Combined Harrow and Roller (open access)

Combined Harrow and Roller

Patent for a combined harrow and roller for pulverizing and eliminating unwanted growth from the ground. Illustrations included.
Date: April 9, 1912
Creator: Younger, Walter E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clothes-Drier (open access)

Clothes-Drier

Patent for a clothes drier that is constructed to surround a stove or heater.
Date: April 18, 1916
Creator: Gallsworthy, Benjamin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Demountable Rim. (open access)

Demountable Rim.

Patent for improved demountable rims for automobiles that are easy to mount and detach as well as cheaper and easier to manufacture.
Date: April 27, 1920
Creator: McPherson, Arthur Edison
System: The Portal to Texas History
Book-Holding Device (open access)

Book-Holding Device

Patent for a book-holding device that will keep books open by holding back turned pages, with illustrations.
Date: April 20, 1920
Creator: Barry, David Redmond
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil-Burner. (open access)

Oil-Burner.

Patent for oil burner adapted for using heavy oil (with wide flat flame) for distribution (wide flat flame with adjustable burner tip).
Date: April 26, 1921
Creator: Chadbourne, Vaughn, R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water-Heater. (open access)

Water-Heater.

Patent for a water heater for use in creating steam for oil and gas boilers, which heats faster than previous models.
Date: April 5, 1910
Creator: Hardie, Jeffie Watkins
System: The Portal to Texas History
Log-Loading Mechanism. (open access)

Log-Loading Mechanism.

Patent for a machine that hauls and loads logs upon cars from either side of the track, or both sides at once. The machine can easily be transported on a car. The machine "consists, essentially, in a platform of about the length of an ordinary log-car and of a height and width to enable it to span the same, mounted upon which are a steam engine and a boiler and a rotating crane, said platform being provided with pivoted legs for holding it above the track, with pivoted legs for holding it above the track, with means for locking said legs in a vertical position" (lines 23-30).
Date: April 14, 1896
Creator: Fletcher, William Andrew
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tubular Tank Inspector And Gage (open access)

Tubular Tank Inspector And Gage

Patent for a tubular tank inspector and gage. This invention is designed for the measuring level of fluids in the tank. Illustration included.
Date: April 2, 1907
Creator: Gregson, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvements in Processes of Distillation and Apparatus Therefor (open access)

Improvements in Processes of Distillation and Apparatus Therefor

Patent for improvements in processes of distillation and apparatus therefor in petroleum refineries.
Date: April 30, 1918
Creator: Prichard, George L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement In Percussion-Shells. (open access)

Improvement In Percussion-Shells.

This patent was created for individuals to be able to hit an object with the instrument and the oject immediately explodes on impact. It then produces an excessive amount of explosions. The invention is made out of shells with sections assembled together infused with different substances, and connected by a fuse.
Date: April 9, 1878
Creator: Urquhart, John M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Craft. (open access)

Water Craft.

Patent for a "bathing float equipped with propelling means" (lines 10-11) and a "depressible platform combined with ... a diving rudder" to allow the front part of the craft to dive underneath the water (lines 13-15).
Date: April 27, 1915
Creator: Caldwell, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mining Sulfur. (open access)

Mining Sulfur.

Patent for a method of mining sulfur and other things that have similar melting points that is less expensive and more efficient than previous methods. A machine sprays hot fluid at fissures where the mineral exists, melts it, and carries it away in the stream.
Date: April 27, 1897
Creator: Higgins, Pattillo & Carroll, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trace-Fastener (open access)

Trace-Fastener

Patent for a trace fastener for whippletrees. This is a device that "provide[s] a simple, efficient, reliable fastener which will when in use, at all times and under all circumstances, hold the trace in connection with the end of the whiffletree [sic] and which will prevent undue wear on the cockeye or hole in the end of the trace." (Lines 9-16)
Date: April 2, 1901
Creator: Nichols, Charlie M. & Burnett, Charles M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mill-Carriage-Wheel Guard. (open access)

Mill-Carriage-Wheel Guard.

Patent for a new mill-carriage-wheel guard "to prevent obstruction falling on the wheels or on the [railroad] track, this guard also carries scrapers in front and in rear and on each side of the wheel, whereby the obstructions are scraped off the track." (Lines 23-28) This guard can be used with a wood-working machine carriages and/or rail.” Illustration is included.
Date: April 28, 1891
Creator: Zimmerman, Joseph W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Process of Producing Briquets (open access)

Process of Producing Briquets

Patent for a process of producing briquets.
Date: April 5, 1904
Creator: Davidson, John Milne
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stump-Puller. (open access)

Stump-Puller.

Patent for an improved design for a stump-puller, using a hoisting derrick and lever to attach to the stump and pull it from the ground.
Date: April 23, 1918
Creator: Weese, Frank
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rail-Joint (open access)

Rail-Joint

Patent for a rail joint.
Date: April 21, 1903
Creator: Hauptmann, Alexis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electrical Apparatus for Heating Stills, Boilers, and the Like. (open access)

Electrical Apparatus for Heating Stills, Boilers, and the Like.

Patent for "Improvements in Electrical Apparatus for Heating Stills, Boilers, and the like" (lines 6-8) that uses electricity and includes "a heating element which is not affected by repeated changes in temperature, which is adapted to present a heating surface of large area, which may be raised to a high temperature with a low current, and which is many times more economical in use than metal coils possessing less heat radiating powers" (lines 21-28) including illustrations.
Date: April 9, 1918
Creator: Lorenz, Charles O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Firearm (open access)

Firearm

Patent for an improved firearm. This firearm that can transform from a rifle to a shotgun using separate barrels but the same stock mechanism.
Date: April 25, 1916
Creator: Burnaman, Joseph H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shear-Sharpener. (open access)

Shear-Sharpener.

Patent for an improved shear sharpener which has a "new and novel construction by which shears are quickly and properly sharpened, ... whereby a shear is held at the proper bevel while being moved over an oilstone or the like" (lines 12-16), including illustrations.
Date: April 3, 1906
Creator: Jeffrey, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spring-Wheel (open access)

Spring-Wheel

Patent for a wheel with a solid tire and elastic support. Illustrations included.
Date: April 4, 1911
Creator: Sharp, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Journal-Bearing (open access)

Journal-Bearing

Patent for a self-lubricating journal bearing that is protected from foreign matter. Illustrations included.
Date: April 13, 1909
Creator: Lanaux, Alfred A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pictorial Firmament Machine. (open access)

Pictorial Firmament Machine.

Patent for a hollow globe with a map of the stars and planets positions on one side that has lights on the inside of the globe to project the placement of the stars and planets on a ceiling.
Date: April 4, 1911
Creator: Jones, Oliver Pinkney
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rail-Joint (open access)

Rail-Joint

Patent for a rail joint that locks securely and will not sag.
Date: April 30, 1912
Creator: White, John
System: The Portal to Texas History