Ballast Spreading Car (open access)

Ballast Spreading Car

Patent for improvements on the ballast spreading car, including plows placed underneath for more efficient spreading of ballast material.
Date: August 26, 1902
Creator: Scott, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal-Shears (open access)

Animal-Shears

Patent for an improvement in animal shears to "simplify and improve the construction of animal-shears, and render their operation more positive and reliable" (lines 11-13).
Date: August 26, 1890
Creator: Monday, Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a new and improved churn. This design "ha[s] a curved bottom and rounded ends and consisting of the bottom, the sides, the partitions . . . similar to the sides and arranged adjacent to the latter" (lines 101-104). Said partitions "[form] water compartments, the transverse partition providing a communication between the water compartments and being formed by a plate bent longitudinally at an angle and having its apex extending across the body of the churn, and the dasher arranged above the partition and suitably secured in place" (lines 1-8).
Date: August 26, 1890
Creator: Day, William Howel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clothes Pin. (open access)

Clothes Pin.

Patent for a new and improved clothespin. This design "has for its object to provide an improved pin that can be readily adjusted to any desired position upon the line, and which can be turned at any desired angle to clamp the clothes. The pin is constructed, preferably, of resilient wire—preferably galvanized or otherwise treated to prevent rusting of the same—and may be made in various sizes. [The design] form[s] the pin with an eye or ring portion, through which the line is passed, and with two sets of arms—one set having its two portions parallel with each other" (lines 11-22).
Date: August 26, 1890
Creator: Turner, Ephraim M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Concrete Cleaner (open access)

Concrete Cleaner

Patent for Concrete Cleaner
Date: August 26, 1916
Creator: Stubbs, Robert C
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Chopper. (open access)

Cotton-Chopper.

Patent for a cotton chopper that is meant to "provide an improved means for controlling the position of the chopper blades." (lines 17-19) It is designed to make the action of cutting cotton more stable and precise.
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Woodrom, George A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Plow and Scraper (open access)

Combined Plow and Scraper

Patent for "a combined plow and scraper, which may be employed to alternately break or loosen a surface that is being graded or lowered, and to scrape the loosened material from said surface." (lines 14-18)
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Reese, Edwin M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Fire-Escape. (open access)

Automatic Fire-Escape.

Patent for "new and useful Improvements in Automatic Fire-Escapes" (lines 5-6), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Thompson, Herman E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination-Lock and Circuit-Breaker. (open access)

Combination-Lock and Circuit-Breaker.

Patent for a combination lock used to protect automobile circuit breakers from unauthorized use.
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Buckeye, George J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Converter and Smelter. (open access)

Converter and Smelter.

Patent for an improved converter and smelter mechanism that processes crushed ore, including illustrations.
Date: August 26, 1919
Creator: Miller, Theodore
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Roost and Nest (open access)

Combined Roost and Nest

Patent for a combined roost and nest for farm animals. The purpose of this new design is to improve the sanitation of current roosts and nests.
Date: August 26, 1919
Creator: Gilmore, Calvin L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Aerial Conveyor (open access)

Aerial Conveyor

Patent for an aerial conveyor, specifically one that relates to "an aerial suspension car for aiding linemen in traveling along a suspended cable" (lines 9-11). It's primary function is to allow a wheeled car to be mounted on a cable and used to transport a person.
Date: August 26, 1919
Creator: Moore, Richard S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cargo-Sling. (open access)

Cargo-Sling.

Patent for a cargo sling used for loading and unloading cargo of a ship with improvements due to the flexibility of the base for different shaped objects. The construction of the cargo sling allows for adding slings together for longer lengths, including illustrations.
Date: August 26, 1919
Creator: Heffron, Isaac
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shade-Bracket (open access)

Shade-Bracket

Patent for shade-brackets which connects window shades or blinds to a wall or ceiling
Date: August 26, 1919
Creator: Overman, Benjamin Franklin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Weeding-Hoes. (open access)

Improvement in Weeding-Hoes.

Patent for improvment of "the construction of weeding-hoes; and it consists in providing the same with an inclined cutting-edge, in such a way that they will enter and pass through the ground more easily than hoes constructed in the ordinary manner." (11-16)including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 26, 1873
Creator: Crossland, Henry S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Weed-Cutting Attachment for Plows. (open access)

Weed-Cutting Attachment for Plows.

Patent is for "weed cutting devices for plows, and has for its object to provide the shovel of a plow or cultivator with blades or knives, which are adapted to enter the soil a slight distance and cut down or uproot all weeds or grass and at the same time to smooth or pulverize the soil" (lines 12-18).
Date: August 26, 1902
Creator: Robinson, John M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wheel. (open access)

Wheel.

Patent for "new and useful, Improvements in wheels and more particularly to that class known as spring or resilient wheels" (lines 12-15), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Hardin, Benjiman Barnett
System: The Portal to Texas History
Land-Breaking Plow. (open access)

Land-Breaking Plow.

Patent for an agricultural plow that mixes the soil of multiple layers while keeping the soil in its initial layer to conserve moisture and deliver nitrogen. Plow can be motorized or use animals to function.
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Reed, Arthur
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Street-Cars (open access)

Improvement in Street-Cars

Patent for an improvement to Street Cars to better navigate curves. Includes description and illustrations.
Date: August 26, 1879
Creator: Towell, Isaac
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Iron Saddle-Tree Forks (open access)

Improvement in Iron Saddle-Tree Forks

Patent for an improvement in iron saddle-tree forks that are cheaper to construct as well as light and durable. Includes illustration and description.
Date: August 26, 1879
Creator: Wood, John McLane & Bellah, William Newton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hub Ball-Bearing. (open access)

Hub Ball-Bearing.

Patent for a bearing to be employed in a wheel and axle system. The patented bearing is meant to reduce the usual amount of friction in the system to a minimum.
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Price, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oyster-Opener. (open access)

Oyster-Opener.

Patent for an oyster opener that opens an oyster in a single operation of the device while simultaneously cutting the oyster from its shell.
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Schmidt, Heinrich Fritz
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil-Cup. (open access)

Oil-Cup.

Patent for an oil cup to be used for lubricating bearings that can be regulated with a valve to control the flow of the lubricant.
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Dawley, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mineral-Prospecting Apparatus. (open access)

Mineral-Prospecting Apparatus.

Patent for an "apparatus for drilling and obtaining samples or specimens of minerals" (lines 12-13), and obtaining accurate samples of ores in situations where they would otherwise be washed away by water or broken apart. The patent includes illustrations.
Date: August 26, 1913
Creator: Andrews, Benjamin
System: The Portal to Texas History