Resource Type

Converting Reciprocating into Rotary Motion (open access)

Converting Reciprocating into Rotary Motion

Patent for converting reciprocating into rotary motion by using “two vertically moving racks with a cog wheel on a small shaft between them which gears into the teeth of the racks” (lines 16-19), includes illustration.
Date: November 1, 1859
Creator: Harper, C. A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Gang-Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Gang-Plows.

Patent for the improvement of the gang plow by the plows arrangement and pivoted beams to be adjustable for convenience, including illustration.
Date: May 1, 1855
Creator: Hall, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Seed-Planters. (open access)

Improvement in Seed-Planters.

Patent for a seed-planter that "may be attached to the leg of the attendant and operated by the natural movement of the attendant while walking along behind the machine" (lines 20-23), including illustration.
Date: March 1, 1859
Creator: Benthall, J. C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Revolving Fire-Arms. (open access)

Improvement in Revolving Fire-Arms.

Patent for discharging buckshot without reloading and with the precision of firing "a single bullet fired from a barrel of proper bore to fit it" (lines 17-18), including illustrations.
Date: March 1, 1859
Creator: Haynes, William C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Hats (open access)

Improvement in Hats

Patent for "a new and improved ventilated hat...which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification" (lines 3-5). including instructions and an illustration.
Date: September 1, 1868
Creator: Watkins, M. S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton Picker and Cleaner. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton Picker and Cleaner.

Patent for an invention that "relates to certain novel improvements on machinery which is designed for rapidly and thoroughly cleaning and picking the interior grades of cotton, and the badly picked and ginned cottons, and for effecting this result without cutting or in any manner damaging the cotton fiber"(lines 19-25). The patent includes instructions and an illustration.
Date: September 1, 1868
Creator: Gilman, Samuel H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improved Apparatus for Heating Water and Condensing Steam. (open access)

Improved Apparatus for Heating Water and Condensing Steam.

Patent for improvement in apparatus for heating water, other liquids, and condensing steam.
Date: October 1, 1867
Creator: Phalen, Henry J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Apparatus for Distilling Turpentine. (open access)

Improvement in Apparatus for Distilling Turpentine.

Patent for the improvement of apparatuses for distilling turpentine.
Date: August 1, 1871
Creator: Lee, Archibald K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Machines for Bending Stirrups. (open access)

Improvement in Machines for Bending Stirrups.

Patent for an invention that "is to provide a simple and efficient machine for bending and shaping stirrups for saddles" (lines 10-12). The patent includes instructions and an illustration.
Date: February 1, 1870
Creator: Forest, Demsey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement of Cotton Cleaners and Condensers (open access)

Improvement of Cotton Cleaners and Condensers

Patent for changes in the parts of cotton cleaner and condenser machinery, includes illustrations. The changes in machinery seek to eliminate impurities in the cotton while also compacting the cotton into a sheet.
Date: May 1, 1877
Creator: Greaves, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Washing-Machines. (open access)

Improvement in Washing-Machines.

Patent for "washing-machines known as self-regulating machines; and consists in the arrangement for controlling at will the amount of pressure to be used, in combination with the construction of the feed and washing rollers." (Lines 11-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 1, 1873
Creator: Rowland, William M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Smoothing and Fluting Irons. (open access)

Improvement in Smoothing and Fluting Irons.

Patent for improvement in smoothing and fluting irons, which combines a sad-iron smoothing-plate and mechanical fluting iron in one device which includes a heat shield and rollers through which fabric is advanced. The rollers are mechanized via a latch and rack-wheel that are actuated by moving the handle of the device up and down.
Date: June 1, 1875
Creator: Mayfield, William Dudley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Running-Gears. (open access)

Improvement in Running-Gears.

Patent for running-gear on carriages that "consists mainly in improvements in the connections of the axles with the springs, perch, and other parts" (para. 5), with illustrations.
Date: February 1, 1876
Creator: Gilmore, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Ditching-Machines. (open access)

Improvement in Ditching-Machines.

Patent for an improved ditching machine design that will "easily and rapidly cut or excavate, on the surface of the ground, soil, clay, or soft stone, a ditch or trench of any reasonable width or depth suitable" (lines 33-37) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 1, 1878
Creator: Austin, Matthew J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Earth-Boring Machines. (open access)

Improvement in Earth-Boring Machines.

Patent for improvements in earth-boring machines with new design and connections, including illustrations.
Date: January 1, 1878
Creator: Yarborough, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Machines for Destroying Cotton Worms. (open access)

Improvement in Machines for Destroying Cotton Worms.

Patent for a machine to distribute poison to destroy Cotton Worms, including illustrations.
Date: September 1, 1874
Creator: Davis, Nicholas A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Shingle-Bolting Machines. (open access)

Improvement in Shingle-Bolting Machines.

Patent for a shingle-bolting machine.
Date: December 1, 1874
Creator: Fletcher, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton-Cleaners (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Cleaners

Patent for a device that enhances the performance of cotton-cleaner machinery.
Date: May 1, 1877
Creator: Greaves, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton and Hay Presses (open access)

Improvement in Cotton and Hay Presses

Patent for new cotton and hay presses with new bailing designs, including illustrations.
Date: September 1, 1877
Creator: Methvin, Boling J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Churns. (open access)

Improvement in Churns.

Patent for improvements in churns with specific improvements in dasher-rods and lids. This patent includes illustrations.
Date: January 1, 1878
Creator: Davis, Henry T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Churns. (open access)

Improvement in Churns.

Patent for a better churn which makes butter faster, releases butter from the churn more easily, and is simple to create and use. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 1, 1878
Creator: McConnell, John A. & McConnell, William V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Plows.

Patent for improvements in adjusting devices and attachments for sulky plows, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 1, 1878
Creator: Payne, Joseph Mott
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Ant Traps (open access)

Improvement in Ant Traps

Patent for the improvement of Ant traps, including to illustrated and labeled figures.
Date: April 1, 1873
Creator: Ames, Theodore G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Combination Locks. (open access)

Improvement in Combination Locks.

Patent for combination latch-locks, "in such manner as that the knob-latch, while performing its special function, will also serve as the lock upon any combination to which it may be adjusted, and the said latch can be operated from either the outside or inside of the door as a latch simply, or as a combination lock, which latter is further secured from the inside by the employment of a safety pin, rendering the bolt in its locked position perfectly secure, while by its partial withdrawal it prevents the possible change of the combination from the outside, and admits of the free use of the latch independent of such combination." (Lines 29-42) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 1, 1873
Creator: Hall, Phidello W.
System: The Portal to Texas History