Resource Type

Closet (open access)

Closet

Patent for a dry closet. Illustrations included.
Date: April 2, 1912
Creator: Crow, Levi H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Destroying Insects (open access)

Apparatus for Destroying Insects

Patent for an apparatus for destroying insects. Illustrations included.
Date: May 23, 1911
Creator: Crow, William M. & Crow, Levi H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Placket - Fastener. (open access)

Placket - Fastener.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in placket holders.
Date: February 22, 1898
Creator: McCauley, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adjustable Handle-Bar for Bicycles. (open access)

Adjustable Handle-Bar for Bicycles.

Patent for adjustable handle bar for bicycles, including illustrations.
Date: June 29, 1897
Creator: Winfrey, Edgar, M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Door-Saddle. (open access)

Door-Saddle.

Patent for new and improved door saddles, which consists "of a longitudinal and cross-grooved arrangement of parts coacting with inclined surfaces and shields to cause a perfect drainage of water" (lines 11-15), including instructions and illustration.
Date: July 13, 1897
Creator: Vogel, Thomas.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adding-Machine. (open access)

Adding-Machine.

Patent for an inexpensive, simple, easily operated, and improved registering machine that is meant to add numbers without mistakes. It uses revoluble number wheels and a spring-returned shaft among other materials.
Date: March 21, 1893
Creator: Brooks, Augustus J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Device for Cutting Off the Flow of Ait Through Oil-Pipes (open access)

Automatic Device for Cutting Off the Flow of Ait Through Oil-Pipes

Patent for a device which automatically terminates air flow through an oil pipe by means of a float which travels within the oil pipe.
Date: March 21, 1916
Creator: Tucker, Thomas A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Route-Indicator. (open access)

Route-Indicator.

Patent for an improved route indicator for automobiles "which not only visually indicates the characteristics and risks of the road" but in addition provides an "auditory signal to call attention to approaching hazards or dangers" (lines 36-41). Illustrations included.
Date: November 13, 1917
Creator: Cranmer, Howard
System: The Portal to Texas History
Crossing-Gate. (open access)

Crossing-Gate.

Patent for improvements to crossing gates through a device that helps facilitate the gates' automatic closing and opening position.
Date: September 18, 1917
Creator: Hood, Lemuel L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Glass Manufacture dated November 5, 1918 (open access)

Glass Manufacture dated November 5, 1918

Patent for apparatus to improve the overall quality and efficiency of glass production. This includes both window and sheet glass. It assists in developing sheet glass through blowing, drawing, and ladling.
Date: November 5, 1918
Creator: Thomas J. McCoy
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automobile-Signal. (open access)

Automobile-Signal.

Patent for turn signal improvements with an aim to improve visibility of signal and ease of replacement with the goal of communicating vehicular movement and reducing accidents.
Date: November 15, 1921
Creator: Squier, William Ernest
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bevel-Square (open access)

Bevel-Square

Patent for improvements in bevel squares used by carpenters, mechanics, and other similar work to represent the work of multiple bevels at once "to minimize and facilitate operations in fitting the parts of an objective structure together..." (Lines 19-21).
Date: December 9, 1919
Creator: Seay, Mathew E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Card Holder (open access)

Card Holder

Patent for card holders meant to help better display business cards and other forms of advertisement on surfaces such as windows.
Date: March 4, 1919
Creator: Hill, L. W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Carbureter (open access)

Carbureter

Patent for a carburetor. This carburetor is designed to be used with crude oil, and to be easily constructed and operated.
Date: September 6, 1921
Creator: Walker, Sanders
System: The Portal to Texas History
Binding Attachment for Baling-Presses. (open access)

Binding Attachment for Baling-Presses.

Patent for bale binding devices that takes wire from spools and binds each bale and then twists the ends of the bale so they hold their shape.
Date: August 3, 1920
Creator: Leavitt, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baby Net Frame. (open access)

Baby Net Frame.

Patent for a frame that can support a baby net and can be collapsed for easy storage. The frame also features components that prevent collapse and provide stability when in use.
Date: June 6, 1922
Creator: Akers, Blessie E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Flour-Milling Machinery. (open access)

Flour-Milling Machinery.

Patent for flour milling machinery with reduced costs of equipment and operation, less required space, and improved quality and quantity of flour.
Date: May 10, 1921
Creator: Smith, George T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pump-Plunger (open access)

Pump-Plunger

Patent for a pump-plunger, concentrating on advancements in the design, particularly catering to deep well operations and environments with challenging conditions, such as oil and water wells where fluids are mixed with sand, sediment, or debris.
Date: October 18, 1921
Creator: Miller, Frank J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pumping-Jack. (open access)

Pumping-Jack.

Patent for a pumping jack that has a walking beam of a jack for equalizing the dead weight of the pump, which reduces useless weight on the pumping engine.
Date: July 12, 1921
Creator: Scott, Henry T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Refrigerator (open access)

Refrigerator

Patent for a refrigerator made of wood with an inner shell of reinforced concrete and vacuum chamber or metal jacket. "The inner concrete shell is divided into four separate chambers, the former containing ice and the other three being adapted to contain food." (lines 61-64)
Date: April 11, 1922
Creator: Knutson, William K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Friction Transmission Mechanism. (open access)

Friction Transmission Mechanism.

Patent for improvements toward friction transmission mechanisms. It would eliminate the use of some gears.
Date: March 28, 1921
Creator: McDermott, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wrench for Rotary Well-Drills. (open access)

Wrench for Rotary Well-Drills.

Patent for a wrench designed to assist in working with rotary well drills. The wrench is adapted for unscrewing the coupling that attaches a drill point to a pipe section, as well as for detaching the pipe sections from one another. The advantage of the wrench is in allowing convenient detachment of the parts of a well drill quickly and efficiently.
Date: October 21, 1913
Creator: Lebus, George Franklin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window-Shade Raiser. (open access)

Window-Shade Raiser.

Patent for an improved way of raising, lowering, and locking window shades into place. "The operating-cord passes over a pulley located between two larger disks, one of which is screwed toward the other by a spring to clamp the folds of the cord and is screwed in the opposite direction by means of a lever, upon which the chord itself acts when drawn in the proper direction" (lines 14-20).
Date: April 14, 1896
Creator: McCauley, John H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Stretcher. (open access)

Wire-Stretcher.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in wire stretchers, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 13, 1899
Creator: Smith, William C.
System: The Portal to Texas History