Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling press. This design consists in "the combination of sill having uprights or fulcrums, levers mounted upon the latter, a follow-block connected to the inner ends of said levers by loose joints, a vertically-sliding follower, rods connecting the outer ends of said follower with the outer ends of the levers, and mechanism for operating the follower . . . the follower moving vertically above the sill, levers pivoted to uprights or fulcrums upon the sill, and having inner beveled ends, a follow-block loosely jointed between the inner ends of said levers" (lines 64-77).
Date: February 5, 1884
Creator: Robburts, George W.
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
System: The Portal to Texas History
Soil Pulverizer. (open access)

Soil Pulverizer.

Patent for a new and improved soil pulverizer. This design consists in "the combination of rotating blades on a shaft adjustable forward and backward, the driving wheel shaft, the intermediate operating mechanism, and the two transverse shafts . . . the driving-wheels, the multiplying gear-wheels, the two shafts, blades, [the] shaft adjustable forward and backward by means of a lever, frame having recesses for journal-boxes, the lugs on the latter, and the connecting rod" (lines 84-95).
Date: February 5, 1884
Creator: Rankin, John Dake & Knox, William Custis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Escapement for Torsion Pendulums. (open access)

Escapement for Torsion Pendulums.

Patent for a new and improved escapement for torsion pendulums. This design "consists in one or two weighted levers acting in conjunction with an escape-wheel and a spindle, which levers are used as a medium to carry force from the train of a clock to the pendulum" (lines 12-16).
Date: February 5, 1884
Creator: Stahlberg, Charles
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.
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.
System: The Portal to Texas History