Combined Seed Planter and Cultivator. (open access)

Combined Seed Planter and Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved combined planter and cultivator. This design has for its object "to facilitate the planting of seed and the cultivating of plants, and to promote convenience in adjusting the machines for the different kinds of work. The invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts" (lines 21-27).
Date: November 25, 1884
Creator: Shannon, Thomas Brandon
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adjustable Book Support. (open access)

Adjustable Book Support.

Patent for a new and improved book rest. This design consists "of an upright pivoted in a support or base, a sliding lower supporting cross-bar, an upper sliding supporting-bar, both bars having sockets upon their rear sides sliding upon the upright and provided with set-screws, and leaf-clamps consisting of a piece of spring doubled at one end to form slides sliding upon the arms of the upper cross-bar, forming curved yielding portions, forming transverse eyes at the other ends, having flat blocks hinged at the said eyes, and provided with thumb-pieces" (lines 72-83).
Date: November 25, 1884
Creator: Johnson, William Oscar
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Wheel. (open access)

Car Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved car wheel. This design "consists in the combination, with a railroad-car axle having wheel-bearings of equal diameter throughout their whole lengths, of wheels the peripheries of which are provided with central flanges dividing each into two treads, the said wheels adapted to be pressed on the said bearings aforesaid, and to be removed therefrom, reversed, and again pressed thereon whenever the wear of the first tread shall render the same necessary" (lines 12-21).
Date: March 25, 1884
Creator: Melvin, Josiah W. & Clute, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Fence Stretcher and Splicer. (open access)

Wire Fence Stretcher and Splicer.

Patent for a new and improved wire fence stretcher and splicer. This design "relates to improvements in wire-fence stretchers and splicers; and it consists in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts" (lines 10-13).
Date: March 25, 1884
Creator: Pierce, Jonathan E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spark Arrester. (open access)

Spark Arrester.

Patent for a new and improved spark arrester. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the stack, of the upper and lower portions . . . of the inner cylinder, separated by the annular opening, the spiral wing-guide, the collar-flange, between the stack-wall and [a] section, and the cylindrical partition below said collar-flange in the flue" (lines 73-79).
Date: November 25, 1884
Creator: Jones, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Safety Stop for Elevators. (open access)

Safety Stop for Elevators.

Patent for a new and improved safety stop for elevators. This design "consists in a lever pivoted to the bottom of the car, and provided with a spring for throwing it into position transversely to the car-bottom, so that the ends of the lever can catch on horizontal bars secured to the sides of the elevator-shaft. A rope or cable is secured to one end of the lever and to the car-elevating cable, and keeps the spring taut, and prevents it from throwing the lever unless the elevating-cable breaks" (lines 11-20).
Date: March 25, 1884
Creator: Saunders, Ellison
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow (open access)

Plow

Patent for a new type of plow granted to Anton Schindler.
Date: November 25, 1884
Creator: Schindler, Anton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ratchet Wrench. (open access)

Ratchet Wrench.

Patent for a new and improved ratchet wrench. This design "relates to improvements in ratchet-wrenches wherein a handle carrying a rotating head having jaws to grasp a nut is provided with pivoted pawls, so that by oscillating the handle the pawls serve to rotate the head and screw or unscrew the nut, bolt, or other device" (lines 8-14).
Date: March 25, 1884
Creator: Osborn, Adelbert E.
System: The Portal to Texas History