Farm Gate. (open access)

Farm Gate.

Patent for a new and improved farm gate. This design consists "[i]n a swinging-gate, the combination of a plate provided with notches upon its upper outer end and connected to the upper end of the inner gate-post, a lever pivoted to the plate and connected with the upper pintle of the gate, a latch pivoted to the lever and extending down through a slot therein to engage with the notches in the plate, and suitable cords and pulleys for operating the latch and lever" (lines 17-26).
Date: July 7, 1885
Creator: Akin, Leonidas T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press (open access)

Baling-Press

Patent for "a device of this class which shall be simple in construction, in which considerable power ma be exercised without the use of complicated machinery, and which shall be rapid and effective in operation" (lines 9-14).
Date: July 23, 1889
Creator: Anderson, Zachariah J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Door Check. (open access)

Door Check.

Patent for a new and improved door-check. This design consists in "the combination, with a sliding-bolt provided with a wedge-plate, of the catch or slide mounted on the bolt and capable of a limited longitudinal movement, and the adjustable bar arranged between the adjacent edges of the wedge-plate and the catch or slide and tapered toward its lower end to fit the edges of the wedge-plate and catch or slide, the said adjustable bar being provided with a stud which operates in a suitable transverse guide-slot, whereby the bar is held from longitudinal movement" (lines 26-37).
Date: February 26, 1889
Creator: Baker, Owen T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon Break (open access)

Wagon Break

Patent for improvements in wagon-breaks, with the object of providing simple, effective, and durable means by which the breaks may be applied by either foot or hand power (lines 8-12). Additionally, provides "improved means for altering the power of the breaks" (lines 18-19).
Date: September 18, 1888
Creator: Baker, Owen T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Printing Device (open access)

Automatic Printing Device

Patent for "improvements in automatic printing devices. . .whereby the printing is effected b the movement of the paper or fabric on which the printing is done" (lines 10-16).
Date: July 23, 1889
Creator: Barradall, Norborne D. & Bradley, Andrew Jackson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Anti-Freezing Tank Valve. (open access)

Anti-Freezing Tank Valve.

Patent for a new and improved tank valve. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the tank, its valve and lever, and valve-rod, of the frost-chamber having an annular space to receive the non-freezing compound, the stuffing-box around the rod and screw-threaded at the ends, and the screw-threaded caps . . . having necks and flanges" (lines 7-13).
Date: June 11, 1889
Creator: Barrett, William Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Retort Vaporizer and Superheater (open access)

Retort Vaporizer and Superheater

Patent for improvements for vaporizers "of simple and highly efficient means for thoroughly and effectively superheating the vapor of water and oil" (lines 13-15).
Date: March 26, 1889
Creator: Biddison, Stella D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Draw-Bridge (open access)

Draw-Bridge

Patent for improvements in the construction and design of draw bridges.
Date: August 14, 1888
Creator: Briggs, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Induction Coil. (open access)

Induction Coil.

Patent for a new and improved induction coil. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the bent core, the primary and secondary coils wound thereon, the adjustable armature connected to one pole (to form an extension thereof) and extending over the opposite pole, and the set-screw for moving the free end of the armature toward or from the disconnected pole to establish or break the magnetic circuit" (lines 5-12).
Date: June 11, 1889
Creator: Brown, Fred H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Magneto-Electric Telegraphy. (open access)

Magneto-Electric Telegraphy.

Patent for a machine that telegraphs messages between distant points by means of induced currents that produce magnets without the use of battery current, including illustrations.
Date: August 18, 1885
Creator: Brown, Fred H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Child's Crib (open access)

Child's Crib

Patent for new "suspended cribs or cradles for the use of children" (lines 17-18) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 8, 1880
Creator: Brown, Fred Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Child's Crib. (open access)

Child's Crib.

Patent for a new and improved child's crib. This design utilizes "a rock-shaft with inward-projecting arms, from the inner ends of which the cords are suspended, [and it] avoid[s] the friction and wear of the cords incident to the carrying of these through the screw-eyes, as shown in [a previous patent], making them last much longer, beside simplifying the construction of the crib" (lines 67-74).
Date: March 15, 1881
Creator: Brown, Fred Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oscillating Cradle. (open access)

Oscillating Cradle.

Patent for a new and improved oscillating cradle. This design utilizes a hand-crank and gears to gently rock the wooden cradle back and forth. Also connected to the crank is a wooden rod at the bottom which gently strikes a xylophone underneath.
Date: January 11, 1881
Creator: Brown, Fred Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Magneto-Telephonic Apparatus (open access)

Magneto-Telephonic Apparatus

Patent for an invention to improve transmitting vocals and other sounds. It is a magneto telephonic system based on an magnetic field of high intensity.
Date: May 4, 1886
Creator: Brown, Fred. H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway Rail and Chair. (open access)

Railway Rail and Chair.

Patent for a new and improved railway rail and chair combination. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the reversible rail and chair-plates . . . so as to leave an open crescent-shaped space below the middle part of the rail and above the inwardly projecting lips" (lines 94-98).
Date: August 2, 1881
Creator: Brown, Frederick H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rocking Chair. (open access)

Rocking Chair.

Patent for a new and improved rocking chair. This design "relates to an improvement in rocking chairs; and it consists in a detachable rocker and a clamp for securing the rocker to the legs of an ordinary chair for the purpose of converting the latter into a rocking chair" (lines 9-13).
Date: October 13, 1885
Creator: Brown, Frederick H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Center and Other Tables. (open access)

Center and Other Tables.

Patent for a new and improved table. This design consists "[i]n a table, stool, or other like article of furniture, the combination, with a slotted standard and rods extending across the slots, of the legs having dowel-pins entering holes in the under side of the table-top, and cam-shaped hooks connected to the legs and engaging with the slots and rods of the standard" (lines 73-79).
Date: September 15, 1885
Creator: Burroughs, William Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stomach-Bitters. (open access)

Stomach-Bitters.

Patent for improved stomach-bitters that promote and strengthen the appetite and general system, which lists the ingredients and proportions.
Date: June 21, 1887
Creator: Cooper, Isaac.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee Pot. (open access)

Coffee Pot.

Patent for a new and improved coffee pot. This design "has relation to that class of coffee-pots in which the body of the pot contains a cone-shaped chamber provided at the apex with a tube for the discharge of the boiling water as it passes through the same into a receptacle containing the coffee; and the object thereof is to improve the construction of this class of coffee-pots" (lines 12-19).
Date: December 29, 1885
Creator: Covington, Philip A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Refrigerator. (open access)

Refrigerator.

Patent for a new and improved refrigerator. This design "consist[s] of the cooling-box having top doors, the over-hanging frame, guide-pulleys, cords, and weights, the ice-box having an ice support or grate in its lower end, a water-tank in the upper end of said ice-box, and a discharge-pipe connected with the tank and having its lower portion disposed in coils below the ice support or grate" (lines 13-21).
Date: February 15, 1887
Creator: Dunn, William W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee-Roaster. (open access)

Coffee-Roaster.

Patent for a coffee roaster, including illustrations. The purpose of the coffee maker "is to provide an improved apparatus by which green coffee may be evenly, quickly, and economically parched or roasted to the desired degree without burning" (lines 8-12).
Date: October 31, 1882
Creator: Dunn, William Washington
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Wheel (open access)

Water Wheel

Patent for an "iron water-wheel made in sections, which may be readily taken apart for convenience and transportation" (Lines 10-12).
Date: May 12, 1885
Creator: Dunn, William Washington
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling (open access)

Car-Coupling

Patent for "an automatic car-coupling which may be uncoupled from the sides of the cars, and which will allow of a car on which it is provided being coupled to a car provided with the ordinary link-and-pin coupling" (lines 7-12).
Date: October 30, 1888
Creator: Eddleman, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Arc Lamp (open access)

Arc Lamp

Patent for improvements arc lamps that "will be uninfluenced by the jar of the locomotive" (lines 17-19). Consisting of carbon-carriers rotated by clock-train.
Date: July 10, 1888
Creator: Gaston, E. James
System: The Portal to Texas History