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Improvement in Cotton-Bale Ties. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Bale Ties.

Patent for a secure cotton-bale tie which is "held securely in place on the hoop or band without depending therefor upon the elasticity of the bale" (lines 12-14), including illustrations.
Date: August 18, 1874
Creator: Davis, Waters S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement In Water-Elevators. (open access)

Improvement In Water-Elevators.

Patent for improvements to water-elevators using water-vessels which are suspended from a chain or cord, also known as endless carriers.
Date: August 18, 1877
Creator: Wright, Martin Van Buten
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a new and improved churn. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a removable churn-body, of the frame, with a friction-wheel mounted thereon, a dasher-spindle provided with friction-wheel, movable notched bar, and spring-rod" (lines 79-83).
Date: August 18, 1885
Creator: Conner, Laurence H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cloth Cutting Apparatus. (open access)

Cloth Cutting Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved cloth-cutting machine. This design "relates to cloth-cutting apparatus, and particularly to that class wherein the fabric or other material to be cut is operated upon by revolving cutters; and it has for its object to provide devices of this character which may be enabled to cut the goods by a continuous forward movement of the said cutters" (lines 9-15).
Date: August 18, 1885
Creator: Monday, Robert Owens
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton, Corn, and Pea Planter. (open access)

Cotton, Corn, and Pea Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a planter and fertilizer-distributer, of a revolving drum having openings communicating with a groove in its periphery for sowing fertilizer, and a seeding mechanism arranged above the drum, whereby the seeds will fall into the groove of the drum and be thereby conveyed to the furrow" (lines 3-9).
Date: August 18, 1885
Creator: Applewhite, David Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Magneto-Electric Telegraphy. (open access)

Magneto-Electric Telegraphy.

Patent for a machine that telegraphs messages between distant points by means of induced currents that produce magnets without the use of battery current, including illustrations.
Date: August 18, 1885
Creator: Brown, Fred H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Self Cleaning Plow. (open access)

Self Cleaning Plow.

Patent for a new and improved self-cleaning plow. This design consists in "[t]he combination of a mold-board having a plane face on the larger portion of its area, a blade having an axle journaled near the center of the said plane, a wheel journaled in the plow, with its rim parallel to and extending below the landside of the plow, a beveled gear-wheel upon the said wheel-axle, and another beveled wheel upon the blade-axle, engaging each other" (lines 79-87).
Date: August 18, 1885
Creator: Jones, Allen
System: The Portal to Texas History
Valve Gear. (open access)

Valve Gear.

Patent for a new and improved valve-gear. This design "relates to improvements in mechanical movements adapted especially to the valve-gear of steam-engines, and is designed to produce a device having a reciprocatory movement having intermediate impulses" (lines 9-14).
Date: August 18, 1885
Creator: Pinkham, Delmar D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blind-Stop. (open access)

Blind-Stop.

Patent for improvements in blind-slat adjusters and locks by providing a plate to secure the cross-stile of the blind; in which the plate having a slotted right-angled portion. “A bar pivoted to the slat-rod and having its lower end bent at the right angle, a screw passed through the slat and provided with a handle. (Lines 96-99) “When the handle is turned to the left, the slats can be adjusted into any desired position, and when in their adjusted position all that it is necessary to do is to turn the handle to the right which binds the parts together and holds the slats against movement.” (Lines 82-87) Illustration is included.
Date: August 18, 1891
Creator: Roll, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for improvements in car-couplings known as “automatic” by providing actuate means to “throw the pin downward and locks the link in a horizontal position.” (Lines 24-25) For uncoupling the cars from either the top or either side of the car; “a spring-actuated device is provided for keeping the link in a horizontal position with a yielding force.” (Lines 27-29) Illustration is included.
Date: August 18, 1891
Creator: Cole, Henry J.
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
Game-Table. (open access)

Game-Table.

Patent for improvement in game-table in which it provided with a table similar in construction to the ordinary billiard-table. “A series of spring-pressed levers fulcrumed in the lower end of a casing and each provided at its upper end with a hook and at its lower end with a ball extending over the floor of the table.” (P. 2, lines 67-71) This game is played by using one or more balls to strike a series of balls that are arranged along the bottom of a casing, causing the levers to disengaged the rods, therefore revealing a card through an opening formed in the front of the casing. Illustration is included.
Date: August 18, 1891
Creator: Patillo, John P. W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Paper-File. (open access)

Paper-File.

Patent for improvements in paper-files by using a "combination of a base board and a clamp provided with a jaw, a presser-foot provided with a bearing, a crank-shaft journaled in the bearing with its cranked portion under the clamp, and a hinged support or flap under the presser-foot." (Lines 75-80, p. 2) Papers can be held in position or remove by the raising or lowering the presser-foot. Illustration is included.
Date: August 18, 1891
Creator: Clopton, John B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for improvements in reversible plows: "The object of the present invention is to simplify and improve the construction of reversible plows and enable them to be adjusted to any desired depth" (lines 9-12).
Date: August 18, 1891
Creator: McKay, Robert B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Soap-Making Apparatus. (open access)

Soap-Making Apparatus.

Patent for improvements in soap-making apparatus by using the “same frames to mix the ingredients and in cooling the prepared mass, thus obviating the necessity of the removal of the mixed mass from the mixing-frame to a cooling-frame.” (Lines 11-15) Illustration
Date: August 18, 1891
Creator: Grant, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Air-Hose Coupling and Stop-Valve. (open access)

Combined Air-Hose Coupling and Stop-Valve.

Patent for a combined air-hose coupling and stop-valve. One must shut off the cut-off valve before the coupling can be disconnected. When the valve is closed, air pressure is balanced so the couplings can be safely disconnected, and prevents dirt from getting into the train-pipe.
Date: August 18, 1896
Creator: Heidelburg, Samuel R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cigar-Clipper and Match-Box. (open access)

Combined Cigar-Clipper and Match-Box.

Patent for a combined cigar-clipper and match-box "in which the matches will be delivered with a regular feed, so that it will be highly inconvenient for persons to carry away more than one or two matches" (lines 10-13).
Date: August 18, 1896
Creator: Campo, Ysidro Del
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Trunk and Dressing-Case. (open access)

Combined Trunk and Dressing-Case.

Patent for a combined trunk and dressing-case. The trunk has drawers, and the lid of the trunk has a mirror in its lid. "The lid is connected at one end by a hinged strap with one end of the body of the trunk, so as to be adapted to be moved into position for closing the body and to be supported in upright position on the same in line with the bottom, so that it forms a proper support for a looking-glass, shelf, and the like" (lines 19-26).
Date: August 18, 1896
Creator: Witteborg, Ernest
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insufflator. (open access)

Insufflator.

Patent for an ejector meant to apply "powder for medicinal purposes to afflicted parts of the body without difficulty" (lines 10-12).
Date: August 18, 1896
Creator: Moore, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Stretcher. (open access)

Wire-Stretcher.

Patent for a wire-stretcher. It is "a device of simple and improved form and possessing great power for the purpose of making taut fence or other wires" (liens 14-16). It is operated by rotating a shaft
Date: August 18, 1896
Creator: Willie, William T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
BLIND-STOP (open access)

BLIND-STOP

Patent for an improvement in Blind-Stops. "My invention relates to improvements in blind-stops, and has for its object to provide a simple, strong, and cheap device of this kind." (lines 15-18) and illustration.
Date: August 18, 1903
Creator: Koenig, Charles Louis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Check Book (open access)

Check Book

Patent for a check book. This inventions improves upon removable covers for check books.
Date: August 18, 1903
Creator: Exline, Marcus P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Marine-Engine Governor. (open access)

Marine-Engine Governor.

Patent for marine engine governor "designed to maintain uniformity of speed of the engine when the resistance to the propeller or propellers is varied" (lines 11-13), including illustrations and description of construction.
Date: August 18, 1903
Creator: Corneliussen, Ivar
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway Switch (open access)

Railway Switch

Patent for a railway switch. Illustration included.
Date: August 18, 1903
Creator: Aley, Frank W.
System: The Portal to Texas History