Preparation of Portable Soup-Bread. (open access)

Preparation of Portable Soup-Bread.

Patent for "extracting the nutritious part of flesh or animal meat of every description and combining this concentrated extract with flour or vegetable meal, and baking the two substances in an oven, thereby forming a portable desiccated soup-bread....." (lines 8-14), instruction only, no illustration.
Date: February 5, 1850
Creator: Borden, Gail, Jr.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Bale-Ties. (open access)

Improvement in Bale-Ties.

Patent for fastening iron or other bands on cotton-bales or packages that put up with iron bands, including illustrations.
Date: February 18, 1873
Creator: Quin, Michael
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Guards for Wire Bale-Ties. (open access)

Improvement in Guards for Wire Bale-Ties.

Patent for improving the method of tying the bales together whether it be cotton or hay so that the material will not get cut into by the wiring.
Date: February 7, 1874
Creator: Davis, Waters S.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Bale-Ties (open access)

Improvement in Bale-Ties

Patent for an improved kind of bale tie "designed to hold in compact form a mass of hay, cotton, moss, and other analogous substances" (para. 3).
Date: February 2, 1875
Creator: Reese, John L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Bale-Ties. (open access)

Improvement in Bale-Ties.

Patent for improvement in bale-ties by using a “divided metallic band or hoop encircling the package or bale, and the ends whereof are joined by a fastening at the one end of said band, arranged to interlock with an one of a series of mortises in the other end of the band for the purpose of binding or holding the bale together.” (Lines [11-17]) Illustration is included.
Date: February 15, 1876
Creator: Davis, Waters S.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bottle-Filling Machine. (open access)

Bottle-Filling Machine.

Patent for a bottle-filling machine in which "a number of bottles of equal capacity may be simultaneously filled from a common reservoir by the single movement of a lever" (lines 13-16), illustration is included.
Date: February 24, 1891
Creator: Baldinger, William H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Marking Brush. (open access)

Cotton Marking Brush.

Patent for a new and improved cotton-marking brush. This design has for one of its objects "is to construct a brush that will permit the trimming down of the bristles at an angle without injuring or damaging the brush. . . . In marking cotton-bales and the like a brush with an inclined edge is desirable" (lines 16-21).
Date: February 5, 1884
Creator: Pfeifer, Gustav
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Chair for Railroad Rails. (open access)

Chair for Railroad Rails.

Patent for a new and improved chair for railroad rails. This design utilizes a metal key and wrought-iron straps so that "the rails are held firmly both laterally and vertically, so that they are kept level at the joint and any sagging is prevented. At the same time endwise movement by expansion or contraction is not hindered, and the chairs being fastened to the ties, the expansion and contraction will take place entirely between the several chairs" (lines 49-57).
Date: February 20, 1883
Creator: Armstrong, Charles & Abbott, George
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Two-Wheeled Delivery-Vehicle. (open access)

Two-Wheeled Delivery-Vehicle.

Patent for "a light and convenient vehicle for the use of mail-collectors in cities, and for the transportation and delivery of parcels, milk, or other articles," (lines 8-12) with instructions and illustrations.
Date: June 12, 1891
Creator: Boone, Manly Breaker
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Keel. (open access)

Keel.

Patent for an improved type of keel construction, "of which the distance between the keel and covering-boards is equalized throughout the length of the vessel and a vessel of exceptional strength and advantageous construction is afforded." (Lines 16-20) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: March 4, 1891
Creator: Grothgar, John & Garfield, John M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Locking Pawl for Anchor Chains. (open access)

Locking Pawl for Anchor Chains.

Patent for a new and improved locking pawl for anchor chains. This design is "to provide a novel combination of parts whereby the rising and falling and horizontally-moving clamping-block can be rigidly locked in its engagement with the cable to stop the latter; also, to provide novel means for protecting the wood-work of the vessel from wear as the cable is moved" (lines 13-19).
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Lucas, Thomas P.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window Frame. (open access)

Window Frame.

Patent for a new and improved window frame. This design "has for its objects to provide an improved means for holding the sash of a window in any position to which it may be elevated, and at the same time permit the sash to be readily moved up or down" (lines 11-15).
Date: February 21, 1882
Creator: Sturm, William
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Spark Arrester. (open access)

Spark Arrester.

Patent for a new and improved spark arrester for train smokestacks. This design is of "a locomotive-engine, a pipe or pipes for conveying sparks from the smoke-stack, in combination of a diaphragm or cone placed in the stack and a steam or water chamber placed around the discharge of said pipe or pipes" (lines 88-93).
Date: February 21, 1882
Creator: Nichols, George B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Refrigerating Machine. (open access)

Refrigerating Machine.

Patent for improvement of refrigerating machines with detachable top and hinged sides with refrigerant pipes extending longitudinally. Accompanied by illustrations.
Date: February 5, 1884
Creator: Lee, Charles B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Street Car. (open access)

Street Car.

Patent for a new and improved street-car. This design "is to improve that kind of street or horse car the body of which is constructed to be reversed in its position upon the truck of the car; and the invention consists in the construction of the car-body, the truck upon which the body rests, the reversing devices comprising the holding and the releasing parts, and the combination of the brake devices with a reversible car-body" (lines 9-17).
Date: February 17, 1885
Creator: Cutter, Martin A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Strap and Buckle Shield. (open access)

Strap and Buckle Shield.

Patent for an improvement in strap and buckle shields by having a flat elongated plate which has a longitudinally slot in the center. This shield can be movebly secured on to the strap to admit the tongue of a buckle thus the cross-bar of the buckle will rest upon the shield. By having this shield, the strap is protected from wear that would result from a direct contact with the buckle. Illustration is included.
Date: February 24, 1891
Creator: Nicholls, George H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sign. (open access)

Sign.

Patent for signs that are to be mounted to the roof of a car, and can be illuminated and read from any angle. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 1, 1891
Creator: Garner, William R.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Molding Sash-Weights. (open access)

Molding Sash-Weights.

Patent for a new mold design for sash-weights which describes "a mold of simple and improved construction whereby a number of weights can be cast at the same time" (lines 14-17), including illustrations.
Date: February 9, 1897
Creator: Mann, William
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Handle for Pans, Tubs, &c. (open access)

Handle for Pans, Tubs, &c.

Patent for a wire handle for pans, tubs, &c that consists of two handles on either side of the tub, which are connected via a wire that fits in the lip of the rim of the receptacle. The handles, when taken out of the receptacle, consist of one single frame.
Date: February 6, 1894
Creator: Brown, John Stoddart
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Poultry Coop. (open access)

Poultry Coop.

Patent for a new and improved poultry coop. This design's "interior . . . has a vertical central partition between which and the ends of the coop are vertical transverse partitions and vertical longitudinal partitions, which preferably consist of strips . . . forming compartments, each of a sufficient size to contain a given number of a given kind of poultry . . . as the coop is divided off into compartments the poultry can with great ease be examined as to condition, and not being in large mass, but being separated into small numbers, they are kept in a better state of preservation and health" (lines 25-44).
Date: February 5, 1884
Creator: Bleike, William T., Jr.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Railroad Switch. (open access)

Railroad Switch.

Patent for a new and improved railroad switch. This design "has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, efficient, and safe switch adapted for operation by trip-bars on a locomotive engine or car to open or close the switch, and without injury to the rails or actuating mechanism of the switch or danger of derailing the cars" (lines 7-14).
Date: February 21, 1888
Creator: Peetz, John J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Net for Crabbing and Fishing. (open access)

Net for Crabbing and Fishing.

Patent for a new and improved net for fishing and crabbing by using a trigger device that would automatically open the net’s “free end” fully and horizontally when the net is lowered on the bed floor of the river. After use, the net can be folded very compactly for easy transport. Illustration is included.
Date: February 17, 1891
Creator: Franklin, Robert M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plaiting-Machine. (open access)

Plaiting-Machine.

Patent for "a machine upon which a dress-skirt or similar article may be easily placed and which is adapted to secure the plaits or folds in the skirts and hold them so that they may be conveniently ironed." (Lines 10-14) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: November 16, 1891
Creator: Olson, Alfred
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dredging Apparatus. (open access)

Dredging Apparatus.

Patent for an improved dredging apparatus "and it consists in combining with the well known bucket chain form of excavator a suction pipe provided with a hopper and a crushing or breaking device so that the material being deposited in the hopper by the continuously moving buckets will be carried under the action of gravity to the breaking or crushing device and thence through a suction pipe and pump and delivery pipe to the place of deposit" (lines 9-18).
Date: February 14, 1893
Creator: Douglas, William M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History