Antifriction Device for Cranks and Pitmen (open access)

Antifriction Device for Cranks and Pitmen

Patent for an antifriction device used to "prevent dust and grit from accumulating in the anti-friction bearings" (lines 17-18). Illustrations included.
Date: December 24, 1907
Creator: Neighbour, William W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Car-Switching System. (open access)

Automatic Car-Switching System.

Patent for "a system of switching where the cars of a train are pushed up an incline and placed successively on an elevated annular revolving platform, by which they are automatically distributed to their respective receiving-tracks" (lines 9-14).
Date: March 24, 1896
Creator: Lelardoux, Pierre
System: The Portal to Texas History
Button Attaching Machine. (open access)

Button Attaching Machine.

Patent for a new and improved button-attaching machine. This design consists in "the combination, with the plunger, of . . . the die having a central projection to enter the concavity of a button and parallel oblique curved recesses in said projection . . . [and] a peripheral flange" (lines 84-99).
Date: January 24, 1888
Creator: Tone, Harrison
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Rail Hose-Bridge. (open access)

Car-Rail Hose-Bridge.

Patent that provides a hose-bridge that is light in weight and simple in construction, that can be carried on the cars or stored at different points on the line convenient for use.
Date: January 24, 1921
Creator: Tyler, Charley P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tire-Armor (open access)

Tire-Armor

Patent for a metallic covering for rubber tires. Illustrations included.
Date: January 24, 1911
Creator: Willis, Horatio C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lamp. (open access)

Lamp.

Patent for a new and improved oil lamp. This design "relates to improvements in lamps in which the reservoir is beveled, adapting it for use in conjunction with a conical corrugated reflector; and the object of [the] improvement is to produce a lamp that will afford more and better light with a given amount of oil" (lines 7-13).
Date: July 24, 1883
Creator: Newman, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanism for Hanging Car-Doors and The Like (open access)

Mechanism for Hanging Car-Doors and The Like

Patent for a mechanism for hanging car doors and similar objects. The tool reduces the amount of people needed to install a car door or similar object, providing a more efficient installation.
Date: December 24, 1918
Creator: Hartough, Edward W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trolley-Controller (open access)

Trolley-Controller

Patent for a means to "instantly pull down the trolley-pole when its trolley jumps the conductor-wire." (line 15-17)
Date: November 24, 1903
Creator: Leecraft, Walter, B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hame and Trace Connector. (open access)

Hame and Trace Connector.

Patent for a hame and trace connector with an "improved pivoted or jointed connection between the ends of the trace connector and the hame"(lines 16-18).
Date: November 24, 1908
Creator: Brents, William Rufus & Gunn, William Parks
System: The Portal to Texas History
Suspension-Bridge (open access)

Suspension-Bridge

Patent for a more easily constructible "bridge the pillar or roadway of which is adjustable to different heights, and to meet certain contingencies and while adjustable as a whole is also adjustable at any point whatsoever, whereby the roadway may be maintained level regardless of the yielding of certain portions of the structure" (lines 11-17).
Date: September 24, 1889
Creator: Greer, William Henry Clay
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Engine (open access)

Rotary Engine

Patent for a rotary engine. This invention is a rotary steam engine. It consists of a cylinder, rotatable drum, and pistons. Illustration included.
Date: March 24, 1908
Creator: Hopper, James F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Quilting-Frame for Sewing-Machines. (open access)

Quilting-Frame for Sewing-Machines.

Patent for a quilting frame for sewing machines in which the frame would support the quilt in desired position, the frame is designed to move freely in any direction so that any pattern can be quilted on the article held by the frame. This frame can be easily adapted to the feed of any sewing machine. Illustration is included.
Date: February 24, 1891
Creator: Touchstone, James N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pot Holder or Hanger. (open access)

Pot Holder or Hanger.

Patent for a pot or boiler hanger that is simple and inexpensive and is meant for hanging a pot or boiler above a fire. The hanger is light, easily transportable, compact, and adjustable.
Date: March 24, 1896
Creator: Powers, Nathaniel J. T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway-Car. (open access)

Railway-Car.

Patent for a railway car that runs close to the railroad tracks, to prevent damage should it become derailed or in another accident. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 24, 1897
Creator: Finley, Jefferson L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rail Joint (open access)

Rail Joint

Patent for a rail joint. Illustrations included.
Date: July 24, 1906
Creator: Wingren, Eric Peter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pop-Valve For Kilns. (open access)

Pop-Valve For Kilns.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in pop valves for kilns, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 24, 1899
Creator: Moore, La Fayette
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dry Closet. (open access)

Dry Closet.

Patent for a new design that improves "construction, utility, and efficiency of dry closets"(lines 10-11) that would also allow the use of an attachment specifically for dry closet seats. Includes design for mesh cloth to capture waste.
Date: April 24, 1917
Creator: Mershon, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for Tack or Nail. (open access)

Design for Tack or Nail.

Design patent for a tack or nail that is both useful and ornamental.
Date: August 24, 1897
Creator: Bogar, Fred A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cake-Stripping Machine (open access)

Cake-Stripping Machine

Patent for a cake-stripping machine which provides novel means for stripping cloth off the oil cake. It is also to provide means for trimming the cake after the cloth has been stripped off the cake. The scope of the invention is to improve generally and enhance the utility of devices of that type.
Date: August 24, 1915
Creator: Miller, Charles R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Curtain Fixture. (open access)

Curtain Fixture.

Patent for a new and improved curtain fixture. This design "consist[s] of the brackets secured to the window-frame, and a frame consisting of a single continuous integral U-shaped bar having its arms bent outward from its shoulders . . . and having the end of one of its arms pivoted to the adjacent bracket and the end of the other arm bent laterally and journaled in the other bracket, the curtain-roller being journaled in and extending between the arms" (lines 60-69).
Date: December 24, 1889
Creator: Bomar, Mattie A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Planter. (open access)

Cotton Planter.

Patent for a new and improved cotton planter. This design "consists in the combination, with the slotted hopper-bottom, of the hinged and curved cut-offs and their spring, whereby the escape of seed will be prevented, except as forced out by the prongs of the feed-wheel" (lines 19-23).
Date: January 24, 1882
Creator: Byers, Anthony Walter & Dorser, James Carrol
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Gin. (open access)

Cotton-Gin.

Patent for an improved method of locating the air blast apparatus for cleaning lint from the saw teeth of saw-type cotton gins, so that the cotton lint does not accumulate on the cleaning apparatus and render it inoperative, including illustrations.
Date: July 24, 1917
Creator: Hopper, James F.; Stephens, George B. & Young, Harry F.
System: The Portal to Texas History