Automatic Fire-Kindler (open access)

Automatic Fire-Kindler

Patent for an automatic fire kindler which can be put on a timer and start a fire in a stove with a bundle of matches inserted into the device ahead of time.
Date: November 17, 1908
Creator: Bates, Samuel F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cigar-Box Clip. (open access)

Cigar-Box Clip.

Patent for an inexpensive improvement to cigar box clips or clamps, that will make it easier for the box to be left open at a tilted angle, for the purpose of displaying the cigars or other objects inside.
Date: November 21, 1911
Creator: Holder, Andrew Thomas.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bee-Gum (open access)

Bee-Gum

Patent for a bee hive which has multiple compartments which the bees can travel through and, when keeper wants to remove honey all the bees can be sent into one compartment to avoid the danger of being stung. It also has ventilation and rain protection.
Date: November 5, 1907
Creator: Caperton, William Elson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Tabled, Copy, and Bill Holder. (open access)

Combined Tabled, Copy, and Bill Holder.

Patent for a combined tablet, copy, and bill holder meant to hold "file-pins in their operative and inoperative positions, to provide simple and improved means whereby a tablet or bills may be covered when not in use or when carrying the device, to protect the same from dirt, &c. and, furthermore, to provide improved means for supporting the holder in position for transcribing" (lines 12-18).
Date: November 26, 1895
Creator: Stuart, Benjamin Franklin & Willson, Frederick WIlliam
System: The Portal to Texas History
Band-Cutter and Feeder for Thrashing-Machines (open access)

Band-Cutter and Feeder for Thrashing-Machines

Patent for an attachment for thrashing-machines "for cutting the bands on the sheaves of wheat, rice, or other grain, to spread the loosened bundles out uniformly, and to then feed them thus spread out into the thrashing-machine, whereby the strain on the machine can be made more uniform" (lines 15-20) and the capacity and efficiency can be increased.
Date: November 1, 1892
Creator: Hill, Frank R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "the combination, with the coupling-head provided with a central tongue and a socket on each side of the tongue, and the forwardly-projecting spring-actuated hooks pivoted to the said head, with their rear ends abutting against the bottoms of the sockets and provided with beveled front edges of the coupling-socket provided with catches for the said hooks to engage with automatically, and the vertical spindle journaled in the central tongue and provided with flexible connections wound upon it" (lines 86-97).
Date: November 19, 1889
Creator: Jones, Ithamer M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "is to provide a device for automatically coupling the cars to which it is attached and which can be uncoupled without requiring the brake[person] to go in between the cars, and when uncoupled the coupling will stand uncoupled till thrown back in gear" (lines 13-19). It consists in "the combination of two similar draw-heads, each provided with buffers and a longitudinal slot therein, and a buffer-bridge and two rounded beveled and projecting loops, and a connecting-pin with rounded or ball head . . . and a gravity key" (lines 79-87).
Date: November 18, 1890
Creator: Seley, William W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Core-Holding Mechanism for Cotton-Baling Machines. (open access)

Core-Holding Mechanism for Cotton-Baling Machines.

Patent for a core-holding mechanism for cotton-baling machines that provides "new and improved means for engaging and disengaging the core, so that it is guided vertically, and the bale is susceptible of being conveniently and rapidly removed from the machine and a core introduced for the formation of another bale" (lines 19-24).
Date: November 27, 1894
Creator: Smith, Hamilton E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Baling Machine. (open access)

Cotton-Baling Machine.

Patent for an effective cotton-baling machine that improves on how cotton is compressed and fed into the rotary, that stretches the cotton to its thinnest, that improves on how the core is carried, that raises and lowers the compressor roller, that improves on the rack-and pinion mechanism, that improves on how the ends of the cotton roll are pressed, and that quickly and easily finishes each bale.
Date: November 27, 1894
Creator: Smith, Hamilton E. & Dare, Benjamin A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for a baling press made up of a vertically movable core that moves up as it gets wrapped up in the internet, supporting drums, a feed apron that presses the material to the core, a pivoted swinging frame with a compression roller, a bale support, a mechanism that lifts the frame when the bale is finished, and a rack-and-pinion mechanism that raises the compression roller that moves up to let the bale get bigger, and a mechanism that rotates the rack-and-pinion.
Date: November 27, 1894
Creator: Smith, Hamilton E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Baling Machine. (open access)

Cotton-Baling Machine.

Patent for a cotton-baling machine that compresses cotton between two pressure-rolls and rolls it around a core. This invention improves "the mode of applying pressure to the pressure rolls, and [improves] the manner of mounting the core-roll in position within the compress, and for facilitating the removal of said core-roll; and the elevation therefrom of the compress-roll" (lines 15-21).
Date: November 27, 1894
Creator: Bessonette, Charles Lewis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nutcracker. (open access)

Nutcracker.

Patent for a nutcracker that can crack all kinds of nuts, with relatively little force, on appropriate surfaces like tables. The Patent includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 17, 1914
Creator: Fort, Foster W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Commode. (open access)

Commode.

Patent for an integrated air-venting commode.
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Bardon, Prosper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Bale-Tie Clamps. (open access)

Improvement in Bale-Tie Clamps.

Patent for an instrument that tightens the ties used for bales of cotton.
Date: November 18, 1873
Creator: Leoneard, Thomas Dunlap
System: The Portal to Texas History
Linotype Machine (open access)

Linotype Machine

Patent for used producing lines of type, and it is the object of the invention to provide a comparatively simple, small, inexpensive and compact machine of that character generally resembling a type write in its construction and operation, and operable to produce lines of type.
Date: November 20, 1917
Creator: French, Morris
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton Cleaner and Condenser. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton Cleaner and Condenser.

Patent for improvements to machinery for cleaning cotton by passing the raw material over various sizes of mesh and using air to draw out dirt.
Date: November 27, 1877
Creator: Donovan, John T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton-Bale Ties. (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Bale Ties.

Patent for improving cotton bale ties with buckle-tie plate and zinc-galvanized iron wire.
Date: November 18, 1873
Creator: Quarles, Fred.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Puzzle (open access)

Puzzle

Patent for Puzzle
Date: November 28, 1916
Creator: Trull, Clarence A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stamp Sticking or Sealing Machine. (open access)

Stamp Sticking or Sealing Machine.

Patent for a stamp sticking or sealing machine that is meant "to provide a device with a moistening pad capable of applying moisture to the mucilage of the stamps, and with a guide or way through which the stamps may be passed, and by which they are guided to and past the moistening pad; and the invention consists in certain novel features of construction whereby the device is made capable of easier manipulation, whereby it may be held in one hand so as to cause the stamps to make contact with the pad, thus leaving the other hand of the operator free to draw the stamps over the pad and to affix them" (lines 8-21).
Date: November 13, 1894
Creator: Shaw, James Tyus
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow Attachment (open access)

Plow Attachment

Patent for plow attachment to a clevis and can be used in connection with the draft devices.
Date: November 14, 1916
Creator: Hamilton, Lemon W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Alarm for Incubators (open access)

Alarm for Incubators

Patent for an alarm that sounds upon the temperature in an incubator either increasing or decreasing.
Date: November 21, 1916
Creator: Poore, John F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stenographer's Note - Book (open access)

Stenographer's Note - Book

Patent for a new and useful Stenographer's Blank Book to "provide a connection for the covers whereby they may be automatically secured at the desired relative inclination without fastening the tape, cord, or ribbon forming the connection" (line 20 -24).
Date: November 2, 1897
Creator: Stuart, Benjamin F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Thill Coupling (open access)

Thill Coupling

Patent for a thill coupling. Illustration included.
Date: November 13, 1906
Creator: Barry, Jefferson D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hame Attachment (open access)

Hame Attachment

Patent for a hame attachment. Illustration included.
Date: November 28, 1905
Creator: Miller, John A. & McKenzie, Joseph H.
System: The Portal to Texas History