Electrode for Secondary Batteries. (open access)

Electrode for Secondary Batteries.

Patent for improvements in the manufacture of electrodes for storage batteries or accumulators by using “two corresponding plates, each having flanges on three sides of one face, said plates being united to form a central space open at top by securing together corresponding flanges on the respective plates.” (Lines 5-9, page 2) Illustration is included.
Date: June 23, 1891
Creator: Anderson, Boyd
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for improvements to churns, "and has special reference to what are known as 'vibrating-dasher' churns." (lines 11-12) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 3, 1891
Creator: Anderson, Henry C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buckle Attachment. (open access)

Buckle Attachment.

Patent for a buckle attachment for buckles that do not use riveting, sewing or other fastening, "and when so placed together, and the strap inserted and buckled, the whole is as firmly held together as if riveted, sewed or fastened with any of the ordinary methods" (lines 13-16).
Date: January 23, 1894
Creator: Anderson, Samuel C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Press. (open access)

Cotton-Press.

Patent for a cotton press with "a roller bed consisting of a plurality of rollers in conjunction with an overlying pressure roll or cylinder, between which and the roller-bed the bale is formed by winding up the bat, as it comes from the gin-condenser, in the form of a roll" (lines 15-20). The roll-bale is unique in this patent because of its core.
Date: March 23, 1897
Creator: Banister, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trace-Carrier. (open access)

Trace-Carrier.

Patent for improvements in trace-carriers in which it would “provide each with a buckle or similar means that can be attached to the back-band of a harness for horses. The purpose is to provide means to a trace-chain which may be readily inserted in the carrier to prevent from removal, either accidentally or otherwise, so long as the carrier remains in position for service.” (Lines 12-20) Illustration is included.
Date: June 23, 1891
Creator: Barton, Samuel Jones
System: The Portal to Texas History
Penholder. (open access)

Penholder.

Patent for a new and improved pen holder. This design "relates to improvements in penholders whereby the pen may be automatically discharged or ejected from the holder" (lines 8-11). It consists "of a staff with tenoned end, a portion of which is cut out of its upper surface with a downward bevel to its lower end, a beveled slide adapted to fit and slide upon the beveled cut in the staff, said slide being provided with a slight shoulder upon its upper side and a hole through the same for a screw or pin, a tube longitudinally slotted inclosing said staff and slide" (lines 38-47).
Date: August 23, 1892
Creator: Blalock, William Benjamin & Muir, James Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Method of Treating Cotton-Seed Hulls (open access)

Method of Treating Cotton-Seed Hulls

Patent for "to utilize a heretofore waste product, and by means of a dry process to reduce the same to fine particles, which, being capable of felting, constitute stock" (lines 14-18).
Date: September 23, 1890
Creator: Bohn, Emil
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator. (open access)

Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator.

Patent for a combined cotton chopper and cultivator that "consists in providing the main axle with spur-wheels and with depending supports to which are attached the beams of the cultivator shovels and a cutting blade which extends in front of the machine and is adapted to be vibrated by the spur-wheels as the machine moves over the ground, thereby providing means for chopping cotton or other stalks" (lines 17-25).
Date: January 23, 1894
Creator: Bosley, Henry C. & Organ, Joseph H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fence-Making Machine. (open access)

Fence-Making Machine.

Patent for a simple, portable fence-making machine meant to separate crossed wires, re-utilizes old wires, and has "a wedge being employed in the twisting-head for the purpose of separating the old twists and causing them to pass through the twisting-eye" (lines 22-25). The machine allows the wires to be equally spaced apart, and the space is adjustable. A picket-gage is included in the invention, which regulates the space between pickets.
Date: July 23, 1895
Creator: Briney, Benjamin C. & Geron, Solomon C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Steel Bar. (open access)

Combination Steel Bar.

Patent for a combination steel bar meant to easily remove nails and spikes from board without bending the nails or spikes and without splitting the board. It can also be used to remove siding from houses and ships.
Date: July 23, 1895
Creator: Brooks, Jesse S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Stretcher. (open access)

Wire-Stretcher.

Patent for a simple, economical, and effictive wire-stretcher that uses "the fence-post as the fulcrum for the implement or tool in using the latter to stretch the wires longitudinally from post to post, and to provide a simple hand implement or tool by which a single person can rapidly string the fence-wires from post to post, stretch the wires, and kink or twist the same to take up slack" (lines 19-26).
Date: July 23, 1895
Creator: Cardwell, William C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Refrigerating Apparatus. (open access)

Refrigerating Apparatus.

Patent for an economic and durable refrigerating apparatus that cools food by "reducing the temperature of the air in a partially closed chamber by the evaporation of water brought about through the medium of capillary attraction, and likewise to provide for automatically maintaining a predetermined level of water in the water chamber of the apparatus, and a thorough ventilation of the refrigerating chamber thereof" (lines 16-24).
Date: October 23, 1894
Creator: Carleton, Ernest William & Odell, James Madison
System: The Portal to Texas History
Paper-Folder. (open access)

Paper-Folder.

Patent for a rotary paper folder meant to fold newspapers as they come from the press in a web. The invention is simple, and cuts the paper into sheets of the desired length. Its folding attachment folds the paper in parallel columns, and the knives do not move in relation to the cylinders.
Date: January 23, 1894
Creator: Carr, Elijah W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trace Carrier. (open access)

Trace Carrier.

Patent for a new and improved trace-carrier. This design "is to provide the trace-carrier with a locking-brace, which is held in a closed position by the chain, which prevents all possibility of the chain from becoming detached from the carrier while in use" (lines 16-20). To this end, it consists, "with the body having a strap-fastener and an outwardly and upwardly extending hook, of a locking-plate, which is hinged at its upper end to the upper portion of the body, and its lower end provided with an inner perforated projection through which the said hook passes, and a shorter projection" (lines 78-85).
Date: September 23, 1890
Creator: Clark, Alexander E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lumber-Stacker. (open access)

Lumber-Stacker.

Patent for a certain new and useful improvement in lumber stackers, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 23, 1899
Creator: Coleman, Thomas A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tension Device for Band-Saw Mills. (open access)

Tension Device for Band-Saw Mills.

Patent for "a new and useful improvement in tension devices for band-saw mills; and it consists, generally stated, in mounting the upper wheel in standards which are vertically movable in suitable guideways, said standards being secured to the plunger or cylinder of a direct-acting medium, such as compressed air." (Lines 24-31) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 23, 1897
Creator: Coleman, Thomas A. & Coleman, Nathan
System: The Portal to Texas History
Axle - Nut. (open access)

Axle - Nut.

Patent for a new and useful improvements in Axle-Nuts for wagons and carriages.
Date: November 23, 1897
Creator: Collins, Corties
System: The Portal to Texas History
Roof Screw. (open access)

Roof Screw.

Patent for a new and improved roof screw. This design consists, "[a]s a new article of manufacture, [in] a screw consisting of a threaded shank having an integral head, an enlarged collar or flange on said shank below the head thereon, and an elastic cushion on the shank immediately below the enlarged collar or flange, for the purpose described" (lines 60-66).
Date: September 23, 1890
Creator: Corley, Daniel B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Meat-Hanger. (open access)

Meat-Hanger.

Patent for a new and useful meat hanger, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: August 23, 1898
Creator: Couch, Lizzie
System: The Portal to Texas History
Quilting-Frame. (open access)

Quilting-Frame.

Patent for quilting frame so that fabric can be pulled at four corners to give a uniform appearance while working and which frame can be easily assembled or taken apart using pins. Illustration and instructions included.
Date: March 23, 1897
Creator: Crawford, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horseshoe. (open access)

Horseshoe.

Patent for improvements in horseshoes, which will have two parts that pivot together at the toe. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 18, 1891
Creator: Custer, George
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horse-Power And Pumping-Jack. (open access)

Horse-Power And Pumping-Jack.

Patent for a new and useful improvement in a horse power and jumping jack, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 23, 1899
Creator: Darlington, Benjamin F. & Clary, Edwin P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hoisting Apparatus. (open access)

Hoisting Apparatus.

Patent for "an improved hoisting apparatus for use in loading and unloading freight from and upon a wharf, bluff, bank, or other elevated place." (Lines 8-11) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 14, 1891
Creator: Davis, Benjamin F. & Davis, Matilda L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hose-Nozzle. (open access)

Hose-Nozzle.

Patent for "a nozzle by means of which a single condensed stream of water may be thrown to a considerable distance or a widely-diverging spray be projected therefrom or both the central stream and spray be produced at one and the same time." (Lines 11-16) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 23, 1897
Creator: Day, Elisha Little
System: The Portal to Texas History