Combined Mosquito Bar Frame and Canopy. (open access)

Combined Mosquito Bar Frame and Canopy.

Patent for a new and improved mosquito netting. This design "provide[s] a simple and substantial construction of frame for supporting the mosquito-bar that will admit of ready application to and removal from the bedstead, and also to provide a simple and effective arrangement of cords to the mosquito-bar, whereby it may be easily extended over the bed or folded out of the way by the occupant of the bed" (lines 12-20).
Date: January 24, 1882
Creator: Howe, Charles P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton and Corn Planter. (open access)

Cotton and Corn Planter.

Patent for a new and improved seed planter. This design "features . . . first, reciprocating forked seed pushers or plungers attached to a sliding frame and operating alternately to deliver the seed through a covered opening in the bottom of the hopper, whence it passes into the furrow; second, an intermittently-rotating shaft arranged in the seed-hopper and provided with spiral or oblique arms for agitating the seed and feeding it toward the discharge opening" (lines 15-24).
Date: January 24, 1882
Creator: Turley, James M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling press. This design consists "of the base-plate, the casing made in two trough-shaped sections . . . one of which is hinged to the base-plate the bifurcated uprights, the operating-levers on each side hinged to the uprights, the compressing-beam extending across the baling-chamber and through the uprights, and connections between the compressing-beam and the levers" (lines 92-100).
Date: September 24, 1889
Creator: Hillman, William & Ripple, Joseph F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Stamping Envelopes (open access)

Apparatus for Stamping Envelopes

Patent for "a means whereby with one motion a stamp will be supplied from the'apparatus, moistened, and placed in position upon a letter, wrapper, or parcel adapted to receive it, and wherein a number of stamps may be consecutively placed when and as desired" (lines 10-15).
Date: September 24, 1889
Creator: Helland, Hans & Matzow, Frantz
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bedstead. (open access)

Bedstead.

Patent for a new and improved bedstead. This design consists of a frame with tension wires "extending diagonally across the bed-frame to the side pieces thereof at points intermediate between the corner posts, and independent tension devices to which the ends of the wire are connected, whereby a longitudinal and lateral strain is exerted upon the bed-frame when the wires are adjusted" (lines 1-7).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Clowers, William B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bailing-Press. (open access)

Bailing-Press.

Patent for Bailing Press including illustrations. The purpose of the bailing press was to improve "the bailing-press especially adapted for bailing cotton, which press is simple in construction, strong and durable, and operates rapidly" ( lines 9-12).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Clark, Frank
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design consists "[i]n an ant-trap, the combination, with a trough formed with a top [that is] flanged . . . of a box connected thereto by a tube terminating in a disk . . . [and] of the connecting-tubes, box, and fence" (lines 62-68).
Date: November 24, 1885
Creator: Thompson, William Henderson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Beam or Girder. (open access)

Beam or Girder.

Patent for a new and improved girder. This design is "composed of a vertical web and a flange or flanges, a mass of the metal in a flange or flanges projecting from the web at and near one-half the distance between the axis and the neutral line" (lines 48-53).
Date: December 24, 1889
Creator: Cousins, Robert Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Distilling Wood. (open access)

Apparatus for Distilling Wood.

Patent for improvements in wood distillers "wherein the liquids of the woods are extracted by subjection in a closed heated chamber or retort and carried by vaporization through the process of distillation to condensation" (lines 18-22).
Date: December 24, 1889
Creator: Spangler, Samuel H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car-Coupling (open access)

Car-Coupling

Patent for "a single structure in which the airbrake pipes and steam-heating pipes will be coupled together when the cars are coupled, and in which the several parts will be very compactly arranged. A further object is to provide means whereby the cars may be uncoupled by the use of compressed air" (lines 12-19).
Date: December 24, 1889
Creator: Thomas, James Bryant
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press (open access)

Baling-Press

Patent for improvements in "the class of baling-presses in which the follower is forced upward in the press-box by a lever pivoted or fulcrumed upon the ends of toggle-arms, and having a rope or chain for drawing it into an upright position," (lines 26-31) with illustrations.
Date: May 24, 1887
Creator: Stopple, John Julius
System: The Portal to Texas History
Artificial Fruit, Foliage, and Flowers. (open access)

Artificial Fruit, Foliage, and Flowers.

Patent for a new and improved method of making artificial fruit. This design "consists in cutting out a piece of lace or netting of the desired shape, forming the lace or netting into a bag, stuffing the bag with cotton or wool . . . picking the cotton or wool up through the meshes of the lace or netting, cutting narrow strips of tissue-paper, and applying them in layers until a covering similar to pasteboard is formed, drying the article, painting the article, sinking the article in a bath of wax heated to a point beneath boiling . . . letting it drain off, and finally applying a paint finish" (lines 34-47).
Date: May 24, 1887
Creator: Eve, Emma H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Button Attaching Machine. (open access)

Button Attaching Machine.

Patent for a new and improved button-attaching machine. This design consists in "the combination, with the plunger, of . . . the die having a central projection to enter the concavity of a button and parallel oblique curved recesses in said projection . . . [and] a peripheral flange" (lines 84-99).
Date: January 24, 1888
Creator: Tone, Harrison
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 "[a] car-coupling constructed with a draw-head having a vertically-ranging and inwardly-tapering link-socket and a horizontal hole to receive the coupling pin, in combination with a coupling-link tapering from the middle toward the end . . . [and] . . . crossing the socket, and a coupling-pin adapted to said hole and to the coupling-link, and connected to [two] lever[s] [and a] link . . . and [one of] said lever[s] extending to the side of the car" (lines 39-52).
Date: February 24, 1885
Creator: Rye, Edgar
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn. (open access)

Churn.

Patent for a new and improved churn. This design "relates to improvements in rotary churns; and it consists in the combination of the dasher-staff made screw-threaded at its upper end, and having a dasher secured to its lower one; a pinion which is applied to the screw-threaded part of the shaft, and which has a rising and falling movement thereon; the driving-wheel which operates the two pinions, and through them the two dashers, and the sleeve, which is connected to the lower pinion and one of the dashers" (lines 13-23).
Date: March 24, 1885
Creator: Wilson, Homer Tony & Sanders, Bleuford Bradford
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bale Tie. (open access)

Bale Tie.

Patent for a new and improved bale tie. This design "consists of a short thin plate of metal having two tongues . . . fronting each other, said plate being pivoted at one end to the bale-hoop . . . the other end of the bale-hoop being passed under the tongues and drawn tightly around the bale, the expansion of the bale on the hoop causes the respective ends to pull on the respective ends of the tie-plate . . . so as to grip the edges of the end passed between the tongues and hold it firmly" (lines 7-19).
Date: July 24, 1883
Creator: Arnold, Abbott
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bale Tie. (open access)

Bale Tie.

Patent for a new and improved tie for bales. This design calls for one long, flat piece of scrap metal to be folded over on itself twice so that there are four layers of metal as well as a loop (or "rib") on either end. Then, a hole should be cut through all four layers with a tapered opening through the edge; this design is cheaper and more durable than previous bale ties.
Date: August 24, 1880
Creator: Riesel, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boring and Tenoning Machine. (open access)

Boring and Tenoning Machine.

Patent for a new and improved combined hollow auger attachment and felly-boring machine. This design "relates to an improved felly-boring machine which is adapted with slight adjustment to co-operate with a hollow auger for forming the tenons on the spokes. [The] invention consists in the construction of the frame, the clamp for securing it to the spokes or felly-supports, and in the means for holding and adjusting the auger" (lines 14-21).
Date: April 24, 1883
Creator: Ryan, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bridge (open access)

Bridge

Patent for the construction of substantial bridges of wood adapted for long spans, and which can be put up where iron bridges would be too expensive.
Date: May 24, 1881
Creator: Brenner, August W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Cork Extractor. (open access)

Automatic Cork Extractor.

Patent for a new and improved automatic cork extractor. This design "consists, principally, of a vertically-moving and partially-rotating blade having a harpoon-shaped or shouldered head for piercing and drawing the corks; in laterally opening and closing jaws for holding the necks of the bottles; in pivoted and laterally-moving pointed levers for throwing the parts of the corks away from the blade when withdrawn, and in the construction and combination of the parts of the device" (lines 14-23).
Date: May 24, 1881
Creator: Clark, Chester Cady
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insect Destroyer. (open access)

Insect Destroyer.

Patent for a new and improved insect destroyer. This design consists "[i]n a poison-sprinkling machine, the combination, with the wheels mounted on stub-axles, with vertically-adjustable rotary sifters in the rear operated by the wheels, of an arched frame connected to said axles, said frame having thills secured thereto, and an arched yoke having its ends bent outward to form neck-yokes and secured to the outer ends of said thills, and draft-arms secured to the sides of said thills" (lines 59-68).
Date: January 24, 1888
Creator: Rives, John T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Voting Machine. (open access)

Voting Machine.

Patent for a new and improved voting-machine. This design consists in "the combination, with the transverse bridge, through the opening of which are fulcrumed by means of a pin two parallel keys, said keys having pivotally connected to their fulcrumed ends to parallel pawls, the free ends of which mesh with teeth in two ratchet-wheels carrying hands indicating on a dial and having eccentrics upon their faces, two parallel narrow plates moved by such eccentrics to indicate the complete revolution of the hands, and a shield upon the top" (lines 124-134).
Date: January 24, 1888
Creator: Ford, William W.
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 the supporting-bows having grooves in their side, the upper ends of the grooves overlapping the curtain-supporting frames, comprising the flexible side-bars provided with lateral tongues fitting in the grooves of the supporting-bows, and the cross-bars secured to the side bars and having their ends fitted in said grooves, and the covering secured to said frame" (lines 82-91).
Date: April 24, 1888
Creator: McCurdy, Thomas B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wagon-Bed Elevator (open access)

Wagon-Bed Elevator

Patent for a wagon-bed elevator that "is to provide an elevator for wagon-beds by means of which a single person can raise the bed from the wagon to any desired height and leave it suspended in position where it can be readily lowered upon the wagon again at any time" (p. 2).
Date: July 24, 1888
Creator: Holliday, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History