Automatic Gun or Rifle. (open access)

Automatic Gun or Rifle.

Patent for a gun or rifle with a magazine, which quickly and automatically ejects spent cartridges and reloads.
Date: May 7, 1912
Creator: Douglas, William M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bicycle (open access)

Bicycle

Patent for a bicycle propelled by the front wheel. Illustrations included.
Date: May 17, 1910
Creator: Franklin, Robert M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Composition For Roofing And Paving. (open access)

Composition For Roofing And Paving.

Patent for a process "to produce a compound which is strong, tenacious, and pliable, which will not be affected by climatic changes, and which will resist the corrosive action of acids and alkalies; and to this end my invention consists in a compound composed of asphaltum, pine-tar, and oxide of iron, as will more fully hereinafter appear.” (Lines 8-15) Includes instructions.
Date: May 9, 1882
Creator: Lee, Archibald K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Circular Railroad or Round About. (open access)

Circular Railroad or Round About.

Patent for novel improvements on circular railroads, and also to means for propelling a turn-table on which the carriages are secured.
Date: August 22, 1882
Creator: Sturm, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bottle. (open access)

Bottle.

Patent for a bottle that has a mechanism near its opening, and when the cork is pulled out, it becomes impossible to refill the bottle and use it again. The point of this bottle is so that after it has been sealed, it cannot be opened and emptied without apparent evidence that it has been opened.
Date: May 4, 1897
Creator: Phillips, George C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Freezing Wine. (open access)

Apparatus for Freezing Wine.

Patent for a device that cools wine and liquor. The device "will produce the desired results in much shorter time than is now employed by the common method and apparatus" (lines 11-14).
Date: May 9, 1893
Creator: Wadhams, Arthur
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blind Slat Adjuster. (open access)

Blind Slat Adjuster.

Patent for a new and improved blind adjuster. This design consists in "[a] shutter-stop consisting of a slotted bar linked to the end of the slat-actuating rod of a shutter, in combination with a plate having a spur on one side and a screw-threaded stud on the other, a washer, and a thumb-nut" (lines 93-97).
Date: May 4, 1886
Creator: Lewis, Paulinus Aloysius
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination-Lock. (open access)

Combination-Lock.

Patent for improvement upon a combination-lock.
Date: May 1, 1888
Creator: Bergman, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Fender. (open access)

Car-Fender.

Patent for a simple car-fender that improves on the types of "fenders which are attached to the front end of street and other car trucks for the purpose of saving human life by preventing a body from being thrown under the car wheels" (lines 10-14). The invention does not let a body under the car wheels.
Date: May 22, 1894
Creator: Rau, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mailing-Box. (open access)

Mailing-Box.

Patent for a mailing box with curves and grooves to fit the cover and securing string with illustrations and assembly instructions.
Date: May 11, 1880
Creator: Sabin, Chauncey Brewer
System: The Portal to Texas History
Toy (open access)

Toy

Patent for a toy particularly adapted for the amusement of small children.
Date: May 29, 1914
Creator: Boyle, Frank J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Steaming and Cleansing Barrels, & c. (open access)

Apparatus for Steaming and Cleansing Barrels, & c.

Patent for an improved apparatus for steaming and cleaning barrels for the reception of resin, turpentine, oils, molasses, sirups, and other like liquids.
Date: May 5, 1873
Creator: Lee, Archibald K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Amusement Device. (open access)

Amusement Device.

Patent for a Ferris wheel in which the passenger cars rotate horizontally in addition to rotating vertically with the direction of the main wheel.
Date: May 24, 1921
Creator: Lindamood, Roy S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window-Screen (open access)

Window-Screen

Patent for a window screen. Illustrations included.
Date: May 28, 1907
Creator: Kemmerling, Warren
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vegetable Grater and Slicer. (open access)

Vegetable Grater and Slicer.

Patent for an improvement on vegetable graters or slicers. The design allows for more efficient cutting of the vegetables and allows for gravity to feed the vegetables through the slicer and avoiding injury to the operator. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Weitzel, Jacob F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Laundry-Iron (open access)

Laundry-Iron

Patent for improvements to heating and use of irons used for laundry.
Date: May 15, 1883
Creator: Pedder, James Nagel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mail-Bag-Delivering Apparatus. (open access)

Mail-Bag-Delivering Apparatus.

Patent for "a device for effecting the receipt of bags and the like from and the delivery thereof to railway trains, cars, etc., while the latter are in motion" (lines 11-14), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 21, 1918
Creator: Kost, Joseph L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Internal Combusion System (open access)

Internal Combusion System

Patent for new and useful Internal-Combustion Engine. Improves the provision of an engine which the cylinder is provided with a semi-spherical upper end, fr the rotatable reception of similar shaped power cylinder carrying shell. Specification of letter patent with illustration. Serial number 789.146
Date: May 12, 1914
Creator: Clough, George G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine For Sealing Newspapers. (open access)

Machine For Sealing Newspapers.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in machines for sealing newspapers, &c.
Date: May 3, 1898
Creator: Sundstorm, Herman T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Cutting off the Soiled Butts of Grain Stalks. (open access)

Machine for Cutting off the Soiled Butts of Grain Stalks.

Patent for a new and improved cutting machine for grain stalks. This design consists in a "table slotted in its middle part and slotted and recessed at or near one edge, the parallel endless bundle-carrying chains working in said slots and having arms, the chain-wheels, the shafts thereof and their supports, the circular saw in the recess at the edge of the table, the mandrel and the gage-plate" (lines 98-105).
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: Becker, Lothar
System: The Portal to Texas History
Index (open access)

Index

Patent for "a simple and compact index in which the available space will be utilized as perfectly as possible". (lines 10-13) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 22, 1900
Creator: Hausinger, Henry August
System: The Portal to Texas History
Indicator For Bottles (open access)

Indicator For Bottles

Patent for an indicator to show the amount of liquid removed and the amount remaining for bottles or other liquid packages of different dimensions and will help improve the process of refilling the bottle after liquid has been removed.
Date: May 8, 1906
Creator: Frkovic, Frank Andre
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lighting Apparatus for Vehicles. (open access)

Lighting Apparatus for Vehicles.

Patent for a useful lighting apparatus for vehicles in general by using a power-transmitting belt properly mounted on to the car-wheels to “which energy may be drawn from the wheels of the car and supplied to a lighting-dynamo.” (Lines 12-14) Illustration is included.
Date: May 21, 1901
Creator: Brady, Alford
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Turpentine-Stills. (open access)

Improvement in Turpentine-Stills.

Patent for improvement in turpentine distillation and purification with bleaching and refinement.
Date: May 6, 1873
Creator: Lee, Archibald K.
System: The Portal to Texas History