Combined Wardrobe, Bureau, and Wash Stand. (open access)

Combined Wardrobe, Bureau, and Wash Stand.

Patent for a new and improved combination chiffarobe and wash stand. This design is "constructed with a main wardrobe section provided with hinged upper doors having lower ledges or shelves, respectively, and bureau and wash-stand structures hinged at opposite sides of the wardrobe below its doors and adapted when closed to close the lower front part of the wardrobe, and said door-ledges forming top covers to the wash-stand and bureau" (lines 31-40).
Date: May 8, 1888
Creator: Wulff, Henry F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Barrel for Outhouses. (open access)

Barrel for Outhouses.

Patent for a new and improved barrel. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the barrel-head having the opening, of the cover adapted to close said opening, the bolt extending through said cover and into the barrel, the clamping bar longer than the width of said opening in the barrel-head, said bar being centrally pivoted by a rivet to the lower end of said bolt, and a nut screwed upon the upper end of said bolt for clamping said cover in position" (lines 16-25).
Date: May 8, 1888
Creator: Carrico, Thomas W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Bale Binder. (open access)

Cotton Bale Binder.

Patent for a new and improved cotton bale binder. This design "consists of a simple contrivance for binding cotton and other bales together when loaded on flat cars to prevent the load from being shaken apart and separated by the shocks and jolts of the car, and also to prevent the bales from being pulled off by cotton thieves, the said contrivance consisting of two or more hooks having pulleys or eyes strung on a rope, the rope being fastened to one of the eyes or pulleys forming one end of the binder, the hooks being caught in the bands of the bales" (lines 7-18).
Date: May 8, 1883
Creator: Burr, Lewis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mold and Mold Hoisting Apparatus for Building Concrete Walls. (open access)

Mold and Mold Hoisting Apparatus for Building Concrete Walls.

Patent for a new and improved concrete-raising apparatus. This design "consists in a mold in which a course of a wall can be formed, and in devices for raising the mold in the formation of another course. The invention also consists in details of construction and combination of parts" (lines 12-17).
Date: July 8, 1884
Creator: Carrico, Thomas Willson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hoeing Machine. (open access)

Hoeing Machine.

Patent for a new and improved hoeing machine. This design is "first, to provide a joint between the handle and the gage-wheel, and to insure such arrangement of parts as will enable the operator, by raising and lowering one hand, to give the blade an oscillating motion or swing it from right to left with the greatest ease, and without tipping or turning the wheel or changing too much the position of the blade in respect to the surface of the ground; second, to provide a double gage-wheel that will have all the advantages of a leaning gage-wheel and will also stand firmly by itself" (lines 14-26).
Date: November 8, 1887
Creator: Hurd, Judson B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spring Saddle. (open access)

Spring Saddle.

Patent for a new and improved spring-saddle. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the saddle-tree, the spiral springs secured in pairs under the lateral halves of the saddle-tree, and the stirrup-straps, of the metallic plates each provided with a series of holes about its edge for securing padding thereto, and with a notch and a slit at the middle of one side for the passage of the stirrup-straps" (lines 57-64).
Date: March 8, 1887
Creator: Quintero, Antonio Hidalgo
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway Car. (open access)

Railway Car.

Patent for improvements in railway car design to protect passengers against train robberies by a combination of "several walls of the compartment and doors connected therewith bullet-proof lining, and in providing several walls and doors, each with a series of port-holes" (lines 27-31) from which occupants can fire weapons in defense with accompanying illustrations.
Date: January 8, 1889
Creator: Warren, Gerald Patrick
System: The Portal to Texas History