Churn Motor. (open access)

Churn Motor.

Patent for a new and improved churn motor. This design "consists in certain improvements in the construction of [churn motors], having for their object to produce a machine which shall possess superior advantages in point of simplicity, durability, and general efficiency" (lines 10-15).
Date: September 25, 1883
Creator: O'Bannon, William H. & Snider, John J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Wheel-Cultivators. (open access)

Improvement in Wheel-Cultivators.

Patent for "an improved wheel-cultivator, which shall be so constructed that it may be readily adjusted for use in marking the ground, covering the seed, and cultivating the plants." (Lines 9-13) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 25, 1876
Creator: Riddle, William N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for improvement in plows by first connecting a furrow-shoe to the moldboard, and second, by provide means for operating the plow-point to make a deep or shallow furrow and for raising and lowering covering-plows simultaneously when the plow is in operation. (Lines 13-20) Illustration is included.
Date: June 25, 1901
Creator: Morrison, Robert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pumping-Engine. (open access)

Pumping-Engine.

Patent for a pumping engine that uses a "combined piston rod and plunger acting in the same vertical line and carrying a crank pin box and cross heads for driving the governing fly wheel" (lines 12-15). Mounting and dismounting this engine is simple, and the engine has easily accessible packing ends of the steam and water cylinders. Also, the adjustable yoke is improved in this engine.
Date: April 25, 1893
Creator: Clarkson, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sliding-Door Mechanism. (open access)

Sliding-Door Mechanism.

Patent for a new sliding door mechanism that allows for doors to be opened and shut by a foot-operated pedal without the use of one's hands, including illustrations.
Date: July 25, 1916
Creator: Beardon, Thomas M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spring-Heel (open access)

Spring-Heel

Patent for a spring heel made to absorb shocks from walking and to provide overall support for the heel. Illustrations included.
Date: June 25, 1907
Creator: Luzzi, August F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Feed Apparatus for Locomotives. (open access)

Feed Apparatus for Locomotives.

Patent for a new and improved feed apparatus for locomotives. This design is "for feeding the boiler of a locomotive-engine wherein a feed-pipe extends from a tank or tender to an injector a conical strainer is located in the three-way valve-casing for intercepting dirt, leaves, and foreign matter, to prevent the same passing with the feed-water to the boiler" (lines 9-15). It consists, "with a valve-casing containing a valve and having pipes or tubes for connecting, respectively, with a tank or tender and an injector or boiler, [and] of a strainer having steam-jet orifices arranged round its base" (lines 69-73).
Date: October 25, 1892
Creator: Raynor, Irwin Halpin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow. (open access)

Plow.

Patent for improvements in plows by employing moldboards on both left and right side of the plow; with a shoe or land slide fixed to the plow-beam extension. Then use a V-clamp to secure the plow-handles and a bracket to secure the moldboards and plow-point. This construction will allow free movement of the plow-point and moldboard up and down or vertically without lifting the shoe from the furrow. Illustration is included.
Date: December 25, 1900
Creator: Morrison, Robert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Planter (open access)

Cotton-Planter

Patent for "a planter-carriage frame adapted to carry a cotton-seed hopper having novel and peculiar means for feeding the cotton-seed in planting the same, so that the same frams may be employed for both hopper without alteration of either hopper or frame" (lines 11-17).
Date: June 25, 1901
Creator: Morrison, Robert L.
System: The Portal to Texas History