Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the rotary chopping-shaft, provided with the sliding gear-collar, the inner face of which is beveled round to form a shoulder, of a cross-piece, having a downwardly-extending perpendicular stop-piece" (lines 88-93).
Date: August 8, 1882
Creator: Rains, William O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Composition for Concrete Tombstones. (open access)

Composition for Concrete Tombstones.

Patent for "a new and useful composition of matter for concrete tombstones and a process for manufacturing the same whereby a perfectly white substantial rock will be produced that will be very durable, will not be liable to peeling, cracking, or turning dark, but will bleach out in the weather and become very solid, so as to form a permanent and substantial tombstone." (Lines 10-19) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: September 8, 1896
Creator: Belcher, Jeff D. & Hendley, Marion J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vacuum-Pan (open access)

Vacuum-Pan

Patent for "vacuum-pan having improved heating-sections and an improved form of discharge-chamber" [lines 9-11].
Date: April 8, 1902
Creator: Ribaud, George Louis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk Knocker. (open access)

Stalk Knocker.

Patent for a new and improved stalk knocker. This design consists in "the combination, with the running-gear of a wagon, of a frame-work mounted thereon and provided with vertically-adjustable hangers at its rear end carrying stalk-knockers and their shaft, a diagonal adjustable brace connecting the hanger and the frame-work, and a driving-pulley formed in sections, having spoke-embracing lugs, and connected to the knocker-shaft by means of a belt" (lines 10-18).
Date: November 8, 1887
Creator: Allen, William A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Nut-Lock. (open access)

Nut-Lock.

Patent for a nut lock, which stops the nut from rotating.
Date: December 8, 1908
Creator: Brown, John J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rail Brace for Railway Tracks. (open access)

Rail Brace for Railway Tracks.

Patent for rail brace for railway tracks. The brace "acts as a chair for the rail preventing sagging ; as a brace for the base of the rail, and also bracing the head, and prevents both rails from spreading though not in any way secured to the tie" (lines 100-105).
Date: July 8, 1913
Creator: Barfield, Alfred M.
System: The Portal to Texas History