Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "a draw-head provided with a recess having an enlargement at its central portion, a series of vertical jaws on each side of said enlarged portion of the recess pivotally mounted at their lower end in the draw-head, springs connecting each jaw with its corresponding jaw in the opposite series, and means for opening the jaws" (lines 13-20).
Date: September 23, 1890
Creator: Hooks, Bentley Robert
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Texas Attorney General Opinion: WW-460 (open access)

Texas Attorney General Opinion: WW-460

Document issued by the Office of the Attorney General of Texas in Austin, Texas, providing an interpretation of Texas law. It provides the opinion of the Texas Attorney General, Will Wilson, regarding a legal question submitted for clarification: The authority of the Texas National Guard Armory Board to sell property located at Waco and Houston, Texas.
Date: June 23, 1958
Creator: Texas. Attorney-General's Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The Portal to Texas History
Agitator. (open access)

Agitator.

Patent for an improved device to produce a useful agitation of liquid in washing machines by configuring the paddles or blades in the most effective manner, including illustrations.
Date: February 23, 1915
Creator: Babek, Aloysius S.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Geology and Mineral Resources of McLennan County (open access)

Geology and Mineral Resources of McLennan County

Report published in a scientific bulletin, describing the geology and mineral resources that reside in McLennan county.
Date: October 23, 1923
Creator: Adkins, W. S.
Object Type: Journal/Magazine/Newsletter
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tool-Handle. (open access)

Tool-Handle.

Patent for a hammer handle with an inner reinforcing plate which is strong and slightly flexible, so as to "be practically unbreakable" (lines 25-26) and "afford the necessary yielding action or spring to avoid jarring the hands of the operator while in use" (lines 26-29). Application of the design principle to other similar tools, such as "hatchets, axes, shovels, spades, hoes, etc." (lines 22-23), is also suggested.
Date: August 23, 1921
Creator: Johnson, George T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Leg-Protector. (open access)

Leg-Protector.

Patent for leg-protectors or overalls for cotton-pickers to wear to protect them from the ground. Waterproof material covers the legs of the wearer with leather reinforcement outside the knees. There is spacing around the waste for a belt, and regular fabric forms the rest of the overalls.
Date: June 23, 1896
Creator: Herbelin, Alfred
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Plows (open access)

Improvement in Plows

Patent for improvements in the constuction of plows in order to obtain the "best" (line 50) results of "cleanness in furrow, lightness of draft, and facility afforded in constructin the plow" (line 51-52).
Date: October 23, 1879
Creator: Woodward, Lewis E.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Package-Tie. (open access)

Package-Tie.

Patent for a tie that fastens the ends of a string together for the purpose of securely wrapping packages, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 23, 1915
Creator: Forsgard, Edward F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oil Can. (open access)

Oil Can.

Patent for a new and improved oil can. This design is of an oil-can "in which the nozzle remains closed, except when the bottom of the can is pressed, thereby preventing useless waste of oil. To prevent the oil-outlet from being stopped up; to enable the operator to see how much oil is given to each hole, and to facilitate the removal of dirt and grease from the oil-holes before oiling" (lines 8-15).
Date: October 23, 1883
Creator: Campbell, James A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hair Clipper (open access)

Hair Clipper

Patent for improving structure of clipper forming co-pending application Serial No. 469,842. Simplifying manufacturing and adding other features.
Date: May 23, 1922
Creator: Monroe, Collier
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Time - Switch (open access)

Electric Time - Switch

Patent for a new and improved electric time switch to "used on any kind of electric circuits" (line 13 - 14).
Date: November 23, 1897
Creator: Williams, Addison B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railway-Tie. (open access)

Railway-Tie.

Patent for a composite railway tie that is durable and adjustable and can be used for both trolley and steam rail systems.
Date: April 23, 1912
Creator: Ogden, James D.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Feeding Device (open access)

Water Feeding Device

Patent for "improvements in Water-Feeding Devices" (lines 5-6) to "adjust the rate of discharge of liquid...[and] whose adjusting means shall be capable of accurate regulation to vary the amount of liquid discharged in a given time" (lines 21-24) including illustrations.
Date: June 23, 1914
Creator: Walkup, John A. & Walkup, Charles W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing Machine. (open access)

Washing Machine.

Patent for a new and improved washing-machine. This design is "to provide a machine having an oscillating and revolving rubber, means for securing the rubber to the operating-shaft, and to provide bearings for said shaft which may be adjusted to compensate for any wear of parts. A further object is to provide adjustable legs, whereby one side of the machine may be raised or lowered, thus decreasing or increasing the pressure of the rubber upon the articles being washed" (lines 17-27).
Date: September 23, 1890
Creator: Leubner, Charles W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Agricultural Implement. (open access)

Agricultural Implement.

Patent for a device related to plows, with a corn-planter and a cotton-planter attachments, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 23, 1880
Creator: Chapman, William Arnol
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Press. (open access)

Cotton-Press.

Patent for a cotton press with "a roller bed consisting of a plurality of rollers in conjunction with an overlying pressure roll or cylinder, between which and the roller-bed the bale is formed by winding up the bat, as it comes from the gin-condenser, in the form of a roll" (lines 15-20). The roll-bale is unique in this patent because of its core.
Date: March 23, 1897
Creator: Banister, Charles
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Chopper (open access)

Cotton-Chopper

Patent for an improved cotton-chopper.
Date: April 23, 1912
Creator: Leubner, Carl W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History