Fire-Arm. (open access)

Fire-Arm.

Patent for an improvement to adjusting rifle barrels and holding those adjustments in place. Includes illustrations.
Date: March 8, 1887
Creator: Alston, William F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee and Spice Mill. (open access)

Coffee and Spice Mill.

Patent for a new and improved mill for coffee and spices. This design "consists in constructing a coffee and spice mill with a hopper having arms for attaching the mill to a wall and for supporting the gear-wheel formed upon it, an inner cone-burr formed solid with the hopper, an outer shell-burr suspended from and swiveled to the inner burr by a cross-bar, rod, and hand-nut, and the gear-wheels and crank for rotating the outer-burr" (lines 22-30).
Date: March 28, 1882
Creator: Andrews, Thomas A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Tool. (open access)

Combination Tool.

Patent for a new and improved multi-tool. This design "consists of a tool having a staple-holder, a driver, a chisel, a vise attachment, and a detachable driver adapted to be used with the vise to splice the ends of the wire in building wire fences, in which the tool is used for driving staples, cutting the wire, and splicing the wire, the several devices forming a combination-tool disposed for convenient use upon a stock or holder" (lines 9-17).
Date: March 3, 1885
Creator: Archer, Roger Williams
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn Planting Attachment. (open access)

Corn Planting Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved attachment for planters. This design consists in "the combination of a standard having a seed box at its upper end provided with a longitudinal groove in the upper side of the bottom, and with slots in the end walls registering with the groove and having an arm projecting laterally from the lower end, a wheel journaled upon the said arm, a seed-slide in the groove, a bell-crank fulcrumed upon a rearwardly-projecting bracket of the box, a connecting-rod pivoted to the wheel and to the rear arm of the bell-crank, and a connecting-rod pivoted to the upper arm of the bell-crank" (lines 41-53).
Date: March 20, 1888
Creator: Aten, Frank L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ventilating Chimney. (open access)

Ventilating Chimney.

Patent for a new and improved ventilating chimney. This design consists in "the combination, with the smoke-flue, of the ventilating-flue, the thimble provided with outwardly-projecting lugs and inwardly-projecting apertured lugs, the plate provided with a central aperture and with a flange having notches, and the screws passed through the plate into the apertured lugs" (lines 16-23).
Date: March 24, 1885
Creator: Atkin, Samuel T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Cup for Stove Pipes. (open access)

Water Cup for Stove Pipes.

Patent for a new and improved water-cup for stove pipes. This design "relates to water cups or vessels arranged on the outside of stove-pipes, and whereby the heat of the pipe of the stove is made to evaporate the water for the purpose of imparting moisture to the air of the apartment containing the stove and so improving the healthiness and pleasantness of the atmosphere of the room" (lines 8-15).
Date: March 3, 1885
Creator: Atkin, Samuel T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shutter Fastener. (open access)

Shutter Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved blind fastening. This design "relates to an improvement in fastenings for outside blinds, shutters, or the like, and the purpose of [the] device is to provide a fastening that cannot be unlocked from the outside, even though slats be cut from the blinds or shutters to which the fastening is applied and two hands or arms are thrust through within reach of the said fastening. [The] fastening has two catching-latches, one locking and holding latch, and one bolt, all to be operated simultaneously when the blind is closed against the sill, [so] said blind may be released" (lines 12-24).
Date: March 19, 1889
Creator: Bachman, Joseph A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mosquito Netting Frame. (open access)

Mosquito Netting Frame.

Patent for a new and improved mosquito netting frame. This design "consists of a mosquito-netting frame formed of two longitudinal rods removably fastened to uprights attached to the bedposts, and held by cords or wires passing from the outer ends of each of said longitudinal rods to the top of each upright. A transverse rod or bar is removably attached to the outer ends of said longitudinal bars or rods. . . . [The design] is simple in construction, light, durable, and convenient" (lines 9-18).
Date: March 8, 1881
Creator: Bailey, Alfred H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Grain-Feeder and Band-Cutter for Thrashing-Machines. (open access)

Grain-Feeder and Band-Cutter for Thrashing-Machines.

Patent for improvements to grain-feeders for thrashing machines design including illustrations.
Date: March 18, 1882
Creator: Barlow, Thomas James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Seed Cleaner. (open access)

Cotton Seed Cleaner.

Patent for a new and improved cotton-seed cleaner. This design "is to be used in connection with a machine for removing short lint from cotton-seed . . . The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved cotton-seed cleaner, which is simple and durable in construction and very effectively removes all impurities from the shell of the seed. . . . The invention consists of a revolving horizontal disk-brush and of a fixed table provided with emery-slabs and perforated plates and in contact with the brush" (lines 8-21).
Date: March 19, 1889
Creator: Baumgarten, Christian
System: The Portal to Texas History
Saddle Mail Bag. (open access)

Saddle Mail Bag.

Patent for new and improved saddle bags. This design calls for a saddle with two metal boxes with hinged doors at the bottom, through which metal pouches, to contain the mail, are inserted. The air left between the top of the pouch and the inside of the box prevents water from seeping into the box and ruining the contents, even when fully submerged.
Date: March 29, 1881
Creator: Beazley, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Music-Leaf Turner. (open access)

Music-Leaf Turner.

Patent for a device for "Turning Leaves of Sheet-Musics, Music-Books and, other Books" (lines 5-7), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 16, 1880
Creator: Becker, Francis L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sash Fastener. (open access)

Sash Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved sash fastener. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a window frame and sash, of a fastener consisting of stops secured to the frame and formed with beveled ends and a shoulder . . . and a button pivotally secured to the sash and recessed to form a triangular projection, and a finger-piece extension, which latter serves also as a weight to effect an automatic fastening as the window is lowered" (lines 72-80).
Date: March 4, 1884
Creator: Bendy, Napoleon Bonaparte
System: The Portal to Texas History
Retort Vaporizer and Superheater (open access)

Retort Vaporizer and Superheater

Patent for improvements for vaporizers "of simple and highly efficient means for thoroughly and effectively superheating the vapor of water and oil" (lines 13-15).
Date: March 26, 1889
Creator: Biddison, Stella D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire Tongs. (open access)

Fire Tongs.

Patent for new and improved fire tongs. This design "is designed to produce an article . . . which will be practical in every respect, and which will prevent the slipping or sliding of the legs or arms thereof while handling the logs, enabling the latter to be grasped with a firm hold, thereby avoiding the numerous accidents that often occur from the use of the present form of tongs" (lines 9-17).
Date: March 9, 1886
Creator: Bishop, John Andrews
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lubricator. (open access)

Lubricator.

Patent for a new and improved lubricator. This design "relates to improvements in that class of lubricators wherein the oil reservoir or vessel is provided with a discharge-pipe passing through the bottom to the point of delivery, and rising within the reservoir to near its top, the steam rising in such pipe condensing and falling by gravity to the bottom of the reservoir, thus displacing the oil, and causing it to rise and flow down through the pipe to the parts to be lubricated" (lines 8-17).
Date: March 4, 1884
Creator: Bissett, Jean
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a new and improved churn. This design "provide[s] a cheap, durable, and easily-operated motor for dash-churns, and one the length of stroke of which can be varied to suit the size of the churn and the quality of the cream to be churned. [The] invention consists of a dash-lever, connecting-rod, crank and pulley shaft, and large drive-wheel, the dash-lever being made adjustable as to its length of stroke" (lines 7-15).
Date: March 14, 1882
Creator: Blackstock, John Lafayett
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spark-Extinguisher. (open access)

Spark-Extinguisher.

Patent for a spark extinguisher "to prevent the burning of buildings and other combustible matter by steam engines" (lines 15-17).
Date: March 9, 1880
Creator: Blewett, George L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Elevating Wagon-Bodies. (open access)

Device for Elevating Wagon-Bodies.

Patent for a pulley system for elevating wagons off the ground and "keeping them suspended under the roof of a barn or other roofed structure while not in use" (lines 19-21), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 30, 1880
Creator: Booker, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Clothes Washer and Churn. (open access)

Combined Clothes Washer and Churn.

Patent for a new and improved combined clothes washer and churn. This design "is to facilitate the operations of washing clothes and churning, and also to avoid the necessity of having a separate mechanism for each use. The invention consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of parts" (lines 16-21).
Date: March 6, 1883
Creator: Bridges, Mary Jane
System: The Portal to Texas History
Child's Crib. (open access)

Child's Crib.

Patent for a new and improved child's crib. This design utilizes "a rock-shaft with inward-projecting arms, from the inner ends of which the cords are suspended, [and it] avoid[s] the friction and wear of the cords incident to the carrying of these through the screw-eyes, as shown in [a previous patent], making them last much longer, beside simplifying the construction of the crib" (lines 67-74).
Date: March 15, 1881
Creator: Brown, Fred Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator. (open access)

Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved cultivator. This design consists in "the combination, with the frame bearing the standards, of caster-wheels provided with shanks, which are vertically journaled in the bars at each side of said frame and in the ends of the cross-bar, the hand-lever which is secured at the forward end of the beam and pivotally connected to the center of said cross-bar and provided with a slot near its free end, the segmental upright, and the spring" (lines 16-25).
Date: March 29, 1887
Creator: Brown, Thomas Jefferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press (open access)

Baling-Press

Patent for a new baling press design with description of parts and their functions, with illustrations.
Date: March 2, 1886
Creator: Bryan, Walter S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nut Lock. (open access)

Nut Lock.

Patent for a new and improved nut lock. This design calls for a grooved nut and bolt to hold a pin between the two while the bolt is screwed onto the nut. Depending on whether or not the pin is in said grooves, the nut may or may not be removed from the bolt, which increases the worker's control over the nut and bolt and prevents unintended loosening.
Date: March 1, 1881
Creator: Bunker, John Williamson
System: The Portal to Texas History