Car-Door Cleat and Fastener. (open access)

Car-Door Cleat and Fastener.

Patent for "a simple and comparatively-inexpensive car-door cleat and fastener designed for use on cars for transporting cotton and other highly-inflammable merchandise and capable of effectually excluding sparks from the interior of the car and of preventing the same from entering between the edge of the door and the doorway." (Lines 11-18) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 22, 1895
Creator: Woodruff, Hawkins
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for an automatic car-coupler that operates without someone having to go to between the cars. It is simple and compact.
Date: February 27, 1894
Creator: Calhoun, Cloud B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator. (open access)

Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper and scraper. This design consists in "the combination, with the axle and the wheels, provided with the sleeves, one of which is provided with the spur-wheel of the reach bar secured to the axle, the sleeve mounted on the said bar and provided with the pinion, the arms secured to the sleeve, the curved rods adjustably secured to the arm, and the blades secured to outer ends of the said rods" (lines 8-17).
Date: January 28, 1890
Creator: Jordan, Perry L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Chopper. (open access)

Cotton-Chopper.

Patent for improvements in cotton choppers in which “when the machine progresses over the field, the plows or cultivators will stir and agitate the soil and the rotary cutting-hoes will chop out the plants, leaving the stands of cotton any desired distance apart, which may be regulated by so arranging the gearing as to cause the chopping-hoes to be rotated more or less rapidly.” (Page 2, lines 15-22) Illustration is included.
Date: August 4, 1891
Creator: Baugh, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for improvements in churns; specifically, improvements in the construction of the cylinder and the churn-dasher. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 5, 1891
Creator: Sullins, John Wesley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Artificial Stone. (open access)

Artificial Stone.

Patent for artificial stone made of a special combination of cement that hardens and stays hard under water. It also does not conduct heat.
Date: March 19, 1895
Creator: Power, John H. & Power, Rufus M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Stretching and Tying Device. (open access)

Wire Stretching and Tying Device.

Patent for a "device capable of enabling the wires of a fence after the latter has been erected or during the construction thereof to be readily tightening to the desired tension without necessitating the removal of staples or other devices for fastening the fence-wires to the posts." (Lines 12-18) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 2, 1897
Creator: Kirby, Thomas W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon-Top. (open access)

Wagon-Top.

Patent for improvements in wagon-bodies by providing "a simple and effective means for tightening the canvas covering over the bows of wagon or other vehicle-bodies” (lines 17-19), includes illustration.
Date: April 14, 1891
Creator: James, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Fence Machine. (open access)

Wire-Fence Machine.

Patent for a new and useful wire-fence machine that can be conveniently carried around.
Date: March 22, 1898
Creator: Watson, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Fence Tightener. (open access)

Wire Fence Tightener.

Patent for certain improvement in a wire-fence tightening device.
Date: January 4, 1898
Creator: Gililland, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Weather-Strip. (open access)

Weather-Strip.

Patent for a simple, inexpensive, and improved weather strip that "will be operated by the opening and closing of the door, and which will not interfere with carpets, and which will when the door is closed effectually exclude wind, rain, dust and the like" (lines 12-16).
Date: July 4, 1893
Creator: Bradford, McDuffee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tool-Handle And Tool. (open access)

Tool-Handle And Tool.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in tool handles and tools, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 22, 1899
Creator: Lantz, Albert C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Force-Pump. (open access)

Force-Pump.

Patent for a simple, inexpensive, and efficient double action force pump that has one cylinder and one plunger. It also equalizes the opposite strokes of the plunger, and pushes water into the common chamber with both strokes.
Date: October 2, 1894
Creator: Thompson, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed-Planter. (open access)

Seed-Planter.

Patent for improvements in seed-planter by using different sizes of disks to construct a hopper that can be revolved, in which it can be adapted to plant cotton, corn or other seeds. Illustration is included.
Date: August 25, 1891
Creator: Thompson, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Straw Cutter (open access)

Straw Cutter

Patent for a rectangular box with attached heavy blade for cutting straw.
Date: January 31, 1893
Creator: Ross, George. W. & Winebrener, John A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine. (open access)

Washing-Machine.

Patent for improvements in washing-machines known as “roller and bed and it consists of a rubber-bed adapted to operate in conjunction with a rotatory rubber…….the bed being regulated by tightening screw-nuts upon the hooks which connect the springs with the end walls of said casing.” (Lines 13-22) Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Wood, Commodore R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Flower-Pot. (open access)

Flower-Pot.

Patent for a new flower pot with metal siding and a removable bottom, including illustrations.
Date: October 19, 1897
Creator: Simpson, McDuff
System: The Portal to Texas History
Feed-Cutter. (open access)

Feed-Cutter.

Patent for a feed cutter that has a casing that makes up tilted side walls with transverse openings, a reciprocating knife that sits between the casing walls, a link that connects the knife to the casing, a feed trough, and a staple that engages the trough.
Date: August 22, 1893
Creator: Butler, Jacob
System: The Portal to Texas History
Flour-Bin. (open access)

Flour-Bin.

Patent for a flour-bin that keeps the flour and meal separated and sifts them separately. This patent has "a novel formation of a stirrer to prevent the banking of the flour or meal in the bin, and which can be cheaply manufactured and when in use will offer a minimum amount of resistance to the contents of the bin agitated thereby" (lines 16-21). The bin is easily cleaned.
Date: September 17, 1895
Creator: Patton, James Monre
System: The Portal to Texas History
Quilting Attachment for Sewing-Machines. (open access)

Quilting Attachment for Sewing-Machines.

Patent for "a quilting-frame with equalizing bar and means for adjusting the same so that the quilting-frame shall at all times be held in a level position" (lines 8-11). This invention has a new method for suspending the quilting-frame and for supporting the rail where the traveler operates.
Date: May 9, 1893
Creator: Chenoweth, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Drag-Saw. (open access)

Drag-Saw.

Patent for a simple and efficient drag-saw that can be easily transported and adjusted. The saw can also be lifted during operation if necessary. It has a frame, a longitudinally-grooved guiding-bracket attached to the frame, a reciprocating pitman-head that slides into the frame, a crank-shaft that operates the pitman-head, an arm that carries the saw with a pivotal connection to the pitman-head, a saw-frame secured to the pitman-head's outer end, an adjustable strap between the saw-carrying arm and the saw-frame for adjusting the saw-frame, a spring between the arm and the pitman-head, a saw-lifting lever fulcrumed on the machine-frame, a pendent stirrup carried by the lifting-lever and slotted to control the saw-carrying arm, and a guiding-bracket with a slot where the stirrup slides and another slot where the arm moves.
Date: March 3, 1896
Creator: Reeves, Newell Antony
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit Jar. (open access)

Fruit Jar.

Patent for a new and improved fruit jar. This design consists, "with a jar having an inwardly-curved upper end and a removable bottom portion, of a series of projections at the base of the said curved portion, and a perforated plate having notches formed in its periphery which register with the said projections which when turned rest thereon" (lines 3-10).
Date: April 19, 1892
Creator: Vogt, August
System: The Portal to Texas History
Calculator. (open access)

Calculator.

Patent for a calculator "in which a bar having a series of numbers thereon slides in a frame or base also provided with a series of numbers" (lines 10-12). It is meant for quickly adding numbers.
Date: October 13, 1896
Creator: Copeland, Wesley Albert & Roberts, Cyrus
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator. (open access)

Cultivator.

Patent for improvements in cultivators, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 8, 1891
Creator: Williams, William Edwin
System: The Portal to Texas History