Improvement in Cultivators. (open access)

Improvement in Cultivators.

Patent for improvement in cultivators by using adjustable screw-rods from the ends of short laterally-vibrating levers to suspend the cultivator-beams in the front; the levers are arranged to be operated by an attendant’s feet. Illustration is included.
Date: September 28, 1869
Creator: Hall, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Gang-Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Gang-Plows.

Patent for "constructing and arranging a gang or series of plows in one frame that they may have an adjustment on the supporting-runners, and a means of self-adjustment vertically, so that they may be set for furrow-slices of any given depth, and any one of the series may give way to an undue resistance in the line of the furrow without disturbing any other of the plows." (Lines 20-28) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 9, 1869
Creator: Hall, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Gang-Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Gang-Plows.

Patent for "a gang-plow, which is so arranged that the beams can be adjusted sideways and up and down at will, and can be permanently secured in any desired position in either movement." (Lines 17-20) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 30, 1869
Creator: Hall, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Plows.

Patent for improvement in plows: "The invention consists in so attaching a revolving disk, cutter, or colter to the beam of the plow that it will rotate on its own axis, and vibrate laterally, to accommodate itself to the line of draft or direction of the beam of the plow; also, in the means used by which the revolving cutter or colter is attached to the beam of the plow, and having the means of swiveling or turning in the beam to accommodate itself to the line of draft of the plow" (lines 22-31) including illustrations and instructions.
Date: December 28, 1869
Creator: Hall, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee-Roaster. (open access)

Coffee-Roaster.

Patent for a coffee roaster that intends to "supply a ready and cheap means of effectually stirring the grains of coffee while being roasted in any convenient and suitable vessel...(lines 6-9). The patent includes instructions and an illustration.
Date: November 23, 1869
Creator: Hall, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Gang-Plow. (open access)

Improvement in Gang-Plow.

Patent for improvement in gang-plow by using an adjustable slotted cross-bar to enable the “plow-beams to oscillate, so that their landsides are always vertical, however uneven the ground may be.” (Lines 20-21) “This tool can also regulate the depth of the plows in the ground whereby the depth of furrow is adjusted.” (Lines 24-25) Illustration is included.
Date: April 20, 1869
Creator: Hall, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Reversible Sad-Irons. (open access)

Improvement in Reversible Sad-Irons.

Patent for "new and useful Improvements in Irons" (lines 4-5) including illustrations.
Date: August 3, 1875
Creator: Smothers, Thomas T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Fence-Post Sockets. (open access)

Improvement in Fence-Post Sockets.

Patent for improvement in fencing where posts are held more securely with galvanized plates, sockets, and wires.
Date: September 9, 1873
Creator: Durant, George W. & Durant, James B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Faucet and Automatic Toy. (open access)

Combined Faucet and Automatic Toy.

Patent for a new and improved faucet with a toy attachment. This design "relates to faucets for soda-fountains and the like; and it consists in providing the same with a jointed figure or automaton adapted to be operated by the escaping fluid" (lines 21-25).
Date: April 25, 1882
Creator: Zanetti, Fortonato Clemente
System: The Portal to Texas History
Aquarium. (open access)

Aquarium.

Patent for an ornamental suspension aquarium with easily removed plug or stopper for refreshing the water with illustrations.
Date: March 18, 1884
Creator: Zanetti, Fortonato Clemente
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Corn and Cotton Seed Planter. (open access)

Combined Corn and Cotton Seed Planter.

Patent for a new and improved seed planter. This design is "to simplify the means employed for providing at will recesses of different depths in the wheel, and also to provide means whereby a recess of both greater width and depth can be provided for cotton-seed than for corn, whereby the cotton-seed can be fed from the hopper in a more certain, free, and efficient manner than heretofore" (lines 23-31).
Date: March 20, 1883
Creator: Holland, Joseph J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination-Tool. (open access)

Combination-Tool.

Patent for a tool that is comprised of a hammer, wrench, staple puller, wire cutter, and a claw. Includes illustrations.
Date: October 19, 1897
Creator: Burkhalter, William P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Carriage Top. (open access)

Carriage Top.

Patent for an adjustable carriage top for protection from the weather. Accompanied by illustrations.
Date: November 2, 1886
Creator: Zanetti, Fortonato Clemente
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Stretcher. (open access)

Wire-Stretcher.

Patent for improvements in wire stretchers: "provide a wire stretcher of simple, durable, and economic construction, capable of being applied to a wire and supported upon s post or maintained in working position between posts or uprights" (lines 8-13).
Date: September 14, 1897
Creator: Brannon, Walter Zebulin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vine-Cutter. (open access)

Vine-Cutter.

Patent for a vine cutter that is meant "to simplify the construction of devices of this character by means of an integral formation of the cutter" (lines 8-10). It can be "adapted to be applied to a plow standard or foot consisting of a pair of cutting knives or shares integrally connected by a front cross-piece with a single central opening therein for the passage therethrough of a single securing bolt, the knives being rearwardly divergent and obliquely arranged at a downward angle, the lower edges of said knives or shares being sharpened and their rear ends curved upwardly, the said lower edges of the knives or shares adjacent to the said cross-piece being formed blunt" (lines 90-102).
Date: March 14, 1893
Creator: Wheeler, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Water-Drawers. (open access)

Improvement in Water-Drawers.

Patent for an improved water drawer, includes instructions and illustration.
Date: June 11, 1878
Creator: McC. Mathes, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insecticide (open access)

Insecticide

Patent for a compound for destroying weevils, rats and mice.
Date: July 11, 1882
Creator: Wheeler, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Building and Rerolling Wire Fences. (open access)

Machine for Building and Rerolling Wire Fences.

Patent for "improvement in machines for building and rerolling wire fences" (lines 4-6), with instructions and illustrations.
Date: October 5, 1886
Creator: Edge, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Vises (open access)

Improvement in Vises

Patent for new construction for vises that will "enable the vise to be set and secutured in any desired position and thus hold the work in a position convenient to the operator" (lines 8-10).
Date: November 4, 1879
Creator: Zanetti, Fortonato C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Toilet-Cabinets (open access)

Improvement in Toilet-Cabinets

Patent for improved toilet cabinets in order to better arrange "cabinets for containing sewing, writing, and shaving materials and various other articles" (lines 8-10). Provides instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 4, 1879
Creator: Zanetti, Fortonato C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Fifth-Wheels for Vehicles. (open access)

Improvement in Fifth-Wheels for Vehicles.

Patent for improvements made to fifth-wheels for vehicles, including illustrations.
Date: April 29, 1879
Creator: Findley, James W. & Bowles, Talbot M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Knockdown Show-Case. (open access)

Knockdown Show-Case.

Patent for a showcase that may be easily taken apart for transportation or storage. It is also easy to replace broken panes of glass, and the parts "mutually brace and support each other" (lines 20-21).
Date: March 2, 1897
Creator: Mistrot, Felix E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Staple-Puller and Wire-Tightener. (open access)

Staple-Puller and Wire-Tightener.

Patent for a simple, reliable, and efficient staple-puller and wire-tightener or twister. The operator can easily transfer between pulling staples and tightening wires.
Date: June 2, 1896
Creator: Wooten, Theophilus Parker
System: The Portal to Texas History
Press Mat. (open access)

Press Mat.

Patent for a new and improved cotton-seed-oil press mat. This design calls for three separate plates to be bound together, which allows for two pressings simultaneously. The materials (sheet metal, leather, press cloth) make for a press that is stronger, cheaper, more durable, and more effective than previous presses.
Date: June 7, 1881
Creator: Mistrot, Jean Jacques
System: The Portal to Texas History