4 Matching Results

Results open in a new window/tab.

Water Elevator. (open access)

Water Elevator.

Patent for a new and improved water elevator. This design "relates to improvements in water-elevators in which water is made to perform the operations heretofore performed by steam; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts . . . whereby the rarefaction of heated air is employed to raise or set in motion a continuous stream of water" (lines 14-21).
Date: January 25, 1881
Creator: Smith, William A. & Smith, Robert T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Cutting Basket Splints. (open access)

Machine for Cutting Basket Splints.

Patent for a new machine for cutting basket splints. This design is for a large ring with grooves of varying depths to receive pieces of timber, whereupon a horse pulls a knife-tipped sweep along the perimeter of the ring, gradually turning the timber into splints for baskets. The machine can be conveniently disassembled and stored when not in use, and it is simple and easy enough for a unskilled laborer to assemble.
Date: March 29, 1881
Creator: Crow, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design has an axle "provided with holes, so that the choppers or cultivators may be adjusted thereon to bring them nearer together or place them farther apart, as may be desired, to change the implement from a chopper to a marker or cultivator" (lines 30-35).
Date: April 26, 1881
Creator: Lindsey, James E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Drawer of Furniture, Store Fixture, &c. (open access)

Drawer of Furniture, Store Fixture, &c.

Patent for a new and improved chest of drawers. This design "consists, first, in a drawer applied upon side cleats or ledges, grooved longitudinally with the movement of the drawer, and having balls placed in such grooves in such a manner that they are kept separated and are free to roll or move longitudinally, and that they serve as bearings for the drawer, while they keep it from frictional contact with the cleats . . . second, in a novel mode of construction of cleats" (para. 1).
Date: June 7, 1881
Creator: Johnson, William H. & Whomes, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History