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
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
Device for Cutting Boiler Tubes. (open access)

Device for Cutting Boiler Tubes.

Patent for a new device for cutting boiler-tubes. This design "is to be adjusted a distance from the head sufficiently in excess of the thickness of the tube sheet to prevent injury to the latter. The device is then inserted into the end of the tube, with the head abutting against the outside of the tube-sheet. By turning the screw the wedges may then be drawn toward each other, thus forcing the block carrying the cutter outward. The device is now to be turned by the shank alternately with feeding the cutter outward until the tube has been cut through, after which it may be readily removed" (lines 75-88).
Date: April 18, 1882
Creator: Franklin, James Johnson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Axle Box. (open access)

Car Axle Box.

Patent for a new and improved car-axle box. This design "consists in an improved cap for the box, a dust guard or plate, and packing for the same, the object being to render the axle-box dust and oil tight" (lines 14-17).
Date: May 30, 1882
Creator: Scott, James O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device For Converting Motion. (open access)

Device For Converting Motion.

Patent for a device that converts "regular rotary motion into irregular reciprocating motion" (lines 15-16) which includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 26, 1886
Creator: Shellenberger, Samuel L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit Picker. (open access)

Fruit Picker.

Patent for a new and improved fruit picker. This design "is to provide a picker that may be adjusted in length to suit trees of different heights. A further object is to provide a picker with a fruit-receptacle, which is constructed of wire gauze or netting to adapt the same to be introduced readily between branches that are close together; and a further object is to provide a picker which is simple in construction, and can be cheaply made and not liable to get out of order" (lines 16-26).
Date: June 18, 1889
Creator: Harpst, Edgar S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Detachable and Adjustable Roller. (open access)

Detachable and Adjustable Roller.

Patent for a new and improved hand-truck. This design consists in "the combination, with the sections . . . arranged parallel to each other and adapted to have a combined longitudinal and lateral motion with reference to each other . . . rollers located upon the under side of said sections, and the spurs on the upper faces at each end, of the braces . . . located, respectively, upon the lower and upper faces of the device and diagonally across the same, and pivoted at each end to said sections . . . the openings provided on said sections, and the dowels on said sections" (lines 68-80).
Date: October 1, 1889
Creator: Delany, John L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Axle Box. (open access)

Car Axle Box.

Patent for a new and improved car-axle box. This design consists "[i]n an axle-box, the combination, with the box having the wedge-shaped projections and slots, of the cover having pins and wedge-shaped recesses formed between said pins and the top of the lid, whereby the gravity of the cover will wedge it to the box when the pins are without a bearing" (lines 52-58).
Date: June 9, 1885
Creator: Scott, James O.
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
Bale Tie. (open access)

Bale Tie.

Patent for a new and improved bale tie. This design consists in "[t]he buckle, having the side re-entering angles, the bars, and the slot the edges at the apices of the re-entering angles being expanded . . . with strengthening-fins formed therein" (lines 65-70). This novel construction and combination of parts allows for "the provision of a tie-buckle that can readily be applied without extraneous fastening devices either with the tie or the buckle itself, and one which can be repeatedly used, and one which can be manufactured at a minimum expense and with the least possible waste of material" (lines 10-16).
Date: June 7, 1887
Creator: Copeland, Eliza A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Handling Brick. (open access)

Apparatus for Handling Brick.

Patent for an apparatus for handling brick "whereby the number of brick handled by a single hand may be greatly increased" (lines 9-11) including illustrations.
Date: January 3, 1888
Creator: Aber, Edgar
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Cleaner. (open access)

Cotton-Cleaner.

Patent for a machine "for the purpose of cleaning the cotton before it is ginned, and thus free it from foreign substances and produce a better grade of cotton than that which is ginned without being previously cleaned" (lines 15-19).
Date: April 28, 1885
Creator: Tucker, Stephen
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Corn Planter and Fertilizer Distributer. (open access)

Combined Corn Planter and Fertilizer Distributer.

Patent for a device that can be used both to plant corn and apply fertilizer to fields.
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Arnold, William Noah
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
Clothes Hook. (open access)

Clothes Hook.

Patent for a new and improved clothing hook. This design utilizes elastic, vulcanized rubber end-pieces for the hooks to hold the article of clothing more effectively. These end-pieces can be produced more cheaply than their threaded-metal counterparts, which require screwing on.
Date: March 29, 1881
Creator: Delany, John L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton cutter. This design consists in "the combination [of] the two-part shaft having bearings in the frame and supported on the wheels of [a] removable wheel, secured upon the end of [a] portion and having the spokes and cups at the ends thereof, arranged to operate between the adjustable plows" (lines 62-68).
Date: May 31, 1881
Creator: Smith, Joseph F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Picker's Shade. (open access)

Cotton Picker's Shade.

Patent for a new and improved cotton picker's shade. This design "consists of a portable frame having an adjustable and detachable awning or shade . . . for the use of cotton-pickers and others whose vocation obliges them to work in the field during the hot season" (lines 19-23).
Date: June 14, 1881
Creator: Arnold, William Noah
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling-press. This design consists in "the ordinary framing, shell, or case for containing the material and stationary lower platen or bed are used, the upper platen being the movable one to effect the compression. This upper platen is brought down upon the material for its compression by the lowering of screw-threaded rods to which it is attached, such lowering being effected by the rotation of rotating nuts in fixed bearings taking on such screw-threaded rods" (lines 25-35).
Date: January 25, 1887
Creator: Brown, Maurice T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive Valve Gear. (open access)

Locomotive Valve Gear.

Patent for a new and improved valve-gear. This design "is especially designed for locomotive-engines; and the invention consists of a combination of rockers, shafts, arms, levers, links, and connecting-rods worked from the cross-head of the locomotive exclusively, and so arranged as to give the valve a correct motion" (lines 7-13).
Date: December 8, 1885
Creator: Lewis, Wallace James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lubricant (open access)

Lubricant

Patent for a lubricant which consists "of a gelatinous and fibrous material" (lines 14-15), containing description of creation and uses.
Date: April 6, 1886
Creator: Marshall, Edward S. & Savage, Robert W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive Valve-Gear. (open access)

Locomotive Valve-Gear.

Patent for improvement to the locomotive valve-gear by utilizing a centrally-pivoted lever.
Date: January 11, 1887
Creator: Lewis, Wallace James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam-Engine (open access)

Steam-Engine

Patent for a steam engine, improving on the original design so as to "provide a steam-engine having few parts so as to avoid the use of eccentrics, slide-valve, valve-rod, piston and connecting rods, stuffing-boxes, and glands, thus increasing the actual power by decreasing the friction" (lines 26-31).
Date: January 1, 1889
Creator: Harpst, Edgar S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stamping or Dating Machine (open access)

Stamping or Dating Machine

Patent for new and useful improvements to printing or stamping machines.
Date: October 29, 1889
Creator: Spivey, Edward Franklin & Spivey, George Washington
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Motor (open access)

Mechanical Motor

Patent for "a motor of cheap and simple construction, which is adapted for driving various classes of light machinery, and more especially for use in connection with fans, such as are commonly used for creating currents of air in bar-rooms, dining-rooms, and the like" (lines 16-22).
Date: July 9, 1889
Creator: Harpst, Edgar S.
System: The Portal to Texas History