Design for a Cuspidor. (open access)

Design for a Cuspidor.

Design patent for a cuspidor. The sides of which are nearly perpendicular and the extended base-supporting flange of which is in the form of a rope or cable, while the upper edge is ornamented by milling.
Date: March 15, 1898
Creator: Hart, Samuel Harp
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination-Tool. (open access)

Combination-Tool.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in a combination tool, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 14, 1898
Creator: McCarty, William N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bale-Tie Opener. (open access)

Bale-Tie Opener.

Patent for "a simple and durable device by means of which the buckles or securing devices on cotton-bale ties or bands may be readily opened and the band removed from the bale without destroying the buckle or the band, so that they may be again used." (Lines 11-16) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 1, 1897
Creator: Gaskill, Clinton R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn-Power. (open access)

Churn-Power.

Patent for an improved construction design for churn power that "may be readily employed in connection with any ordinary vessel serving as a churn body, and which will effect a rapid production of butter" (lines 12-15).
Date: January 23, 1894
Creator: Taylor, Marion M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Composition of Matter for Removing Grease, &c. (open access)

Composition of Matter for Removing Grease, &c.

Patent for a compound that is meant to remove grease, oil, paint, and similar things from delicate cloth. It is composed of gasoline, chloroform, sulfuric ether, alcohol, spirits of ammonia, powdered borax, powdered carbonate of soda, and saltpeter in lumps.
Date: February 7, 1893
Creator: Ehman, Benedickt
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn-Harvester. (open access)

Corn-Harvester.

Patent for an improved, simple, and durable corn harvester that "when drawn over a field of corn of cutting the ears of corn from two rows simultaneously, and of depositing the cut corn in a receiver at the rear of the cutters" (lines 11-15).
Date: October 10, 1893
Creator: Perkins, James Edward
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn Power. (open access)

Churn Power.

Patent for a new and improved churn-power. This design "relates particularly to a vertical single-dasher reciprocating churn, and has for its object to provide a churn-power of the character that shall be simple and durable in construction, one that will give a maximum length of stroke, and one that will always keep the dasher elevated when not in operation" (lines 7-14).
Date: September 23, 1890
Creator: Dickey, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Burglar-Alarm (open access)

Burglar-Alarm

Patent for "a very simple and economically-constructed alarm mechanically connected with windows and doors of a house or a room and adapted to be sounded by a raising or opening of the same, and at the same time to strike a light or illuminate the surroundings (lines 10-15).
Date: October 7, 1890
Creator: Canterbury, Crawford R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Stalk Puller. (open access)

Cotton-Stalk Puller.

Patent for an improved machine for pulling cotton-stalks by making “the pulling-wheel turned in a direction to cause its side engaging the cotton-stalks to move rearwardly or in a direction opposite to that in which the machine is advancing” (lines 87-91), illustration is included.
Date: February 10, 1891
Creator: Womack, Lewis L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for an improvement in churn by using a combination of a sliding bar, a cord secured to the dasher-shaft, and vertical rods to create a mechanical movement that would wind and unwind the cord in order to operate the churn. Illustration is included.
Date: March 3, 1891
Creator: Crouch, Riley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Burglar-Alarm. (open access)

Burglar-Alarm.

Patent for a burglar-alarms by constructing “an alarm which would adapted and arranged to sound and to be operated at and by the raising of the window or opening of the door, and simultaneous with the sounding of the alarm to produce an illumination.” (Lines 10-15) Illustration is included.
Date: April 14, 1891
Creator: Canterbury, Crawford R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn-Power. (open access)

Churn-Power.

Patent for improvements in churns is to “simplify and improve the construction of the means for operating vertically-reciprocating churn-dashers and to enable the dasher to be adjusted vertically, according to the amount of lacteal fluid to be churned.” (Lines 11-15) Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Dickey, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon Step. (open access)

Wagon Step.

Patent for a new and improved wagon-step. This design "permit[s] a driver to mount or dismount without necessitating his [or her] dropping the reins, and which when not in use can be folded up out of the way of the wheels" (lines 14-17). It consists in "the rod provided at its upper end with a handle and journaled in suitable bearings and extending diagonally along the side of the body, and the step-brackets arranged at intervals along the rod and consisting of the stems rigidly secured to the rod and the steps formed integral with the stems and extending out horizontally therefrom" (lines 64-71).
Date: November 18, 1890
Creator: Thompson, Robert K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine. (open access)

Washing-Machine.

Patent for a washing machine that has an improved construction, is more efficient, and one that quickly and thoroughly washes clothes without damaging the clothes. The machine is a cylinder that has a crank-operated inner scrubbing cylinder. The machine has a spout in order to drain the cylinder.
Date: January 23, 1894
Creator: Walter, George P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ironing - Machine (open access)

Ironing - Machine

Patent for a new and useful improvements in ironing machines for household use to"produce a simple, effective, and inexpensive ironing-machine especially adapted for household or family use" (line 27 - 29).
Date: November 2, 1897
Creator: Walter, George P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk - Cutter. (open access)

Stalk - Cutter.

Patent for a new and useful improvements in stalk-cutters to "provide a simple, light, and durable machine by means of which three rows of stalks may be cut in one passage of the machine across the field" (line 13-16).
Date: January 11, 1898
Creator: Acre, William Floyd & Wafford, William Penn
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hydrocarbon-Burning Furnace. (open access)

Hydrocarbon-Burning Furnace.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in hydrocarbon burning furnaces, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 6, 1898
Creator: Gearing, Charles M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk-Breaker. (open access)

Stalk-Breaker.

Patent for a stalk-breaker that breaks "the stalks into small pieces and which will be under the control of the driver so as to be thrown in and out of gear at will, and in which the breaker mechanism will be so constructed that it will give when an unyielding substance is run against, thereby preventing breakage or damage to the machine" (lines 13-20).
Date: March 28, 1893
Creator: James, Will S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Process of Purifying Vegetable Oils. (open access)

Process of Purifying Vegetable Oils.

Patent for a process of purifying vegetable oils, specifically cottonseed oil, using a little or no soap-stock and without losing oil. It also improves the purifying process. This process is meant for crude oil, but can be used to further refine already refined oil.
Date: October 1, 1895
Creator: Latting, Richard G., Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nut Lock. (open access)

Nut Lock.

Patent for a keyed lock for nut and bolt that is removable and does not damage the threads.
Date: December 20, 1892
Creator: Crisp, James E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay Press. (open access)

Hay Press.

Patent for a new and improved hay-press. This design "consists in a horizontal frame having at its open end a pivoted and weighted abutment, a plunger adapted to reciprocate in the frame, a toggle-lever connecting the plunger with the closed end of the frame, and means for actuating the toggle-lever" (lines 14-20).
Date: September 30, 1890
Creator: Smith, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay Press (open access)

Hay Press

Patent for an improvement to hay press designs resulting in a "simple, durable, and effective press" (line 13). Instructions and illustrations are included.
Date: August 10, 1897
Creator: Couch, John Calvin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine. (open access)

Washing-Machine.

Patent for improvement in "the construction of washing-machines and increase their efficacy and produce a thorough rubbing of the clothes and to prevent the latter being torn or in any wise injured by the rubbing action," (lines 11-15) includes illustration.
Date: February 24, 1891
Creator: Walter, George P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine. (open access)

Washing-Machine.

Patent for improvements in washing-machines by using a combination of body, the shaft journaled in suitable bearings and extending beyond the body, the cog-wheel arranged on the extended end... and the rotary rubber.” (Lines 91-98, p.1 to lines1-6, p.2) Illustration is included.
Date: October 27, 1891
Creator: Walter, George P.
System: The Portal to Texas History