Corn Planting Attachment. (open access)

Corn Planting Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved attachment for planters. This design consists in "the combination of a standard having a seed box at its upper end provided with a longitudinal groove in the upper side of the bottom, and with slots in the end walls registering with the groove and having an arm projecting laterally from the lower end, a wheel journaled upon the said arm, a seed-slide in the groove, a bell-crank fulcrumed upon a rearwardly-projecting bracket of the box, a connecting-rod pivoted to the wheel and to the rear arm of the bell-crank, and a connecting-rod pivoted to the upper arm of the bell-crank" (lines 41-53).
Date: March 20, 1888
Creator: Aten, Frank L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant-Trap. (open access)

Ant-Trap.

Patent for a new ant trap design using a conical shape and reservoirs for holding kerosene to destroy ants, including illustrations.
Date: March 20, 1888
Creator: Kell, Mathew
System: The Portal to Texas History
Screw Propeller. (open access)

Screw Propeller.

Patent for a new and improved screw propeller. This design "connect[s] propellers on the opposite sides of a vessel with one another and with a stern propeller, so that they will act at the same time upon different parts of the vessel in urging her forward," which leads to increased speed (lines 7-11).
Date: March 20, 1883
Creator: Gartner, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Folding Packing Case. (open access)

Folding Packing Case.

Patent for a new and improved folding packing-case. This design "consists in the construction of a folding packing-case with a bottom tray adapted to receive the inner detachable partitions of the case when it is folded up for transportation, and with a lid formed with flanges adapted to overlap and inclose and thus protect the edges of the sides and ends of the case and tray when folded down, so that it will the more securely withstand rough handling in shipment, and in providing ventilating-apertures in the sides of the case, to be left open or closed at pleasure" (lines 19-30).
Date: March 20, 1883
Creator: Van Hutton, William B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Quilting Frame. (open access)

Quilting Frame.

Patent for a new and improved quilting frame. This design consists in "the combination of the vertical standards bent forward at their upper ends and provided with dovetailed projections, the track-bar beveled toward the upper edge and provided with dovetailed notches to receive the projections whereby the said bar may be removed from the standards, the folding braces between the standards, the roller-bar having the rollers to run on the track-bar, and the frame connected to the roller-bar by the suspending-cords" (lines 38-49).
Date: March 20, 1888
Creator: Raines, Burress Wesley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harrow. (open access)

Harrow.

Patent for a new and improved harrow. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the revolving harrow-teeth and prong-wheels, of the centrally-hinged vibratory frame, carrying drag-hook teeth . . . [and] [t]he combination, with the harrow-frame . . . carrying the hook-teeth, of the pulley, chain, and lever" (lines 62-70).
Date: March 20, 1883
Creator: Lewis, Charles Patton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Stalk Cutter. (open access)

Cotton Stalk Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved cotton-stalk cutter. This design consists in "the frame or body adapted to be dragged on the ground, and provided near its front end with the laterally-projecting cutting-blade and the arm, arranged above and in front of the blade, and the colter attached near the rear end of the frame or body and adapted to cut into the soil" (lines 3-9).
Date: March 20, 1888
Creator: Oneal, Marma Duke
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Corn and Cotton Seed Planter. (open access)

Combined Corn and Cotton Seed Planter.

Patent for a new and improved seed planter. This design is "to simplify the means employed for providing at will recesses of different depths in the wheel, and also to provide means whereby a recess of both greater width and depth can be provided for cotton-seed than for corn, whereby the cotton-seed can be fed from the hopper in a more certain, free, and efficient manner than heretofore" (lines 23-31).
Date: March 20, 1883
Creator: Holland, Joseph J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boiler Feeder Regulator. (open access)

Boiler Feeder Regulator.

Patent for a new and improved regulator for boiler feeders. This design "consists in certain novel details of construction, arrangement, and operation whereby a superior machine is produced for the purpose of regulating and supplying boilers with water, keeping the water at a uniform height, preventing explosions from low water, and automatically removing sediment, impurities, and foam as fast as it accumulates" (lines 14-22).
Date: March 20, 1888
Creator: Riedel, Gustav Adolph
System: The Portal to Texas History