Clothes-Pin. (open access)

Clothes-Pin.

Patent for a clothes pin made from spring metal that "automatically adapt[s] itself to lines of different thicknesses, and whereby the pin may be used to retain an exceedingly thin article in engagement with the line as effectually as an exceedingly thick article, the pin being capable of holding a bit of lace and likewise a heavy blanket or quilt" (lines 11-18). It is especially designed for use with metal clothes lines.
Date: October 31, 1893
Creator: Jones, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Process of Refining Crude Cotton-Seed Oil. (open access)

Process of Refining Crude Cotton-Seed Oil.

Patent for a process for refining crude Cottonseed oil that produces more soap byproduct than other methods.
Date: October 31, 1911
Creator: Chisholm, Jesse C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stump-Puller. (open access)

Stump-Puller.

Patent for a simple and effective stump puller that pulls stumps entirely from the ground using a large amount of force. The machine uses a series of pulleys, hooks, levers, and cranks.
Date: October 31, 1893
Creator: Rupe, Salathiel C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nutcracker. (open access)

Nutcracker.

Patent for a nutcracker "of simple and comparatively inexpensive construction, having few parts and which may be conveniently operated." (lines 9-10) including illustration.
Date: October 31, 1916
Creator: Watson, Charles J. E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Preheating Means for Vapor-Burners (open access)

Preheating Means for Vapor-Burners

Patent for "new and useful improvements in generators for vapor-burners" (line 6-7), including instructions and illustration.
Date: October 31, 1899
Creator: Wilson, William W. & Wilson, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Running Gear for Vehicles. (open access)

Running Gear for Vehicles.

Patent for a new and improved running gear for vehicles. This design "has for its object . . . to dispense with the reach or pole, and while doing this to provide for or avoid interference with the normal action of the springs, and to render it applicable to vehicles already in use. To these ends [the] invention consists in the employment of braces adapted to be connected to and permit the springs to have the required movement, and also of additional braces arranged between the body support or frame and axles, having the one a slotted plate and the other a slotted bridge" (lines 15-27).
Date: October 31, 1882
Creator: Roberts, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History