Bolt for Doors. (open access)

Bolt for Doors.

Patent for the improvement of bolt locks on double doors using a lever lock for safety and ease of locking and unlocking one or both doors, including illustration.
Date: June 26, 1860
Creator: Bonney, N. W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Propeller of Machinery to be used in Currents. (open access)

Propeller of Machinery to be used in Currents.

Patent for a propelled water wheel that is attached to the back of a vessel that uses a current of water and stream power, including illustrations.
Date: November 18, 1851
Creator: Hardie, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pump. (open access)

Pump.

Patent for a simple, efficient, and low maintenance submerged rotary pump, including illustration.
Date: February 22, 1859
Creator: Fagan, James L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Pump. (open access)

Rotary Pump.

Patent for a "submerged pump of very simple construction... one which will be efficient in its operation and not liable to get out of repair" (lines 16-20), illustration included.
Date: March 8, 1859
Creator: Fagan, James L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton-Seed Planters. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Seed Planters.

Patent for the improvement to cotton-seed planters by connecting the wheel to the reciprocating stirrer to guide the seed from hopper to soil and covering it, including illustration.
Date: November 27, 1860
Creator: McClanahan, C. W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Inprovement in Sulky-Cultivators. (open access)

Inprovement in Sulky-Cultivators.

Patent for an improved sulky cultivator which lists description on how to build the cultivator.
Date: January 10, 1871
Creator: Jordan, Hugh P
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cultivators. (open access)

Improvement in Cultivators.

Patent for changes in the construction of a cultivator.
Date: May 23, 1871
Creator: Walker, Leander
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Electro-Magnetic Engines. (open access)

Improvement in Electro-Magnetic Engines.

Patent for "a new practical application of electro-magnetism to machinery for the purpose of moving the same and keeping it in motion, and developing a degree of force which is only limited by the reduced proportion of power applied. The invention consists principally in the transmission of electro-magnetic power through compressed air for motor purposes, and the mechanism and combination of machinery necessary for that purpose." (Lines 12-22) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 9, 1872
Creator: Thornton, William G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cultivators. (open access)

Improvement in Cultivators.

Patent for improvement in horse-drawn cultivators.
Date: April 23, 1872
Creator: Jordan, Hugh Paxton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Insect-Destroying Attachments for Cultivators. (open access)

Improvement in Insect-Destroying Attachments for Cultivators.

Patent for "a fan or blower conjoined with a box containing any of the various powdered poisons used for destroying vermin which infest growing plants, as cotton, potatoes, &c., operated by a pulley and band, running from the axle of the blower to a wheel on the supporting-axle of the cultivator, seeder, or other machine to which the apparatus may be attached." (Lines 19-27) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: December 30, 1873
Creator: Hurd, Charles T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Apparatus for Destroying the Cutting Ant. (open access)

Improvement in Apparatus for Destroying the Cutting Ant.

Patent for "an improved apparatus for destroying the cutting ants in their nests." (Lines 9-11) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 3, 1875
Creator: Fenner, Ferdinand A. & Power, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Gang-Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Gang-Plows.

Patent for a new, improved gang-plow for preparing and cultivating land for planting. Illustrations included.
Date: March 23, 1875
Creator: Scheumack, Stephen S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bed Drier and Warmer. (open access)

Bed Drier and Warmer.

Patent for a new and improved bed drier and warmer. This design "includes, primarily, a suitable frame of essentially elliptical form, whose ends allow of the said frame being readily slipped in between the bed and bedding or between two articles of bedding, and in connection with said frame a suitable fire-pot of portable construction" (lines 23-29).
Date: May 14, 1889
Creator: Fossati, Jasper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Devices for Driving Light Machinery from an Irregular Power. (open access)

Improvement in Devices for Driving Light Machinery from an Irregular Power.

Patent for light machinery that runs on irregular power. Device stores power produced by wind-wheel.
Date: March 19, 1878
Creator: Everhart, Martin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insect-Poison Distributor (open access)

Insect-Poison Distributor

Patent for "new and useful improvements in devices for sprinkling potato-vines and the like with powder - such as paris-green" (lines 15-18).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Heaton, Lorenzo D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk-Breaker. (open access)

Stalk-Breaker.

Patent for a stalk-breaker that breaks "the stalks into small pieces and which will be under the control of the driver so as to be thrown in and out of gear at will, and in which the breaker mechanism will be so constructed that it will give when an unyielding substance is run against, thereby preventing breakage or damage to the machine" (lines 13-20).
Date: March 28, 1893
Creator: James, Will S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Medical Compound. (open access)

Medical Compound.

Patent for improvements in medical compounds: "provide a new and useful preparation for the treatment and cure of kidney and bladder affections" (lines 9-11).
Date: August 30, 1892
Creator: Page, Thomas L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stirrup. (open access)

Stirrup.

Patent for a new and improved stirrup. This design relates "particularly to a new and improved stirrup iron or body, whereby a stirrup of extraordinary strength and lightness is produced, and also one that is ornamental and avoids the discomfort of metallic stirrups now in common use" (lines 8-13).
Date: January 6, 1891
Creator: Kerns, George A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay-Press (open access)

Hay-Press

Patent for improvements in hay presses "to simplify and cheapen the construction and render it more efficient in the formation of the hay into bales" (lines 16-18).
Date: September 3, 1889
Creator: McNeill, Charles De Witte
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay-Press. (open access)

Hay-Press.

Patent for improvements in hay-presses by simplify and increase the efficiency of the power head, so that it is capable of baling more hay in a given time. Illustration is included.
Date: July 28, 1891
Creator: McNeill, Charles DeWitt
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay-Press. (open access)

Hay-Press.

Patent for a hay press that is meant to "check the rebound of the plunger so that the working beam or lever will not be thrown against the horse; also to provide for automatically applying a brake for the purpose of checking the rebound; also to provide for cushioning the rebound of the plunger so as to prevent or check its tendency to throw the toggle elver against the main lever; also to provide for automatically giving a signal or alarm to indicate when a bale of a given size has been compressed; also to improve the construction of the tie box portion of the press; also to generally improve the construction of parts" (lines 17-30).
Date: April 18, 1893
Creator: McNeill, Charles DeWitt
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling. (open access)

Car-Coupling.

Patent for an improved coupler, the object of the invention being to provide an improved means for elevating, holding, and releasing the coupling-pin, and also to provide a vertically-adjustable drawhead, which bae readily adjusted either during coupling or before or after.
Date: January 19, 1892
Creator: Brimingham, Oliver M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire and Burglar Proof Safe. (open access)

Fire and Burglar Proof Safe.

Patent for a safe "constructed as to be safe from fire and burglars, and at which the same time may be made lighter, and may be less expensive in manufacture than when made in the usual way." (para. 4). Additionally, safe is airtight and water-proof.
Date: March 18, 1870
Creator: Wilkins, Samuel Adams
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nursery Chair. (open access)

Nursery Chair.

Patent for a new and improved nursery chair. This design utilizes a U-shaped board with a bib attached to one side and hooks or bolts to the other "to secure a child in its seat and prevent its falling out or upsetting the chair" (lines 12-14).
Date: September 11, 1883
Creator: Reed, Emma T.
System: The Portal to Texas History