Clamp (open access)

Clamp

Patent for a clamp. This device is employed to use a hoisting line attached to well casing or tubing. Illustration included.
Date: November 22, 1910
Creator: Athey, Earl
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blank Book. (open access)

Blank Book.

Patent for a new and improved blank book. This design "consists in securing blank sheets to a binding forming the back of the book . . . so that the attachment and detachment of the sheets may be conveniently effected. Thus [the design] produce[s] a blank book which is particularly adapted for use of type-writers and other copyists" (lines 11-18).
Date: June 14, 1892
Creator: Burris, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blank Book. (open access)

Blank Book.

Patent for a new and improved blank book. This design "is an improvement upon the Megee-Miller blank book which adapts it for use of type-writers and others requiring one whose sheets or leaves may be readily detached and again secured together after having been written or printed. The sheets are detachably connected with a binding-strip by means of a cord or cords" (lines 7-14).
Date: April 19, 1892
Creator: Burris, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Billboard (open access)

Billboard

Patent for billboards built for wind resistance.
Date: November 28, 1922
Creator: Kelly, Walter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clip for Eyeglass Cases and The Like (open access)

Clip for Eyeglass Cases and The Like

Patent for a clip for eyeglass cases and the like. Meant to provide an inexpensive and simple clip to hold eyeglass cases in the pocket to prevent displacement.
Date: March 14, 1922
Creator: Evans, William B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "a draw-head having a slotted top and a recessed bottom, of a transverse slotted bar journaled in bearings, one end being extended for the attachment of a handle, and the headless coupling-pin having the reduced or flattened portion to permit of its ready insertion and withdrawal from the transverse bar" (lines 73-80).
Date: January 11, 1887
Creator: Dial, Augustus A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bail for Cans, Buckets, &c. (open access)

Bail for Cans, Buckets, &c.

Patent for a detachable bail (wire handle) for cans and buckets allowing bails and cans to be packed separately and reducing overall packing space.
Date: November 23, 1920
Creator: Tiner, John Frances
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench. (open access)

Wrench.

Patent for a "powerful wrench of simple construction, wherein the movement for the operation of the jaws is of slight degree, partially automatic, and easily affected" (lines 41-45).
Date: April 23, 1907
Creator: Tiner, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench. (open access)

Wrench.

Patent for a wrench where the movement of the jaws is partially automated.
Date: March 6, 1906
Creator: Tiner, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Key-Ring Clip. (open access)

Key-Ring Clip.

Patent for new improvements for key ring clips that will not detach in a seated position.
Date: July 6, 1920
Creator: Evans, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Truss. (open access)

Truss.

Patent for truss in relation to the truss pad and its adjustable straps to allow for a more sanitary and secure device, including illustrations.
Date: February 10, 1914
Creator: Haile, James Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wheel. (open access)

Wheel.

Patent for improvements “in wheel-tightening arrangements in which a cylinder with a conical-formed end works by means of a thread inside the hub, for the purpose of forcing the spokes to the outside and to tighten by these means the whole wheel, when the wooden parts of the wheel are shrunk together.” (Lines 9-15) Illustration is included.
Date: August 11, 1891
Creator: Pluck, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Thill-Coupling. (open access)

Thill-Coupling.

Patent for a thill-coupling that has a clip-eye, pivot-bolt, and an open-slotted thill-iron that has flat and extended jaws with a hole. The jaws are lined up with the thill-iron, meant to secure a railroad spike into place. The invention also has a flat bar-spring attached to the thill-iron.
Date: July 30, 1895
Creator: Dibrell, Anthony
System: The Portal to Texas History
Process of Extracting Wax from the Candelilla Plant (open access)

Process of Extracting Wax from the Candelilla Plant

Patent for a method of extracting wax from a candelilla plant using gasoline and benzine or naphtha in order to extract a light yellow wax, rather than the dark green wax currently extracted.
Date: October 30, 1911
Creator: Sharp, Benjamin Young
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hulling Machine (open access)

Hulling Machine

Patent for sifting out leaves and detritus from harvesting of pecan nuts.
Date: February 6, 1917
Creator: Huegele, Alvin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spike-Extractor (open access)

Spike-Extractor

Patent for a spike extractor that consists of a gripper and spring legs with inturned jaws.
Date: March 8, 1921
Creator: Hector, Olinthus H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Press for Attaching Comb Foundations to Honey-Frames for Beehives (open access)

Press for Attaching Comb Foundations to Honey-Frames for Beehives

Patent for a press for attaching comb foundations to honey frames for beehives. Illustrations included.
Date: February 28, 1911
Creator: Ward, Jefferson W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Printing-Machine. (open access)

Printing-Machine.

Patent for "a self-feeding and self-delivering printing machine which prints sheets and not webs." (Lines 8-10) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 8, 1895
Creator: Clarke, George R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washboiler (open access)

Washboiler

Patent for improved Washboilers. The improvements provides a more efficient circulation of water to insure the proper cleaning of fabrics and prevent damage of the fabric.
Date: February 22, 1921
Creator: Patterson, Thomas Allison.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tire Tightener. (open access)

Tire Tightener.

Patent for a new and improved tire-tightener. This design has "parts [that] are the width of a felly and a fraction less their depth, and bearing solid against their ends are held in place by flanges on each end. As the screw is turned in it forces the parts against the ends of felly, forcing the fellies against the tire, and is prevented from coming in contact with the tire by a rubber fender, or of other substance placed under tire-tightener. Fender is held in place by flanges at each side on bottom of tire-tightener; is also provided with a sliding joint on sides to cover the opening made by expansion" (lines 14-26).
Date: February 2, 1886
Creator: Pluck, James H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for improvements in plows through a, "disk-type," addition to paired longitudinally spaced ground engaging elements, "to throw the earth in opposite directions in order to effectively open a furrow" (lines 11-20). The improvements are simple, convenient, and cost reducing.
Date: June 3, 1919
Creator: Jackson, Charley S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate-Latch. (open access)

Gate-Latch.

Patent for improvement in gate-latches by using a single piece of wire bent and coiled to form a u-shaped latch. Illustration and description of how the latch worked are included.
Date: October 23, 1900
Creator: Smyth, Lewis Miller
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hat-Pouncing Machine. (open access)

Hat-Pouncing Machine.

Patent for a felt hat-pouncing machine that can automatically pounce a hat no matter its contour, and means are "provided for setting the pouncer or pouncing-roll to bear uniformly on all parts of the convex surface to be pounced" (lines 13-15).
Date: March 17, 1896
Creator: Clarke, George R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Envelope or Bag Machine (open access)

Envelope or Bag Machine

Patent for a machine "for making envelopes, paper bags, and the like wherein the blank which is to form the envelope or bag is automatically fed into the machine at its receiving end by a suitable feeder and is folded and gummed on its way through the machine, being finally delivered in a marketable condition at the delivery end of the machine" (lines 10-17).
Date: June 24, 1890
Creator: Clarke, George R.
System: The Portal to Texas History