Ball-Bearing. (open access)

Ball-Bearing.

Patent for ball-bearings that "consists in improvements in hubs or journal-boxes and in the journals of axles or spindles" (lines 8-10), the "object [of which] is to construct journals and journal-boxes which will be perfectly adjustable and durable and which will be subjected to the least possible friction" (lines 12-15).
Date: January 26, 1897
Creator: Baker, Joseph B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bed-Slat Fastener. (open access)

Bed-Slat Fastener.

Patent for an improved construction of a bed-slat fastener, one "adapted to support a bed-slat firmly in position and to prevent the side rails of a bedstead from springing outward" (lines 14-16). There are also "no recesses or crevices for the accumulation of vermin" (lines 19-20) in this design.
Date: January 26, 1897
Creator: Fielding, Charles S. & Grogan, John R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Anti-Friction Sucker-Rod Coupling. (open access)

Anti-Friction Sucker-Rod Coupling.

Patent for an anti-frictioin sucker-rod coupling. This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in sectional sucker-rods for artesian, oil, and other wells, and has for its object to provide an improved construction of coupling-joint for connecting the sections of the rods together.
Date: January 26, 1892
Creator: Black, William L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Baling Cotton. (open access)

Apparatus for Baling Cotton.

Patent for improvements to an apparatus that softens and compresses cotton, and prevents clogging and breakage. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 5, 1890
Creator: Goldthwaite, Joseph G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive. (open access)

Locomotive.

Patent for an improved locomotive or traction-engine, with a series of water-shells, each containing "a series of fire-flues, a feeding-water heater, a pipe discharging steam" (lines 118-121), and a double-action plunger-pump.
Date: January 26, 1897
Creator: McCallum, Daniel W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water-Wheel. (open access)

Water-Wheel.

Patent for a water-wheel. The object of this invention is to provide a water-wheel in which the energy of the water shall act upon a series of peripheral buckets on a principle of hydraulic pressure in contradistinction to that of mere impact and momentum.
Date: June 20, 1891
Creator: Walker, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Poison-Distributer. (open access)

Poison-Distributer.

Patent for a poison-distributer. This invention relates to improvements in poison-distributers, the objects in view being to provide a cheap and simple machine for an efficient manner over the entire surface of cotton-plants for the purpose of destroying the worms, and, furthermore to so construct the machine as to adapt it to readily pass through ordinary-sized gates.
Date: January 26, 1892
Creator: McGee, Joseph Thomas & Carr, Robert Wooten
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spring-Seat Attachment For Vehicles (open access)

Spring-Seat Attachment For Vehicles

Patent for a spring-seat attachment for vehicles.
Date: January 26, 1892
Creator: Haney, John W. & Owens, William A.
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
Penholder. (open access)

Penholder.

Patent for a penholder that is worn on the finger and is an "open-ended hollow thimble with a detachable and reversible cap-piece" (lines 20-22). The pen-point can be unscrewed and screwed back in the opposite way so that the pen-point is inside the thimble, so the pen-point doesn't break in one's pocket.
Date: January 26, 1897
Creator: Ward, George C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Frame Building. (open access)

Frame Building.

Patent for frame building. This invention relates to an improvement in the construction of buildings, especially frame buildings, and has for its object to provide a means whereby the building may be erected at a minimum cost and in a simple, convenient, and expeditious manner.
Date: January 26, 1892
Creator: Boyd, John Allen
System: The Portal to Texas History