Corn and Cotton Planter. (open access)

Corn and Cotton Planter.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in corn an cotton planters. This design is to " provide the same with a sweep or plow which travels in front of the seeder or planter mechanism to open a furrow" (line 13 - 16).
Date: January 25, 1898
Creator: Wendeborn, Ernest Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Attachment For Plows And Cultivators. (open access)

Attachment For Plows And Cultivators.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements for plows and cultivators, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 23, 1900
Creator: Hardeman, James Maxwell & Belt, Charles Tighman
System: The Portal to Texas History
Waterproof Car-Door. (open access)

Waterproof Car-Door.

Patent for a freight car door of "strong, durable, and inexpensive construction which will be water and air tight, and which will be practically indestructible in case of a wreck" (lines 17-20) including illustrations.
Date: January 1, 1918
Creator: Atkinson, George C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Straightening Tool. (open access)

Wire-Straightening Tool.

Patent for a wire straightening tool, with illustrations, that relies on a series of levers and cams to apply pressure to the wire as it is pulled through. The patent notes that "the wires can be straightened quickly and with facility, thereby permitting the using of all twisted and bent wire which has heretofore gone to waste and resulting in considerable saving of metal" (page 2, lines 14-18).
Date: January 27, 1920
Creator: Cervenka, Frank L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Windmill. (open access)

Windmill.

Patent for a windmill that does not have a vane and can receive wind from any direction. It can also be "readily thrown out of and into operation when desired" (lines 15-16). It is a horizontal wind-wheel supported by a vertical shaft.
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Gassett, Thomas Boyle
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insect Destroyer (open access)

Insect Destroyer

Patent for an insect destroyer. Illustrations included.
Date: January 17, 1905
Creator: Nelson, John A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Internal Combustion Engine (open access)

Internal Combustion Engine

Patent for internal combustion engine.
Date: January 16, 1917
Creator: Box, Walter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stop-Cock. (open access)

Stop-Cock.

Patent for a stop-cock adapted to be used with water service pipes. It features a key operable lock stop-cock whose parts must be manipulated at specific times in order to open the passageway.
Date: January 23, 1912
Creator: Suess, Walter E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gin-Saw Filer. (open access)

Gin-Saw Filer.

Patent for improvement in gin-saw filer in “which the saws may be sharpened without removing them or any other operative part from the gin and wherein the files in sharpening one tooth automatically operate to impart a partial rotation to the saw to bring the next saw-tooth in position to be filed.” (Lines 11-17) Illustration is included.
Date: January 9, 1900
Creator: Reynolds, Richard J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Exhaust Fan. (open access)

Exhaust Fan.

Patent for a new exhaust fan. Patent for "a new and improved exhaust fan design that can be adapted for exhausting in any capacity and for creating a suction and discharging the air from any devices in connection." (lines 8-13) including instructions and illustrations. Patent for a new exhaust fan design with operating construction, including illustrations.
Date: January 3, 1893
Creator: Hyde, Thomas B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shoe (open access)

Shoe

Patent for improving the design and comfort of footwear that uses a fastening strap across the top to allow the user to quickly put on and take off the shoe. The design will also aid in preventing and correcting foot ailments that can occur when the boot or shoe is used in situations that typical cause problems such as long hikes, marches, or standing.
Date: January 20, 1920
Creator: Mann, William L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nursing Bottle. (open access)

Nursing Bottle.

Patent for a new and improved nursing bottle. This design consists in "[t]he combined breast-pump, feeding-tube, nursing-bottle, and nipple-shield, comprising the bottle, the stopper having the openings, the tube, the plug, the flexible tube, and the nipple-shield having the nozzle adapted to be inserted in[to the] opening and attached to the flexible tube" (lines 6-12).
Date: January 28, 1890
Creator: Graves, Henry North
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Gang and Sulky Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Gang and Sulky Plows.

Patent for improvements in gang and sulky plows which "consists in an axle having the double crank of the transporting-wheel journaled upon the outer bend of said crank, working between the side beams of the plow-frame, and the connecting-rods pivoted, respectively, to the said bars and to the end and inner bend of said crank" (lines 17-23). Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 8, 1878
Creator: McCormick, John Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a plow. This invention relates to an improvement in plows, and more particularly to the means for securing the share to the plow.
Date: January 26, 1892
Creator: Hyer, Robert Stewart
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rail-Joint (open access)

Rail-Joint

Patent for improvements of rail joints in terms of "rigidity, durability, and efficiency" (lines 10-11), and to prevent "low joints" (line 21). Includes illustrations.
Date: January 9, 1906
Creator: Stephens, Charles H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Earth-Auger. (open access)

Earth-Auger.

Patent for an earth-auger meant to dig post-holes. It has a lateral "cutting-edge and a continuous cutting-edge from its point to its top, said cutting-edge receding continuously and uniformly from the axis of rotation of the tool, whereby it cuts from the center outward and gradually widens or increases the diameter of the hole at any given point until this point is reached by the periphery of the ears or basin at the top of the bit, and, furthermore, to provide means for packing or smoothing the sides of the hole" (lines 13-23).
Date: January 28, 1896
Creator: Pederson, Hans
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator-Plow. (open access)

Cultivator-Plow.

Patent for a sectional moldboard plow that is "capable of being easily taken apart and put together when it is desired to replace the points or shares" (lines 18-20). It also has "a socket which is removably held to the bar of the cultivator and which is provided to hold the removable boards" (lines 22-25). The bar can fit double-cut or sweep plows.
Date: January 19, 1897
Creator: Hayslip, De Witt Clinton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Press (open access)

Cotton-Press

Patent for a cotton press that operates slowly and requires minimum power. Illustrations included.
Date: January 18, 1910
Creator: Breihan, Frederick F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator (open access)

Cultivator

Patent for a cultivator. Illustration included.
Date: January 29, 1907
Creator: Carrell, Fitzhu L.
System: The Portal to Texas History