling, with the cylinder, the upper portion of the mouth and sweeping over the faces of the screens, the flexible valve, and the spring-actuated gate closing that part of the mouth" (lines 14-25).
Date: March 11, 1890
Creator: Elam, William E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Gin Brush. (open access)

Cotton-Gin Brush.

Patent for a gin brush that operates at high speeds with a large diameter. "Centrifugal force exerts a great strain tending to dismember it, and further, if it be not at all times accurately balanced there is a tendency to spring the shaft and cause rattling in the bearings which results in rapid wear and failure to work well" (lines 13-19).
Date: March 21, 1893
Creator: Elam, William E. & Thomas, Robert S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gas-Generating Machine. (open access)

Gas-Generating Machine.

Patent for "...an improved method of and means for generating hydrocarbon vapors for heating and lighting purposes; and it consists in the novel manner in which the process is carried out and in the novel construction and combination of parts comprising the generating apparatus..." (lines 18-24) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 9, 1897
Creator: Mitchell, Francis L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Garbage-Furnace. (open access)

Garbage-Furnace.

Patent for an improved garbage-furnace which consist of a chamber having a grate for the reception of the garbage, a fire-box at each end, and a sand-box between the fire-boxes below the grate, grate-bars are arranged over the fire-boxes and extending from the bridge-wall, when the fire-boxes are ignited, garbage is introduced through the feed holes, the smoke, gases, fumes & etc. from the burning fuel and the garbage passed through a channel leading to the chimney. Illustration is included.
Date: March 10, 1891
Creator: Brownlee, Alexander
System: The Portal to Texas History
Desk or Cabinet. (open access)

Desk or Cabinet.

Patent for a simple and economical desk that is designed to be completely sealed and protected when it is closed. When the cabinet is opened, "the machine may be operated with as much ease as though the machine were placed upon an ordinary table, and whereby further, when the cabinet is opened, an extensive table will be provided at each side of the machine for the reception of work which is to be performed or which has been executed, or for any purpose that the operator may desire" (lines 20-28).
Date: March 28, 1893
Creator: Billington, Theophilus
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Appliance for Horses. (open access)

Electric Appliance for Horses.

Patent for an electric appliance for stallions meant to stop the horse from masturbating. It is a box underneath the horse that is secured around the horse. When the horse gets an erection, the penis will touch the lower plate of the box and cause the circuit to close and shocks the animal.
Date: March 20, 1894
Creator: King, George R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Black-Land Plow. (open access)

Black-Land Plow.

Patent for a plow that operates in mud or sticky dirt without becoming clogged and has an improved share and mold board.
Date: March 28, 1893
Creator: Vestal, William B.
System: The Portal to Texas History