Buckle. (open access)

Buckle.

Patent for a buckle "wherein a closed frame or box is employed that is formed with a smooth exterior surface to avoid contact with and injury to the animals on which it is used, and prevent the reins from contacting therewith, and dispensing with the use of a guard thereover; and at the same time producing a secure fastening that is applied to straps without the necessity of the employment of stitches or other modes of fastening" (lines 9-18).
Date: April 18, 1893
Creator: Monday, Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cotton and Corn Planter. (open access)

Combined Cotton and Corn Planter.

Patent for an improved, inexpensive, and simple planter that is "adapted to plant either corn or cotton and that at predetermined distances; to so construct the machine as to adapt it readily for change from one form of planter to the other; and to improve the manner of securing the furrow-opening shovel-carrying standard and the seed tube, whereby the former and latter are prevented from breaking or becoming injured should they contact with a stone, stump, or other obstacle of sufficient size and firmness to injure them" (lines 10-21).
Date: May 16, 1893
Creator: Schofield, James Drommond
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for an improved, simple, and efficient car coupling that is reliable and automatically couples cars together. The invention provides "a car-coupling which will not necessitate persons going between cars, and which will, should a car be overturned, become automatically uncoupled to prevent a derailed car dragging others after it down an embankment" (lines 16-20).
Date: August 15, 1893
Creator: Hausam, Daniel Whitfield
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Burning Garbage, &c. (open access)

Apparatus for Burning Garbage, &c.

Patent for an improved apparatus for burning refuse and consists of a roasting chamber, a garbage grate, grates that slope and carry the product away after combustion, flues that open above the grates, and the wall partly closes on one end to let the products away after combustion.
Date: August 22, 1893
Creator: Garretson, William H. & Tainter, Silas B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clothes-Pin. (open access)

Clothes-Pin.

Patent for a clothes pin made from spring metal that "automatically adapt[s] itself to lines of different thicknesses, and whereby the pin may be used to retain an exceedingly thin article in engagement with the line as effectually as an exceedingly thick article, the pin being capable of holding a bit of lace and likewise a heavy blanket or quilt" (lines 11-18). It is especially designed for use with metal clothes lines.
Date: October 31, 1893
Creator: Jones, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buckle. (open access)

Buckle.

Patent for a buckle meant for use with harnesses and "wherein the ordinary movable and hinged tongue is dispensed with, and a rigid stud or pointed projection is used in reversed positions at opposite ends of connecting loops" (lines 9-13).
Date: December 5, 1893
Creator: Odom, Plesant W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Conduit Electric Railway. (open access)

Conduit Electric Railway.

Patent for an underground conduit electric railway meant to propel cars. The conduit can be drained and kept dry, and a trolley attachment protects the conduit from dirt and water as well.
Date: December 5, 1893
Creator: de Voe, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling (open access)

Car-Coupling

Patent for car coupling in which the coupling is improved upon so that it is "positive and certain in operation, simple in construction, interchangeable in parts, durable in use, cheap in manufacture, and not liable to become deranged or inoperative by rough usage or by the exterior influences of weather and other conditions" (lines 10-15).
Date: January 10, 1893
Creator: Huguley, Job C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Boring Artesian Wells. (open access)

Apparatus for Boring Artesian Wells.

Patent for an improved and simple apparatus for boring wells that is easily adjustable. The drill head will stay intact in most drilling situations with this apparatus.
Date: February 28, 1893
Creator: Brown, Frank O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Black-Land Plow. (open access)

Black-Land Plow.

Patent for a plow that operates in mud or sticky dirt without becoming clogged and has an improved share and mold board.
Date: March 28, 1893
Creator: Vestal, William B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench. (open access)

Wrench.

Patent for an improved wrench that has two movable jaws and can separate about the length of the handle. The wrench's "head or nut for operating the upper jaw is swiveled and forms a part of the handle" (lines 14-15). The wrench can be converted into a pipe-wrench.
Date: May 9, 1893
Creator: King, Will Henry Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Waffle-Iron. (open access)

Waffle-Iron.

Patent for a waffle iron that can be operated by placing it on a stove-top. It "consists in a base, a yoke pivoted thereto and swinging in vertical plane, and the molding and cooking irons carried by the yoke" (lines 15-18).
Date: February 14, 1893
Creator: George, Alexander B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well-Drilling Machinery. (open access)

Well-Drilling Machinery.

Patent for a mechanism that drills and bores; it attaches to a vehicle so the engine can be used to power the mechanism.
Date: June 27, 1893
Creator: Lee, Joseph G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Portable Scale. (open access)

Portable Scale.

Patent for an improved, simple, and inexpensive portable scale meant for weighing cotton, corn, and other similar produce. It folds compactly when not in use, and has a tally device.
Date: August 8, 1893
Creator: Storey, Julius W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stump-Puller. (open access)

Stump-Puller.

Patent for a simple and effective stump puller that pulls stumps entirely from the ground using a large amount of force. The machine uses a series of pulleys, hooks, levers, and cranks.
Date: October 31, 1893
Creator: Rupe, Salathiel C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Planter. (open access)

Grain-Planter.

Patent for an inexpensive, simple, and durable grain planter that plants large grains like corn, peas, and wheat. The improved machine is perfectly timed and does not crush the seeds.
Date: February 7, 1893
Creator: Yarbrough, Orceneth Fisher
System: The Portal to Texas History
Forge-Tray. (open access)

Forge-Tray.

Patent for "an improved forge tray, and it has for its object to provide means for preventing the loss or waste of fuel incident to the use of the ordinary forms of forges; and to provide means for concentrating the heat without interfering with the operations of the smith and without intercepting his view of the irons" (lines 8-15).
Date: August 15, 1893
Creator: Burnett, Rufus Samuel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Riding-Saddle. (open access)

Riding-Saddle.

Patent for an improvement in saddle trees that secures the saddle more firmly to the horse than other saddles.
Date: October 17, 1893
Creator: Tenison, Albert P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed-Cotton Feeder. (open access)

Seed-Cotton Feeder.

Patent for a gin feeder that carries "the cotton forward, and is provided with some one or more of many additional devices to regulate the amount delivered by the conveyer, independently of the amount that may be in the feeder, provided only that the supply be not to scanty" (lines 13-18). Other feeders do this, but the patent is for an especially simply designed and does not use a belt conveyer. It also does not wear out easily.
Date: November 7, 1893
Creator: Elam, William Erwin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Furnace. (open access)

Furnace.

Patent for improvements in furnaces. Patent for "a new and improved design for furnaces for returning smoke and gas to the ash pit" (lines 11-13) including instructions and illustrations. Patent for a new furnace design, including illustrations.
Date: February 7, 1893
Creator: Keene, Milton Walter & Henkle, Louis R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric-Current Meter. (open access)

Electric-Current Meter.

Patent for an electric-current meter that measures "the amount of electricity passing over a given branch of derived or (if desired) line circuit, thereby indicating the amount of electricity used for the translating or other consuming devices in the circuit, having for its object the construction of an apparatus which will respond more accurately to the variations in the said currents and indicate more exactly upon a dial or dials provided for the purpose, the quantity of electricity which passes" (lines 10-20). The meter's range can be extended.
Date: November 28, 1893
Creator: Mottram, William T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Desk or Cabinet. (open access)

Desk or Cabinet.

Patent for a simple and economical desk that is designed to be completely sealed and protected when it is closed. When the cabinet is opened, "the machine may be operated with as much ease as though the machine were placed upon an ordinary table, and whereby further, when the cabinet is opened, an extensive table will be provided at each side of the machine for the reception of work which is to be performed or which has been executed, or for any purpose that the operator may desire" (lines 20-28).
Date: March 28, 1893
Creator: Billington, Theophilus
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Badge. (open access)

Design for a Badge.

Patent for design for a badge.
Date: July 18, 1893
Creator: Edwards, Charles L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Gin Brush. (open access)

Cotton-Gin Brush.

Patent for a gin brush that operates at high speeds with a large diameter. "Centrifugal force exerts a great strain tending to dismember it, and further, if it be not at all times accurately balanced there is a tendency to spring the shaft and cause rattling in the bearings which results in rapid wear and failure to work well" (lines 13-19).
Date: March 21, 1893
Creator: Elam, William E. & Thomas, Robert S.
System: The Portal to Texas History