Aquarium. (open access)

Aquarium.

Patent for an ornamental suspension aquarium with easily removed plug or stopper for refreshing the water with illustrations.
Date: March 18, 1884
Creator: Zanetti, Fortonato Clemente
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Gun Firing Mechanism. (open access)

Automatic Gun Firing Mechanism.

Patent for an automatic gun firing mechanism intended to protect gardens, orchards, and fields by scaring off birds and other animals that destroy crops through automatic discharge of a firearm at predetermined intervals.
Date: March 18, 1913
Creator: Steinocher, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for improvements to a machine that compresses bolts of cloth or waste into compact bales for shipment.
Date: March 18, 1884
Creator: Reagan, Edgar U. G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bank-Punch (open access)

Bank-Punch

Patent for "a punch for the use of banks, counting-houses, &c., which will cut figures and characters out of the material of la check or other paper, and which will cut in the said paper before and after the figures representing the value of the check a star or other character to prevent the raising of the check by the addition of other figures" (lines 21-28).
Date: March 18, 1890
Creator: Lane, Alvin V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Breech-Loading Fire-Arm. (open access)

Breech-Loading Fire-Arm.

Patent for breech-loaded fire-arms, with illustrations. The purpose of the breech-loaded fire-arms was to improve existing fire-arms by allowing for a method to prevent accidental discharge.
Date: March 18, 1884
Creator: Schraud, Franz
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cable Gripping Mechanism for Overhead Conveyor Systems. (open access)

Cable Gripping Mechanism for Overhead Conveyor Systems.

Patent for a new and improved cable gripping mechanism for overhead conveyor systems. This improved conveyor system can take a load from one point and conveyed to any other point along the conveyor.
Date: March 18, 1919
Creator: Hanak, Edward
System: The Portal to Texas History
Casket. (open access)

Casket.

Patent for a casket with that is a "reinforced plastic burial casket which shall be of a light construction but having great strength in proportion to its weight" (lines 13 - 16), hermetically sealing the interior and keeping water out, including illustrations.
Date: March 18, 1918
Creator: Cook, Leander P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Measuring and Transfer Tank Pump (open access)

Combination Measuring and Transfer Tank Pump

Patent for a combination measure and transfer tank pump to be used for the transferring of oil from one container to another.
Date: March 18, 1919
Creator: Kirkwood, A. L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Stock and Freight Car. (open access)

Combination Stock and Freight Car.

Patent for stock cars and means for converting a stock car in part or as whole into a freight car.
Date: March 18, 1913
Creator: Bertsch, John Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Compound Tool (open access)

Compound Tool

Patent for a compound tool which combines the features of the nut-wrench and the pipe-wrench.
Date: March 18, 1913
Creator: Scroggins, James L. & Waldrop, A. S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Conveyer System. (open access)

Conveyer System.

Patent for "an improved conveyer system that will take a package and automatically carry it to any selected point along the system, discharge the package and return to the starting point" (lines 8-12), including illustrations.
Date: March 18, 1919
Creator: Hanak, Edward
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cooking-Stove (open access)

Cooking-Stove

Patent for a stove "with an oven, and a combustion chamber, so arranged . . . that the heat will completely surround said oven, said stove being equipped with a novel form of oil burner which is contained in the combustion chamber and adapted to utilize oil as a fuel" (lines 14-19).
Date: March 18, 1919
Creator: Cook, Charles F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Gin Feeder. (open access)

Cotton-Gin Feeder.

Patent for improvements in cotton-gin feeders by employing an adjustable friction-wheel to operate and control the picker-rollers and the feeding-rollers. Illustration is included.
Date: March 18, 1902
Creator: Murray, Stephen D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Picker (open access)

Cotton Picker

Patent for a vehicle-mounted cotton picker.
Date: March 18, 1919
Creator: McEachern, S. D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator-Plow. (open access)

Cultivator-Plow.

Patent for improvements in cultivator-plow through the positioning and connection of parts. Adjustable plow for different cultivating functions and different crops, especially for cotton. Illustration and materials recommendations included.
Date: March 18, 1902
Creator: Sheffield, James A. D. & Sheffield, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
File. (open access)

File.

Patent for a new and improved file. This design consists in "[a] file provided with longitudinal teeth upon one or both of its edges . . . [and] upon its sides so cut that they extend only half-way across the width of the file, the inner ends of the said teeth meeting at an angle at the center of the width of the blade" (lines 50-56).
Date: March 18, 1884
Creator: Custer, George.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire and Burglar Proof Safe. (open access)

Fire and Burglar Proof Safe.

Patent for a safe "constructed as to be safe from fire and burglars, and at which the same time may be made lighter, and may be less expensive in manufacture than when made in the usual way." (para. 4). Additionally, safe is airtight and water-proof.
Date: March 18, 1870
Creator: Wilkins, Samuel Adams
System: The Portal to Texas History
Governor for Cotton-Gin Feeders. (open access)

Governor for Cotton-Gin Feeders.

Patent for device that regulates the feed of a cotton gin using the pressure of the cotton in the gin's roll-box.
Date: March 18, 1884
Creator: Forbes, Lycurgus D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Feeder and Band-Cutter for Thrashing-Machines. (open access)

Grain-Feeder and Band-Cutter for Thrashing-Machines.

Patent for improvements to grain-feeders for thrashing machines design including illustrations.
Date: March 18, 1882
Creator: Barlow, Thomas James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grapple (open access)

Grapple

Patent for providing a cheaper version of removing pipes or tubing from wells.
Date: March 18, 1913
Creator: Drake, Charles W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horse Detacher. (open access)

Horse Detacher.

Patent for a new and improved horse-detacher. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the axle, of the arms attached to the front face thereof and inclined downward and toward each other, the spring-actuated pins within said arms, and the cord attached to adjacent ends of the said pins and passed beneath the axle over guide-rollers and connected with a lever pivoted upon the under side of the reach, said lever being arranged to be actuated from the vehicle" (lines 43-52).
Date: March 18, 1890
Creator: Harper, Henry Hughes
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Balanced Valves. (open access)

Improvement in Balanced Valves.

Patent for an improvement in the design of balanced slide valves for steam and other engines, including illustrations.
Date: March 18, 1873
Creator: Fitzsimmons, Henry.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Medical Compounds. (open access)

Improvement in Medical Compounds.

Patent for a mixture of "amargosa" root, Jamaica ginger, glycerin, and simple syrup for use in treating illnesses of the bowels.
Date: March 18, 1873
Creator: Putegnat, Joseph L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Sawing-Machines. (open access)

Improvement in Sawing-Machines.

Patent for a new and valuable sawing-machine is combined and, "consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the vibrating beam, vertically-sliding block, and flanged support," (pg. 3) e.g...including instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 18, 1873
Creator: Westmoreland, Joseph M.
System: The Portal to Texas History