Improvement in Saws. (open access)

Improvement in Saws.

Patent for improvements to circular or straight saws that steady the saw and prevent vibration and buckling. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 19, 1871
Creator: Littlepage, Caleb V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Methods of Forming Saw-Teeth. (open access)

Improvement in Methods of Forming Saw-Teeth.

Patent for "a rule for giving to the backs of saw-teeth such an angle as will allow the teeth to be made of proper strength and at the same time to be chambered out and pointed so that they will cut the wood like chisels instead of scraping or tearing the wood." (Lines 14-19) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 19, 1871
Creator: Littlepage, Caleb V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Breech-Loading Fire-Arm (open access)

Breech-Loading Fire-Arm

Patent for a new and improved breech-loading firearm. This design "consists in the devices for opening the breech-block and ejecting the cartridge-shell by one and the same motion that cocks the gun, and also in a spring and pitman arranged with the breech-block" (para. 2).
Date: December 4, 1877
Creator: Petmecky, Joseph C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Corn and Cotton Planter. (open access)

Improvement in Corn and Cotton Planter.

Patent for a "new and improved corn and cotton planter" (lines 3-4), to plant both cotton and corn seed,including instructions and illustrations. The configuration includes a new combination of parts.
Date: December 25, 1877
Creator: Domschke, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Gang Plow and Cultivator. (open access)

Improvement in Gang Plow and Cultivator.

Patent for "a new and improved gang plow and cultivator" (lines 3-4), including instructions and illustrations. "This invention relates to a new agricultural machine which may be readily changed from a gang-plow into a cultivator, and vice-versa" (lines 15-17).
Date: December 18, 1877
Creator: Domschke, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Loading Cotton-Bales, &c. (open access)

Apparatus for Loading Cotton-Bales, &c.

Patent for an apparatus for loading cotton-bales onto trucks from the compress. It is comprised of a cylinder, a piston, a piston rod, an inlet and exhaust pipes and a valve, a chain with grapnels at one end end and the other end is connected to the piston rod, a sheave, an adjustable slidable trip rod, a pivoted trip lever connected to the cylinder, a four armed lever connected to the valve, and connecting rods.
Date: December 24, 1895
Creator: Thompson, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench. (open access)

Wrench.

Patent for a nut-wrench capable of tightening different sized nuts. The lower jaw of the wrench has different levels, the overall effect being that of a staircase, while the upper jaw is flat with a bite that holds the nuts in place.
Date: December 15, 1896
Creator: Tiner, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Type-Writing Machine for the Blind (open access)

Type-Writing Machine for the Blind

Patent for "an improvement in machines for the production of writings for the blind, under what is technically termed the point system" (lines 8-11).
Date: December 30, 1890
Creator: Sthreshley, Lizzie
System: The Portal to Texas History
Suspenders. (open access)

Suspenders.

Patent for new and improved suspenders. This design "has for its object to provide a simple and inexpensive article of this character which will avoid the objections to the present form of suspenders" (lines 10-13). More specifically, it "consists in providing a suspender which will be attached on each side by a button or stud to the shirt near the apex of the shoulder, close to the collar-band, then bringing the ends together under the arms, and then about half-way between the arms and the top of the pantaloons, uniting the ends in a buckle of any suitable design" (lines 36-41).
Date: December 16, 1884
Creator: Stuart, John Arthur
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway-Tie (open access)

Railway-Tie

Patent for a railway tie that can be "firmly secured in the road-bed and which will hold single or double rails" (lines 10-11) so that they cannot be accidentally displaced, including illustrations.
Date: December 1, 1891
Creator: Budington, Albert G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harness Saddle. (open access)

Harness Saddle.

Patent for a new and improved harness saddle. This design "consist[s] of the central arched portion, having the central perforation and side notches, the hook having the screw and nut and lugs, and the jockeys, the latter hinged to the arch . . . and the pads" (lines 65-70).
Date: December 4, 1888
Creator: Vogtsberger, Emil
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fuel Produced From Lignite. (open access)

Fuel Produced From Lignite.

Patent for the process by which fuel is created from lignite coal.
Date: March 16, 1891
Creator: Edelmann, Albert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Abdominal Supporter. (open access)

Abdominal Supporter.

Patent for a new and improved abdominal supporter. This design "consist[s] of the waist-belt, the abdominal sector-shaped pads hung from the waist-belt by elastic straps, the straps buttoned to the belt behind and to the bottom of the abdominal pads in front, the side straps connecting the abdominal pads with the pieces at the back, and the front strap connecting the two abdominal pads together with the shoulder-straps" (lines 70-79).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Gray, Harriet N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Badge or Medal. (open access)

Design for a Badge or Medal.

Design patent for a round souvenir badge or medal that has an image of a star on the front with a portrait in the center, and rays emanating toward the outside edge used for text. The back of the medal has an image of the Texas state capitol and spaces for additional text. The design also includes a suspending-bar shaped as a bald eagle with spread wings, holding crossed rifles.
Date: December 6, 1887
Creator: Maxcy, John Wharton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling (open access)

Car Coupling

Patent for a rail car coupling. Illustration included.
Date: December 4, 1906
Creator: Yeiser, John Clarke & Story, Leonidas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Non-Explosive Oil-Container. (open access)

Non-Explosive Oil-Container.

Patent for a protective screen of refractory filaments for "containers holding inflammable, explosive fluids such as naphtha, benzin, gasolene, etc." (lines 10-12)
Date: December 12, 1911
Creator: Ziller, Robert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Base-Ball Score-Card (open access)

Base-Ball Score-Card

Patent for a baseball score card that has spaces for putting the players name on the card from both teams on the same side.
Date: December 5, 1911
Creator: Dealey, Walter A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cultivator and Planter. (open access)

Combined Cultivator and Planter.

Patent for a new part that attaches to an ordinary cultivator. The device has a plow that runs in front, and a planting mechanism that spreads seeds in the plowed rows. This device makes it possible to plough and plant in one sweep of the field.
Date: December 31, 1901
Creator: Noren, Peter O. & Clyburn, Mile D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Concentrator, Amalgamator, and Separator (open access)

Combined Concentrator, Amalgamator, and Separator

Patent for improvements to a Combined Concentrator, Amalgamator, and Separator used for ore and gravel.
Date: December 3, 1901
Creator: Journeay, William O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Crayon-Holder (open access)

Crayon-Holder

Patent for a new and useful crayon holder, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 19, 1899
Creator: Yates, Robert T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blind-Slat Fastener. (open access)

Blind-Slat Fastener.

Patent for improvements in blind-slat fasteners, in which it holds the blinds so that air can pass through. Illustration is included.
Date: December 14, 1909
Creator: Riley, John Brizendine
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water-Heater (open access)

Water-Heater

Patent for a device whereby water or other liquid may be heated instantaneously. (line 10-11)
Date: December 12, 1905
Creator: Hutchins, Rufus J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hitching-Strap. (open access)

Hitching-Strap.

Patent for a strap to attach an animal to a hitching-post, especially a smooth one, to avoid slipping or accidental loosening by the animal with "an improved slidable catch" (line 18).
Date: December 11, 1900
Creator: Jacobsen, Frederik August
System: The Portal to Texas History
Germ-Destroyer for Telephone-Mouthpieces. (open access)

Germ-Destroyer for Telephone-Mouthpieces.

Patent for destroying disease causing germs in the mouth-piece of a telephone.
Date: December 18, 1900
Creator: Lacey, Lewis Lorenzo
System: The Portal to Texas History