Combined Cultivator, Plow, &c. (open access)

Combined Cultivator, Plow, &c.

Patent for "a machine having a main frame and a driving-gear with interchangeable planting, cultivating, stalk-cutting, and cotton-chopping mechanism, whereby the machine is adapted to be used for a variet of purposes" (lines 15-20).
Date: April 9, 1889
Creator: McBride, Abram B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brace for Back and Legs. (open access)

Brace for Back and Legs.

Patent for a new and improved back and leg brace. This design consists in "the combination of the belt, the straps secured to the belt, [other] straps secured to the [same] belt and extending downward V-shaped, the links at the lower ends of the straps, the [other] strap, the pads attached to the lower ends of the straps, and the necessary buckles to secure and adjust the device to the body of the wearer" (lines 54-62).
Date: April 9, 1889
Creator: Smith, Joseph Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Composition For Roofing And Paving. (open access)

Composition For Roofing And Paving.

Patent for a process "to produce a compound which is strong, tenacious, and pliable, which will not be affected by climatic changes, and which will resist the corrosive action of acids and alkalies; and to this end my invention consists in a compound composed of asphaltum, pine-tar, and oxide of iron, as will more fully hereinafter appear.” (Lines 8-15) Includes instructions.
Date: May 9, 1882
Creator: Lee, Archibald K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cane Mill. (open access)

Cane Mill.

Patent for a new and improved sugarcane mill. This design "consist[s] of the frame composed of [a] bed-piece, vertical standards, and horizontal pieces, [one] piece having [a] trough, the vertical shaft, horizontally movable . . . and provided with the gear, the roller having stationary shaft provided with pinion, the [other] roller having stationary shaft provided with pinion, boxes, and screw-threaded rods" (lines 81-89).
Date: February 9, 1886
Creator: Webb, John T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Fan. (open access)

Automatic Fan.

Patent for a new and improved automatic fan. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the attaching-plate, the depending rod, the fixed plate on the lower end thereof, the socket arms pivotally connected to said plate at their inner ends, and the fans held in the sockets in said arms, of the plate loosely mounted on the rod above [the] plate, having arms, the rods pivotally connecting the outer ends of said arms, the pitman connected to [another] plate, and the operating crank" (lines 67-76).
Date: October 9, 1888
Creator: Goodspeed, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Axle Box. (open access)

Car Axle Box.

Patent for a new and improved car-axle box. This design consists "[i]n an axle-box, the combination, with the box having the wedge-shaped projections and slots, of the cover having pins and wedge-shaped recesses formed between said pins and the top of the lid, whereby the gravity of the cover will wedge it to the box when the pins are without a bearing" (lines 52-58).
Date: June 9, 1885
Creator: Scott, James O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bill or Paper File. (open access)

Bill or Paper File.

Patent for a new and improved bill or paper file. This design "relates to hook-files, the object being to so improve their construction as to prevent the bills or papers on the file from working off. The invention consists, essentially, in a file provided with a tongue pivoted near the point of the hook" (lines 7-13).
Date: August 9, 1887
Creator: Gilbert, Frank B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bitters. (open access)

Bitters.

Patent for stomach-bitters (a bittersweet digestive aid) “a new and healthy composition of matter to be used as a tonic, and to be known as the ‘Improved Bitters,’ ” (lines 5-7) which includes ingredients and dosage. Ingredients are Cologne spirits (the highest grade of distilled alcohol), Ceylon cinnamon, orange-peel, galanga-root, zedoary-root, cloves, star aniseed, coriander, Roman chamomile-flowers, cassia-buds, juniper-berries, gentian-root, wormwood, peppermint herb, calamus-root, elder-flowers, lavender-flowers, cardamom-seed, and mace.
Date: December 9, 1884
Creator: Kieffer, Nickola
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Shears. (open access)

Animal Shears.

Patent for new and improved animal shears. This design is "to secure an equal wear of the teeth of the stationary and the revolving cutter-plates . . . whereby the instrument may be run double the usual time before it is necessary to grind the plates, and enabling the tool to be used as a right or a left hand cutter; also, to render the cutters separable without arresting the motion of the rotary blade . . . also, to provide means whereby the rotation of the cutter may be reversed . . . finally, to provide a simple device for throwing the miter-gears into and out of mesh" (lines 15-29).
Date: December 9, 1884
Creator: Carter, Francis W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coffee Roaster. (open access)

Coffee Roaster.

Patent for a new and improved coffee roaster. This design utilizes handles "so arranged as to enable the operator to shake it and move it upside down and about with great facility. The perforated or wire-cloth bottom and top allow the heat from the stove or fire to pass unobstructed to the coffee, so that a strong and uniform heat is applied. The wire-cloth bottom also acts as a sieve . . . and it does not scratch or burn the grains" (lines 49-58). The design eliminates the need for a stirring utensil.
Date: January 9, 1883
Creator: Stopple, John J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Breakwater. (open access)

Breakwater.

Patent for a new and improved breakwater. This design "furnish[es] breakwaters for protecting harbors and roadsteads, and keeping open channels through bars at the entrances of harbors, the mouths of rivers, and in other places, and which shall not be liable to be destroyed by the marine worm" (lines 13-19).
Date: August 9, 1881
Creator: Follett, Alexander Glass
System: The Portal to Texas History
Awning (open access)

Awning

Patent for an improvement in Awnings, that include interchangeable parts that can be permanent or easily detached pending on the situation. Included are detailed illustrations.
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Ferrel, Alexander
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Planter and Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Planter and Chopper.

Patent for planting and chopping cotton.
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Pitts, Lee Paschal
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design "has for its object the production of a simple, cheap, and effective device whereby the ants are confined to a space within the circle of the trap, speedily captured, and exterminated. It consists in a trap constructed with a circular flanged pit provided with tubes leading therefrom to a central ant-receptacle; also, in the details of construction of the trap" (lines 8-16).
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Barnes, Robert Hanson & Salles, George Camiel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Commode. (open access)

Commode.

Patent for an integrated air-venting commode.
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Bardon, Prosper
System: The Portal to Texas History
Kitchen-Cabinet (open access)

Kitchen-Cabinet

Patent for "a device of this class which shall be simple in construction, inexpensive, and in which provision shall be made for the safe-keeping of all the materials and ingredients used in bread-making and in ordinary cooking as well as for pies, cakes, cold victuals and the like" (lines 9-15).
Date: July 9, 1889
Creator: Skipper, James Marion
System: The Portal to Texas History
Life Raft. (open access)

Life Raft.

Patent for boat state rooms that convert into life rafts.
Date: September 9, 1884
Creator: Adams, John R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Weather Board Gage. (open access)

Weather Board Gage.

Patent for a new and improved gauge for weatherboards. This design utilizes a guiding loop and a hinged part to create a gauge that, "after it has been attached to the house, will support at least two boards in position while they are being nailed on, before it is necessary to the move the gage [sic] into another position, and which gage will be so securely held in place that the boards can be moved back and forth without displacing it in any manner" (lines 27-34).
Date: August 9, 1881
Creator: Lawrence, John Madison
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Elevator. (open access)

Water Elevator.

Patent for a new and improved water-elevator. This design "has for its object to provide for the escape of the air initially held in the upper bends of the screw, so as to relieve the same of the pneumatic pressure caused thereby in connection with the ascending water, thus causing less resistance to the rotation of the screw, enabling it to be operated by decreased motive power" (lines 11-18).
Date: November 9, 1886
Creator: Campbell, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wheel. (open access)

Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved wheel. This design consists in "inner spokes [that] are inclined outwardly, and the outer spokes [that] are inclined inwardly toward their remote ends, whereby compression of the rim of the wheel is transformed into lateral thrusts on the hub, and the lateral thrusts counterbalance each other" (lines 45-51).
Date: April 9, 1889
Creator: Stroud, Wiley N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Warning Strip for Wire Fences. (open access)

Warning Strip for Wire Fences.

Patent for a new and improved warning strip for wire fences. This design "relates to warning-strips for wire fences designed as a visible signal to indicate the presence of the fence, and thus prevent cattle from running against the same and tearing themselves on the barbs" (lines 9-13).
Date: August 9, 1887
Creator: Cloud, William Johnston
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Movement. (open access)

Mechanical Movement.

Patent for a new and improved mechanical movement. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the vertical post or upright having guideways formed therein, and the horizontally-disposed shaft having the pinion secured thereon, of the slidable block or frame, the rack-bars pivotally secured to the lower end thereof and having oppositely-projecting teeth, and the spring connected to the lower ends of said rack-bars" (lines 68-75).
Date: October 9, 1888
Creator: Kincaid, James W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam, Air, or Water Engine. (open access)

Steam, Air, or Water Engine.

Patent for simplifying the construction of steam-engines allowing them efficiently use the power of steam" gas, vapor or air in varying positions, vertical, horizontal, or inclined.
Date: May 9, 1882
Creator: Adams, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Projectile. (open access)

Projectile.

Patent for a new and improved projectile. This design consists "[i]n combination with the ellipsoidal projectile having a truncated base, a plano-concave sabot or driver whose plane face is contiguous to the base of the projectile, and whose periphery is grooved for the attachment of the charge-container" (lines 75-80).
Date: September 9, 1884
Creator: Hopson, Lucien
System: The Portal to Texas History