Carriage Wheel. (open access)

Carriage Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved carriage wheel. This design "consists in so constructing a carriage-wheel that the members thereof may be made interchangeable, and the whole may be made in a factory and shipped thence 'knocked down,' to be assembled and put together at any point to which the same may be shipped, not requiring, as is usual, the aid of a blacksmith or other skilled laborer" (lines 8-15).
Date: November 8, 1881
Creator: Clarke, George R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Umbrella and Sun Shade. (open access)

Umbrella and Sun Shade.

Patent for a new and improved (sun) umbrella. This design utilizes an adjustable metal frame that can be attached to a piece of equipment (e.g., a tractor) or worn comfortably by a person. This allows for hands-free use while being protected from the sun and/or rain.
Date: February 8, 1881
Creator: Gray, Hiram Balderston
System: The Portal to Texas History
Manufacture of Hydraulic Cement and Lime. (open access)

Manufacture of Hydraulic Cement and Lime.

Patent for improvement in“the manufacture of hydraulic cement or lime form rotten or decomposed limestone” (lines 66-68).
Date: February 8, 1881
Creator: Dimelow, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tire Tightener. (open access)

Tire Tightener.

Patent for a new and improved tire tightener. This design calls for a wheel with a gap rather than a continuous ring, so a double-threaded bolt in the gap may be tightened or loosened to contract or expand the wheel and subsequently the tire.
Date: November 8, 1881
Creator: Jones, James Daniel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Spading Machine. (open access)

Rotary Spading Machine.

Patent for a new and improved rotary spading machine. This design "consists in the combination of a cylinder or drum armed with a series of spades or teeth, and mounted on a revolving shaft having a bearing or ground wheel, and a series of cleaning fingers or disks, which operate between the teeth of a second cylinder or drum which is mounted in a frame hung loosely on the main shaft of the machine, so as to rise and fall and adapt itself to the inequalities of the ground" (lines 21-30).
Date: March 8, 1881
Creator: Schuchard, Julius
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