Language

Composition For Roofing And Paving. (open access)

Composition For Roofing And Paving.

Patent for a process "to produce a compound which is strong, tenacious, and pliable, which will not be affected by climatic changes, and which will resist the corrosive action of acids and alkalies; and to this end my invention consists in a compound composed of asphaltum, pine-tar, and oxide of iron, as will more fully hereinafter appear.” (Lines 8-15) Includes instructions.
Date: May 9, 1882
Creator: Lee, Archibald K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Shears. (open access)

Animal Shears.

Patent for new and improved animal shears. This design is "to secure an equal wear of the teeth of the stationary and the revolving cutter-plates . . . whereby the instrument may be run double the usual time before it is necessary to grind the plates, and enabling the tool to be used as a right or a left hand cutter; also, to render the cutters separable without arresting the motion of the rotary blade . . . also, to provide means whereby the rotation of the cutter may be reversed . . . finally, to provide a simple device for throwing the miter-gears into and out of mesh" (lines 15-29).
Date: December 9, 1884
Creator: Carter, Francis W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Planter and Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Planter and Chopper.

Patent for planting and chopping cotton.
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Pitts, Lee Paschal
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design "has for its object the production of a simple, cheap, and effective device whereby the ants are confined to a space within the circle of the trap, speedily captured, and exterminated. It consists in a trap constructed with a circular flanged pit provided with tubes leading therefrom to a central ant-receptacle; also, in the details of construction of the trap" (lines 8-16).
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Barnes, Robert Hanson & Salles, George Camiel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Commode. (open access)

Commode.

Patent for an integrated air-venting commode.
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Bardon, Prosper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Kitchen-Cabinet (open access)

Kitchen-Cabinet

Patent for "a device of this class which shall be simple in construction, inexpensive, and in which provision shall be made for the safe-keeping of all the materials and ingredients used in bread-making and in ordinary cooking as well as for pies, cakes, cold victuals and the like" (lines 9-15).
Date: July 9, 1889
Creator: Skipper, James Marion
System: The Portal to Texas History
Life Raft. (open access)

Life Raft.

Patent for boat state rooms that convert into life rafts.
Date: September 9, 1884
Creator: Adams, John R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Weather Board Gage. (open access)

Weather Board Gage.

Patent for a new and improved gauge for weatherboards. This design utilizes a guiding loop and a hinged part to create a gauge that, "after it has been attached to the house, will support at least two boards in position while they are being nailed on, before it is necessary to the move the gage [sic] into another position, and which gage will be so securely held in place that the boards can be moved back and forth without displacing it in any manner" (lines 27-34).
Date: August 9, 1881
Creator: Lawrence, John Madison
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Elevator. (open access)

Water Elevator.

Patent for a new and improved water-elevator. This design "has for its object to provide for the escape of the air initially held in the upper bends of the screw, so as to relieve the same of the pneumatic pressure caused thereby in connection with the ascending water, thus causing less resistance to the rotation of the screw, enabling it to be operated by decreased motive power" (lines 11-18).
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Campbell, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wheel. (open access)

Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved wheel. This design consists in "inner spokes [that] are inclined outwardly, and the outer spokes [that] are inclined inwardly toward their remote ends, whereby compression of the rim of the wheel is transformed into lateral thrusts on the hub, and the lateral thrusts counterbalance each other" (lines 45-51).
Date: April 9, 1889
Creator: Stroud, Wiley N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Warning Strip for Wire Fences. (open access)

Warning Strip for Wire Fences.

Patent for a new and improved warning strip for wire fences. This design "relates to warning-strips for wire fences designed as a visible signal to indicate the presence of the fence, and thus prevent cattle from running against the same and tearing themselves on the barbs" (lines 9-13).
Date: August 9, 1887
Creator: Cloud, William Johnston
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Movement. (open access)

Mechanical Movement.

Patent for a new and improved mechanical movement. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the vertical post or upright having guideways formed therein, and the horizontally-disposed shaft having the pinion secured thereon, of the slidable block or frame, the rack-bars pivotally secured to the lower end thereof and having oppositely-projecting teeth, and the spring connected to the lower ends of said rack-bars" (lines 68-75).
Date: October 9, 1888
Creator: Kincaid, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam, Air, or Water Engine. (open access)

Steam, Air, or Water Engine.

Patent for simplifying the construction of steam-engines allowing them efficiently use the power of steam" gas, vapor or air in varying positions, vertical, horizontal, or inclined.
Date: May 9, 1882
Creator: Adams, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Projectile. (open access)

Projectile.

Patent for a new and improved projectile. This design consists "[i]n combination with the ellipsoidal projectile having a truncated base, a plano-concave sabot or driver whose plane face is contiguous to the base of the projectile, and whose periphery is grooved for the attachment of the charge-container" (lines 75-80).
Date: September 9, 1884
Creator: Hopson, Lucien
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Motor (open access)

Mechanical Motor

Patent for "a motor of cheap and simple construction, which is adapted for driving various classes of light machinery, and more especially for use in connection with fans, such as are commonly used for creating currents of air in bar-rooms, dining-rooms, and the like" (lines 16-22).
Date: July 9, 1889
Creator: Harpst, Edgar S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spark-Extinguisher. (open access)

Spark-Extinguisher.

Patent for a spark extinguisher "to prevent the burning of buildings and other combustible matter by steam engines" (lines 15-17).
Date: March 9, 1880
Creator: Blewett, George L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spring Connection for Pump Rods. (open access)

Spring Connection for Pump Rods.

Patent for a new and improved spring-connection for pump-rods. This design "is designed more particularly for pumps or windmills, and has for its object to provide for the working of the pump with less power and to utilize the downstroke for the purpose of storing power to aid the piston-rod in its upstroke" (lines 15-20).
Date: October 9, 1888
Creator: Klaus, Wenzel F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Splicing Device. (open access)

Splicing Device.

Patent for a new and improved wire splicer. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the casing, of the wires entering the casing at the opposite sides of the respective ends and bent in opposite directions, so as to interlock within the casing, said casing being bent down . . . at each end" (lines 62-67).
Date: April 9, 1889
Creator: Basel, John Conrad
System: The Portal to Texas History
Press. (open access)

Press.

Patent for a new and improved press. This design "consists in compressing-rollers placed in suitable bearings, so as to coincide with an inlet-channel which receives and guides the fibrous substance to be baled into the baling-box of a press after the compressing-rollers have given it a preparatory pressing" (lines 10-16).
Date: February 9, 1886
Creator: Holmgreen, Julius H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sulky Plow. (open access)

Sulky Plow.

Patent for a new and improved sulky plow. This design "consists in a sulky-plow constructed with the sliding block carrying the adjustable wheel locked in place by a sliding spring-pressed bolt and withdrawn by means of an elbow-lever. The sliding wheel-carrying block is provided with rack-teeth engaging with the teeth of a double-gear wheel placed loosely upon the journal of the plow-crank, and connected with the plow-crank lever by a pawl, whereby the machine can be leveled and the plow adjusted by means of the same lever (lines 20-31).
Date: October 9, 1883
Creator: Henderson, William Chancy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Syringe. (open access)

Syringe.

Patent for a new and improved syringe. This design consists in "[a] syringe provided with a reservoir at the end of the piston-rod outside of the syringe-barrel, said reservoir communicating through the piston-rod with a fibrous piston-head and adapted to contain a suitable liquid, whereby said piston-head is kept continually moistened" (lines 62-68).
Date: April 9, 1889
Creator: Glasscock, James H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hame Fastener. (open access)

Hame Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved hame-fastener. This design "is to provide a fastener . . . which is of simple construction, which can be readily adjusted, and in which all strain is removed from the pivot of the locking-dog, thus obviating any breakage of the pivot, whatever may be the strain" (lines 17-23).
Date: July 9, 1889
Creator: Anderson, Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hame Tug. (open access)

Hame Tug.

Patent for a new and improved hame-tug. This design consists in "the combination, with the bar provided at one end with a buckle, of the shield secured to the inner side of the bar and provided with an outward-extending guard, which extends through the loop of the buckle and is provided with a slot for the reception of the tongue of the buckle" (lines 64-70).
Date: July 9, 1889
Creator: McKenzie, Joseph Hyder
System: The Portal to Texas History
Holder for Shades and Reflectors. (open access)

Holder for Shades and Reflectors.

Patent for a new and improved holder for shades and reflectors. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a lamp-burner and its reflector, of a collar having the female threads, the radial arms, correspondingly threaded at the inner end, and having eyes at the outer end, and the spring-wire or cut ring carrying the reflector on one end" (lines 56-61).
Date: February 9, 1886
Creator: Vestal, Addison F. & Vestal, Charles A.
System: The Portal to Texas History