Blind Stop. (open access)

Blind Stop.

Patent for a new and improved blind-stop. This design consists "[i]n blind-stops, the rod, consisting of two parts connected by a thin piece of metal, in combination with a blind provided with a median open-slotted tapering screw and thumb-nut" (lines 49-53).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Warren, Thomas
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn or Cotton Dropper (open access)

Corn or Cotton Dropper

Patent for corn or cotton dropper in which improvements are made on general efficiency, "simplicity, expensiveness, [and] durability" (lines 12-13).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Brown, William Franklin
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Faucet and Automatic Toy. (open access)

Combined Faucet and Automatic Toy.

Patent for a new and improved faucet with a toy attachment. This design "relates to faucets for soda-fountains and the like; and it consists in providing the same with a jointed figure or automaton adapted to be operated by the escaping fluid" (lines 21-25).
Date: April 25, 1882
Creator: Zanetti, Fortonato Clemente
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boot Cleaner. (open access)

Boot Cleaner.

Patent for a new and improved boot cleaner. This design "affords facilities for readily and conveniently scraping all parts of the boot or shoe. The heel is scraped on [a] semicircular portion located at the top of the arch, the sides of the sole by the arms, the upper hollow of the foot by the projections, [and] the toe by the lower side of the arch or bow" (lines 38-45).
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Scovel, Purley A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator (open access)

Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator

Patent for an improvement for the Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator by removing dirt, weeds, and grass from the sides of the row. Included with this are detailed illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Flewellen, Anthony, Sr.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machinery for Irrigating Purposes (open access)

Machinery for Irrigating Purposes

Patent for a machine that irrigates with a water wheel. The water wheel is connected to a float and a rod connected that is connected to a crank on the shaft of the wheel.
Date: September 25, 1888
Creator: Owen, Benajah Dotte
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adding-Machine (open access)

Adding-Machine

Patent for "an adding-machine which, while being constructed of but comparatively few parts, will be so adjusted as arranged as to allow an operator to make rapid and correct calculations; furthermore, to produce an adding-machine in which the operator will be enabled to detect immediately any mistake which he may have made, and, finally, to produce a simple, efficient, and effective adding-machine" (lines 13-22).
Date: June 25, 1889
Creator: Stinson, James C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the frame and the operating-gearing, of the vertical shaft, supported by the frame and acted on by the operating-gearing, the horizontal plate rigidly secured to the lower end of the shaft and provided with radial grooves, and slots in said grooves, the feet having their upper ends bent at right angles, fitted in said grooves and adjustably secured therein by bolts passing through the radial slots, the lower ends of the feet carrying choppers" (lines 39-49).
Date: October 25, 1887
Creator: Ballard, John J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brake for Vehicles (open access)

Brake for Vehicles

Patent for "a brake which shall be easy in operation, cheap in construction, and not liable to get out of order" (lines 13-17).
Date: October 25, 1887
Creator: Bacon, Edward Hamlin
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
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
Object Type: Patent
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
Object Type: Patent
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.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
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.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Chopper. (open access)

Cotton-Chopper.

Patent for an improved design for a cotton chopper. The patent includes two sets of blades with opposite rotation and the ability to be stopped by the control of the operator. The design also includes improvements on cultivation and chopping for a more efficient process. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Busch, William
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bench Clamp. (open access)

Bench Clamp.

Patent for a new and improved bench clamp. This design, "[b]eing made of iron or other suitable material . . . is strong, durable, and inexpensive. It requires no bolts or screws to secure it to the work-bench or other object where its use may be required, and can be put in position and removed easily and quickly. It occupies but little room on account of its compactness, and can be applied to any piece of work without marring it" (lines 72-80).
Date: January 25, 1881
Creator: Murphy, James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bale Tie Buckle. (open access)

Bale Tie Buckle.

Patent for a new and improved bale tie buckle. This design is for "bale-tie buckles so constructed that the bale can be easily and quickly tied, that will hold the tie securely, and at the same time can be made lighter and neater than ordinary buckles, while having the necessary strength" (lines 11-16).
Date: January 25, 1881
Creator: Starr, Henry Daniel
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling-press. This design consists in "the ordinary framing, shell, or case for containing the material and stationary lower platen or bed are used, the upper platen being the movable one to effect the compression. This upper platen is brought down upon the material for its compression by the lowering of screw-threaded rods to which it is attached, such lowering being effected by the rotation of rotating nuts in fixed bearings taking on such screw-threaded rods" (lines 25-35).
Date: January 25, 1887
Creator: Brown, Maurice T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Planter Attachment. (open access)

Cotton-Planter Attachment.

Patent for improvements on cotton or other seed planters with a new design that allows for "simultaneously adjusting-i.e., raising and lowering-the plows in front and in rear of the seed-dropping drum " (lines 29-31) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Willcoxson, Coulmon W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Truss. (open access)

Truss.

Patent for a new and improved truss. This design consists in "the body-band consisting of a front piece adapted to fit around the abdomen, and a wire attached to each end of said front piece, shaped to conform to the body and spread apart to receive and rest upon the hip-bone, and straps secured to the opposite ends of said wires for fastening the band in place" (lines 43-50).
Date: October 25, 1887
Creator: Davis, Andrew P.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insect-Poison Distributor (open access)

Insect-Poison Distributor

Patent for "new and useful improvements in devices for sprinkling potato-vines and the like with powder - such as paris-green" (lines 15-18).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Heaton, Lorenzo D.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vegetable Grater and Slicer. (open access)

Vegetable Grater and Slicer.

Patent for an improvement on vegetable graters or slicers. The design allows for more efficient cutting of the vegetables and allows for gravity to feed the vegetables through the slicer and avoiding injury to the operator. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Weitzel, Jacob F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle Axle Lubricator. (open access)

Vehicle Axle Lubricator.

Patent for a new and improved axle lubricator. This design utilizes threads to allow for removal and reattachment, as well as easy cleaning.
Date: January 25, 1881
Creator: Rochelle, John Rugeley
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Liquid Cooler. (open access)

Liquid Cooler.

Patent for a new and improved liquid cooler. This design "provide[s] an apparatus by means of which a variety of liquids may be simultaneously cooled as required for use as beverages, and by which the glasses or drinking vessels may be at the same time cooled and protected from dust and insects" (lines 14-20).
Date: January 25, 1881
Creator: Capps, Matterson F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lap Ring. (open access)

Lap Ring.

Patent for a new and improved lap ring (or link). This design utilizes a hinge to allow for half of the ring to part from the other half, which creates a larger opening and allows for connection with a wider range of things (e.g., larger clevises).
Date: October 25, 1881
Creator: Matthews, James Levi
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History