Bale Band Replacer and Tightener. (open access)

Bale Band Replacer and Tightener.

Patent for a new and improved bale-band replacer and tightener. This design "provide[s] a simple and convenient device for replacing a broken bale-bind, for tightening the band around the bale, and for drawing the ends together, so as to provide the necessary slack for slipping the loop out of the tie when it is desired to remove a band" (lines 13-19).
Date: July 4, 1882
Creator: Lenard, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lamp Wick. (open access)

Lamp Wick.

Patent for a new and improved wick for oil lamps. This design "consists in forming the lamp-wick of one or more layers of mineral wool inclosed in a textile material, the whole being sewed together by a series of parallel longitudinal stitches" (lines 18-22). Employing textile material represents an improvement in capillarity over previous wicks made with refractory cement.
Date: February 14, 1882
Creator: Bèck, Gebhard
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
Sulky Plow and Cotton Scraper. (open access)

Sulky Plow and Cotton Scraper.

Patent for a new and improved sulky plow and cotton scraper. This design "relates to an improvement in sulky-plows, its object being to render the plow right or left hand for operation, to adjust the angle of presentation of the plow with relation to the line of draft, and to adapt the plow as a cotton-scraper; and it consists of the combination and arrangement of parts" (lines 14-20).
Date: May 16, 1882
Creator: Baucum, Samuel C.
System: The Portal to Texas History