Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "the combination of two sliding draw-heads, each provided with a shank having coiled around it a spring and a nut secured thereto, an upper sliding supporting-plate for the pin, having a tripping device, a lower sliding supporting-plate for the link, having a catch, a latch with a trip-arm for holding and releasing said plate, and a spring for drawing it back to its normal position" (lines 11-20).
Date: February 9, 1886
Creator: Ballentine, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Bag Carrier. (open access)

Cotton-Bag Carrier.

Patent for improved cotton sack carrier: "the object of the present invention is to provide a device whereby cotton sacks may be conveniently carried during the picking of cotton from one portion of the field to another without wearing the sack and with convenience to the picker" (lines 10-15).
Date: February 21, 1893
Creator: Laird, Archibald F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Advertising Device. (open access)

Advertising Device.

Patent for a new and improved advertising sign. This design "consist[s] in the fixed staff or upright having pulley, bent rotary vane having the opening, and adapted for the display of advertisements, inside [the] bent rotary vane, and the governor adapted to regulate automatically the speed at which the vanes are to revolve" (lines 68-80).
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Carly, John Wesly
System: The Portal to Texas History
Attachment for Huller-Gins (open access)

Attachment for Huller-Gins

Patent for the type of cotton gin known as huller gins. It is an attachment intended to force cotton through portions of the huller gin that often becomes blocked by accumulated detritus.
Date: February 12, 1918
Creator: Prichard, William Mathews
System: The Portal to Texas History
Crude-Oil Burner (open access)

Crude-Oil Burner

Patent for a crude oil burner for stoves.
Date: February 17, 1903
Creator: Heffner, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Fire-Place Fenders. (open access)

Improvement in Fire-Place Fenders.

Patent for "an extensible fender adapted for large or small fire-places" (lines 8-10) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 27, 1872
Creator: Hall, William N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mouse-Guard Attachment for Piano-Pedals (open access)

Mouse-Guard Attachment for Piano-Pedals

Patent for an attachment to prevent rodents from entering a piano by way of the pedal openings.
Date: February 10, 1914
Creator: Collier, Henry C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Soil Pulverizer. (open access)

Soil Pulverizer.

Patent for a new and improved soil pulverizer. This design consists in "the combination of rotating blades on a shaft adjustable forward and backward, the driving wheel shaft, the intermediate operating mechanism, and the two transverse shafts . . . the driving-wheels, the multiplying gear-wheels, the two shafts, blades, [the] shaft adjustable forward and backward by means of a lever, frame having recesses for journal-boxes, the lugs on the latter, and the connecting rod" (lines 84-95).
Date: February 5, 1884
Creator: Rankin, John Dake & Knox, William Custis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sash-Fastener. (open access)

Sash-Fastener.

Patent for a new and useful sash fastener, which is "capable of holding a sash at any desired adjustment and of being arranged to lock the sashes against vertical movement on each other" (line 13 - 14).
Date: February 13, 1900
Creator: James, Will S.
System: The Portal to Texas History