Combined Touch-Regulating and Mute Attachment for Pianos (open access)

Combined Touch-Regulating and Mute Attachment for Pianos

Patent for combined touch regulating and mute attachment for pianos.
Date: December 16, 1902
Creator: Harriss, Langdon & Kendall, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Removing Cores from Cylindrical Cotton-Bales. (open access)

Apparatus for Removing Cores from Cylindrical Cotton-Bales.

Patent for a "means for removing screw-threaded cores from cylindrical cotton-bales" (lines 12-14). It is made up of a wheeled-truck that is holding the bale, an apparatus that grips the end of the core, a way to revolve the grip, a driven shaft, and a universal joint that connects the shaft with the end of the core.
Date: December 31, 1895
Creator: White, Charles W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton-Condensers. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Condensers.

Patent to improve the compressing-roller design in a cotton gin, to keep the mechanisms from clogging. This is an addition to a previous patent by the same inventor that improved methods of cleaning the cotton. It includes an explanation with references, and illustrations.
Date: December 10, 1878
Creator: Donovan, John T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water-Gage. (open access)

Water-Gage.

Patent for a water-gage measuring the height or volume of water in a steam boiler, particularly those "held closed by the weight of the operating handle" (lines 11-12). The device is designed for simple manufacture and easy assembly & disassembly without tools, and features a valve seat that stays in place, illustrations included.
Date: December 30, 1919
Creator: Leidecker, Helmoth M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Sharpening Gin Saws (open access)

Machine for Sharpening Gin Saws

Patent for a new and useful improvements in machines for sharpening gin-saws. This invention is to "provide an improved machine of the character described wherein the saws may be sharpened without removing them" (line 10-12).
Date: December 14, 1897
Creator: Bradley, James M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wave-Motor. (open access)

Wave-Motor.

Patent for a simple and effective apparatus that utilizes wave power. It consists of a frame with a casing on the top that extends from the normal trough to crest lines of waves, a float, a pump with the center below the float, a discharge pipe connected to the pump, anchors and braces for the pump, a joint that connects the pump with a pile, guide rolls, and inlets and outlets on opposite sides of the pump.
Date: December 12, 1893
Creator: Walker, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Irrigating Machine (open access)

Irrigating Machine

Patent for an irrigating machine. Illustration included.
Date: December 20, 1904
Creator: Smith, Warren W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Ice-Machines. (open access)

Improvement in Ice-Machines.

Patent for improvements to the construction of "of the various parts of the [ice machine], whereby the reconversion of the ether into liquid before it reaches the freezing-vessel or chamber is better assured" (para. 3).
Date: December 12, 1871
Creator: Mühl, Andrew
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Combined Planter and Cultivator. (open access)

Improvement in Combined Planter and Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved planter and cultivator with illustrations. The invention furnishes a combined planter and cultivator constructed in such a way that "the seed dropping appliances can be readily detached and the machine adjusted for use as a cultivator." (lines 18-20)
Date: December 16, 1879
Creator: Tanner, James Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hydraulic Milk Cooler (open access)

Hydraulic Milk Cooler

Patent for a hydraulic milk cooler. This invention is shrouded in coolant agent absorbing material that is hydraulically applied to keep dairy products cool. Illustrations included.
Date: December 8, 1903
Creator: Womble, Zachariah C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Table. (open access)

Table.

Patent for improvements on table supports that enable the table to be adjusted to a raised position.
Date: December 7, 1915
Creator: Carrell, Fitchhulee & Moreau, William W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Egg Testing Globe (open access)

Egg Testing Globe

Patent for egg tester, where you can place an egg into the globe and see if it is fertilized.
Date: December 5, 1916
Creator: Woolfolk, Paul E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Means for Ventilating Grain, &c. (open access)

Means for Ventilating Grain, &c.

Patent for a new and improved ventilator for grain, etc. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the tubes, of the protecting end caps, consisting of a base-plate, by which it may be secured to the structure, and provided with a central opening, in which the ends of the tubes are adjusted, and a semi-cone . . . [also] [t]he combination, with the structure provided, with transverse ventilating-tubes projecting on the outside of the structure, of the . . . protecting caps" (lines 88-97).
Date: December 12, 1882
Creator: Street, John Kennedy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Marine Torpedo Service. (open access)

Marine Torpedo Service.

Patent for a new and improved torpedo system. This design is "to so place and connect the torpedoes that they may be drawn out of the way of friendly vessels, so that they will automatically resume positions that will interfere with the passage of [unfriendly] vessels . . . [and] the invention consists of a series or system of torpedoes that are connected to guide-lines that pass under anchored sheaves and lead to a point where the lines are all connected to a single manipulating-line . . . which common manipulating-line leads to the shore or to a position from which it can be operated from the shore" (lines 11-25).
Date: December 7, 1886
Creator: Aylesworth, Charles Samuel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Marker (open access)

Marker

Patent for a marker. This invention is for marking lines for planters, plows, and other farm implements. Illustration included.
Date: December 1, 1903
Creator: Kocks, John Barney
System: The Portal to Texas History
Touch Regulating Attachment For Pianos (open access)

Touch Regulating Attachment For Pianos

Patent for a touch regulating attachment for pianos. This invention contributes to the elasticity and responsiveness of the pianos action. Illustration included.
Date: December 18, 1906
Creator: Harriss, Langdon
System: The Portal to Texas History
Switch and Signal System (open access)

Switch and Signal System

Patent for a switch and signal system to be used for railroad signaling and to prevent trains on different tracks from colliding. (lines 12-22)
Date: December 12, 1905
Creator: Adams, Edwin J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil Distributer for Harbors, &c. (open access)

Oil Distributer for Harbors, &c.

Patent for a new and improved oil-distributor. This design consists "in a device for distributing oil upon the waves in the vicinity of piers and harbors, the combination, with the main tank upon the shore, of a main pipe extending from it into the water, auxiliary tanks along the main line, and perforated auxiliary lines connected with the auxiliary tanks" (lines 23-30).
Date: December 4, 1888
Creator: Lyle, John Newton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gin Saw Cleaner (open access)

Gin Saw Cleaner

Patent for gin saw cleaner. This invention operates on the cotton bulbs when they are damp and cling to the saw blade. Illustrations included.
Date: December 18, 1906
Creator: Henderson, Robert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Thermostat. (open access)

Thermostat.

Patent for an improved and automatic thermostat tool to regulate temperature including instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 28, 1915
Creator: Royall, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hame and Trace Connector (open access)

Hame and Trace Connector

Patent for a Hame and trace connector. Illustration included.
Date: December 22, 1903
Creator: Goodman, Forest Edward
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire-Grate. (open access)

Fire-Grate.

Patent for a simple and efficient fire-grate that is meant "to be set in a wall between two rooms and capable of being reversed to enable either room to be directly heated by a fire" (lines 11-13).
Date: December 17, 1895
Creator: Birkhead, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Signal System for Electric Cars (open access)

Electric Signal System for Electric Cars

Patent for signal systems for electric railways where wires arranged in connection with the signal lamps at the ends of the blocks and on the cars will be lit to signal caution. There will also be a signal within the car if another moving car in the opposite direction enters the same block.
Date: December 26, 1905
Creator: Adams, Edwin J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Feed Water Regulator. (open access)

Feed Water Regulator.

Patent for a new and improved feed-water regulator. This design "consists in the combination, with the heater, of a supply-pipe having a valve-chamber, a valve opening and closing said pipe, and having a stem which is packed through the wall of the heater, a bell-crank lever fulcrumed upon a stud projecting from the inner wall of the heater, and actuated by a float connected with one arm, the other arm being connected to the valve-stem, whereby the supply-pipe is opened and closed by the fall and rise of the water-level in the heater" (lines 16-27).
Date: December 11, 1883
Creator: Osborn, Adelbert E.
System: The Portal to Texas History