Well Digging Machine. (open access)

Well Digging Machine.

Patent for a new and improved well-digging machine. This design "consists in connecting to the bottom of [a] shaft a gang of plows, which effectually break and cut up the earth, and combing therewith a fixed and inclined shear-blade and detachable earth-receiver, the said shear-blade being located in the rear of the plows, for raising the earth from the motion of the plow, and delivering it automatically into the detachable earth-receiver, which is raised to the surface with its load by means of ropes and pulleys" (lines 27-37).
Date: February 6, 1883
Creator: Chambers, Job C. & Chambers, Silas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Motor (open access)

Motor

Patent for a new and improved motor. This design's "object is to provide a motor possessing superior advantages in point of simplicity, inexpensiveness, easy operation, and general efficiency" (lines 11-14).
Date: November 6, 1883
Creator: Watkins, Samuel H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Glove Holder. (open access)

Glove Holder.

Patent for a new and improved glove holder. This design "is to provide a new and improved device for holding gloves, bills, papers, and other articles in such a manner that any one of the articles can be withdrawn from the holder without disturbing the rest" (lines 7-12).
Date: March 6, 1883
Creator: Franklin, Eduard, A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay and Cotton Press. (open access)

Hay and Cotton Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling press. This design is for "[a]n improved device for retaining a compressed bale in its condensed state after the follower is withdrawn, which consists of pawls pivoted in holes in the sides of the press-box and projecting toward the rear end of the press-box . . . [and] [t]he combination, with the follower rack-bar, the pinions, the shafts, having suitable pulleys, adapted to be connected by belts, of two clutches, and a centrally-pivoted lever having [a] handle, whereby the power may be reversed without changing the direction of the drive-shaft" (lines 71-83).
Date: March 6, 1883
Creator: Hampton, John Andrew
System: The Portal to Texas History
Screw-cutting Die. (open access)

Screw-cutting Die.

Patent for a screw-cutting die, including illustrations. The invention includes "a die-plate of special construction, adapted to cut either right or left hand threads" (lines 12-13).
Date: February 6, 1883
Creator: Müller, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Separator for Pecan and Other Nuts. (open access)

Separator for Pecan and Other Nuts.

Patent for a new and improved nut cracker. This design is "provided with an inclined bed of parallel positively-driven rollers . . . and arranged at a suitable distance apart to allow of the leaves and other refuse falling through between them, but conducting the cleansed or separated nuts over them for delivery over a back board, or otherwise, away from the leaves and refuse, and where they may be put into sacks . . . a hopper arranged over the upper or highest portion of the inclined bed of separated rollers provides for the steady supply or feed of the nuts" (lines 12-25).
Date: February 6, 1883
Creator: Dolman, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ore Concentrator. (open access)

Ore Concentrator.

Patent for a new and improved ore concentrator. This design has for its object "to facilitate the removal of the lighter and worthless parts of the ore from the heavier and valuable parts" (lines 17-19).
Date: November 6, 1883
Creator: Mabry, Hinch P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Planter. (open access)

Cotton Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the rear of beam, the notched cleat, the handle cross-bar, and the hooks, whereby the hopper may be conveniently attached and detached . . . [and] [t]he pivoted gates, having extensions with a series of holes, with the hopper-bottom plate having holes besides the regular seed-outlet, and the pins" (lines 64-72).
Date: November 6, 1883
Creator: Lindsey, William M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sash Holder. (open access)

Sash Holder.

Patent for a new and improved sash holder. This design "relates to that class of sash-holders in which the sash is held at any desired height, and locked when held down by means of a latch pivoted to angular upright wings which are integral with side plates securing the elastic cam, and adapted to impinge and bind upon the window-frame; and the novelty consists, in connection with the elastic cam, of the metallic plates arranged one upon each side of the said cam, and secured thereto by means of a pivotal device" (lines 17-27).
Date: February 6, 1883
Creator: Nix, Manning L. & McClelland, Stephen
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ribbon Holder. (open access)

Ribbon Holder.

Patent for a new and improved ribbon holder. This design consists in "[a] rotary ribbon-holder case made in sections having slots and arc-latches, and the removable rotary-spindles, having squared portions to engage the spools and projecting heads, formed with necks to engage the arc-latches and key-sets" (lines 70-75).
Date: November 6, 1883
Creator: Lane, Isaac Theophilus
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a sulky having a loop secured to its axle, of a pair of hoes secured to a pair of pivoted bars, which are adapted to slide up and down in the loop, and a spring arranged between the bars to hold the hoes in a closed position . . . [and] provided with foot-rests for the driver, whereby the hoes may be forced into the ground" (lines 55-67).
Date: February 6, 1883
Creator: Craig, William Sinclair
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Chopper. (open access)

Cotton-Chopper.

Patent for a mechanism that aims "to promote convenience in adjusting and regulating cotton choppers" (line 44-46), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 6, 1883
Creator: Mowrey, Ephraim L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Clothes Washer and Churn. (open access)

Combined Clothes Washer and Churn.

Patent for a new and improved combined clothes washer and churn. This design "is to facilitate the operations of washing clothes and churning, and also to avoid the necessity of having a separate mechanism for each use. The invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts" (lines 16-21).
Date: March 6, 1883
Creator: Bridges, Mary Jane
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bag Holder and Filler. (open access)

Bag Holder and Filler.

Patent for a new and improved bag holder and filler. This design "consists of an expansible bag holding and filling funnel composed of a metallic strip having overlapping edges and provided with attached spring-wires, such funnel being capable of contraction to enter a bag, and of expanding therein for the purpose of holding and filling the bag" (lines 13-19).
Date: February 6, 1883
Creator: Adkisson, Duncan Rudolph
System: The Portal to Texas History