Improvement in Ice-Machines. (open access)

Improvement in Ice-Machines.

Patent for improvements to the construction of "of the various parts of the [ice machine], whereby the reconversion of the ether into liquid before it reaches the freezing-vessel or chamber is better assured" (para. 3).
Date: December 12, 1871
Creator: Mühl, Andrew
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton-Condensers. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Condensers.

Patent to improve the compressing-roller design in a cotton gin, to keep the mechanisms from clogging. This is an addition to a previous patent by the same inventor that improved methods of cleaning the cotton. It includes an explanation with references, and illustrations.
Date: December 10, 1878
Creator: Donovan, John T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Combined Planter and Cultivator. (open access)

Improvement in Combined Planter and Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved planter and cultivator with illustrations. The invention furnishes a combined planter and cultivator constructed in such a way that "the seed dropping appliances can be readily detached and the machine adjusted for use as a cultivator." (lines 18-20)
Date: December 16, 1879
Creator: Tanner, James Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Games. (open access)

Games.

Patent for a new and improved bowling game. This design calls for blocks or pins of different values, and rather than try to knock down these pins, the object of the game is to move them from their designated starting positions. Further, a pit or gutter behind the pins receives the ball after it is thrown, and it redirects it back down toward the players by way of a perpendicular gutter to which it is connected.
Date: December 7, 1880
Creator: Chambers, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Means for Ventilating Grain, &c. (open access)

Means for Ventilating Grain, &c.

Patent for a new and improved ventilator for grain, etc. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the tubes, of the protecting end caps, consisting of a base-plate, by which it may be secured to the structure, and provided with a central opening, in which the ends of the tubes are adjusted, and a semi-cone . . . [also] [t]he combination, with the structure provided, with transverse ventilating-tubes projecting on the outside of the structure, of the . . . protecting caps" (lines 88-97).
Date: December 12, 1882
Creator: Street, John Kennedy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Feed Water Regulator. (open access)

Feed Water Regulator.

Patent for a new and improved feed-water regulator. This design "consists in the combination, with the heater, of a supply-pipe having a valve-chamber, a valve opening and closing said pipe, and having a stem which is packed through the wall of the heater, a bell-crank lever fulcrumed upon a stud projecting from the inner wall of the heater, and actuated by a float connected with one arm, the other arm being connected to the valve-stem, whereby the supply-pipe is opened and closed by the fall and rise of the water-level in the heater" (lines 16-27).
Date: December 11, 1883
Creator: Osborn, Adelbert E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire Kindler. (open access)

Fire Kindler.

Patent for a new and improved fire-kindler. This design is for "[a] fire-kindling torch consisting of two perforated sections, each having an exterior longitudinal ridge, and angular side flanges, and provided at one end with lugs which bear flatly against each other, a pivot-pin passing transversely through the lugs to permanently connect the sections and form a pintle on which they can turn, and a handle connecting the other ends of the sections together, said sections having an interposed filling of mineral wool" (lines 1-11).
Date: December 25, 1883
Creator: Osborn, Adelbert E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Necktie and Collar Fastener. (open access)

Necktie and Collar Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved tie and collar fastener. This design consists in "[a] fastener for securing the proper relation between the shirt-band, collar, and necktie, consisting of a spring adapted to fit inside the shirt-band and next to the neck, in combination with a hollow stud on the middle of the convex side, having a separable head with spring-catches, and the bent hook-sections, toothed . . . and arranged to separate the shirt-band, collar, and necktie" (lines 66-75).
Date: December 1, 1885
Creator: Coffey, Robert Samuel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Marine Torpedo Service. (open access)

Marine Torpedo Service.

Patent for a new and improved torpedo system. This design is "to so place and connect the torpedoes that they may be drawn out of the way of friendly vessels, so that they will automatically resume positions that will interfere with the passage of [unfriendly] vessels . . . [and] the invention consists of a series or system of torpedoes that are connected to guide-lines that pass under anchored sheaves and lead to a point where the lines are all connected to a single manipulating-line . . . which common manipulating-line leads to the shore or to a position from which it can be operated from the shore" (lines 11-25).
Date: December 7, 1886
Creator: Aylesworth, Charles Samuel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil Distributer for Harbors, &c. (open access)

Oil Distributer for Harbors, &c.

Patent for a new and improved oil-distributor. This design consists "in a device for distributing oil upon the waves in the vicinity of piers and harbors, the combination, with the main tank upon the shore, of a main pipe extending from it into the water, auxiliary tanks along the main line, and perforated auxiliary lines connected with the auxiliary tanks" (lines 23-30).
Date: December 4, 1888
Creator: Lyle, John Newton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn or Cotton Dropper (open access)

Corn or Cotton Dropper

Patent for corn or cotton dropper in which improvements are made on general efficiency, "simplicity, expensiveness, [and] durability" (lines 12-13).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Brown, William Franklin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Picker Finger. (open access)

Cotton-Picker Finger.

Patent that improves on existing design of cotton-picking spindles by using an elastic material instead of bristles. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 12, 1891
Creator: Canuteson, Ole
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wave-Motor. (open access)

Wave-Motor.

Patent for a simple and effective apparatus that utilizes wave power. It consists of a frame with a casing on the top that extends from the normal trough to crest lines of waves, a float, a pump with the center below the float, a discharge pipe connected to the pump, anchors and braces for the pump, a joint that connects the pump with a pile, guide rolls, and inlets and outlets on opposite sides of the pump.
Date: December 12, 1893
Creator: Walker, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Copy-Holder and Tablet. (open access)

Combined Copy-Holder and Tablet.

Patent for a combined copy-holder and tablet meant for record keeping. The invention's purposes are to "produce a convenient device designed to be employed ether upon the lap of the operator or upon a counter or other convenient support, and to maintain in position for writing a web of paper, thus requiring no holding of the same by the operator; to provide means for conveniently paying out said web of paper as the same is used or consumed; to provide for conveniently tearing the paper from the web into lengths convenient to the operator; to provide for a simple retention and support in a removable manner of the roll upon which the web is mounted; and finally for a support of the device in an inclined position convenient for transcribing notes therefrom" (lines 13-28).
Date: December 19, 1893
Creator: Stuart, Benjamin F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Desk and Copy-Holder. (open access)

Combined Desk and Copy-Holder.

Patent for a desk with an attached paper-holder that allows for easier transcription.
Date: December 19, 1893
Creator: Stuart, Benjamin Franklin & Willson, Frederick William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Stalk-Cutter and Cultivator. (open access)

Combined Stalk-Cutter and Cultivator.

Patent for "a combined stalk cutter and cultivating machine comprising a rotary stalk cutter and a gang of plows and it consists in the features of construction and novel combination of devices in a machine adapted for the various kinds of agricultural work" (lines 9-15).
Date: December 26, 1893
Creator: Snodgrass, George Melvin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Engine and Superheater Apparatus. (open access)

Combined Engine and Superheater Apparatus.

Patent for a "combined steam superheater apparatus and engine driven thereby, which in turn is utilized to automatically shift the steam feeding and cut off devices, and such invention primarily has for its object to provide a combined mechanism of this character which will effectively operate for its intended purposes" (lines 7-14). It also requires a minimal amount of effort to operate, sifts solids out of the water, and retains heat.
Date: December 25, 1894
Creator: Walker, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire-Grate. (open access)

Fire-Grate.

Patent for a simple and efficient fire-grate that is meant "to be set in a wall between two rooms and capable of being reversed to enable either room to be directly heated by a fire" (lines 11-13).
Date: December 17, 1895
Creator: Birkhead, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Removing Cores from Cylindrical Cotton-Bales. (open access)

Apparatus for Removing Cores from Cylindrical Cotton-Bales.

Patent for a "means for removing screw-threaded cores from cylindrical cotton-bales" (lines 12-14). It is made up of a wheeled-truck that is holding the bale, an apparatus that grips the end of the core, a way to revolve the grip, a driven shaft, and a universal joint that connects the shaft with the end of the core.
Date: December 31, 1895
Creator: White, Charles W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper and Cultivator. (open access)

Cotton Chopper and Cultivator.

Patent for an improved combined cotton chopper and cultivator.
Date: December 15, 1896
Creator: Summers, Dewett C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clothes Pounder (open access)

Clothes Pounder

Patent for a new and useful improvements in clothes pounders, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 7, 1897
Creator: Schofield, Frank B. & Schofield, Joseph L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Biblical Game Apparatus (open access)

Biblical Game Apparatus

Patent for a new and useful game apparatus. This design is to "provide a biblical game apparatus adapted to be employed in play by two or more persons" (line 8-10).
Date: December 14, 1897
Creator: James, Will S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Sharpening Gin Saws (open access)

Machine for Sharpening Gin Saws

Patent for a new and useful improvements in machines for sharpening gin-saws. This invention is to "provide an improved machine of the character described wherein the saws may be sharpened without removing them" (line 10-12).
Date: December 14, 1897
Creator: Bradley, James M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Engine. (open access)

Rotary Engine.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in rotary engines, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 6, 1898
Creator: Walker, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History