Electric-Current Controller. (open access)

Electric-Current Controller.

Patent for a new and improved electric current controller for "use in connection with incandescent electric lamps" (line 10 - 11).
Date: April 18, 1899
Creator: Breeding, James Bouldin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Drawer. (open access)

Drawer.

Patent to "provide the drawers of a bureau, a desk, or other piece of furniture with anti-friction devices to prevent their binding." (Lines 11-13) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 15, 1891
Creator: Baldwin, John. H, Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Drawer. (open access)

Drawer.

Patent for "drawers, and the object of the same is to provide an improved attachment, whereby the ends of the drawer must move in unison and thus avoid wedging of the drawer, which often occurs when it is moved inward and outward, and a further object is to provide a tension mechanism for the said-drawer controlling device, whereby when the drawer is unlocked there will be sufficient tension upon the same to force it open, and further when the drawer is pulled outward too far the said tension device will exert an inward pull thereon and thus prevent the unconscious entire withdrawal of the drawer from the bureau-case or other article of furniture or device to which it belongs." (Lines 12-27) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 31, 1895
Creator: Matthews, James T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Duplex Menu. (open access)

Duplex Menu.

Patent for new and useful improvements in duplex menus, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: September 12, 1899
Creator: Billow, Sherman
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dry-Earth Closet (open access)

Dry-Earth Closet

Patent for "a commode which may be placed in a bed-room or other suitable place in a house without .danger to occupants on account of disease which would be superinduced by the presence of impure odors, as would be the case where an ordinary receptacle is used" and where the solid and liquid waste would be separated (lines 26-36).
Date: January 28, 1890
Creator: Carrico, Thomas A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Easel (open access)

Easel

Patent for an easel that has a sliding picture-rest, which is has a "clutch mechanism for holding the sliding rest at any desired elevation" (lines 11-14). It also has a "auxiliary folding rest for holding a model or study while the artist is engaged at work" (lines 20-22), which can be folded up when finished.
Date: January 12, 1897
Creator: Cooper, Harry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dry-Press Brick-Machine. (open access)

Dry-Press Brick-Machine.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in dry press brick machines, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 7, 1899
Creator: Frank, Samuel B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Disk-Hoe and Cotton-Chopper (open access)

Disk-Hoe and Cotton-Chopper

Patent for a self-adjusting machine to uneven ground, that is gentle when cultivating around plants, and can be used as an attachment to a wheeled cultivator.
Date: January 14, 1890
Creator: Hurd, Judson B. & McLane, Hiram H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator and Cotton-Chopper (open access)

Cultivator and Cotton-Chopper

Patent for improvements "to provide flexible revolving knives or hoes, and, second, to afford facilities for supporting the cultivating and chopping device when out of the ground without throwing more weight behind the axle on the main wheels to tip the end of the pole against the horses necks" (lines 13-19).
Date: January 14, 1890
Creator: Hurd, Judson B. & McLane, Hiram H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in baling presses.
Date: May 17, 1898
Creator: Holmgreen, Julius H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gas-Compressing Pump. (open access)

Gas-Compressing Pump.

Patent for a gas-compressing pump used in refrigeration and ice making. "The object of [the] invention is to reduce the height of a vertical machine, to facilitate access to the parts and relieve the foundation of strains; to reduce to a minimum the angularity of the connecting rod during the latter part of the stroke, and to improve various details of construction" (lines 19-25).
Date: December 4, 1894
Creator: Farnsworth, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Single-Seed Planter. (open access)

Single-Seed Planter.

Patent for a single-seed planter using “grasping-jaws pass through the seed box …to gather a seed and carry it to the discharge tube or place of deposit" (lines 9-12), illustration is included.
Date: February 3, 1891
Creator: Hurd, Judson B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a sulky-plow with adjustable front and rear ground-wheels that control the depth at which the ground is plowed.
Date: December 24, 1895
Creator: Gupton, Kindred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Revolving Sand Drag (open access)

Revolving Sand Drag

Patent for a new and useful improvements in revolving sand drags. This design is to "provide a machine of this character by means of which the sand-bars in formed in rivers" (line 12-14)
Date: December 14, 1897
Creator: Murphy, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Metallic Roof. (open access)

Metallic Roof.

Patent for a metallic roof that has "an improved means for securing the adjoining edges of the metallic strips together, whereby a tight water proof joint is produced and the metal strips securely attached to the sheathing of the roof" (lines 15-20).
Date: April 16, 1895
Creator: Flatau, Louis S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horse-Detaching Device. (open access)

Horse-Detaching Device.

Patent for a horse-detaching device that attaches to the forward axle of a vehicle. The invention will not affect the seating capacity of the vehicle, and can be used to release the thills of the vehicle quickly if the driver loses control of the horse. The device can be used to guide the vehicle after the horse is released.
Date: February 4, 1896
Creator: Friedlander, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horse-Power And Pumping-Jack. (open access)

Horse-Power And Pumping-Jack.

Patent for a new and useful improvement in a horse power and jumping jack, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 23, 1899
Creator: Darlington, Benjamin F. & Clary, Edwin P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Binder for Plaster. (open access)

Design for a Binder for Plaster.

Design patent for a binder for plaster with parallel corrugations forming reversely-arranged dovetailed ribs.
Date: November 7, 1899
Creator: Ettler, John Adolph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Desk-Ruler. (open access)

Desk-Ruler.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in desk-rules, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 4, 1899
Creator: Connett, Matthew F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dress Stay. (open access)

Dress Stay.

Patent for a new and improved dress-stay. This design "is to avoid the use of paste or stitches in connection with the application of the stay, as well as to provide a stay which may be readily detached and reattached in case it be desired to change the location of the seam in order to make the garment either larger or smaller. To this end the invention consists in a stay-body of steel, whalebone, or some other resilient material inclosed within a suitable casing, and wire fasteners passing through said body, through the outer side of said casing, and through the edges of the seam at either side" (lines 10-23).
Date: November 11, 1890
Creator: Dacus, Augusta
System: The Portal to Texas History
Detachable Handle and Spring-Catch. (open access)

Detachable Handle and Spring-Catch.

Patent for improvements in detachable handles and spring-catches for valises, satchels, traveling-bags, and the like in which a handle “may be readily detached from the valise, and devices for automatically engaging and locking the handle to the valise when the handle is replaced.” (Lines 16-19) Illustration is included.
Date: August 18, 1891
Creator: Epstein, George B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Placing Torpedoes. (open access)

Device for Placing Torpedoes.

Patent for "a device especially adapted for placing torpedoes on railroad tracks and at the same time fixing the torpedo in position, the work being accomplished in a simple and expeditious manner while the train is in motion, whereby one train following another may be signaled without stopping the first train, thus preventing rear end collisions." (Lines 7-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 23, 1895
Creator: Seamands, James D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dental-Care Attachment. (open access)

Dental-Care Attachment.

Patent for a dental-chair attachment mean to support a table to hold instruments, a waste-bowl, a lamp, glasses, and other things a dentist might need. The attachment can easily be separated and adjusted.
Date: July 2, 1895
Creator: Mayes, Robert Martin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Handkerchief, &c. (open access)

Design for a Handkerchief, &c.

Patent for "a new and original design for handkerchiefs, fans, napkins, cards, and similar articles" (lines 8-10).
Date: July 7, 1896
Creator: Bowen, George R.
System: The Portal to Texas History