Improvement in Seed-Planters. (open access)

Improvement in Seed-Planters.

Patent for a new and improved seed-planter. Illustration included.
Date: February 20, 1877
Creator: Miller, Benjamin F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Photographers' Bath-Warmers (open access)

Improvement in Photographers' Bath-Warmers

Patent for keeping photographers' chemicals and bath water the same temperature throughout the liquids. The patent contains instructions and illustrations for the creation and use of the invention.
Date: March 27, 1877
Creator: Fellrath, Charles J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Medical Compounds or Bitters for Treating Chills and Fever. (open access)

Improvement in Medical Compounds or Bitters for Treating Chills and Fever.

Patent for a new medical compound to treat chills and fevers which lists the ingredients and dosages.
Date: May 20, 1873
Creator: Owens, Thomas B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Apparatus for Stretching Wire Fences. (open access)

Improvement in Apparatus for Stretching Wire Fences.

Patent for stretching wire from post to post in the construction of wire fencing, which includes directions how to secure the wire, includes illustrations.
Date: March 4, 1873
Creator: Mangham, Josiah T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton-Seed Planters. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Seed Planters.

Patent for an improvement in cotton-seed planters, including illustrations.
Date: January 12, 1875
Creator: Miller, Benjamin, F. & Reeves, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Bale-Ties. (open access)

Improvement in Bale-Ties.

Patent for improving the way that hay bales are tied and bound. This bale tie is an addition to a previous patent (number 152,138).
Date: June 16, 1874
Creator: Mangham, Josiah T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Apparatus for Wiring Picket-Fences. (open access)

Improvement in Apparatus for Wiring Picket-Fences.

Patent for a new improvement in apparatus for wiring picket-fences to hold the wires tight, including illustration.
Date: February 24, 1874
Creator: Parks, James Madison
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Corn and Cotton Planters. (open access)

Improvement in Corn and Cotton Planters.

Patent for a new cotton and corn planter, including illustrations.
Date: May 19, 1874
Creator: Griffith, William Harrison
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Pulverizing Subsoil-Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Pulverizing Subsoil-Plows.

Patent for an improvement in subsoil plows to pulverize soils, including illustrations.
Date: September 22, 1874
Creator: Mangham, Josiah T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bedstead. (open access)

Bedstead.

Patent for a new and improved bedstead. This design "consists in the provision of adjustable hangers for mattress-supports" (lines 12-13). To this end, it consists, "with the side and end rails having vertical mortises or grooves, the cap-plates covering the upper ends of the grooves or mortises and having threaded apertures, and a mattress-support, of the hangers respectively comprising the vertical shank or body seated in the grooves or mortises of the rails, and the horizontal branch extending inwardly from said shank or body and having a slot to seat the side and end bars" (lines 83-93).
Date: September 20, 1892
Creator: Currey, George Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brake-Lever. (open access)

Brake-Lever.

Patent for a brake lever that is locked by an arc-shaped ratchet-bar. There is "a pawl loosely mounted on the rear side of said lever and bearing against said side when the brake is set, said pawl being spring-actuated to move parallel with said side and project beyond the same and contact radially with the ratchet-teeth between said yoke" (lines 25-30).
Date: April 7, 1896
Creator: Burkett, Joseph B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bobbin Winder for Sewing Machines. (open access)

Bobbin Winder for Sewing Machines.

Patent for a new and improved bobbin-winder for sewing machines. This design consists in "the combination, with the shaft provided with a screw-threaded aperture at one end and having a groove formed near the other end, and a carrying pulley, of the spindle provided with a threaded extension entering said screw-threaded aperture of the shaft, said spindle having a taper and made of highly tempered metal" (lines 66-73).
Date: August 23, 1887
Creator: Evetts, Thomas Frankling
System: The Portal to Texas History
Chemise (open access)

Chemise

Patent for improvements in chemises which would relieve wearers “the annoyance of having the garment gather about the limbs while walking which often produces great embarrassment in public places.” (Lines 42-45) Illustration is included.
Date: June 2, 1891
Creator: Burt, Emma Ruby
System: The Portal to Texas History
Artificial Leg. (open access)

Artificial Leg.

Patent for a new and improved artificial leg. This design "consists in certain improvements in the construction and arrangement of parts in artificial legs, so as to make them more durable, easier of repair, and more comfortable to the wearer" (lines 11-15).
Date: September 19, 1882
Creator: Wolf, Peter M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Hub. (open access)

Vehicle Hub.

Patent for a new and improved vehicle wheel. This design "consists in the peculiar construction, combination, and arrangement of the parts, whereby a single damaged spoke may be removed and a new spoke inserted without releasing the several spokes comprising the wheel" (lines 11-16).
Date: November 11, 1884
Creator: Miller, Thomas S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well Cover. (open access)

Well Cover.

Patent for a new and improved well cover. This design "is to provide a new and improved cover for wells, cisterns, &c., which cover is so constructed and arranged that it can be moved back by stepping on a step in front of it, and is automatically closed when the pressure is removed" (lines 8-13).
Date: September 8, 1885
Creator: Bullock, Henry P. & Cook, Henry B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well Bucket. (open access)

Well Bucket.

Patent for a new and improved well bucket. This design consists in "[t]he combination of a body having a valve-seat facing downward in its bottom, a valve having a conical guide upon its upper surface, a flange at its lower end bearing against the seat with a washer and formed with an upwardly-projecting eye or link at its top, and a rod for the attachment of the hoisting-rope passing out at the top of the bucket and having an eye at its lower end connected to the eye of the link" (lines 40-49).
Date: August 24, 1886
Creator: Fellrath, Charles John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Meat Chopper. (open access)

Meat Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved meat chopper. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the frame having horizontal slots, a sash having interchangeable cutting and tenderizing blades, devices for operating the sash, and wires or rods adjustable in said slots to accommodate either blade . . . [and] [t]he combination of [a] shaft with spur-wheels, pinion, crank-shaft, pitman, sash, removable blade, shaft, carrying spur-wheel, and pinions, and [a] meat-board or table with racks" (lines 91-101).
Date: March 3, 1885
Creator: Mathes, William McConnell
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trace Iron. (open access)

Trace Iron.

Patent for a new and improved trace-iron. This design "is to provide a new and improved trace-iron which is simple and durable in construction and arranged to readily connect with the end of the trace without the employment of rivets and which can be readily attached to or detached from the hame. The invention consists of two leaves pivotally-connected with each other and adapted to fold one on the other, one leaf being provided with a hook passing through an aperture in the other leaf and adapted to engage the trace" (lines 7-19).
Date: April 19, 1892
Creator: Dankworth, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spoke Socket for Vehicle Wheels. (open access)

Spoke Socket for Vehicle Wheels.

Patent for a new and improved spoke-socket for wheels. This design consists in "a felly-joint and spoke-socket, consisting of the U-shaped plate . . . of the contrivance having at its ends flanges or plates provided at their side edges with lips or supplementary flanges clamping or hugging the tire . . . [and] the wedge having a slot inserted between said fellies" (lines 54-68).
Date: April 5, 1887
Creator: Miller, Thomas S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stock for Plow Trucks. (open access)

Stock for Plow Trucks.

Patent for a new and improved stock for plow-trucks. This design "provide[s] an improved stock and suitable devices for connecting a plow to any pair of wheels and axle forming a part of a wagon, by which simple additional connections a farmer may construct a sulky-plow in a cheap and simple manner" (lines 8-13).
Date: January 10, 1882
Creator: Hinson, Asa Chandler
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tire Tightener. (open access)

Tire Tightener.

Patent for a new and improved tire-tightener. This design "has for its object to improve the means for lifting the felly so as to permit the insertion of a washer between the felly and the spoke, so as to take up any slack or looseness that may have occurred, and thus tighten the tire on the felly" (lines 15-20). It consists, "with a block adapted to be clamped to a spoke and an adjusting-screw, of a jaw operated by said screw and having its upper portion extended or curved to one side and then bifurcated to form two arms, each of which is provided with a fork adapted to lie against the under face" (lines 39-46).
Date: June 14, 1892
Creator: Cayce, Robert Walter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Thill-Coupling. (open access)

Thill-Coupling.

Patent for an improved thill coupling, one meant to "prevent the annoyance of nuts coming off, allowing the thill to come out of place" (lines 55-57). "It is also for the purpose of facilitating the changing of a pair of shafts for a tongue or a tongue for shafts" (lines 59-61).
Date: June 8, 1897
Creator: Kitching, David C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hame Hook. (open access)

Hame Hook.

Patent for a new and improved hame hook. This design "consists of a hook composed of two members hinged together and adapted to be clamped upon a hame-staple, one of the said members being provided with a pin adapted to project into an opening in the opposite member" (lines 14-19).
Date: January 13, 1891
Creator: Dankworth, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History