Cash-Box (open access)

Cash-Box

Patent for "a device adapted for persons making a great number of small collections, such as railway conductors" (lines 8-10).
Date: March 4, 1902
Creator: Peetz, John J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Expressing the Fluids Out of Paraffin Compositions and Separating the Scale Therefrom (open access)

Apparatus for Expressing the Fluids Out of Paraffin Compositions and Separating the Scale Therefrom

Patent for an apparatus for expressing the fluids out of paraffin compositions and separating the scale therefrom. Illustrations included.
Date: March 4, 1913
Creator: Hansen, Julius
System: The Portal to Texas History
Amusement Device (open access)

Amusement Device

Patent for an amusement device. This invention uses a ballast and simulates the appearance and motion of a floating ship under way. Illustrations included.
Date: March 28, 1911
Creator: Corneliussen, Ivar
System: The Portal to Texas History
Book Carriage and Protector. (open access)

Book Carriage and Protector.

Patent for a new and improved mobile bookcase. This design is "composed of a base-piece having a longitudinally-central raised table-piece adapted to support the leaves of the book, and a depressed-ledge portion outside thereof adapted to support the cover of the book" (lines 20-25).
Date: March 19, 1889
Creator: Leith, Lawrence C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clasp. (open access)

Clasp.

Patent for a new and improved clasp. This design "consist[s] of the front plate formed with the integral strap loop or slot at its upper end, the teeth at its lower end, and the opening above said teeth, the rear plate formed with integral teeth at its lower end, side ears at its upper end, and the lugs below said ears and projecting beyond the outer face of the plate, the spindle passing through the ears and provided with a spring throwing the plates apart, and the locking-plate pivoted at its upper end to the lugs and having a [different] lug projecting inward from said upper end" (lines 83-96).
Date: March 27, 1888
Creator: Lewis, Annie
System: The Portal to Texas History
Construction of Roofs. (open access)

Construction of Roofs.

Patent for improvements in the construction of roofs, including instruction.
Date: March 11, 1879
Creator: Boyd, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blotter. (open access)

Blotter.

Patent for "a combined hand-blotter, ruler, paper-cutter, and pen-rack... especially for the use of book-keepers and accountants," (lines 12-15) with instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 14, 1891
Creator: Betts, Walter & Herbert, William B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Handling Lint-Cotton. (open access)

Apparatus for Handling Lint-Cotton.

Patent for an apparatus for handling lint-cotton that allows air to move freely without back pressure while putting the fiber into a bat. It has a "trunk into which a series of gins deliver, of a primary condenser having a high surface speed, so that it will rapidly remove the fiber and prevent the bat from building up of such thickness as to check the escape of air, and a second condenser having a slower surface speed and arranged to receive the lint from the first condenser and form it into a thicker bat" (lines 29-37).
Date: March 19, 1895
Creator: Campbell, Douglas M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Collapsible Rim. (open access)

Collapsible Rim.

Patent for a collapsible rim for wheels, particularly the wheels of motor vehicles, to provide ease in changing tires. Instructions and illustrations are included.
Date: March 20, 1917
Creator: Rogers, Francis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automobile-Engine Hood and Drain-Trough Therefor. (open access)

Automobile-Engine Hood and Drain-Trough Therefor.

Patent for the creation of "an improved automobile hood and particularly drain trough" (lines 12-14) that have been adapted in order to reduce the risk of water leaking into the vehicle's engine.
Date: March 30, 1920
Creator: Stowe, George B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Arrangement of Devices for Lowering and Detaching Boats. (open access)

Arrangement of Devices for Lowering and Detaching Boats.

Patent for "lowering and detaching life and other small boats from large ships" (lines 5-7), including illustration.
Date: March 16, 1858
Creator: De Veuve, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Life-Saving Device. (open access)

Life-Saving Device.

Patent for a collapsible life-saving device that can be stored in little space on a ship or dock and unfolded quickly for use as a flotation device for several persons.
Date: March 18, 1913
Creator: Bradford, Thomas C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench. (open access)

Wrench.

Patent for an improved wrench that is effective and durable. Illustration and description included.
Date: March 28, 1916
Creator: Collier, Frank A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Letter Copying Press. (open access)

Letter Copying Press.

Patent for a new and improved copier. This design consists in "the combination of the dampening-roller . . . with the smoothing-roller at one side of and in close proximity to it and situated between said dampening-roller and the roll of paper, and the roller journaled in the standard, and the smoothing-rollers placed at one side and beyond the rollers . . . and journaled in brackets . . . whereby the paper is evenly and smoothly moistened before the copy-paper is applied and both are kept smooth during the process of copying" (lines 90-104).
Date: March 12, 1889
Creator: Thompson, Charles Albert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window Construction. (open access)

Window Construction.

Patent for window construction improvements to allow for construction of fireproof windows with fireproof sashes which are easily removable for repair or replacement. Improvements include method of securing glass in sashes without using putty, and sashes which will close automatically when subjected to "an unusually high temperature" (line 29).
Date: March 27, 1906
Creator: Miller, William Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window-Shade-Operation-Lever. (open access)

Window-Shade-Operation-Lever.

Patent for an invention that provides a simple and relatively inexpensive means for operating window shades without involving a spring roller.
Date: March 18, 1919
Creator: Lee, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Cooler. (open access)

Water Cooler.

Patent for a new and improved water cooler. This design consists in "vessels, packing, cross-bars in [a] compartment, connecting tube, coiled pipe, coupling, and faucet . . . [and] the swinging bracket arranged below the faucet, and having stands for two or more glasses," as well as casing and lining (lines 1-7).
Date: March 27, 1883
Creator: Schultze, August J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trap for Crustacea (open access)

Trap for Crustacea

Patent for a trap used to catch various crustaceans such as crabs and lobsters. Illustrations included.
Date: March 3, 1908
Creator: Franklin, Robert M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton-Bale Ties. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Bale Ties.

Patent for improved bale-tie fastener with flattened hook.
Date: March 10, 1874
Creator: Davis, Waters S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement In Bale-Ties. (open access)

Improvement In Bale-Ties.

This patent was crated for an improved way of manufactoring ties to hold packages together that consists of bale, hemp, cotton, rags or substances. It was created to reduce the rising costs or manufacturing products of this caliber.
Date: March 16, 1878
Creator: Davis, Water S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hydraulic Pump (open access)

Hydraulic Pump

Patent for a hydraulic pump. Illustration included.
Date: March 7, 1905
Creator: Russell, Robert H.; Arnold, Clifton W. & Sheldon, Walter L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Process of and Machine for the Use of Compressed Air as a Motive Power (open access)

Process of and Machine for the Use of Compressed Air as a Motive Power

Patent for "a new and useful Process of Operating Locomotives by Compressed Air," (lines 6-8) including illustrations.
Date: March 16, 1886
Creator: Tull, Francis Shales; Kuehn, Herman & Beers, William Francis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spirit-Level. (open access)

Spirit-Level.

Patent for a spirit level that is simple in construction and can easily determine vertical and horizontal planes accurately.
Date: March 13, 1906
Creator: Martin, Johann
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spool or Bobbin Holder. (open access)

Spool or Bobbin Holder.

Patent for a spool or bobbin holder that has a spindle with a flange on it, a retractable spring, an actuated catch, and a stem on the spindle.
Date: March 13, 1894
Creator: Homer, Arthur B.
System: The Portal to Texas History