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
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
Fence. (open access)

Fence.

Patent for a new and improved fence. This design consists of cross-posts pivoted to a stringer, provided with a top-rail, having slats extending from the stringer to the ground, and secured to said stringer by barbed wire and staples (lines 36-40). This design is easily disassembled and moved, and the barbed wire prevents animals from disturbing it.
Date: February 12, 1884
Creator: Messenger, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adding-Machine. (open access)

Adding-Machine.

Patent for a new and improvement in adding-machines in which a mechanical wheel has teeth. " The object of the invention is to provide the means for adding columns of figures by machinery"(lines 13-15), with instruction and illustration
Date: February 12, 1884
Creator: Barmore, Albert King
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Corn Planter and Fertilizer Distributer. (open access)

Combined Corn Planter and Fertilizer Distributer.

Patent for a device that can be used both to plant corn and apply fertilizer to fields.
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Arnold, William Noah
System: The Portal to Texas History
Advertising Device. (open access)

Advertising Device.

Patent for a new and improved advertising sign. This design "consist[s] in the fixed staff or upright having pulley, bent rotary vane having the opening, and adapted for the display of advertisements, inside [the] bent rotary vane, and the governor adapted to regulate automatically the speed at which the vanes are to revolve" (lines 68-80).
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Carly, John Wesly
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn Motor. (open access)

Churn Motor.

Patent for a new and improved churn motor. This design "consists in [a] novel construction and arrangement of parts . . . The machine . . . is so constructed that it gives to the dasher a perpendicular long or short stroke, and that it may be sunk deep or shallow in the milk; and the machine may be run at the greatest speed with but little friction, and without the danger of its parts becoming loosened, and by means of its apron and attachment . . . it holds the churn in place" (lines 16-26).
Date: February 26, 1884
Creator: Nevel, William A. & Fisher, George W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dental Chair (open access)

Dental Chair

Patent for improved dental chair with foot-rest, head set, and swiveled post.
Date: February 26, 1884
Creator: Stiles, Edmund P.
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.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wool-Press. (open access)

Wool-Press.

Patent for a wooden machine that is used to compress wool, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Brooks, David F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Treadle Power. (open access)

Treadle Power.

Patent for a new and improved treadle power. This design "consists of a pair of treadles contrived [so] that the operator may stand erect and operate the machine . . . together with contrivances whereby the operator may at the same time apply the power of the hands and arms to assist the legs when greater power is required, and for relief of the legs when less power is required. By enabling the operator to stand erect and apply the weight of his [or her] body to the treadles by a natural walking motion . . . he [or she] can apply greater power and continue a longer time with less fatigue" (lines 7-20).
Date: February 26, 1884
Creator: Greene, George A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam Boiler Cleaner. (open access)

Steam Boiler Cleaner.

Patent for a new and improved steam-boiler cleaner. This design "has relation to means for cleaning the mud or foam, or both, from steam-boilers; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of devices" (lines 16-19).
Date: February 12, 1884
Creator: Foster, James Harvey.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Post Auger. (open access)

Post Auger.

Patent for a new and improved post auger. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a post-auger, of the socketed block, the screw-threaded rod extending from the center of the lower end of the block, the expander-disk fitting upon said threaded rod, and having the slotted wings or extensions, the two nuts for adjusting the position of the expander-disk upon the threaded-rod . . . whereby the lower pointed ends of the blades may be arranged to cross one another . . . the shaft [and] the cross-handle" (lines 73-96).
Date: February 12, 1884
Creator: Miles, John E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Propelling Vehicles. (open access)

Propelling Vehicles.

Patent for a means of transportation similar to a bicycle, the "essential feature" (line 7) of which "resides in the combination, with the vehicle, of an extensible frame adapted to freely slide back and forth…" (line 7-10). Includes illustrations.
Date: February 12, 1884
Creator: Moore, Baldwin S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Process of and Apparatus for Extracting Crystallized Sugar from Bagasse. (open access)

Process of and Apparatus for Extracting Crystallized Sugar from Bagasse.

Patent for a new and improved extractor of crystallized sugar from bagasse. This design "is to save a percentage of [the] loss in the [sugarcane] juice, and also to secure a part, if not all, of the crystallized sugar from the refuse or bagasse or from any other plant producing saccharine matter. To that end [the invention] subject[s] the bagasse to a process which extracts the remaining juice and the crystallized-sugar by suction and atmospheric pressure" (lines 13-21).
Date: February 19, 1884
Creator: Yale, Thomas Blossom
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hopple for Horses. (open access)

Hopple for Horses.

Patent for a new and improved hopple for horses. This design "consists in the combination of two curved or bent pieces which are to go around the horses ankles . . . [each with] three links and a ring . . . allow[ing] the horse to walk slowly about, permitting [it] to graze at leisure, and enabling [it] to be easily caught when desired" (lines 14-34).
Date: February 12, 1884
Creator: Cottle, Julius O. & Ivie, Rufus
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
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
Shot Case. (open access)

Shot Case.

Patent for a new and improved shot case. This design "is to draw given quantities of shot from the case without the necessity of weighing each draft. To this end the invention consists in a case, means for hanging the same, and a charger" (lines 12-16).
Date: February 12, 1884
Creator: Ellis, Quincy Adams
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oscillating Engine (open access)

Oscillating Engine

Patent for improvements to oscillating steam engines, including illustrations and instructions.
Date: February 26, 1884
Creator: Gilbert, John Oakley
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
Napkin Ring and Holder. (open access)

Napkin Ring and Holder.

Patent for a new and improved napkin ring and holder. This design is "to receive the napkin after it is folded, or to be used as a device for sustaining the napkin at the neck of the user when at the table. It consists in a yoke-shaped piece of metal having a hinged section for connecting the two ends, and serving as a ring, in combination with a clasp for holding the napkin . . . at the throat" (lines 17-25).
Date: February 12, 1884
Creator: Bahn, Gus A.
System: The Portal to Texas History