Combined Crutch and Chair. (open access)

Combined Crutch and Chair.

Patent for a combined crutch and chair.
Date: December 27, 1910
Creator: Johnson, Samuel J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bracing Garment (open access)

Bracing Garment

Patent for a bracing garment. This invention resembles a corset functioning as a body brace. Illustrations included.
Date: December 25, 1906
Creator: Crumbly, Lula
System: The Portal to Texas History
Crude-Oil Burner. (open access)

Crude-Oil Burner.

Patent for crude-oil burner that has excellent combustion, it is simply constructed to to make it easier to use, and requires little or no attention. It is adaptable to be used in fire-boxes (cooking and heating stoves, furnaces, and ranges).
Date: December 2, 1902
Creator: Bateman, Talbot O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Copy Holder (open access)

Copy Holder

Patent for a copy holder. This invention is designed to hold a manuscript so as allow for ease of reading. Illustration included.
Date: December 18, 1906
Creator: Sharp, Joshua H. & Haberzettle, Fred S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bale-Tie Buckle (open access)

Bale-Tie Buckle

Patent for a bale tie buckle made from one piece of wire.
Date: December 19, 1911
Creator: McFarland, Frank H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal-Feed Device (open access)

Animal-Feed Device

Patent for an animal feed device that is collapsible and that can be suspended from fences, vehicle wheels, other structures, the ground, or the animal itself. (lines 10-15
Date: December 12, 1905
Creator: Russell, George Washington
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for "baling-presses, and has for its objects to provide a simple and efficient apparatus embodying a rebounding plunger; to provide means for regulating the resistance offered to the advance movement of the forward head-block; to provide improved means for tucking the material during the advance movement of the plunger; to provide means for regulating the length of a bale; to provide means for automatically inserting a head-block when a bale of the desired length has been formed; and to provide means whereby the raising and lowering of the press-box or baling-chamber is accomplished by the draft-horses through the sweep, and without the use of jacks or other analogous devices." (Lines 8-24) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 24, 1895
Creator: Keith, George A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee Pot. (open access)

Coffee Pot.

Patent for a new and improved coffee pot. This design "has relation to that class of coffee-pots in which the body of the pot contains a cone-shaped chamber provided at the apex with a tube for the discharge of the boiling water as it passes through the same into a receptacle containing the coffee; and the object thereof is to improve the construction of this class of coffee-pots" (lines 12-19).
Date: December 29, 1885
Creator: Covington, Philip A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling (open access)

Car-Coupling

Patent for an improvement of car coupling design so as to be automatic so that it can couple and uncouple without needing a person to move from car to car that can be used alongside pin and link couplings (lines 11-16).
Date: December 27, 1892
Creator: Millican, Joel W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton-chopper. This design consists in "the combination, with the frame and wheels, of the axle, journal-boxes for said axle adjustable lengthwise of said frame, a gear-wheel on said axle adjustable longitudinally thereon, the shaft parallel with the axle, a plurality of gear-wheels of varying diameters on said shaft, a bevel-pinion also on said shaft, and an inclined shaft carrying the hoe and provided with a bevel-pinion engaging the pinion on the shaft" (lines 8-17).
Date: December 13, 1887
Creator: Marshall, Benjamin C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Building Tile. (open access)

Building Tile.

Patent for "hollow blocks" or "tile and hollow corner blocks" that "prevent moisture from passing through walls" (lines 10-14).
Date: December 31, 1918
Creator: Bennett, Walter R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Seat. (open access)

Car-Seat.

Patent for improvement in regular car-seating (not baby car-seat) by enabling the seat to recline “like an ordinary sleeping-coach without the necessity of the upper berths required in a sleeping-coach.” (Lines 45-48) Illustration is included.
Date: December 14, 1886
Creator: Goelet, Edward B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adjustable Tire Mold (open access)

Adjustable Tire Mold

Patent for a tire mold that improves the viability of a tire mold due to the adjustable levers used during the tire curing process.
Date: December 7, 1920
Creator: Hibbs, Cassell D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Collar. (open access)

Collar.

Patent for a collar that can be fastened without the need of a button. It is meant to be attached to any shirt and constructed so that it can stay without a button through a tab system.
Date: December 17, 1918
Creator: Narmore, Missouri A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Aircraft Propelling and Manipulating (open access)

Aircraft Propelling and Manipulating

Patent for air craft propelling systems for improvements in control of the aircraft by way of a "universal connection" (Lines 13-14) which makes for easier manipulation of the craft and aids in the prevention of air disasters.
Date: December 23, 1919
Creator: Schelb, Peter J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Curing Tire Casings. (open access)

Apparatus for Curing Tire Casings.

Patent for a more efficient system for curing tire casings. The new patented apparatus was capable of providing both smooth and ribbed tire textures by way of aluminum tips and molds. Additionally, the apparatus provided retreading and faster curing of pneumatic tires.
Date: December 2, 1919
Creator: Bongio, Philip P. & Stephenson, Elonzo
System: The Portal to Texas History
Aeroplane (open access)

Aeroplane

Patent for an aeroplane that is inexpensive and easily built, while preventing the aeroplane from going into a tailspin.
Date: December 13, 1921
Creator: {McGee, Dan}
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Engine (open access)

Rotary Engine

Patent for rotary engine, with improvements to rotary engine fluid pressure for motors or engines which pump fluids (such as water motor, water pump, oil pump, ammonia pump or compressor).
Date: December 27, 1921
Creator: Johnson, Louis V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
World-Chronometer (open access)

World-Chronometer

Patent for a globe set on top of a pedestal, where the globes rotates by clock work to instruct the user of the time for any given place on the globe. Sides of the pedestal also allow for advertising.
Date: December 29, 1914
Creator: Agnew, Walter F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lock Hopple. (open access)

Lock Hopple.

Patent for a new and improved lock-hopple. This design consists in "the combination of the semi-circular section provided at its free end with the latch-hook and concave edge, and the semi-circular section provided with the perforated projection for the attachment of the lap-ring, and with the lock" (lines 95-100). It further consists in "the partition, the cap-piece having the central key-opening, the journaled latch-hook having the end of its journal formed to fit in the recess in the end of the key, the curved double-arm spring, the lid, and the lid-stem having upon it a block provided with the shoulders" (lines 1-8).
Date: December 18, 1888
Creator: White, Elisha Lafayette
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ink Blotter. (open access)

Ink Blotter.

Patent for a new and improved ink blotter. This design "is to facilitate the process and shorten the time of the [writer] in blotting of the ink from his [or her] writing. [The design] attain[s] this object by so constructing the blotter that when in use it is always attached to and worn upon the hand holding the pen" (lines 8-13).
Date: December 30, 1884
Creator: Smith, L. Starr
System: The Portal to Texas History
Indicator for Vehicles. (open access)

Indicator for Vehicles.

Patent for a device for vehicles which can signal turns and stops. Designed to be used in place of the driver's hand, this device consists of indicator arms mounted of either side of a vehicle and button controls placed near the driver's seat. Illustrations included.
Date: December 30, 1919
Creator: Hutchison, William F., Sr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Elevator. (open access)

Water Elevator.

Patent for a new and improved water elevator. This design "is to provide each bucket with a weighted back; also, in the manner of connecting the chains thereto, so that the necessity of the employment of a weighted wheel is obviated" (lines 20-24). This means that individual buckets may be removed and replaced, and construction becomes more durable and simple.
Date: December 28, 1880
Creator: Mayfield, William D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Working Machine. (open access)

Wire-Working Machine.

Patent for improvements in Wire-Working Machines that forms hangers for "coats, trousers, and other clothing" (lines 11-12). Provides a more inexpensive, faster, and more accurate machine that uses less power, includes illustrations.
Date: December 16, 1919
Creator: Shelton, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History