Cuff Button and Holder. (open access)

Cuff Button and Holder.

Patent for a new and improved cuff button and holder. This design consists in "[a] cuff button and holder having in combination a shank-plate, two buttons, one attached at each end of the shank-plate, and a clamp-bar, one end of which is for attachment to the shirt-sleeve, and the other end having a device to couple with said shank-plate" (lines 1-6).
Date: August 11, 1885
Creator: Stuart, John A. & Woodmansee, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a plow carriage, having a sprocket-wheel attached to the driving-wheel, and a rotary mold-board provided with a sprocket-hub having bearings in the plow-beam, of a shaft journaled upon the carriage-frame provided with toggle or universal joints, and suitable chain or belt connections for the sprocket-wheels" (lines 69-76).
Date: August 6, 1889
Creator: Kirk, Johnathan P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate. (open access)

Gate.

Patent for a new and improved gate. This design "relates to improvements in gates of that class known as 'tilting and folding' gates, and is designed to produce a gate that will automatically lock itself when down and close the passage by means which will not interfere in the least with the operation of the tilting" (lines 9-15).
Date: August 4, 1885
Creator: Howe, Charles P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Eraser for Blackboards. (open access)

Eraser for Blackboards.

Patent for a new and improved blackboard eraser. This design "is composed of a block fashioned out of any suitable material—wood preferred— with a suitable handle, and provided with a base having a bed rounding in shape, provided with a rabbet following its edge, one side of which is beveled and the other plain, the two sides of said rabbet forming an obtuse angle about the entire perimeter of the said block" (lines 15-23).
Date: August 12, 1884
Creator: Kempen, Adolph H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Engine. (open access)

Rotary Engine.

Patent for a new and improved rotary engine. This design consists "[i]n a rotary engine, the combination of the wheel having two circumferential channels and radial recesses, with the notched pistons, fitted in the radial recesses of the wheel, and the adjustable cam connected with the side casings and fitted into the notches of the pistons" (lines 90-96).
Date: August 17, 1880
Creator: Cross, David L.
System: The Portal to Texas History