7 Matching Results

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Apparatus for the Manufacture of Ice. (open access)

Apparatus for the Manufacture of Ice.

Patent for a new and improved ice maker. This design calls for "two or more sheets of galvanized iron or other metal set in a tank of fresh water, one on either side of the evaporation-pipes, and held in a position parallel to each other by anchors or yokes that connect them" (lines 15-20). This eliminates the need for strong (ammoniacal) brine and is a faster, more reliable, and less leaky ice-making process than previous ones that used said brine.
Date: March 2, 1880
Creator: Zilker, Andrew J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Corn and Cotton Planter. (open access)

Combined Corn and Cotton Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design "consists . . . in pivoting the plow-beam, provided with a shovel for making a furrow into which the seed is dropped, in between the front ends of the beams of the two covering-shovels, the seed-covering-shovel beams being secured to the handles of the machine, whereby the pivoted beam is controlled entirely by the handles; second, in pivoting the seed-box to the rear end of the beam, provided with shovel for forming a furrow for the seed to drop in, by means of the loose link or connection, so that the beam can be moved independently" (lines 14-27).
Date: November 2, 1880
Creator: Carter, Hiram H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Post-Hole Auger (open access)

Post-Hole Auger

New and useful improvement in Post-Hole Augers. With this construction the auger will its way easily and rapidly into any kind of soil.
Date: November 2, 1880
Creator: Hubby, Mead M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Saw Mill Dog. (open access)

Saw Mill Dog.

Patent for a new and improved saw mill dog. This design "is an improvement in the class of dogging apparatus which is affixed to one of the knees of a head-block of the log-carriage" (lines 8-11). The improvement consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, specifically "the notched dog and adjustable slotted drop-catch with the slotted moveable dog-bar and base-stand" (lines 77-79).
Date: November 2, 1880
Creator: Wickham, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Piano-Forte Tuning-Pin Lock. (open access)

Piano-Forte Tuning-Pin Lock.

Patent for a new and improved lock for forte-piano tuning-pins. This design consists "of an elongated or oblong metal plate provided with a slot in a part of its length and having one of its faces roughened into serrations . . . which, together with . . . correspondingly-toothed hooks bolted to said plate, form a clamp to bind two or more tuning-pins of a piano together, to prevent them from turning as a set or independently" (lines 16-25).
Date: March 2, 1880
Creator: Norcross, Levi W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Receipt Book Holder. (open access)

Receipt Book Holder.

Patent for a new and improved holder for receipt books. This "is especially designed for the use of weighers" (line 8). The design calls for being "attached to the scales . . . that is, in the most convenient and agreeable position for the weigher. The book is always at hand, can be fully controlled by the weigher, and saves him [or her] very much trouble" (lines 42-48).
Date: November 2, 1880
Creator: Dickey, Robert Barbour
System: The Portal to Texas History
Post Office Case. (open access)

Post Office Case.

Patent for a new and improved carrying case for mail. This design calls for a metal cylinder with twenty-six compartments (one for each English letter) around a central compartment. The compartments may be rotated to gain access to any of them via hinged doors at the top of the case.
Date: November 2, 1880
Creator: Crowder, John R. & Haile, James Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History