Improvements in Wind-Wheels. (open access)

Improvements in Wind-Wheels.

Patent for an "invention [consisting] in the construction and arrangement of a dome which surrounds a wind-wheel" (line 14-16) including instruction and illustrations. Constitutes an improvement to then existing windmills.
Date: January 11, 1876
Creator: Stephens, Lawrence E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Elevator. (open access)

Water Elevator.

Patent for a new and improved water elevator. This design "relates to improvements in water-elevators in which water is made to perform the operations heretofore performed by steam; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of parts . . . whereby the rarefaction of heated air is employed to raise or set in motion a continuous stream of water" (lines 14-21).
Date: January 25, 1881
Creator: Smith, William A. & Smith, Robert T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Cleaner and Feeder. (open access)

Cotton Cleaner and Feeder.

Patent for "a machine especially adapted for cleaning cotton and distributing the same to one or more gins; and it has for its object to so construct the machine that it will receive the cotton from the usual suction-pipe or equivalent supply, will clean the cotton, shred or separate the same and deliver it to a carrier, which in its turn will distribute the cotton to the hoppers of one or more gins, the distribution being evenly and expeditiously accomplished; and a further object of the invention is to provide for a steady feed of the cotton at the delivery end of the carrier, said device effectually preventing choking at that point." (Lines 7-21) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: January 14, 1896
Creator: Moore, Martin L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Time Circuit Closer (open access)

Time Circuit Closer

Patent for a time circuit closer for use in managing the movements of secondary clocks regulated by a masterclock. Illustration included.
Date: January 8, 1907
Creator: Guthrie, William S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Middle-Breaker and Turning-Plow. (open access)

Middle-Breaker and Turning-Plow.

Patent for improvements in middle-breakers and turning-plows by providing an attachment for the middle breakers or turning plow, in which it will permit lateral adjustment of the wheel, by the use of a compound axle of adjustable length. (Lines 10-15) Illustration is included.
Date: January 4, 1910
Creator: Armstrong, Josiah B. C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Road-Grader. (open access)

Road-Grader.

Patent for a road grader, which will "excavate a ditch at the side of a road, and distribute the dirt from said ditch at a proper gradient upon the road" (lines 11-14).
Date: January 31, 1911
Creator: Fender, John Brown
System: The Portal to Texas History
Carbureter (open access)

Carbureter

Patent for the carbureter for controlling the quality of the combustible mixture for internal combustion engines, such as automobiles requiring a wide range of variation in the proportion of fuel and air to efficiently and economically supply the demand.
Date: January 13, 1920
Creator: Guthrie, William S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk-Chopper. (open access)

Stalk-Chopper.

Patent for improvements to the stalk-chopping machine that will strip the ears from the corn while also chopping the corn stalk into bits to fertilize the field.
Date: January 27, 1920
Creator: Bartz, Adolph J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Controlling Mechanism for Exhaust-Gases of Internal-Combustion Engines. (open access)

Controlling Mechanism for Exhaust-Gases of Internal-Combustion Engines.

Patent for an improved controlling mechanism for accelerating the warming up of engines, especially automotive and marine engines. It can maintain a good working temperature while running at slow speeds so that the engine may operate economically in cold weather.
Date: January 29, 1920
Creator: Guthrie, William S.
System: The Portal to Texas History