Improvement in Tents. (open access)

Improvement in Tents.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in military tents that relates to folding tents including illustrations.
Date: April 8, 1873
Creator: Turner, Ephraim M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton-Presses. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Presses.

Patent for an improved Cotton-Press that will grant double work from an applied power, including illustrations.
Date: April 8, 1879
Creator: Matthews, James Hamilton. & Morehead, Charles Robert, Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Child's Crib (open access)

Child's Crib

Patent for new "suspended cribs or cradles for the use of children" (lines 17-18) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 8, 1880
Creator: Brown, Fred Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Curry Comb. (open access)

Curry Comb.

Patent for a new and improved curry-comb. This design "has relation to that class of curry-combs provided with detachable and reversible handles, and has for its object to provide simple and effective means whereby the handle can be readily detached from the comb and replaced in a reverse position, or removed for the purpose of economizing for space in packing for transportation" (lines 17-24).
Date: June 8, 1886
Creator: Johnson, Thomas Jefferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Arc Lamp. (open access)

Electric Arc Lamp.

Patent for a new and improved electric-arc lamp. This design consists in "the combination of a single horseshoe electro-magnet in the circuit of a main line, connected on the positive side to a binding-post having shunt material as a bushing around it, an armature hinged at its center and free to vibrate throughout its length with a carbon-rod holder, which it is adapted to clutch at the hinged part, said magnet acting upon the ends of the armature only, and an adjustable trip and limiting-stops, and means permitting both to be readily adjusted upon the outside of the casing to regulate the lamp" (lines 46-58).
Date: March 8, 1887
Creator: McDill, Henry C. & Gaston, James E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Process of Making Electric Gold Pictures (open access)

Process of Making Electric Gold Pictures

Patent for a "process whereby pictures may be reproduced on any hard white surface" (lines 22-23) by treating the surface so gold adheres to it, with description of process.
Date: November 8, 1887
Creator: Tucker, Argyle W. & Tucker, Elihu M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a new and improved churn. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the inner shell or cream-receptacle having the pipe formed therewith, and with the ring near its upper end, the outer shell having its upper end contracted to engage the ring of the cream-receptacle and inclose the pipe, and provided with the side opening at its upper end, and a valve located in the pipe to open and close by the action of the dasher moving in the cream-cylinder" (lines 1-10).
Date: May 8, 1888
Creator: Richards, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Folding Minnow-Net. (open access)

Folding Minnow-Net.

Patent for "improvements in fishing-nets, and particularly to frames for nets which can be set up in the water in various places where other nets cannot be used and which can be folded up into a small package for convenient carrying." (Lines 8-13) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 8, 1896
Creator: Breeding, Enoch
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay-Press. (open access)

Hay-Press.

Patent for "improvements in presses for compressing and baling hay or other fibrous material" (lines 9-10), with illustrations.
Date: December 21, 1895
Creator: Young, William T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seat - Action Flushing Apparatus. (open access)

Seat - Action Flushing Apparatus.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in seat-action flushing apparatus. This design is to "provide a cistern into which the water is admitted only when the seat is occupied" (line 14-17).
Date: February 8, 1898
Creator: Ackley, George D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lifting-Jack. (open access)

Lifting-Jack.

Patent for a new and useful lifting jack, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 8, 1898
Creator: Hughs, George Washington
System: The Portal to Texas History
Convertible Case. (open access)

Convertible Case.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in convertible cases, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 8, 1899
Creator: Turner, Ephraim M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Scourer. (open access)

Grain-Scourer.

Patent for invention and improvements in grain-scourers such as the addition of a pulley for driving the device.
Date: October 8, 1901
Creator: McLellan, Frederick A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Folding Crate (open access)

Folding Crate

Patent for a crate that will fold into a compacted shape when not in use in order to maximize space or to create a way to use a crate as an open container without physically removing the top (or cover).
Date: May 8, 1906
Creator: Green, George F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Merry Go Round (open access)

Merry Go Round

Patent for a merry go round. Illustration included.
Date: May 8, 1906
Creator: Barnett, John B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mixing Device (open access)

Mixing Device

Patent for mixing device which helps save time by mixing several ingredients separate from each other at a single operation.
Date: May 8, 1906
Creator: Powell, Sarah Emma
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench. (open access)

Wrench.

Patent for a wrench, which has a pipe wrench on one end and a monkey wrench on the other end.
Date: March 8, 1910
Creator: Paul, Zacharier M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Collapsible Box. (open access)

Collapsible Box.

Patent for a collapsible box for use in shipping goods.
Date: November 8, 1910
Creator: Pinto, Frank
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn and Cotton Planter (open access)

Corn and Cotton Planter

Patent for a corn and cotton planter that plants seeds in hills of equal distance from one another.
Date: October 8, 1912
Creator: Roy, Henry F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Paper-Binder (open access)

Paper-Binder

Patent for a binder for papers, bills, etc. Illustrations included.
Date: October 8, 1912
Creator: Byron, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lid Mover for Ice Boxes, Refrigerators, and the Like. (open access)

Lid Mover for Ice Boxes, Refrigerators, and the Like.

Patent for a lid mover for ice boxes, refrigerators, ice cream cabinets, etc., that allows the lid to move parallel to the top of the box or other device. The patent includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: September 8, 1914
Creator: White, Brown
System: The Portal to Texas History
Scissors Hanger (open access)

Scissors Hanger

Patent for scissors hangers for sales people in stores that provides a pair of hooks that is "depending from a shank and connected by an arched guard strip" (lines 15-16) that forms a scissors holding element. The scissors hanger will also have a plate metal body that allows the hanger to be attached to the clothing of the wearer.
Date: February 8, 1916
Creator: Walker, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Heater (open access)

Heater

Patent for an improved heater for heating water and utilizing exhaust steam.
Date: January 8, 1918
Creator: Averitt, Robert W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Valve-Lifter (open access)

Valve-Lifter

Patent for an improved device that can be applied to a valve spring plate without losing grip.
Date: April 8, 1920
Creator: Chaney, Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History