Resource Type

Improvement in Cotton-Presses. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Presses.

Patent for a new and improved baling-press including instructions and illustrations.
Date: September 30, 1873
Creator: Jackson, Thomas R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in stilts. (open access)

Improvement in stilts.

Patent for an improved stilt involving a stilt-rod and a tube that can be slid. Includes illustrations.
Date: September 18, 1875
Creator: Beaumont, Franklin, Jr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Bee-hives (open access)

Improvement in Bee-hives

Patent for an improvement of a bee-hive enabling inspection of bees, protection of bees from moths, ventilation of the hive, and removal of honey without disturbing the brood-chamber.
Date: September 12, 1876
Creator: Hayden, Noah Dunken & Clapp, Amasa O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in land-drag and clod-crusher. (open access)

Improvement in land-drag and clod-crusher.

Patent for an implement to crush clogs of dirt. Designed to be an improvement on the clod-crusher and drag for which Letters Patent No. 177,476 was granted.
Date: September 19, 1876
Creator: Crockett, John M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Sulky-Plows. (open access)

Improvement in Sulky-Plows.

Patent for an improvement of the "construction and arrangement of the sulky-plow" (line 17-18).
Date: September 18, 1877
Creator: Payne, Joseph M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Medical Compounds. (open access)

Improvement in Medical Compounds.

Patent for a medical compound consisting of magnesia, soda, potassium oxide, manganese, sodium chloride, acid phosphate of iron, sulfuric acid, and phosphoric acid. The compound is said to treat a wide variety of ailments.
Date: September 16, 1879
Creator: Coleman, George S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Combined Land-Roller and Harrow. (open access)

Improvement in Combined Land-Roller and Harrow.

Patent for an improved version of a combined land-roller and harrow that allows for easier cleaning of its parts and adjustment of its rollers.
Date: September 30, 1879
Creator: Smith, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Burglar Proof Safe. (open access)

Burglar Proof Safe.

Patent for a new and improved safe. This design "relates to burglar-proof safes, the object being to provide a safe with non-explosive seams; and the invention consists in the construction and arrangement of parts" (lines 14-17).
Date: September 6, 1881
Creator: Gerard, Alonzo
System: The Portal to Texas History
Reflector for Lamps. (open access)

Reflector for Lamps.

Patent for a new and improved reflector for oil lamps. This design "consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts, whereby the handle and reflector can readily be detached from the lamp-body and replaced thereon when desired" (lines 15-19). Further, the handle has a hole by which it can be hung.
Date: September 6, 1881
Creator: Ludwick, John Harvey
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway-Ditching Machine. (open access)

Railway-Ditching Machine.

Patent for railway-ditching machines used "to facilitate the opening of railway ditches and the removal of dirt" (lines 41-42) including illustrations.
Date: September 12, 1882
Creator: Grove, David E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Straining Beam. (open access)

Straining Beam.

Patent for a new and improved straining beam. This design "is especially adapted to be used in that class of structures, especially bridges and columns, in which it is necessary to combine the maximum of strength with the minimum of weight; and it consists in the improved construction and combination of parts of a beam" (lines 22-27).
Date: September 11, 1883
Creator: Davis, Benjamin F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed-Planter (open access)

Seed-Planter

Patent for a new construction of rotary seed planter, with illustrations and description and arrangement of parts.
Date: September 23, 1884
Creator: Daniel, Ellison A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Top. (open access)

Vehicle Top.

Patent for a new and improved vehicle-top. This design "consists in the combination, of a vehicle-top, with upright rods having their upper ends bent to conform to the shape of the roof, the upper ends of the rods being secured to strips held on the under side of the roof of the top, and on which rods curtains are held to slide up and down" (lines 12-18).
Date: September 30, 1884
Creator: McCurdy, Thomas B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wash Boiler. (open access)

Wash Boiler.

Patent for a new and improved wash-boiler. This design "consists in, first, the combination of the boiler and revolving drum placed therein, with the steam-generator secured to the bottom of the boiler, and a steam motor or engine for revolving the drum; second, the combination of the boiler, a revolving-drum placed therein, and the steam-generator with a tank for clear water, and a suitable chamber and valves for connecting the tank and generator together" (lines 13-22).
Date: September 29, 1885
Creator: Wilson, Homer T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Band for Paper, Currency, &c. (open access)

Band for Paper, Currency, &c.

Patent for a new and improved money clip. This design consists in "[a] band for packages provided with tongues projecting toward each other and an elastic, whereby when the band is in use the tongues will project in opposite directions to receive the elastic" (lines 57-61).
Date: September 6, 1887
Creator: Matthews, Oscar Semmes
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hand Rest. (open access)

Hand Rest.

Patent for a new and improved hand rest. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the standard, the lever supported thereby and provided with a guide wire or rail, and the hand support comprising a roller mounted on said rail, an elastic strap depending from the roller, and a finger-receiver secured to the lower end of the strap" (lines 62-68).
Date: September 4, 1888
Creator: Brown, Martin Luther
System: The Portal to Texas History
Gas Generator and Burner. (open access)

Gas Generator and Burner.

Patent for a new and improved gas generator. This design "has for its object to improve the efficiency of that type of vapor generators and burners wherein oil and air pipes enter a casing having burner orifices and filled with an incombustible substance, which when heated vaporizes the oil" (lines 8-13).
Date: September 10, 1889
Creator: Street, Joseph G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Extension-Table (open access)

Extension-Table

Patent for "an improvement in center tables, seeking to provide a simple convenient construction of extension-table, Which can be easily extended or contracted, by which the objectionable center leg can be dispensed with, and in which the main or center portion Will be firmly supported at all times" (lines 7-13).
Date: September 9, 1890
Creator: Smith, Lewis G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Top. (open access)

Vehicle Top.

Patent for a new and improved vehicle-top. This design "is to simplify, improve, and cheapen the construction of vehicle-tops . . . and enable the sliding curtain to be more readily and securely fastened to the standards and bows of the carriage-top" (lines 12-18). To this end, it consists in "[t]he combination of the supporting-bows provided with longitudinal grooves, and the curtain-carrying frame comprising flat flexible strips arranged in the said grooves and provided at intervals with inwardly-extending plates having perforations, and the parallel cross-pieces secured to the plates" (lines 84-90).
Date: September 30, 1890
Creator: McCurdy, Thomas B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shoe-Fastening. (open access)

Shoe-Fastening.

Patent for improvements in shoe-fastenings by using a “pivoted clasp-lever which has a tail-piece acted upon by a leaf-spring for holding the lever in its closed or open position.” (Lines 11-13) Illustration is included.
Date: September 8, 1891
Creator: Dessoir, Julius
System: The Portal to Texas History
Till-Alarm. (open access)

Till-Alarm.

Patent for improvements in Tills or cash-drawers by using “a combination-lock to prevent its being opened by unauthorized parties, and which will give an alarm with manipulated by any one unacquainted with the secret of its management.” (Lines 14-18) Illustration is included. Corrections in Letters are also included.
Date: September 15, 1891
Creator: Garrett, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Weight for Horses' Hoofs. (open access)

Weight for Horses' Hoofs.

Patent for improvement in weights for horses’ hoofs by providing “a toe-weight or side weight which will adjust itself to the inclination of the hoof to which it is applied, and further, to provide a weight that will be self-locking, be effectively held against rattling, and be readily attachable and detachable.” (Lines 9-14) Illustration is included.
Date: September 22, 1891
Creator: King, George R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locomotive Ash-Pan (open access)

Locomotive Ash-Pan

Patent for "improvements in dumping locomotive ash-pans which will not only effectually and tightly hold the ashes within the same until it is desired to dump the pan, but also to provide means whereby the requisite draft can be obtained and constantly supplied to the fire in regulated quantities" (lines 10-16).
Date: September 6, 1892
Creator: Eads, John W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle-Seat (open access)

Vehicle-Seat

Patent for "a device of the character set forth adapted for application to buggies, carriages, sleighs, and other Vehicles and arranged adjacent to the dash, and when not in use the several parts are folded and the device entire detached and placed endwise under the seat 'and behind the cushion-fall, the parts being simple and effective in their construction and operation, strong and durable, and easily and readily handled and applied" (lines 14-24).
Date: September 6, 1892
Creator: Padgitt, Thomas B.
System: The Portal to Texas History