Resource Type

Language

Artist's Easel and Attachable Rest. (open access)

Artist's Easel and Attachable Rest.

Patent for a new and improved easel and rest. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the rest . . . of the bar pivoted to [a] holder by bolt, the perforated bar pivoted to [another] bar by [another] bolt, and the easel united to the [first] bar by a suitable round bolt" (lines 97-101).
Date: January 22, 1889
Creator: Johnson, John Alexander
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design calls for a tank of water to be buried in the ground and a collar of cheap material to be attached to the tank and placed over the mouth of an anthill. The concave nature of the collar prevents ants from climbing out of it, so they are forced into the water tank, where they drown; the design is cheaper and less toxic than previous designs.
Date: November 22, 1881
Creator: Arnett, Sandridge Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Treating Timber, Railway Ties, &c. (open access)

Apparatus for Treating Timber, Railway Ties, &c.

Patent for a new and improved apparatus for treating and preserving. This design "insure[s] the complete and perfect treatment or impregnation of timber of varying hardness and density, and to provide a portable organization of apparatus by which timber at various points or stations along the line of a railroad can be treated with great facility, efficiency, and economy" (lines 12-19).
Date: November 22, 1881
Creator: Kreuter, Hugh E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Killing Rodents (open access)

Apparatus for Killing Rodents

Patent for an apparatus for killing rodents "that may be used effectively for the destruction of all animals that burrow in the ground; and it consists in a furnace for the generation of sulphurous odors or other suffocating gases and a pump for forcing the gases into the burrows of the animals . . . ."
Date: August 22, 1882
Creator: Palmer, Austin D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Revolving Harrow and Cultivator (open access)

Combined Revolving Harrow and Cultivator

Patent for a Combined Revolving Harrow and Cultivator that is used to cultivate cotton, corn and nature like plants.
Date: May 22, 1888
Creator: Evans,Lucius Sandiford
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clock Striking Mechanism. (open access)

Clock Striking Mechanism.

Patent for a new and improved clock-chimes. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the chime of bells in the clock case, of the wheel having the lateral pins, the rock-shaft, a lever extending from the rock-shaft and engaging the said pins, and the hammer arms respectively connected with the rock-shaft by the short arm" (lines 21-26).
Date: September 22, 1885
Creator: Witherspoon, Frank.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design consists in "[a]n ant-trap, comprising the body and the inward-projecting tubes having the protecting-caps on their inner ends, the outer faces of the caps being convex and provided with apertures of greater diameter than the bore of the inner end of the tube" (lines 90-95).
Date: February 22, 1887
Creator: McCallum, Walter Randolph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Saw Buck and Drag Saw. (open access)

Combined Saw Buck and Drag Saw.

Patent for a new and improved saw-buck and drag-saw. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the saw-buck having cross-piece, the swinging arm pivoted to and laterally movable on said cross-piece, the upper-end of said arm being provided with a slot, the saw, the saw-carriers . . . having spindles, the forward-carrier being provided with a tenon, and the saw-frame pivotally mounted on the spindles of the saw-carriers" (lines 74-82).
Date: March 22, 1887
Creator: Nitsche, John Emil & Kowalewsky, August
System: The Portal to Texas History
Anti Friction Journal. (open access)

Anti Friction Journal.

Patent for a new and improved anti-friction journal. This design "relates to anti-friction devices adapted especially for hoisting pulleys; and it has for its object to provide a device in which the shaft or axis of the main hoisting-pulley shall be supported or mounted upon the peripheries of wheels of a considerable diameter as compared with that of the hoisting-pulley, whereby the friction may be lessened to the greatest possible extent" (lines 24-32).
Date: July 22, 1884
Creator: Taylor, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spinning-Wheel (open access)

Spinning-Wheel

Patent for "an improvement in domestic spinning wheels; and it consists in the combination of parts whereby the spindle or whirl is supported from above so as to hang down within the operator's reach, and is made to constantly revolve at the same time that the whirl is moved from and toward the operator" (lines 12-19) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 22, 1880
Creator: Church, Joshua G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Plow (open access)

Rotary Plow

Patent for "rotary plows for plowing land, preparing the land to receive the seed and cultivating the plants, which shall be convenient in use, effective in operation, and not liable to get out of order" (lines 19-23) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 22, 1880
Creator: Tally, Thomas Jackson.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Game-Board (open access)

Game-Board

Patent for "a game-board having a trough at its head and squared apertures near said head, and numbered cubical blocks adapted to be revolved in said apertures" (lines 18-21) and "has relation to games to be played on bowling-alleys or boards with balls" (lines 16-17) including illustrations.
Date: June 22, 1880
Creator: Thompson, James Whiteford.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Shears. (open access)

Animal Shears.

Patent for new and improved animal shears. This design calls for a spring with eyes at the ends so that the handles of individual blades may be inserted through them. Then, nuts fasten the individual blades to the spring, which makes sharpening easier and breakage less likely.
Date: February 22, 1881
Creator: Benavides, Cristobal & Arthur, Joshua P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Stretcher. (open access)

Wire Stretcher.

Patent for a new and improved wire-stretcher. This design "has for its object to provide a device of simple, durable, and economical construction and capable of carrying the roll taut a sufficient distance beyond the post to conveniently nail the wire thereto, and whereby any amount of slack can be taken up by repeated operation. The further object of the invention is to provide a machine which will also be able to draw together the broken ends of a wire and take up the slack between the posts" (lines 8-18).
Date: October 22, 1889
Creator: Hickman, Thomas P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle-Spring (open access)

Vehicle-Spring

Patent for the "improved construction of elliptical steel springs" (lines 7-8) in "carriage and car springs" (line 5) including instructions and illustration.
Date: June 22, 1880
Creator: Custer, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lap Ring. (open access)

Lap Ring.

Patent for a new and improved carabiner ("lap ring"). This design calls for the hinged bar to interlock more with the body of the ring. This design prevents the stretching of the ring when bearing a heavy load, representing an improvement over previous designs.
Date: February 22, 1881
Creator: Morris, John P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench. (open access)

Wrench.

Patent for a new and improved wrench. This design "consists in the combination of the main bar, which is provided with a head having a suitable recess to catch over nuts, with a sliding head, which has two surfaces to act in connection with opposite ends of the head, but out of line with each other, and a spring-actuated catch, which catches in suitable ratchets made in the main bar, so as to hold the sliding head in position" (lines
Date: May 22, 1883
Creator: Hamrick, Jerome Miller.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Splicer and Stretcher. (open access)

Wire Splicer and Stretcher.

Patent for a new and improved wire splicer and stretcher. This design "consist[s] of a suitable body . . . provided with a series of perforations and having its ends turned in opposite directions, one end being tapered to an edge and notched and the other end being pointed" (lines 24-28).
Date: February 22, 1887
Creator: Lea, John Houston
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Stretcher. (open access)

Wire Stretcher.

Patent for a new and improved wire stretcher. This design consists in "a frame having two arms, one carrying a fixed clamp and the other a roller, a windlass mounted on said frame having a rope passing over said roller and adapted to be fixed to an end of wire, and a central clamp consisting of a rigid bar on the frame between its arms, a notched clamp pivoted thereon, and a ring for retaining the clamp" (lines 6-14).
Date: February 22, 1887
Creator: Ainsworth, Phineas Hardaman
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Tightener (open access)

Wire-Tightener

Patent for invented certain new and useful improvement in Wire-Tightener invention relates to an improvement in and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices, that will be more fully set here in after and particularly pointed out in the claim.
Date: January 22, 1889
Creator: Bulter, Constant, B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ventilating and Adjustable Rain Proof. (open access)

Ventilating and Adjustable Rain Proof.

Patent for a new and improved rain-proof cap for chimneys. This design "is to provide a . . . rain-proof or chimney tube for receiving that part of a stove-pipe that projects above the roof, which rain-proof is so constructed that pipes can be held in the same at different inclinations. The invention consists in a rain-proof formed of a conical tube held on the roof, in the upper end of which conical tube the upper end of the stove-pipe is held. A hood is held on the upper end of the stove-pipe" (lines 8-18).
Date: July 22, 1884
Creator: Atkin, Samuel T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wash Board. (open access)

Wash Board.

Patent for a new and improved washboard. This design consists in "a suitable base-frame, a series of alternately right and left handed spirally-grooved rollers journaled therein, an inclined forked frame straddling and pivoted to the base-frame, a lever for securing the adjustment of said forked frame on its axis, a rubber, and rocking spring-arms journaled in said forked frame and connecting the same and the rubber" (lines 92-100).
Date: March 22, 1887
Creator: Stone, Charles M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Telegraph-Sounder (open access)

Mechanical Telegraph-Sounder

Patent for "a sounder wherein a finger-lever and sounding-lever are combined together with a spring" (lines 13-15) and is "adapted for the use of learners for practicing the manipulation of a telegraph finger-key" (lines 8-10) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 22, 1880
Creator: Clopton, John B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hub Attaching Device. (open access)

Hub Attaching Device.

Patent for a new and improved arrangement of axles and boxes for vehicles. This design calls for a solid axle formed with a shoulder and screw-threads, an axle-box closed at its outer and provided at the other end with an annular wall, a collar formed with internal screw-threads, annular flange, bearing surface, wrench-gripe surfaces, and a cap or ring (lines 16-22).
Date: November 22, 1881
Creator: Warth, August
System: The Portal to Texas History