Improvment in Cotton-Presses. (open access)

Improvment in Cotton-Presses.

Patent for the improvement in pressing cotton, hay, and tobacco with moveable bale-boxes and a more rapid-working press, including illustration.
Date: March 13, 1860
Creator: McCray, Thomas H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Presses. (open access)

Improvement in Presses.

Patent for pressing cotton, hay, and tobacco with moveable notches for more control in producing bales and using less power than previous presses, including illustration.
Date: January 17, 1860
Creator: McCray, Thomas H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Field Threshing-Machine. (open access)

Improvement in Field Threshing-Machine.

Patent for "a new threshing-machine, which is arranged upon wheels, so that it can be drawn over the field" (lines 12-15) and make the process for which it was built: more efficient. The patent includes instructions and an illustration.
Date: December 31, 1867
Creator: Tucker, A. W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Harvesters. (open access)

Improvement in Harvesters.

Patent for improvements in mowers and reapers.
Date: November 12, 1867
Creator: Tucker, A. W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Harvesters. (open access)

Improvement in Harvesters.

Patent for improvements in reaping and mowing machines.
Date: May 5, 1868
Creator: Ramsey, Jo.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Seed-Planters. (open access)

Improvement in Seed-Planters.

Patent for an improved seed-planter "which will deposit the seeds in the requisite quantities and proper distances apart, and which will cover and mark the bills, so that a plowman will not be at a loss where to start at the commencement of a new row, and after having passed around tree-stumps or other obstructions, as he can always see the marks on the preceding rows" (lines 16-23) with illustrations.
Date: December 21, 1869
Creator: Woods, David C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improved Hay and Cotton-Press. (open access)

Improved Hay and Cotton-Press.

Patent for a hay and cotton press, "the operation of which shall be such that the platen, in starting, moves quickly, but as it approaches the end of its movement its velocity decreases, and its power proportionately increases." (Lines 15-18) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 10, 1868
Creator: Carey, Stephen Q.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Binding Grain (open access)

Machine for Binding Grain

Patent for improvement in machines for binding grain for reapers.
Date: February 13, 1875
Creator: Tucker, Argyle W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Sulky Attachments for Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Sulky Attachments for Plows.

Patent for improvement in sulky attachments for plows. This invention allows farmers to "apply any kind of plow to the sulky-frame" (1).
Date: August 21, 1876
Creator: Langsford, Samuel P. & Stroud, Wiley N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Folding Store-Shelves. (open access)

Improvement in Folding Store-Shelves.

Patent for "a new and useful improvement in Folding and Portable Store-Shelving" (lines 3-5), including illustrations.
Date: February 9, 1875
Creator: Key, Minter P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvemnt in Cotton-Gin Feeders (open access)

Improvemnt in Cotton-Gin Feeders

Patent for new improvements to the cotton-gin making the feeders simpler to use especially for the well versed.
Date: August 29, 1877
Creator: Dorris, Stephen J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clothes-Pounder. (open access)

Clothes-Pounder.

Patent for a clothes-pounder that is simple and effective with the operator using the minimum amount of energy. It is conical with a smaller cone inside it. A diaphragm is between the cones and the brace, and an is air vent inside it.
Date: November 19, 1895
Creator: Bain, WIlliam W. & Bain, William M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Broom-Rack. (open access)

Broom-Rack.

Patent for a new suspended broom rack design with increased capacity for holding brooms, including illustrations.
Date: February 12, 1889
Creator: Jones, Wesley C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Hedge Trimmer and Mower. (open access)

Combined Hedge Trimmer and Mower.

Patent for a new and improved hedge trimmer and mower. This design "relates to certain new and useful improvements in that class of combined hedge-trimmers and mowers in which the side and top of a hedge are trimmed at the same time; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of the frame-work, the driving mechanism or gearing, and the cutting devices or knives" (lines 10-17).
Date: February 14, 1882
Creator: Lattner, Jacob V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Canopy for Vehicles, & c. (open access)

Canopy for Vehicles, & c.

Patent to "improve the construction of canopies and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient one adapted to be readily mounted on all kinds of vehicles, plows, machines, &c., where shade or protection from weather is desirable" (lines 11-15) with instructions and illustration.
Date: December 10, 1896
Creator: Buchanan, Hugh A. & Tisdal, Jefferson M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Copy-Holder. (open access)

Copy-Holder.

Patent for an inexpensive and simple copy, record, or book holder stand that is easily adjustable. It sits on a table, and the stand is two horizontal plates that are positioned next to each other.
Date: August 8, 1893
Creator: Phillips, James M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a churn that quickly makes butter and has an easily detachable churn body. The churn body sits sideways in a frame, and gears and a hand-operated crank that is built into the removable part of the frame churns the cream.
Date: September 12, 1893
Creator: Moon, Richard D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for improvements in baling presses: "This invention relates to baling presses provided with runners, (instead of the usual wheels,) to be removed about the field; and my objects are, to construct such a press in such a manner that it can be readily started down with but few stakes, second; to provide a rigid but removable side brace to prevent the press from canting, and third; to prevent the operating lever from canting or swinging upward or downward when in operation; and to promote simplicity" (lines 17-27).
Date: April 10, 1894
Creator: Schubert, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Broom Rack. (open access)

Broom Rack.

Patent for a new and improved broom rack. This design "compris[es] the lower ring provided in its outer edge with a series of notches adapted to receive the head of the brooms, the upper ring arranged to fit within the opening of the lower ring when not in use and provided with a series of perforations to receive the handles of the brooms, the chains or other suitable means for connecting the rings, and the chains . . . secured to the upper rings" (lines 79-88).
Date: June 24, 1890
Creator: Neely, William D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design consists "[i]n a device for catching ants, the combination, with an open frame, of the end piece or trough, having a concave bottom and overturned edges" (lines 84-87).
Date: March 29, 1887
Creator: Haines, Samuel Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design consists in "the combination of a tube having a longitudinal slot in its top at one end and a transverse slot in the bottom near the other end, the top of the tube on each side of the longitudinal slot bent downward, a pen secured to the end of the tube having the longitudinal slot, a portion of one side piece of the pen forming an end for the tube and the other side piece being cut away and secured to the tube, and a receptacle under the end of the tube having the transverse slot, the upper edges of the pen and of the receptacle being bent" (lines 65-77).
Date: February 28, 1888
Creator: Miller, Marshall Crittenden
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the draw-head, of an upright or standard secured thereto, a lever pivoted to said upright or standard, a coupling-pin pivoted to said lever, a flat spring secured to the underside of the draw-head and extending outwardly beyond the same, and a chain connecting said lever and spring" (lines 16-22).
Date: October 28, 1884
Creator: Pritchett, William Henry
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 standard, the supporting-arm secured thereon and consisting of a stationary member, a swinging member hinged thereto, a latch secured to the swinging member and engaging the stationary member, and the slotted arm secured to the stationary member and passing around the swinging member, and the dasher-rods supported by and between the members of said arms" (lines 18-27).
Date: October 14, 1890
Creator: Lancaster, John L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal-Trap. (open access)

Animal-Trap.

Patent for an improved animal trap for “catching small animals in a trap which will be ever set and in operative position for catching an animal and which will be automatically reset” (lines 10-13), illustration is included.
Date: March 17, 1891
Creator: Bassinger, Stephen
System: The Portal to Texas History