Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for "new and useful improvements in plows; and it has for its object the production of simple and highly-efficient means for regulating the depth and penetration of the plowshare in all kinds and conditions of soil." (Lines 10-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 22, 1895
Creator: Sinclair, James & Sellers, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bedstead. (open access)

Bedstead.

Patent for a new and improved bedstead. This design "consists in the provision of adjustable hangers for mattress-supports" (lines 12-13). To this end, it consists, "with the side and end rails having vertical mortises or grooves, the cap-plates covering the upper ends of the grooves or mortises and having threaded apertures, and a mattress-support, of the hangers respectively comprising the vertical shank or body seated in the grooves or mortises of the rails, and the horizontal branch extending inwardly from said shank or body and having a slot to seat the side and end bars" (lines 83-93).
Date: September 20, 1892
Creator: Currey, George Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cradle, Swing, and Clothes-Drier. (open access)

Combined Cradle, Swing, and Clothes-Drier.

Patent for "a cradle which may be easily and quickly converted into a child's swing or into a clothes rack or drier." (Lines 10-12) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 9, 1897
Creator: McMordie, William Emmett
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Wire-Fence Tool. (open access)

Combination Wire-Fence Tool.

Patent for a tool that combines pincers, a hammer head, jaws, etc., to be used for fence construction. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 23, 1897
Creator: Rubarth, Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brake-Lever. (open access)

Brake-Lever.

Patent for a brake lever that is locked by an arc-shaped ratchet-bar. There is "a pawl loosely mounted on the rear side of said lever and bearing against said side when the brake is set, said pawl being spring-actuated to move parallel with said side and project beyond the same and contact radially with the ratchet-teeth between said yoke" (lines 25-30).
Date: April 7, 1896
Creator: Burkett, Joseph B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Railway. (open access)

Electric Railway.

Patent for "a new and useful improvement in electric railways, and particularly to such railways as are adapted to use underground conduits, and has for its object to so construct such conduit and the line-wire connections therefor as to insure a constant connection between the line-wire and the motor of the car, and, further to greatly simplify and increase the efficiency of such systems." (Lines 8-17) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 14, 1896
Creator: Reid, Lemin Wallace
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harness-Rack. (open access)

Harness-Rack.

Patent for a simple harness rack that can be attached to a wagon bed, and is meant to conveniently hold harnesses when the horses are not hitched. The device can be turned out of the way when not being used.
Date: October 10, 1893
Creator: Kitching, John Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for a car-coupling that has a "simple construction which can be operated without going between the cars both in coupling and in uncoupling, and also to provide for adjusting the height of the coupler or draw head so that cars of different heights can be readily coupled" (lines 17-22).
Date: September 18, 1894
Creator: Duggan, Nicholas S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator. (open access)

Cultivator.

Patent for a cultivator that is easily adjustable and works between rows of plants. It consists of two expansible side-beams, a fixed cross bar, sliding cross bars, pivoted rods, and a toothed lever latch.
Date: April 11, 1893
Creator: Robinson, Nelson B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling (open access)

Car-Coupling

Patent for a new and improved design concerning automatic car couplings that is novel in the some of its parts.
Date: June 17, 1890
Creator: Bullock, Henry Purnell
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horse Detacher. (open access)

Horse Detacher.

Patent for a new and improved horse-detacher. This design "is to make a compound single-tree which, with certain attachments, will hold the traces securely or allow them to be drawn off the hooks if the horse should run; also, to hold up the shafts while the horse is passing therefrom" (lines 15-20). To this end, it consists in "[t]he combination, with the spring-held vibratory draft-rod having the loop, of the strap and the shaft, the latter carrying the oppositely-placed stirrup-arm and treadle-arm" (lines 74-78).
Date: September 16, 1890
Creator: Chamlee, Jeff D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ditching Machine. (open access)

Ditching Machine.

Patent for a new and improved ditching-machine. This design "consist[s] of the standards, block, handles, braces and round ears, axle and wheel having cogs, scoop provided with points, chute and side plates, elevator shaft, its upper end resting on the round band, elongated cups, rollers, and cog-wheels, shaft, inclined chute, [another] cog-wheel, arms, band, and rollers" (lines 87-95).
Date: November 4, 1890
Creator: Witt, William Carroll, Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Chemise (open access)

Chemise

Patent for improvements in chemises which would relieve wearers “the annoyance of having the garment gather about the limbs while walking which often produces great embarrassment in public places.” (Lines 42-45) Illustration is included.
Date: June 2, 1891
Creator: Burt, Emma Ruby
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trace Iron. (open access)

Trace Iron.

Patent for a new and improved trace-iron. This design "is to provide a new and improved trace-iron which is simple and durable in construction and arranged to readily connect with the end of the trace without the employment of rivets and which can be readily attached to or detached from the hame. The invention consists of two leaves pivotally-connected with each other and adapted to fold one on the other, one leaf being provided with a hook passing through an aperture in the other leaf and adapted to engage the trace" (lines 7-19).
Date: April 19, 1892
Creator: Dankworth, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tire Tightener. (open access)

Tire Tightener.

Patent for a new and improved tire-tightener. This design "has for its object to improve the means for lifting the felly so as to permit the insertion of a washer between the felly and the spoke, so as to take up any slack or looseness that may have occurred, and thus tighten the tire on the felly" (lines 15-20). It consists, "with a block adapted to be clamped to a spoke and an adjusting-screw, of a jaw operated by said screw and having its upper portion extended or curved to one side and then bifurcated to form two arms, each of which is provided with a fork adapted to lie against the under face" (lines 39-46).
Date: June 14, 1892
Creator: Cayce, Robert Walter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Thill-Coupling. (open access)

Thill-Coupling.

Patent for an improved thill coupling, one meant to "prevent the annoyance of nuts coming off, allowing the thill to come out of place" (lines 55-57). "It is also for the purpose of facilitating the changing of a pair of shafts for a tongue or a tongue for shafts" (lines 59-61).
Date: June 8, 1897
Creator: Kitching, David C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hame Hook. (open access)

Hame Hook.

Patent for a new and improved hame hook. This design "consists of a hook composed of two members hinged together and adapted to be clamped upon a hame-staple, one of the said members being provided with a pin adapted to project into an opening in the opposite member" (lines 14-19).
Date: January 13, 1891
Creator: Dankworth, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for improvement in plows by using a “combination of mold-board, land-bar, and share, which will effectually shed the land and prevent the latter from adhere to it.” (Lines 15-18) Illustration is included.
Date: May 26, 1891
Creator: Brown, William Franklin
System: The Portal to Texas History