Language

Adjustable Book Support. (open access)

Adjustable Book Support.

Patent for a new and improved book rest. This design consists "of an upright pivoted in a support or base, a sliding lower supporting cross-bar, an upper sliding supporting-bar, both bars having sockets upon their rear sides sliding upon the upright and provided with set-screws, and leaf-clamps consisting of a piece of spring doubled at one end to form slides sliding upon the arms of the upper cross-bar, forming curved yielding portions, forming transverse eyes at the other ends, having flat blocks hinged at the said eyes, and provided with thumb-pieces" (lines 72-83).
Date: November 25, 1884
Creator: Johnson, William Oscar
System: The Portal to Texas History
Air Ship. (open access)

Air Ship.

Patent for air ship design lifted by balloon with vertical adjustable sails. Accompanied with illustrations.
Date: November 23, 1886
Creator: Appling, Marby P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Tag. (open access)

Animal Tag.

Patent for a new and improved animal tag. This design "consists in an animal-tag formed of a tube provided with a removable cover and an elongated staple for the strap, by which this tube is held to the animal" (lines 11-14).
Date: November 21, 1882
Creator: Queen, Elias G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Trap. (open access)

Animal Trap.

Patent for a new and improved animal-trap. This design consists in "the combination, with the frame, of the spear fitted to slide therein and provided with a notched shank, spring for forcing the spear down, and the trigger pivoted to the frame and provided with a forked plate at its lower end, and with a toe for engaging the notch of the shank of the spear" (lines 8-15).
Date: November 29, 1887
Creator: Wood, Evans
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design calls for a tank of water to be buried in the ground and a collar of cheap material to be attached to the tank and placed over the mouth of an anthill. The concave nature of the collar prevents ants from climbing out of it, so they are forced into the water tank, where they drown; the design is cheaper and less toxic than previous designs.
Date: November 22, 1881
Creator: Arnett, Sandridge Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design consists "[i]n an ant-trap, the combination, with a trough formed with a top [that is] flanged . . . of a box connected thereto by a tube terminating in a disk . . . [and] of the connecting-tubes, box, and fence" (lines 62-68).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Thompson, William Henderson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design "has for its object the production of a simple, cheap, and effective device whereby the ants are confined to a space within the circle of the trap, speedily captured, and exterminated. It consists in a trap constructed with a circular flanged pit provided with tubes leading therefrom to a central ant-receptacle; also, in the details of construction of the trap" (lines 8-16).
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Barnes, Robert Hanson & Salles, George Camiel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Cleaning and Handling Seed-Cotton (open access)

Apparatus for Cleaning and Handling Seed-Cotton

Patent for "improved means for conveying seed-cotton from wagons or store-houses to a series of gins, to clean it during its passage, and to avoid clogging the gins or the devices themselves by rapid feeding of the cotton" (lines 14-18).
Date: November 26, 1889
Creator: Elam, William E.; Thomas, Robert S. & Hardwick, Sauny W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND CLEANING SEED COTTON (open access)

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING AND CLEANING SEED COTTON

Patent for an improvement to the method of cleaning seeded cotton.
Date: November 12, 1889
Creator: ELAM, WILLIAM E.; THOMAS, ROBERT S.; CRAWFORD, DWIGHT H. & HARDWICK, SAUNIE W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Irrigating Land. (open access)

Apparatus for Irrigating Land.

Patent for a new and improved irrigation machine. This design "consists in an irrigating-pipe having lapped side joints and notches in the inner edges of the lapped joints. The invention also consists in the combination, with a tank, of a trough below it, tubes projecting from the trough, and irrigating-pipes connected with the said tubes" (lines 12-18).
Date: November 17, 1885
Creator: Briggs, Elias
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Loading Wagons. (open access)

Apparatus for Loading Wagons.

Patent for a new and improved apparatus for loading wagons. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the platform having the opening and the trap-doors, the fastening devices to secure the trap-doors when closed and to permit the same to open, and the counter-weights connected to the trap-doors" (lines 24-28).
Date: November 27, 1888
Creator: Bernard, Alfred Franklin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Treating Timber, Railway Ties, &c. (open access)

Apparatus for Treating Timber, Railway Ties, &c.

Patent for a new and improved apparatus for treating and preserving. This design "insure[s] the complete and perfect treatment or impregnation of timber of varying hardness and density, and to provide a portable organization of apparatus by which timber at various points or stations along the line of a railroad can be treated with great facility, efficiency, and economy" (lines 12-19).
Date: November 22, 1881
Creator: Kreuter, Hugh E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Cylindrical Power. (open access)

Automatic Cylindrical Power.

Patent for a new and improved cylindrical power-source. This design "consists in the combination of a cylindrical slotted frame with a series of blades which are connected together in pairs, and which are alternately forced through the slots in the frame to receive the force of the wind or water and then retracted, so that they will offer no resistance during a portion of the revolution of the frame. . . . The object of [the] invention is to produce a motor which is adapted for use either as a wind-wheel or a water-wheel" (lines 13-27).
Date: November 15, 1881
Creator: Hutchinson, Thomas E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Fan Combination Stand. (open access)

Automatic Fan Combination Stand.

Patent for a new and improved automatic-fan combination-stand. This design "relates to an improved stand or support for an automatic fan, which said stand shall be portable, so as to be conveniently set up wherever desired, and which shall contain various hooks, brackets, shelves, and other conveniences" (lines 17-22).
Date: November 28, 1882
Creator: McKeehan, Charles Houston
System: The Portal to Texas History
Awning (open access)

Awning

Patent for an improvement in Awnings, that include interchangeable parts that can be permanent or easily detached pending on the situation. Included are detailed illustrations.
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Ferrel, Alexander
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bailing-Press. (open access)

Bailing-Press.

Patent for Bailing Press including illustrations. The purpose of the bailing press was to improve "the bailing-press especially adapted for bailing cotton, which press is simple in construction, strong and durable, and operates rapidly" ( lines 9-12).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Clark, Frank
System: The Portal to Texas History
Banana-Case (open access)

Banana-Case

Patent for a banana case to "provide a case or crate in which bananas may be readily packed and transported without injury to the fruit."
Date: November 13, 1888
Creator: Aiken, Robert H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bedstead. (open access)

Bedstead.

Patent for a new and improved bedstead. This design consists of a frame with tension wires "extending diagonally across the bed-frame to the side pieces thereof at points intermediate between the corner posts, and independent tension devices to which the ends of the wire are connected, whereby a longitudinal and lateral strain is exerted upon the bed-frame when the wires are adjusted" (lines 1-7).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Clowers, William B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Belt Fastener (open access)

Belt Fastener

Patent for new and useful improvement in Belt-fastners by which the end of the belt may be quickly united and held without cutting holes in it.
Date: November 4, 1884
Creator: Norris, Albion K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bench Plane. (open access)

Bench Plane.

Patent for a new and improved bench plane. This design "consists in a stirrup pivoted to the sides of the plane in such a manner that the traverse piece of the stirrup passes through a transverse groove in the under surface of the plane, this groove increasing in height toward the rear of the plane, so that when the plane is drawn backward it will be slightly raised by this stirrup, so that the cutting-edge of the plane-iron cannot slide on the board being planed" (lines 10-19).
Date: November 22, 1881
Creator: Sawyer, George Frederic
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blasting Plug. (open access)

Blasting Plug.

Patent for a new and improved blasting plug. This design is "to improve the usefulness and efficiency of the device, to render it capable of more general application, to provide a construction whereby a given charge is rendered more powerful and effective, and to provide a divided blasting-plug . . . The invention consists more particularly in a cylindrical blasting-plug divided longitudinally into two separate or independent sections, one of which is formed with a disk-head having a vent orifice and made coextensive with the external caliber of the plug when the two sections are placed together" (lines 12-29).
Date: November 5, 1889
Creator: Holsey, Julius H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boot and Shoe Box. (open access)

Boot and Shoe Box.

Patent for a new and improved box for boots and shoes. This design is "to be arranged beneath the counter, between the guide-strips upon the floor, and mounted on wheels, and provided with mechanism connected to the hinged lids of the boxes to raise the lid as the box is pulled out, and to close it when the box is pushed back to place again. This may be accomplished in several ways" (lines 26-33).
Date: November 20, 1883
Creator: Cook, Emmanuel Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boring Machine. (open access)

Boring Machine.

Patent for a new and improved boring machine. This design "consists in the construction and novel arrangement of a circularly-adjustable rod carrying a pressure screw, an adjustable arm arranged on said rod and having its end or head concave on its underside and provided with bearing indentations or punctures, and a brace having a bearing end corresponding in form to said bearing indentations or punctures" (lines 16-24).
Date: November 23, 1880
Creator: Forniraseo, Domaneco
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brace for Bedsteads. (open access)

Brace for Bedsteads.

Patent for a new and improved brace for bedsteads. This design has for its object "to provide an attachment for bedsteads whereby the side rails are prevented from springing outward or expanding from any cause, and thus allowing the slats to fall through" (lines 14-18).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Holmes, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History