Insect Trap. (open access)

Insect Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design calls for a box to be placed over the mouth of an anthill, whereupon one expects the ants to enter a hole, climb an incline, and slip down a pair of glass pieces that lower the ants into an inescapable chamber. This design is cheaper and easier to make than previous ant traps.
Date: May 24, 1881
Creator: Blackwood, Curtis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Burglar Alarm. (open access)

Burglar Alarm.

Patent for a new and improved burglar alarm. This design "consists in the combination of the door provided with a rod for catching under the spring, a cylinder for receiving powder, a spring-actuated cover for the end of the cylinder, and a spring which explodes the cap . . . The object of [the] invention is to provide a burglar-alarm which will make a loud noise when the door is opened, and in which a spring-actuated cover is made to take the place of a wad or ball" (lines 13-24).
Date: August 10, 1886
Creator: Bray, Horace Bradford
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk-Cutter. (open access)

Stalk-Cutter.

Patent for "a new and valuable Improvement in Corn and Cotton Stalk Cutters" (lines 5-7). It includes a description and an illustration. The construction of this stalk cutter is "adapted to be driven across the field in the direction of the rows of corn, and the knives may be adjusted to operate on rows of different widths or at different depths, so as to leave only a small stubble in passing over the field" (lines 73-78).
Date: May 20, 1884
Creator: Brown, Azariah R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Converting Motion. (open access)

Device for Converting Motion.

Patent for a new and improved motion converter. This design "has relation to mechanical movements for converting a reciprocating into a rotary motion so as to impart a steady and regular motion to such machinery as windmills and engines, churning and washing machines, as well as to all other motors to which it may be applied; and the novelty consists in the construction of the same" (lines 9-16).
Date: September 19, 1882
Creator: Brown, James F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Box. (open access)

Baling Box.

Patent for a new and improved baling box. This design consists "[i]n a baling-box, the bottom board having cleats and end board and fixed standards that reach above the end board in combination with the hinged side boards and end board hinged to [another] board, [those] boards being provided with cleats that reach beyond the edges of the boards to receive the loops" (lines 87-94).
Date: September 23, 1884
Creator: Bulkeley, Oliver
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boot Scraper. (open access)

Boot Scraper.

Patent for a new and improved boot scraper. This design "consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the inclined bow-shaped upper plate, having a transverse bar connecting the branches of the plate, the inner edges of which are inclined outward and upward from the upper edge of the transverse bar, and in providing, in connection with the bow-shaped plate, an under or subsidiary plate of forked form, having a rounded recess between the forks adapted to conform to the shape of the heel" (lines 18-30).
Date: October 23, 1883
Creator: Collins, Morris A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Store Counter. (open access)

Store Counter.

Patent for a new and improved store counter. This design "consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the horizontal slideways in the lower portion of the counter extending from front to rear, the rectangular slide-frames working therein, and the angular boxes pivoted by their lower and middle portions to the slide-frames and reversible therein by a rocking movement" (lines 17-24).
Date: February 21, 1882
Creator: Conrad, William Jenkens
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bottle Stopper. (open access)

Bottle Stopper.

Patent for a new and improved bottle stopper. This design "consists in the combination of the tubular body, having its lower end closed by means of a cork, and having its upper end formed into a measuring-chamber, which is adapted to be closed by means of a cork, so as to protect the measuring chamber from dust and dirt" (lines 13-19).
Date: July 15, 1884
Creator: Cotten, Jefferson Davis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Metallic Post for Wire Fences. (open access)

Metallic Post for Wire Fences.

Patent for a new and improved post for wire fences. This design "is to produce a metallic fence-post which can be quickly and easily placed in position, and which, when in position, shall have a biting or clamping action on the wires, and thus hold them from slipping" (lines 13-18).
Date: March 31, 1885
Creator: Cox, Thomas Jefferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Portable Flour and Meal Bin. (open access)

Portable Flour and Meal Bin.

Patent for a new and improved bin for flour and meal. This design "consist[s], essentially, of the casing having compartments provided with contracted curved bottoms, the spouts in said bottoms, the spirally-grooved shafts in said spouts, the chambers the bottoms of which are hinged to the casing and provided with the sieves, and the stirrers on the ends of the shafts and within the hinged chambers" (lines 81-89).
Date: March 15, 1887
Creator: Cox, Thomas Jefferson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Post Office Case. (open access)

Post Office Case.

Patent for a new and improved carrying case for mail. This design calls for a metal cylinder with twenty-six compartments (one for each English letter) around a central compartment. The compartments may be rotated to gain access to any of them via hinged doors at the top of the case.
Date: November 2, 1880
Creator: Crowder, John R. & Haile, James Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay Pitching and Stacking Machine. (open access)

Hay Pitching and Stacking Machine.

Patent for improvement to hay pitching and stacking machines "to provide a device for pitching and stacking hay, the parts of which can be easily and quickly taken apart or adjusted, and which may be employed in making stacks of hay or straw" (lines 18-22).
Date: February 1, 1887
Creator: Donald, Frank
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stalk Cutter. (open access)

Stalk Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter. This design consists "[i]n a stalk-cutter, the combination of the frame, having the central longitudinal parallel bars, slotted laterally and having the space between them, the sliding block, pivoted slotted knives, pivoted arms, and recessed side sills, and the pivoted lever and rack" (lines 77-83).
Date: July 17, 1883
Creator: Duncan, Garnett & Evens, John Richard
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam Boiler Cleaner. (open access)

Steam Boiler Cleaner.

Patent for a new and improved steam-boiler cleaner. This design "has relation to means for cleaning the mud or foam, or both, from steam-boilers; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of devices" (lines 16-19).
Date: February 12, 1884
Creator: Foster, James Harvey.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Store Shelving. (open access)

Store Shelving.

Patent for new and improved store shelving. This design utilizes a hinge whereby the shelving can collapse onto a flat surface, which is otherwise available as storage itself. This design also utilizes wheeled legs for easy transportation and zinc plating so as to partially fire-proof the shelving.
Date: February 27, 1883
Creator: Harris, Thomas A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wheel. (open access)

Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved wheel. This design "is to obviate the . . . great difficulty . . . experienced in the construction of wheels in putting the axle-box in the hub and getting it true. . . . and [to] improve and strengthen the construction of wheels, and especially the manner of securing the spokes in the hubs" (lines 9-17).
Date: October 15, 1889
Creator: Holland, William Johnson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Torch and Gas Burner Key. (open access)

Combined Torch and Gas Burner Key.

Patent for a new and improved combined torch and gas-burner key. This design "relates to a device for lighting gas-burners and operating the cock of the gas-burner, and has for its object to provide a combined torch and key by means of which the gas may be lighted without the flame of the torch coming in contact with the globe surrounding the burner and the cock of the gas-burner readily taken hold of and operated" (lines 8-15).
Date: October 15, 1889
Creator: Lindsay, George Washington
System: The Portal to Texas History
Back Band Buckle. (open access)

Back Band Buckle.

Patent for a new and improved back band buckle. This design "consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the middle bar having an outwardly-projecting stud, the upper bar parallel to the middle bar and having an under offset recess, and a depending lug-hook and spring-snap" (lines 19-26).
Date: April 18, 1882
Creator: Lowe, Joseph Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Flour Sieve. (open access)

Flour Sieve.

Patent for a new and improved flour sieve. This design has an "upwardly-flaring outer wall . . . and the inner more flattened conical guide-wall, provided with the wire-cloth stretched across its top and about its upper edge, said guide-wall being sprung into or secured to the crease of the outer wall, the latter extending downward to the level of the discharge" (lines 19-27). This results in "more accurately directed . . . deposit than if the opening were as large as that of the outer wall" (lines 59-61).
Date: August 29, 1882
Creator: Lowe, Joseph Alfred
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Railway-Rail Chair and Tie (open access)

Combined Railway-Rail Chair and Tie

Patent for an improved railway-rail chair and tie
Date: January 10, 1888
Creator: Marks, Nicholas Marie
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fence Post. (open access)

Fence Post.

Patent for a new and improved fence post. This design is for a "fence-post molded of a cement and sand or gravel, with a transverse vertical slot . . . a vertical opening in its top communicating with the vertical slot [designed] for the wire fastening . . . openings [found] in its sides or edges for the wires [as well as] a flange" (lines 51-56).
Date: October 10, 1882
Creator: McGee, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Stretcher. (open access)

Wire Stretcher.

Patent for a new and improved wire stretcher. This design "facilitate[s] the building of wire fences; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the transporting bed or wagon, its spindles for the spools of wire, and its transverse windlass-rollers and their ratchets and pawls" (lines 16-21).
Date: August 2, 1881
Creator: Morter, John Letcher
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay Knife. (open access)

Hay Knife.

Patent for a new and improved hay knife. This design "consists in the construction and novel arrangement of the forked frame, the lever pivoted thereto, slotted at one end and carrying at the other end a cutting-blade working through bearings in the fork, the crank pivoted to the frame and engaging the slot of the lever, and the pressure-head or cross-bar connected to the outer end of the frame" (lines 18-26).
Date: May 29, 1883
Creator: Moss, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Plow, Harrow, and Cultivator. (open access)

Combined Plow, Harrow, and Cultivator.

Patent for improvement in the construction of combined plows, harrows, and cultivators.
Date: May 2, 1882
Creator: Moss, John Carlton
System: The Portal to Texas History