Improvement in Cultivators. (open access)

Improvement in Cultivators.

Patent for a new and useful improvement in cultivators.
Date: February 5, 1878
Creator: Graves, Jefferson M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sign. (open access)

Sign.

Patent for a new and improved sign. This design consists in "the combination of a frame or bed and a transparent plate set in the same, having the letter-color or gilt on its inner face, and a filling applied upon its front face to form the margins of the letter . . . [and] the wooden body, provided with a recess, in its front face, of the strip of glass gilded, silvered, or painted on its back face and inlaid in said recess, and a filling on its front face to form the margins of the letters . . . [and] the separate pieces or panes of glass, one for each letter of the sign" (lines 84-101).
Date: December 5, 1882
Creator: Munn, Frank E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Belt (open access)

Electric Belt

Patent for improvements in electric belts.
Date: July 5, 1887
Creator: Williams, Robert E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Conveying and Cleaning Apparatus. (open access)

Cotton Conveying and Cleaning Apparatus.

Patent for improvements in cotton conveying and cleaning apparatus by using the combination of “a rearwardly-open feeder and a conveyer in position to receive cotton discharge at the rear of the feeder” (lines 103-105), as a result when a conveyer bring “cotton to the feeder, it would provide a branch in position to take up the cotton delivered by the conveyer” (lines 106-108) thus preventing undue accumulation of excess cotton and continuous movement of the cotton in all the parts. Illustration is included.
Date: May 5, 1891
Creator: Elam, William E.; Thomas, Robert S. & Hardwick, Saunie W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Boring Artesian Wells. (open access)

Apparatus for Boring Artesian Wells.

Patent for a new and improved artesian-well borer. This design "has for its object to furnish a combination tool which will wear or cut the harder grades or rock frequently met with in boring wells of this class, and also to furnish a tool which will be harder than the common steel too or auger, thereby dispensing with the necessity of taking out and sharpening" (lines 13-20). It consists in "[a] fluted hemispherical mass of corundum for boring Artesian wells, said mass being provided with cutting-edges which extend from the apex to the base, [and] a metallic core embedded within the mass" (lines 16-20).
Date: April 5, 1892
Creator: Brown, Frank O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buckle. (open access)

Buckle.

Patent for a buckle meant for use with harnesses and "wherein the ordinary movable and hinged tongue is dispensed with, and a rigid stud or pointed projection is used in reversed positions at opposite ends of connecting loops" (lines 9-13).
Date: December 5, 1893
Creator: Odom, Plesant W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Conduit Electric Railway. (open access)

Conduit Electric Railway.

Patent for an underground conduit electric railway meant to propel cars. The conduit can be drained and kept dry, and a trolley attachment protects the conduit from dirt and water as well.
Date: December 5, 1893
Creator: de Voe, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn and Cotton Planter. (open access)

Corn and Cotton Planter.

Patent for an inexpensive and simply constructed corn and cotton planter that has an "improved mechanism for transmitting motion from the drive-wheel to the seed-disk; to so construct said mechanism as to operate only when the planter is being advanced and to remain inoperative when being drawn backward; to provide for a change of speed for the seed-disk so as to plant close together or far apart as may be desired; and to provide a new and improved hood or protector for the gear connection between the drive-wheel and the power-transmitting mechanism, which hood may be readily cast and will preserve the mechanism at this point against the deleterious actions of dust and other gritty matter that would otherwise find its way therein" (lines 11-26).
Date: December 5, 1893
Creator: Schofield, James Drommond
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lattice. (open access)

Lattice.

Patent for a simple, strong, and economic lattice that is meant for use in jail cells. It allows air and light into the cell, and they are formed with "alternately opposite depressions and elevations for the reception of the bars running at right angles thereto" (lines 12-24). It should have alternating bars of steel and iron.
Date: February 5, 1895
Creator: Hull, William S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Strainer for Coffee-Pots. (open access)

Strainer for Coffee-Pots.

Patent for a strainer "by which the steam from the fluid coffee which has passed through the percolating-cloth to the base of the coffee-pot can rise above the strainer, there condense, and then return again through the strainer, thus causing a thorough extraction of the strength of the coffee" (lines 9-15).
Date: May 5, 1896
Creator: Massey, Andrew J. & Stallings, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for "baling-presses of that class wherein motion is communicated to the plunger from a sweep operated by horse or similar power, and the object in view is to improve the construction of the baling-chamber and attachments, and, furthermore, to provide a simple and efficient construction of plunger-operating mechanism" (lines 8-15)
Date: January 5, 1897
Creator: Pearce, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Separator. (open access)

Grain-Separator.

Patent for improved grain separators or threshing machines "whereby vibrating straw-racks will be entirely dispensed with and the machine so simplified as to obviate the heavy jars and jerks of most grain-separators or threshing machines, while at the same time providing a construction of machine that will effectually separate the grain from the straw and will also keep the feeding end of the machine entirely free from dust, which is often a serious drawback to the operation of most machines of this character." (Lines 11-21) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 5, 1897
Creator: McCue, John Marshall
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hame And Trace Connector. (open access)

Hame And Trace Connector.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in Hames, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: September 5, 1899
Creator: Dodson, Roy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dental Handpiece (open access)

Dental Handpiece

Patent for a dental handpiece. Illustrations included.
Date: April 5, 1904
Creator: Crawford, Lyter H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Convertible Mixing and Cleaning Machine (open access)

Convertible Mixing and Cleaning Machine

Patent for convertible mixing and cleaning machine. Illustrations included.
Date: July 5, 1904
Creator: Stacey, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seeder (open access)

Seeder

Patent for a new wheeled seeder design "especially intended for the planting of cottonseed and corn" (lines 14-16).
Date: December 5, 1905
Creator: Schofield, James Drommond
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nose-Bag for Feeding Horses and Other Animals. (open access)

Nose-Bag for Feeding Horses and Other Animals.

Patent for a nose-bag for horse feed that allows the feed to stay near the horses mouth despite changes in the weight of the feed. It also allows for easier filling of the bag.
Date: February 5, 1907
Creator: Hodge, Alfred Lucas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plumb Rule And Level (open access)

Plumb Rule And Level

Patent for a plumb rule and level. Illustration included.
Date: February 5, 1907
Creator: Downs, Wayne
System: The Portal to Texas History
Switching Device (open access)

Switching Device

Patent for switching devices. This invention is for electrically operated switch tongue throwing mechanisms and is for use in switching cars from one track to another. illustrations included.
Date: February 5, 1907
Creator: Makley, John N.; Manett, Edward F. & Dannelly, Frank M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Harvester (open access)

Cotton Harvester

Patent for a cotton harvester. The invention is designed to pick cotton, automatically depositing the bolls in the gin, separates the seeds, and discharges the lint. Illustration included.
Date: November 5, 1907
Creator: Williams, Edward M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electrical Attachment for Movable Object (open access)

Electrical Attachment for Movable Object

Patent for "a means to prevent the retarding of a movable element, such as shovel or disk plows, road rollers and rotatable and reciprocatory devices, when the said element is traveling through or upon an adhering earthy electrical conducting substance" (lines 7-12).
Date: November 5, 1907
Creator: Dawkins, John R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Railway-Gate (open access)

Electric Railway-Gate

Patent for an electric railway gate. Illustrations included.
Date: May 5, 1908
Creator: McGee, Richmond M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lathe-Chuck (open access)

Lathe-Chuck

Patent for a lathe chuck to be used with cotton gins. Illustrations included.
Date: May 5, 1908
Creator: Jipperson, John Marsen
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vapor-Burner (open access)

Vapor-Burner

Patent for a vapor burner and generator. Illustrations included.
Date: January 5, 1909
Creator: Jordan, James T.
System: The Portal to Texas History