Beam or Girder. (open access)

Beam or Girder.

Patent for a new and improved girder. This design is "composed of a vertical web and a flange or flanges, a mass of the metal in a flange or flanges projecting from the web at and near one-half the distance between the axis and the neutral line" (lines 48-53).
Date: December 24, 1889
Creator: Cousins, Robert Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Brake. (open access)

Car Brake.

Patent for a new and improved car-brake. This design consists in "the combination of the swinging arms arranged in front of the wheels, the curved brake-shoes pivoted at their front ends to the lower ends of the arms, and the swinging slotted links connecting intermediate points of the brake-shoes to a stationary part of the car, whereby the free end of the shoe is capable of a swinging movement independent of the links" (lines 76-84).
Date: October 2, 1888
Creator: Otenhouse, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gate Latch. (open access)

Gate Latch.

Patent for a new and improved gate-latch. This design consists "[i]n a latch, the combination of the case having at its lower end a guide ledge or flange with its bearing face arranged laterally in from the inner face of the side plate of the case, a loosely suspended ring held and movable against the said ledge or flange, and means whereby the said ring may be operated" (lines 5-11).
Date: August 7, 1888
Creator: Charleville, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horseshoeing Apparatus. (open access)

Horseshoeing Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved horseshoeing machine. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the elevator-platform and devices for raising and lowering the same, of a pair of adjustable bolts located above the platform, and a harness consisting of a bar and a set of belts suspended from said bolts" (lines 30-35).
Date: September 13, 1887
Creator: Lindsey, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Store-Awning. (open access)

Store-Awning.

Patent for a new awning design for shops that is easily raised and lowered, including illustrations.
Date: August 30, 1887
Creator: Persohn, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent to an improvement to churns "in which its action may be either single or double acting by means of a simple and efficacious arrangement of parts" (lines 18-21).
Date: January 19, 1886
Creator: Persohn, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harvester-Truck. (open access)

Harvester-Truck.

Patent for "new and useful Improvements in Trucks for Harvesters"(lines 5-7)
Date: January 6, 1886
Creator: Willcoxson, Coulmon W. & Hamilton, Samuel R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk and Weed Cutter. (open access)

Stalk and Weed Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter for plows. This design "consist[s] of the beam having rearwardly, downwardly, and forwardly curved standard, the arrow-point, having the stem or shank formed entire or open at its bottom, rear side, and top to receive the said standard, and the diamond-shaped cutter consisting of two wings inclined upwardly from their front to rear edges, and curved inwardly at their outer ends from their cutting-edges to their back edges" (lines 72-82).
Date: January 5, 1886
Creator: Faires, Joseph J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harrow or Rake Attachment for Plows and Cultivators. (open access)

Harrow or Rake Attachment for Plows and Cultivators.

Patent for a new and improved harrow and rake attachment for plows and cultivators. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a rake or harrow attachment for plows, of a clamp provided with a curved perforated shoe, and adapted to be secured to the standard of one beam, a rake or harrow secured at one end to said shoe, a bar, means for connecting the same to a second beam, the lower end of said bar being connected to the other end of the rake or harrow" (lines 94-102).
Date: November 3, 1885
Creator: Jarrett, Elisha T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ink Fountain for Printing Machines. (open access)

Ink Fountain for Printing Machines.

Patent for a new and improved ink fountain for printing machines. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the shell-shaped frame having an inclined bottom, a hole in the lower part of the front end wall, and a socket provided with a thumb-screw, a vertical arm passing through the said socket and provided with a clamp at its lower end, a roller for distributing ink, journaled at the front of the shell and vertically adjustable therewith, and the removable reservoir having a gate, an inclined bottom, and an opening corresponding with the hole in the shell" (lines 17-27).
Date: September 29, 1885
Creator: Bomar, Thomas E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for a new and improved plow. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a plow, of the landside share attachment, provided with the horizontal blade, sloping outward from the point of the plow, made sharp on the said sloping-edge, and having the flange projecting upward from the horizontal blade, and the bolts for securing the said flange and plow together, and the removable landside attachment" (lines 81-89).
Date: September 1, 1885
Creator: Cummins, John Randolph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plaiting Apparatus. (open access)

Plaiting Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved plaiting machine. This design consists in "[t]he combination, of a plaiting apparatus, of a fixed transverse bar, a second transverse bar adapted to be adjusted relative thereto, and means for securing the said adjustment, each of said bars being provided with a transverse metallic strip bent to form inclined ribs" (lines 98-103).
Date: June 23, 1885
Creator: Raney, Ollie T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Dish-Washer and Churn (open access)

Combined Dish-Washer and Churn

Patent for a combined dish-washing machine and churn, with illustration and description of parts.
Date: June 16, 1885
Creator: Fletcher, William Nelson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow (open access)

Plow

Patent for the invention of new and improvements in plows (1). Provide a plow specifically adapted for use in rich heavy soil.
Date: May 19, 1885
Creator: Emmerson, Francis; Faires, Joseph; Cummins, John, R. & Faires, Jonathan, L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fiber-Machine. (open access)

Fiber-Machine.

Patent for an improvement in fiber machines that is "adaptable to fibers of various plants; but it is especially designed for separating the fiber of plants found in Mexico--such as lechugilla, Spanish dagger, and similar plants" (lines 28-32). The machine is used to separate the usable fiber from the leaves, stalks, and other parts of the plants.
Date: September 2, 1884
Creator: Worthington, George & Parvin, Enoch, J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fiber machine. (open access)

Fiber machine.

Patent for the improvement of fiber-machines, using rolls, bearings, wheels, brushes, racks and pinions.
Date: September 2, 1884
Creator: Worthington, George & Parvin, Enoch J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hollow Auger. (open access)

Hollow Auger.

Patent for a new and improved hollow auger. This design "consists in an adjustable hollow auger and an adjustable fore-auger, which are combined together for use with an ordinary brace, and constructed in such a manner that when applied to use the end of the spoke or other article is first beveled by the fore-auger, and the tenon then formed by the hollow auger. The cutters of the fore-auger are formed upon pivoted arms, which are automatically released, and then thrown open by a spring when the spoke is pointed, in order to give opportunity for the hollow auger to act" (lines 16-28).
Date: October 16, 1883
Creator: Rodman, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Gin Building (open access)

Cotton-Gin Building

Patent for improvements to cotton gin buildings granted to Benjamin F. Ferguson to reduce the risk of fire and the cost of ginning cotton.
Date: February 27, 1883
Creator: Ferguson, Benjamin F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Printer's Galley. (open access)

Printer's Galley.

Patent for a new and improved printer's galley. This design consists of a novel arrangement of the galley parts that "dispenses with the time, labor, and expense incurred in manipulating quoins and side-sticks, mallet, shooting-stick, &c." (lines 60-62).
Date: March 7, 1882
Creator: Rudolph, Elijah K. & Wolfe, Joseph A. L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Stalk Cutter. (open access)

Cotton Stalk Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved cotton stalk cutter. This design "is to facilitate the operation of cutting down of cotton-stalks in preparing the ground for a new crop. The invention consists in the combination, with the sled provided with a series of holes, in its upper surface, of the hinged perforated bars, the cross-bar, the pins, and the knives; also, in the combination, with the sled carrying the hinged perforated bars, cross-bar, and knives, of the platform secured to the rear part of the sled and the standards secured to a cross-bar of the sled in front of the platform" (lines 17-29).
Date: February 28, 1882
Creator: Thompson, Francis Marion
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire Place. (open access)

Fire Place.

Patent for a new and improved fire place. This design "consists essentially in the improved construction of the back plate and the combination therewith of side plates or jambs" (lines 20-22).
Date: February 28, 1882
Creator: Horn, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Feeder for Cotton Presses. (open access)

Feeder for Cotton Presses.

Patent for a new and improved feeder for cotton presses. This design "consists in a feeder for cotton-presses, constructed with a box to receive the cotton from the gin, the said receiving-box being provided with a movable top board to force the cotton into the packing-box placed beneath the said receiving-box, and from which the cotton is forced into the baling-press by a follower" (lines 23-30).
Date: February 14, 1882
Creator: Kirkpatrick, Robert Insley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk Cutter. (open access)

Stalk Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter. This design "consists in certain improvements in the construction of [devices for cutting corn and cotton stalks] . . . [and] [t]he object of the invention is to simplify and cheapen the construction and arrangement of means for adjusting the pitch of the sides without affecting the usefulness or efficiency of the device; and to that end such means consist, essentially, in a single-rack bar, an operating-lever, and two links connecting said lever with the side bars" (lines 15-28).
Date: October 25, 1881
Creator: Horn, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk Cutter. (open access)

Stalk Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter. This design consists in "relates to machines for cutting corn and cotton stalks; and it consists in certain improvements in the construction of the same" (lines 18-21).
Date: October 4, 1881
Creator: Rhea, James C.
System: The Portal to Texas History