Automatic Measuring Machine (open access)

Automatic Measuring Machine

Patent for an automatic measuring machine. Illustration included.
Date: December 21, 1909
Creator: Whitten, Edgar, Jr. & Harrell, Attie Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Headlight. (open access)

Headlight.

Patent for Locomotive-headlights, "and has for its principal object to so construct the lamp and its casing as to permit of the lighting or adjusting the lamp-blaze from the back of the headlight box…” (lines 8-13) including illustrations.
Date: December 2, 1902
Creator: Stanton, James Robertson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap (open access)

Ant Trap

Patent for an ant trap. Illustration included.
Date: December 28, 1909
Creator: Mercer, John W.; Hasha, W. C. & Estes, W. N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cook-Stove. (open access)

Cook-Stove.

Patent for a cook-stove, which has two ovens that can be used together or separately.
Date: December 5, 1911
Creator: Turbeville, John B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a churn that can be easily operated and does not let flies or dust collect around its top. It is operated by turning a handle which is connected via a rope and a series of pulleys to the churn.
Date: December 19, 1893
Creator: Nanny, Amos William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Gin or Linting-Machine (open access)

Cotton-Gin or Linting-Machine

Patent for machine to "provide means for removing lint cotton from the gin saw teeth" (lines 11-12) and "provide efficient means for taking care of the cotton after it leaves the saw teeth." (lines 14-19)
Date: December 3, 1918
Creator: Hodo, Wesley A. J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Stretcher. (open access)

Wire Stretcher.

Patent for a new and improved wire stretcher. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a block carrying bails or loops, and longitudinally grooved, of racks mounted within said grooves, a crank-shaft carrying a pinion, said shaft being mounted in standards secured to the block, pawls arranged to engage with ratchet-teeth formed in the racks, and clamping-jaws fixed to opposite ends of the racks" (lines 87-94).
Date: December 14, 1886
Creator: Graham, Andrew Bascome
System: The Portal to Texas History
Weighing Attachment for Wagons (open access)

Weighing Attachment for Wagons

Patent for improvements in the weighing attachments for wagons so that "the wagon body with its contents may be weighed without removing it from the holsters; and it has for its object to provide a device which shall be simple in construction, accurate, and easily operated" (lines 10-14).
Date: December 31, 1889
Creator: Gragg, Zachry Taylor
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pump. (open access)

Pump.

Patent for a pump "whereby the pressure exerted upon the liquid in the pressure-pipe is alternately high and low, the high pressure being utilized to elevate the pump-rod, giving a rapid upstroke, and the low pressure to lower said rod gradually and insure a return flow of the liquid in the pressure-pipe." (Lines 26-33) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 15, 1896
Creator: Clarkson, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hydraulic Pump. (open access)

Hydraulic Pump.

Patent for a pump that operates "a pump-rod designed especially to dispense with valves, valve-cages, or other impedimenta to the flow of liquid" (lines 40-44). It is capable of pumping liquids to elevated heights.
Date: December 15, 1896
Creator: Clarkson, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hydraulic Pump (open access)

Hydraulic Pump

Patent for a hydraulic pump with "means for automatically supplying water to the pressure-pipe while the pump is working to replenish waste or leakage." (Lines 18-20) Includes instructions or illustrations.
Date: December 15, 1896
Creator: Clarkson, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hitching Device (open access)

Hitching Device

Patent for hitching device. Illustration included.
Date: July 7, 1904
Creator: Holland, George K. De W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Swinging Chair. (open access)

Swinging Chair.

Patent for improvements in swinging chairs for children, "which will render the chair automatic in operation or require but little exertion from the child occupying it, there being little or no danger of the child falling out while the chair is swinging," (lines 14-18) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: September 3, 1891
Creator: Eller, Julius M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Screen-Operating Mechanism for WIndow-Screens. (open access)

Screen-Operating Mechanism for WIndow-Screens.

Patent for a screen-operating mechanism for window-screens. It is meant to hide the mechanism from view and to improve the way the screen is raised and lowered. It also moves the "upper sash in one direction moves the screen in the reverse direction, the construction being such that the motion-transmitting gearing does not in any manner interfere with the use of ordinary window-sashes balanced by weights or springs, or the use of sashes of which the upper one only is movable" (lines 24-30).
Date: December 17, 1895
Creator: Leary, Frank S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway-Switch. (open access)

Railway-Switch.

Patent for a railway switch that has an oscillatory rail.
Date: December 5, 1911
Creator: Hensley, Thomas L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire Place Blower. (open access)

Fire Place Blower.

Patent for a new and improved fire-place blower. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the jambs of a fireplace, of a frame consisting of front-pieces detachably fastened to the jambs, back pieces fastened to the respective front pieces and formed with steps, and a top board connecting the sides of the frame, together with sections resting on the steps and forming a fire-screen and blower" (lines 10-17).
Date: December 14, 1886
Creator: Baker, Henry F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Carriage-Axle Boxes. (open access)

Improvement in Carriage-Axle Boxes.

Patent for "a new and useful improvement in carriage-axle boxes and spindles" (lines 3-5), includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 11, 1877
Creator: Sitton, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for improvements in plows by employing moldboards on both left and right side of the plow; with a shoe or land slide fixed to the plow-beam extension. Then use a V-clamp to secure the plow-handles and a bracket to secure the moldboards and plow-point. This construction will allow free movement of the plow-point and moldboard up and down or vertically without lifting the shoe from the furrow. Illustration is included.
Date: December 25, 1900
Creator: Morrison, Robert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil-Burner. (open access)

Oil-Burner.

Patent for oil-burner that is used by being connected to a steam-boiler. It is simply constructed to produce a very high degree of heat with a comparatively small amount of hydrocarbon oil.
Date: December 16, 1902
Creator: Jenkins, Wellington S.
System: The Portal to Texas History