Chopper and Cultivator. (open access)

Chopper and Cultivator.

Patent for a chopper and cultivator with a rod with moveable blades attached that allows for the blades to be changed between different types for planting or cultivating.
Date: April 30, 1907
Creator: Odom, Elbert T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn Power. (open access)

Churn Power.

Patent for a new and improved churn-power. This design is "to provide a spring-power and suitable gearing for operating the dasher, with a view of rendering the same in a high degree effective, convenient, and especially adapted to the requirements of service; [and], to afford facilities for the proper adjustment of the device to the different sizes of churns, and to provide for the quick and convenient detaching of the churn from the driving mechanism" (lines 12-21).
Date: September 30, 1884
Creator: Lawrence, Joseph A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate (open access)

Gate

Patent for "a gate which can be built at a comparatively low price, which will be durable and practical, and which can be opened from either side with ease" (lines 13-17).
Date: July 30, 1901
Creator: Baker, Cicero McRee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate. (open access)

Gate.

Patent for a new and improved gate. This design "relates to improvements in gates that are balanced by a weight and opened in either direction by ropes operating in conjunction with circular inclined tracks and rollers; and the object of [the] improvement is to provide a gate that may be readily opened and closed by a person seated in a vehicle" (lines 7-14).
Date: December 30, 1884
Creator: Drake, Edwin L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Air-Cooling Apparatus. (open access)

Improvement in Air-Cooling Apparatus.

Patent for "the construction and arrangement of a refrigerator for the purpose of cooling and maintaining a low and dry temperature, for preserving fresh meats and vegetables, and for cooling rooms for any purpose." (Lines 10-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 30, 1875
Creator: Hyatt, Frank A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Double-Bitted Drills. (open access)

Improvement in Double-Bitted Drills.

Patent for "an easy mode of straightening wells while drilling them through rock or earth, and also for enlarging the same into a cistern when it is desired to keep on hand a large supply of water." (Lines 8-13) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 30, 1876
Creator: Yarbrough, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Mold-Boards for Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Mold-Boards for Plows.

Patent for an improved design for plow mold-boards that involves using holes and a water pump to keep the mold-board clear of earth.
Date: December 30, 1879
Creator: Fields, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Reed-Organ. (open access)

Reed-Organ.

Patent for a cheap and simple reed-board that provides a uniform tone that is produced through the register or registers and allows the freedom of communication between the reed-cells and pipe or resonance cells.
Date: January 30, 1906
Creator: Preston, Percy C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Suspension-Bridge. (open access)

Suspension-Bridge.

Patent for a suspension bridge, which prevents vertical motion of the floor of the bridge and is cheaper to build than other models.
Date: August 30, 1910
Creator: Greer, William H. C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Telephone Transmitter and Receiver (open access)

Telephone Transmitter and Receiver

Patent for a telephone transmitter and receiver. The device is for lines "known as 'long-distance' telephones for the purpose of taking up the weakened vibrations and re-energizing them...transmitting them with increased volume" (line 12-15) illustration included.
Date: June 30, 1903
Creator: Sammons, Oliver P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Truss Bridge (open access)

Truss Bridge

Patent for a truss bridge. Illustration included.
Date: October 30, 1906
Creator: Inman, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History