Funnel. (open access)

Funnel.

Patent for an improved funnel that is meant to transfer liquids into receptacles with small openings, "the object being to provide a novel construction whereby a valve is automatically closed when the receptacle is full or the liquid has reached the proper level, so as to cut off the supply and prevent overflow which frequently occurs in using the ordinary funnels, resulting in loss and waste" (lines 16-23).
Date: June 27, 1893
Creator: Wright, George H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Child's Carriage. (open access)

Child's Carriage.

Patent for a new and improved stroller. This design consists in "[a] running-gear, of the vertical hoop secured thereto, the brackets extending outward and upward from the hoop, and notched in their upper ends, the body, the brackets at opposite sides of the body, and the knife edge projections resting on the upper notched ends of the brackets . . . a vertical encircling hoop carrying buffers, standards, and brackets formed with edges, which rest upon the standards . . . an axle, wheels fitted to the axle, a forwardly extending bracket carrying a fixed wheel . . . and a sunshade" (lines 81-98).
Date: June 22, 1886
Creator: England, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "relates to an improvement in car-couplings, and has for its object to provide a coupling by means of which the link will be held up and guided into the draw-head, and the coupling-pin held in position to be coupled and automatically thrown into engagement with the link" (lines 7-13).
Date: June 5, 1888
Creator: Rutledge, William O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "relates to car-couplings, and it has for its object to provide a device of this character which shall be automatic in its action, simple in its construction, positive and effective in operation, and one that will be strong and durable. A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for supporting the link in a horizontal position, so that it will engage the draw-head of the adjacent car. The invention consists in the improved construction and combination of parts" (lines 10-21).
Date: June 16, 1885
Creator: Hogan, John James & Miller, Rudolph Albert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Car Uncoupler. (open access)

Automatic Car Uncoupler.

Patent for a new and improved car uncoupler. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a coupling adapted to hold two cars together, of an uncoupler comprising a lever pivotally connected to the car, a weight supported on the car and connected to said lever, and a connection between the weight-operated lever and the coupling for operating it, to separate the cars upon the dropping of the weight" (lines 4-11).
Date: June 7, 1887
Creator: Flett, John Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design has for its object "to provide a coupler which may be used in connection with an ordinary pin-and-link coupler, or with a novel form of draw-pin formed especially for use in connection with the coupler . . . the object of the invention being to so arrange the parts that cars may be automatically coupled and uncoupled without entering the spaces between the ends of the approaching cars" (lines 8-17).
Date: June 7, 1887
Creator: Flett, John Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adjusting Device for Compressing-Rolls. (open access)

Adjusting Device for Compressing-Rolls.

Patent for adjusting devices for compressing rolls which “employed for compressing into a continuous thin sheet cotton fiber; and the objects in view are to provide a simple and convenient means for binding the rolls in contact, and when so bound to prevent any undesired yielding.” (Lines 10-15) Illustration is included.
Date: June 16, 1891
Creator: Goldthwaite, Joseph G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Condenser (open access)

Condenser

Patent for "the construction of surface-condensers for condensing steam, condensing cooling ammonia-gas, and other purposes" (lines 17-20) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 15, 1880
Creator: Lee, Charles Brogden
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bootjack. (open access)

Bootjack.

Patent for a new and improved boot-jack. This design is for an addition to existing boot-jacks that allows for wet or tight boots to be removed completely after the heel of the foot is loosened, all without the use of hands. This additional apparatus can be adjusted to different angles by way of eye-holes and screws.
Date: June 16, 1896
Creator: Ulferts, Ulfert Harms
System: The Portal to Texas History
Flushing tank for siphon closets. (open access)

Flushing tank for siphon closets.

Patent for flushing tanks to connect to siphon closets that is improvement vacuum
Date: January 22, 1919
Creator: Sweeny, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Valve for Flushing-Tanks. (open access)

Valve for Flushing-Tanks.

Patent for a flushing tank valve that reduces the time it takes to fill the tank with a higher accuracy for shut off levels.
Date: June 21, 1921
Creator: Sweeny, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window-Sash Lock. (open access)

Window-Sash Lock.

Patent for a device which may be attached to the upper and lower sashes of a window to firmly lock them in position. The device is special because "the attachment to the upper sash does not project into the path of the lower sash nor interfere with its operation" (lines 16-19).
Date: June 8, 1915
Creator: Merrell, Frederick R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench. (open access)

Wrench.

Patent for a wrench that can be adjusted without the use of screws. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 29, 1897
Creator: Thomas, Theodore G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Landing-Net. (open access)

Landing-Net.

Patent for improvements to landing nets to make them foldable or collapsible, providing for easier storage when not in use.
Date: June 22, 1915
Creator: Franklin, Robert M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Weed Killing Car. (open access)

Weed Killing Car.

Patent for a weed killing car that runs on a railroad track. It distributes herbicide along the line of the railroad track.
Date: June 2, 1914
Creator: Ortan, Ingomar F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Weather and Fire Strip for Box Car Doors. (open access)

Weather and Fire Strip for Box Car Doors.

Patent for a new and improved weather and fire strip for box car doors. This design "relates to an improved device for closing the space between the rear edge of the doors of box-cars and the side of the car, so as to prevent sparks or water from entering through the space and damaging the goods in the car" (lines 9-14).
Date: June 12, 1883
Creator: Nichols, George B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Load-Transferring Apparatus. (open access)

Load-Transferring Apparatus.

Patent for load transferring apparatus, important for its innovations "applicable to the operation of unloading bulk material from boats or barges and of transferring said material to stationary bins or ships at sea" (lines 11-15).
Date: June 23, 1914
Creator: Hildebrand, Henry W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Yielding and Buoyant Pile Breakwater. (open access)

Yielding and Buoyant Pile Breakwater.

Patent for a new and improved breakwater. This design is "of a cheap, durable, and efficient breakwater for localities exposed to the destructive action of the waves; and it consists mainly in a line of single-column buoyant piles, arranged side-by-side, and grouped together in sections . . . and anchored to their water-bed, and also in certain constructions and combination of parts" (lines 28-35).
Date: June 27, 1882
Creator: Franklin, Robert M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mail-Bag Catcher and Deliverer. (open access)

Mail-Bag Catcher and Deliverer.

Patent for a mail bag catcher and deliverer for use by trains.
Date: June 13, 1911
Creator: Tauson, Reinhold W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Syringe for Destroying Cotton-Plant Worms. (open access)

Improvement in Syringe for Destroying Cotton-Plant Worms.

Patent for improved instrument to be used to destroy cotton-worms, this instrument “provided with a nozzle, having a fine discharge-passages, through which the liquid is forced slowly, in the form of spray, and that the same nozzle is provided with an inlet-tube, through which liquid can be rapidly drawn into the barrel for filling it, but which will be automatically shut at the commencement of discharging the liquid through the nozzle, and kept shut during such discharge.” (Lines 55-62) Illustration is included.
Date: June 15, 1869
Creator: Robira, Antonio
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in treating grain to obtain extractive matter for coloring and flavoring spirits. (open access)

Improvement in treating grain to obtain extractive matter for coloring and flavoring spirits.

Patent for "Improvement in the Mode of extracting Flavors from Grain." (lines 3-4)
Date: June 14, 1870
Creator: Gilman, Samuel H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wheeled Vehicle. (open access)

Wheeled Vehicle.

Patent for a new and improved wheeled vehicle. This design consists in "[a] one-wheeled sulky in which are combined the single wheel, the frame, the thills, the seat, the standards, and the rods or braces" (lines 54-57).
Date: June 19, 1883
Creator: Boyd, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Middlings-Purifiers. (open access)

Improvement in Middlings-Purifiers.

Patent for a "machine for purifying the middlings in the process of making flour that will free them more completely from impurities that has heretofore been done, and to construct the parts of the machine so that air-blasts will be completely under control" (lines 8-13) including illustrations.
Date: June 3, 1879
Creator: White, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Trap-Net. (open access)

Trap-Net.

Patent for improvements in net traps for fish. The trap is constructed of two sections that "can be held open at any depth" and automatically close when lifted.
Date: June 22, 1915
Creator: Franklin, Robert M.
System: The Portal to Texas History