Buckle. (open access)

Buckle.

Patent for a "buckle which may be quickly and readily attached to or detached from the straps and which will permit of the ready and rapid adjustment of the straps and at the same time will positively hold the same in their adjusted positions" (lines 13-18).
Date: September 1, 1903
Creator: Pool, Robert C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "[a] hand-lever and two chains as used in combination with the spring-latch catches. . . . [It further consists in a] brake-lever attached to main lever, a spring and spiral to hold said main lever in place, and a chain to main lever attached to the spring latch-catches aforesaid of each draw-head" (lines 53-59).
Date: September 8, 1885
Creator: Jernagan, Alexander Jefferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Hay and Cotton Presses. (open access)

Improvement in Hay and Cotton Presses.

Patent for a press that reduces the bulk of cotton, "allowing it to be baled into convenient form for transportation. It consists in a novel mode of attaching the side of the press-box, so that they can be speedily thrown down from the cotton after compression to allow its convenient manipulation. It also consists in a new mode of connecting the follower with its superposed lever, so that it can be readily turned up out of the way when the cotton is being filled into the press-box. It also consists in a peculiar mode of combining lever and the two followers to clamp and press the cotton in between them as if in a vise." (Lines 13-26) Illustration is included.
Date: July 22, 1873
Creator: Nelson, David A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tool for Cleaning Out Nuts. (open access)

Tool for Cleaning Out Nuts.

Patent for a tool for cleaning out internally-threaded apertures. This removes rust and dirt from screw-threads without damaging the threads, and is much less destructive than acid baths, heat, and screw-taps.
Date: September 22, 1896
Creator: Rall, Frederick A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Surface Cattle Guard. (open access)

Surface Cattle Guard.

Patent for a new and improved surface cattle-guard. This design "compris[es] a series of parallel triangular bars tapered at their ends and provided with lateral perforated horizontal flanges, the plates to which said flanges are secured, the cross-tie supports, and the solid plank flooring upon which said ties rest, said flooring being some distance below the guard-bars" (lines 55-62).
Date: September 20, 1892
Creator: Berry, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harrow-Tooth (open access)

Harrow-Tooth

Patent for an improvement in the device known as harrow tooth. Due to being constructed differently certain parts of the invention can be arranged any way the user wants and the harrow tooth is also capable of a more thorough cultivation and pulverization of soil which allows closer cultivation of crops or being more precise and thorough when digging up weeds.
Date: September 25, 1905
Creator: Smith, James Wilson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grave-Cover (open access)

Grave-Cover

Patent for a device to provide a temporary cover to open graves made of non-rusting materials with adjustable length.
Date: September 19, 1912
Creator: Rankin, Daniel H. & Cox, William, E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rail-Joint (open access)

Rail-Joint

Patent for rail joints which "requires no extra plates or parts like the usual joint; that is stronger and more durable; that it is more readily assembled and that the parts are efficiently united; that only one bolt is required..." (lines 9-14).
Date: September 5, 1916
Creator: Gilmore, Aaron W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nutcracker (open access)

Nutcracker

Patent for a nutcracker that can be used for a variety of types of nuts without crushing them.
Date: September 10, 1912
Creator: Moser, Frank W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit-Picker. (open access)

Fruit-Picker.

Patent for a fruit-picker that has a jaw or jaws that severs the stem of the fruit, a fabric tube that brings the fruit to the operator or a basket. It bruises the fruit less than other pickers do.
Date: September 24, 1895
Creator: Williams, Thomas Page
System: The Portal to Texas History