Combined Seed-Planter, Harrow, and Plow (open access)

Combined Seed-Planter, Harrow, and Plow

Patent for "a combined seeder or planter, harrow, and plow, and to simplify the parts, so that they can easily be put together and taken apart and manufactured at little expense" (lines 16-20).
Date: December 17, 1889
Creator: Russell, Thomas J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Back Band. (open access)

Back Band.

Patent for a new and improved back-band. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the back-band, the leather guard secured thereto, and the leather section secured to said band at one end of said guard and provided with loop and buckle, of the protector having slotted ends, and the strap connected with said buckle and having its ends passed through the slotted ends of said protector and under said loop" (lines 65-72).
Date: January 10, 1888
Creator: Helm, Albert Jerome
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
Mechanical Power. (open access)

Mechanical Power.

Patent for a new and improved engine. This design "relates to mechanical powers, the object being to combine with an ordinary tread-wheel mechanical advices adapted to be operated by horse-power to revolve said wheel. The invention consists in the features of construction and combination of parts" (lines 9-14).
Date: July 10, 1883
Creator: Perrin, William J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tongue Support for Vehicles. (open access)

Tongue Support for Vehicles.

Patent for a new and improved tongue-support for vehicles. This design "is to provide a spring for bearing downwardly upon the rear end of the tongue, and thereby raising and supporting the front end thereof, to relieve the horses' necks of the weight of the tongue, and thereby enable them to draw the wagon more readily, and with less exertion" (lines 23-29).
Date: August 24, 1886
Creator: Ham, Zachariah Melton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Miller Exterminator. (open access)

Miller Exterminator.

Patent for a new and improved insect exterminator. This design consists in "[a] lamp having an external upwardly-projecting sleeve and a side socket and a wick projecting through the sleeve, in combination with a pole or standard fitting into said side socket and a pan having an inward sleeve fitting over said sleeve on the lamp" (lines 49-54).
Date: June 11, 1889
Creator: Woods, John B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "relates to car-couplers, the object being to provide a coupler of simple and durable construction which may be coupled automatically, thus avoiding the inconvenience and danger incident to the use of the usual coupling-link or pin" (lines 9-14).
Date: June 5, 1883
Creator: Freeman, Walter F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design "relates to car-couplers, the object being to provide a coupler with a coupling-pin of improved construction, and to combine said pin with effective and durable devices for raising and lowering it. The invention consists in the combinations of parts" (lines 9-15).
Date: June 12, 1883
Creator: Cage, George A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Revolving Signal. (open access)

Revolving Signal.

Patent for a new and improved revolving signal-light: "[t]he combination, with a car-axle and a shaft driven thereby, of the lateral supporting stems carrying signaling-lanterns glazed in alternating colors, a shifting-lever acting alternately upon studs or stops of the said shaft, said shaft having a sliding movement, and gearing alternately with said signal-carrying stems" (lines 82-89).
Date: August 20, 1889
Creator: Warren, John W. & Radford, Samuel H.
System: The Portal to Texas History