Resource Type

Apparatus for Recutting Files. (open access)

Apparatus for Recutting Files.

Patent for a new and improved file re-cutter. This design consists "[i]n an apparatus for recutting files by electro-chemical action, the dialectric plates and the carbon plates having their upper ends attached to said non-conducting plates, whereby the files to be recut are disposed between the carbon plates when in the solution" (lines 76-82).
Date: April 5, 1887
Creator: Emley, James E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Toy Race-Course. (open access)

Toy Race-Course.

Patent for toy race-course.
Date: April 26, 1887
Creator: Cordray, Henry A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dental Chair. (open access)

Dental Chair.

Patent for a dental chair improvement.
Date: April 26, 1887
Creator: Stiles, Edmund P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for improvements to press for making bales of hay.
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Chidester, John E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Buncher. (open access)

Cotton-Buncher.

Patent for an implement to thin and bunch young cotton plants, including illustrations.
Date: April 28, 1885
Creator: Tynes, Samuel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Convertible Mop and Brush. (open access)

Convertible Mop and Brush.

Patent for improvements in convertible mops and brushes by using a “combination of the fountain-handle, the bail/frame secured thereto and provided with a rubber strip at its lower edge, and the mop secured to the bail/frame.” (Lines 3-7, p.2) Illustration is included.
Date: April 7, 1891
Creator: Bagby, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Compensating Pump-Spring. (open access)

Compensating Pump-Spring.

Patent for improvements in compensating pump-springs by “storing up in the downward or idle stroke of the suction-rod, a power which is expended during the upward stroke to assist the crank in lifting the rod; and at the same time reducing the power required to drive the pump, equalizing the resistance, increasing the efficiency and generally prolonging the life of the entire mechanism.” (Lines 36-40) Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Black, William L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for improvements in baling-presses by using a four-sided baling box/chamber with supporting-upright doors arranged at the top, at the front and one of the sides of the box. These doors can be hinged at diagonally-opposite corners of the box; locking-bolts are pivoted at the free end of the each door, the top door with locking-bar sliding through apertures in the uprights and the lever for operating the top door. Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Klockmann, Henry G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
CANNING SHRIMPS AND OTHER FISH. (open access)

CANNING SHRIMPS AND OTHER FISH.

Patent for a method for "canning shrimps and/other like shellfish and has for its object the better preservation of the fish and greater expedition, and cheapness in canning" (lines 7-10)with illustrations and instructions.
Date: April 6, 1880
Creator: Pecor, Emmett C. & Bartlett, F. W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spark-Arrester. (open access)

Spark-Arrester.

Patent for concepts and designs used to improve performance of Spark-Arresters used in the smoke stacks of locomotives with illustrations and instructions.
Date: April 6, 1880
Creator: Wiggin, John E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Artificial-StoneTomb. (open access)

Artificial-StoneTomb.

Patent for the concept of an artificial tomb that serves as a tomb and ornamental piece made as one. "This invention relates to certain improvements in artificial-stone tombs; and it has for its object to produce a tomb with head-stone and foo-piece all in one piece that can be built up or placed immediately over grave, so as to form an ornamental finish, at a comparatively small cost." (lines 15-22) including illustrations and instructions.
Date: April 6, 1880
Creator: Wilson, Hence
System: The Portal to Texas History
Earth-Auger (open access)

Earth-Auger

Patent for structural improvement in machines used for boring post holes and wells with illustrations and instructions included.
Date: April 13, 1880
Creator: Cudd, Decater P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Selkirk Candlestick (open access)

Selkirk Candlestick

Patent for candlestick handle/dish with an extension that can be used traditionally for holding and carrying a candle as well as hanging on a nail in a wall with illustrations and instructions.
Date: April 13, 1880
Creator: Selkirk, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
COTTON AND CORN PLANTER. (open access)

COTTON AND CORN PLANTER.

Patent for a machine that assist with cotton and corn farmers with the planting of corn and cotton seed which contains instructions and illustrations on "construction and arrangement of parts" (line 18).
Date: April 20, 1880
Creator: Faucher, George E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for "construction and arrangement of arrow-shaped draw-heads and lever-bars adjustable upon rack-bars for the purpose of raising and lowering the draw-heads" (lines 16-20)including instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 20, 1880
Creator: Gray, John D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
COMPOSITION FOR WHITEWASH. (open access)

COMPOSITION FOR WHITEWASH.

Patent for formula used in whitewashing homes, walls, fences. etc. with ingredients and instructions included.
Date: April 20, 1880
Creator: Kerr, Archibald Henderson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Trap. (open access)

Animal Trap.

Patent for a new and improved animal-trap. This design consists "[i]n a trap comprising a well having ingress-openings in diametrically-opposite sides, the combination, with a cage constructed to move vertically in the said well, of plates mounted in ways and constructed to slide past and cover the said openings and having connection with the cage to counterbalance the same" (lines 86-93).
Date: April 5, 1892
Creator: McLeod, Charlie Mike
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Boring Artesian Wells. (open access)

Apparatus for Boring Artesian Wells.

Patent for a new and improved artesian-well borer. This design "has for its object to furnish a combination tool which will wear or cut the harder grades or rock frequently met with in boring wells of this class, and also to furnish a tool which will be harder than the common steel too or auger, thereby dispensing with the necessity of taking out and sharpening" (lines 13-20). It consists in "[a] fluted hemispherical mass of corundum for boring Artesian wells, said mass being provided with cutting-edges which extend from the apex to the base, [and] a metallic core embedded within the mass" (lines 16-20).
Date: April 5, 1892
Creator: Brown, Frank O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Elevating, Distributing, and Feeding Seed-Cotton to Gins (open access)

Apparatus for Elevating, Distributing, and Feeding Seed-Cotton to Gins

Patent for improvements to cotton gins so that seed cotton can be fed to two gins at the same time, while using the same power as would normally be necessary for one gin.
Date: April 12, 1892
Creator: Murray, Stephen D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Aerial Ship (open access)

Aerial Ship

Patent for "a ship for navigating the air, which shall be almost or quite as easily governed and controlled as regards its course of travel, irrespective of the direction of the wind and in other respects, as a ship provided with propelling means, used to sail in or through the water" (lines 9-15).
Date: April 19, 1892
Creator: Riddle, William Nelson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Composition of Matter. (open access)

Composition of Matter.

Patent for a compound with waterproof and flame-retardant properties in its use as a roofing paint.
Date: April 2, 1895
Creator: Freeze, John A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Operating Churns, &c. (open access)

Apparatus for Operating Churns, &c.

Patent for an apparatus for operating churns, ice cream freezers, or the like, and is meant "to produce an apparatus in which there is simultaneously given to the vessel a revolving motion and a revolving or vibrating motion to the agitator working in the vessel" (lines 14-18).
Date: April 16, 1895
Creator: Crawford, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Advertising-Fan. (open access)

Advertising-Fan.

Patent for "an attractive sign, which by reason of its revolutions will receive notice from the general public and illustrate business cards or signs, and furthermore to operate the same by and in conjunction with a fan, such as is commonly used in public places." (Lines 15-20) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 30, 1895
Creator: Lo Casto, Tony
System: The Portal to Texas History
Banker's Daily-Balance Index. (open access)

Banker's Daily-Balance Index.

Patent for a banker's daily-balance index meant to "promote the speed and accuracy of book-keepers in keeping the personal daily balance ledger in banking and other like business" (lines 9-12). The patent is for a piece of paper divided with ink into strips on the front and back.
Date: April 30, 1895
Creator: Thomas, Thomas Parry
System: The Portal to Texas History