Buggy-Top Support (open access)

Buggy-Top Support

Patent for a buggy top support which has springs in it to absorb shocks from bumps and is compact.
Date: November 17, 1908
Creator: Martin, Edward G. & Miller, Joseph S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Door Mechanism (open access)

Car-Door Mechanism

Patent for a sliding car door mechanism.
Date: November 26, 1912
Creator: Gradick, Wiley Sr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn Planter Attachment. (open access)

Corn Planter Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved planter attachment. This design consists "of a suitable hopper which is to be attached to the side of the beam, a spring-actuated seed-slide, an extension or support which projects from one end of the hopper, a pivoted lever placed upon the extension and connected to the seed-slide at one end, a strap connected to the outer end of the lever, and the singletree to which the draft animal is secured . . . to convert any ordinary plow or cultivator into a corn-planter . . . which is operated by the pivoted motion of the singletree as the draft animal moves forward" (lines 14-29).
Date: November 13, 1888
Creator: Dean, Robert A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee Roaster. (open access)

Coffee Roaster.

Patent for a new and improved coffee roaster. This design "provides a means whereby [one] can utilize the heretofore wasted heat ascending the stove-pipe to roast coffee and other similar articles, thereby securing for other purposes the large amount of space over or near the fire heretofore occupied by the coffee-roaster; and the invention consists in a novel construction and arrangement of parts" (lines 13-21).
Date: November 30, 1880
Creator: Brown, Maurice T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Building Construction. (open access)

Building Construction.

Patent for a building construction method. After completion of typical foundation and framework construction, "interlocking slabs or tiles are secured to the framework to form an outer covering or sheathing for the building." The interlocking method requires no cementing of material yet still allows water to be shed. "Provision is also made for fastening slabs or tiles to the framework in a manner permitting rapid assembly of parts" which reduces building time. The invention can be applied to doors and windows as demonstrated in the illustrations.
Date: November 8, 1921
Creator: Walker, Isham P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wedge-Buckle. (open access)

Wedge-Buckle.

Patent for improvements in wedge-buckles by using a “combination of a stiff plate having wedge-shaped side jaws, of the strap having an inwardly-curved spring portion terminating in projections and flanges which engage the jaws, and adapted to be straightened outwardly in clamping a belt of band between the plate and strap” to (Lines 18-24, p. 2) Illustration is included.
Date: November 27, 1900
Creator: White, Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Weather Boarding Apparatus (open access)

Weather Boarding Apparatus

Patent for an apparatus to properly space and hold in position weather boards. Illustration included.
Date: November 1, 1904
Creator: Spear, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spark Arrester. (open access)

Spark Arrester.

Patent for a new and improved spark arrester. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the stack, of the upper and lower portions . . . of the inner cylinder, separated by the annular opening, the spiral wing-guide, the collar-flange, between the stack-wall and [a] section, and the cylindrical partition below said collar-flange in the flue" (lines 73-79).
Date: November 25, 1884
Creator: Jones, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Support for Telegraph and Telephone Wires. (open access)

Support for Telegraph and Telephone Wires.

Patent for a circular metal support for telegraph and telephone wires; including illustrations.
Date: November 11, 1913
Creator: Hoybook, Henry Levid
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Door (open access)

Grain-Door

Patent for a grain car door that keeps the grain securely in the railroad car.
Date: November 26, 1912
Creator: Gradick, Wiley, Sr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shoe-Plate. (open access)

Shoe-Plate.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in shoe plates, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 22, 1898
Creator: Long, Francis F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nutcracker. (open access)

Nutcracker.

Patent for a nutcracker with an adjustable jaw and a smaller number of parts.
Date: November 27, 1917
Creator: Gradick, Wiley, Sr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Attaching Horseshoes. (open access)

Device for Attaching Horseshoes.

Patent for a new and improved device for attaching horseshoes. This design "relates to improvements in means for attaching shoes to the hoofs of horses or mules without the use of nails; and the invention consists in . . . a nailless shoe [that] can be firmly and securely attached to the foot and detached therefrom without requiring the services of a smith" (lines 9-18). To this end, it consists in "the combination, with the shoe-plate and the toe-plate, of the toe-bar having a flange to engage the toe-plate, the bits, half-bands, and clamping-bolts" (lines 61-65).
Date: November 4, 1890
Creator: Mayow, Daniel L. & Castle, John M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit Coring and Halving Machine. (open access)

Fruit Coring and Halving Machine.

Patent for a new and improved fruit corer and halver. This design consists "[i]n a fruit cutter, the combination of the pivoted knives having laterally-concaved facing sides and curved inward to the edges at the upper ends, the arms extending from one side of said knives near their lower end, and the vertically-moving guide-plate provided with the longitudinal guide-grooves parallel at their upper and lower portions and curving inward to meet at their centers, into which grooves the ends of said arms enter for the purpose of opening and closing said knives" (lines 22-32).
Date: November 20, 1888
Creator: Harpst, Edgar S.
System: The Portal to Texas History