Car-Starter (open access)

Car-Starter

Patent for "a new and improved car-starter adapted for all kinds of cars and vehicles, being specially of great value on grades" (lines 8-11).
Date: February 5, 1889
Creator: Akers, William P. & Lindsey, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bedstead Tie. (open access)

Bedstead Tie.

Patent for a new and improved bedstead-tie. This design "is to obviate the spreading of the side bars of a bed, which allows the bottom slats to fall, especially those near the center of the bed; and [the design] accomplish[es] this object by providing one of the slats, preferably at or near the center, with adjustable keepers" (lines 21-27).
Date: February 12, 1889
Creator: Fernau, Magnus
System: The Portal to Texas History
Broom-Rack. (open access)

Broom-Rack.

Patent for a new suspended broom rack design with increased capacity for holding brooms, including illustrations.
Date: February 12, 1889
Creator: Jones, Wesley C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Door Check and Alarm. (open access)

Combination Door Check and Alarm.

Patent for a new and improved door-check and alarm. With this design, "[t]he latch normally stands in the engaging position, and when it aligns with one of the notches it engages the same automatically. One of the notches is so arranged that it is engaged by the latch when the door is closed, and when the knob is turned to open the door the cord, wire, or chain draws the latch out of engagement with the notch. . . . [a] bell on the end of the latch will give warning when the latch is moved, and the door cannot be opened without moving the latch" (lines 63-92).
Date: February 12, 1889
Creator: King, Charles Rufus
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press (open access)

Baling-Press

Patent for a "press as simple in construction and operation as possible, of sufficient power to do the work effectively, and arranged to be readily moved from place to place at pleasure" (lines 12-16).
Date: February 19, 1889
Creator: Hillman, William & Ripple, Joseph F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for "new and useful Improvements in Baling-Presses" (lines 5-6) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: February 19, 1889
Creator: Bywaters, Joseph K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Band-Cutter and Feeder (open access)

Band-Cutter and Feeder

Patent for "new and useful improvements in band-cutters and feeders" (lines 6-7).
Date: February 26, 1889
Creator: King, Charlie C. & Trimble, Alonzo D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cultivator and Planter. (open access)

Combined Cultivator and Planter.

Patent for a new and improved cultivator and planter. This design consists in "the combination of the box having the slot and the three apertures in the side of the slot . . . the reciprocating seed-slide, and the sliding and adjustable plate . . . having the slot near its end and engaging with the free leg of the staple" (lines 100-110).
Date: February 26, 1889
Creator: Carter, Edward D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Hedge Trimmer and Mower. (open access)

Combined Hedge Trimmer and Mower.

Patent for a new and improved hedge trimmer and mower. This design "relates to certain new and useful improvements in that class of combined hedge-trimmers and mowers in which the side and top of a hedge are trimmed at the same time; and it consists in the construction and arrangement of the frame-work, the driving mechanism or gearing, and the cutting devices or knives" (lines 10-17).
Date: February 14, 1882
Creator: Lattner, Jacob V.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Picker's Wagon. (open access)

Cotton Picker's Wagon.

Patent for a new and improved wagon for cotton pickers. This design "consists in a suitable frame-work supported on wheels and covered on top by canvas or other suitable material to protect the pickers from the rays of the sun or from the rain, and on one or both sides of the frame, preferably both, is a trough for receiving the picked cotton" (lines 10-16).
Date: February 21, 1882
Creator: Collins, Charles P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Construction of Privy-Vaults and Apparatus for Use Therewith. (open access)

Construction of Privy-Vaults and Apparatus for Use Therewith.

Patent for "a new and useful Improvements in the Construction of Privy-Vaults and Apparatus for Use Therewith"(lines 4-6)" to insure cleanliness in around privy-vaults and to prevent accumulations therein, especially in localities where water is not easily available"(lines 9-12), instructions and illustrations included.
Date: February 2, 1886
Creator: Carrico, Thomas W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wind Engine. (open access)

Wind Engine.

Patent for a new and improved wind engine. This design "relates to an improvement in wind-engines, in which a vertical circular frame having a wind-wheel is covered to the half by a hemispherical roof supported by posts" (lines 8-12).
Date: February 2, 1886
Creator: Serdinko, John
System: The Portal to Texas History
Funnel for Forcing Molasses, &c. (open access)

Funnel for Forcing Molasses, &c.

Patent for a new and improved funnel. This design "relates to improvements in funnels for transferring molasses and other thick liquid and substances from one receptacle into bottles, jars, and other vessels; and the objects of [the] improvements are to provide a funnel with means for securing it to a table, counter, &c.; to provide said funnel with means for forcing a liquid therethrough and the forcing apparatus with a detachable spout thereunder" (lines 10-19).
Date: February 2, 1886
Creator: Henke, Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cane Mill. (open access)

Cane Mill.

Patent for a new and improved sugarcane mill. This design "consist[s] of the frame composed of [a] bed-piece, vertical standards, and horizontal pieces, [one] piece having [a] trough, the vertical shaft, horizontally movable . . . and provided with the gear, the roller having stationary shaft provided with pinion, the [other] roller having stationary shaft provided with pinion, boxes, and screw-threaded rods" (lines 81-89).
Date: February 9, 1886
Creator: Webb, John T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "the combination of two sliding draw-heads, each provided with a shank having coiled around it a spring and a nut secured thereto, an upper sliding supporting-plate for the pin, having a tripping device, a lower sliding supporting-plate for the link, having a catch, a latch with a trip-arm for holding and releasing said plate, and a spring for drawing it back to its normal position" (lines 11-20).
Date: February 9, 1886
Creator: Ballentine, John C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Band Stretcher. (open access)

Band Stretcher.

Patent for a new and improved band stretcher. This design "relates to improvements in band-stretchers in which a windlass, crank, and ratchets operate in conjunction with a sliding clamp; and the object of [the] improvement is to provide a device with which the ends of a band may be drawn together and held for the purpose of lacing" (lines 15-21).
Date: February 23, 1886
Creator: Lawrence, Joseph A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper and Cultivator Combined. (open access)

Cotton Chopper and Cultivator Combined.

Patent for improvement to a cotton-chopper with a "mechanism for cultivating the soil between the hills as well as for bringing the said hills to a regular form" (lines 18-20).
Date: February 23, 1886
Creator: Muray, Joseph L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper and Cultivator. (open access)

Cotton Chopper and Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper and cultivator. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a cotton cultivator and chopper, of the usual frame, a pair of guiding-handles pivoted thereto, a chopping-knife hinged to said frame, and links forming a loose connection between said blade and handles, whereby the blade is raised and lowered" (lines 26-31).
Date: February 1, 1887
Creator: Schaumleffel, John A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Blind Stop. (open access)

Blind Stop.

Patent for a new and improved blind-stop. This design consists "of a corrugated flange or plate connected with the frame thereof, a spring-retaining strip, a corrugated bar arranged between the retaining strip and the corrugated flange, a socket formed upon the corrugated bar and adapted to receive the slat-bar, and a set-screw carried by the retaining strip" (lines 77-84).
Date: February 8, 1887
Creator: Gulick, Lizzie Talley
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bee Feeder. (open access)

Bee Feeder.

Patent for a new and improved bee feeder. This design consists in "the vertically oblong box or case having an opening in one side of its lower end, a trough or basin projecting in front of said lower opening, and lateral attaching flanges or wings" (lines 68-72).
Date: February 8, 1887
Creator: McWilliams, Wright H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Book Adjuster. (open access)

Book Adjuster.

Patent for a new and improved book-adjuster. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the holder having the horizontal longitudinal recess and the vertical screw-threaded aperture, of the base-piece, the adjusting-screw swiveled at its lower end in the said base-piece, and the spring-catch" (lines 3-8).
Date: February 8, 1887
Creator: Adair, Irvine James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a coupling for air-brakes, of the movable arm having the recess or socket, and the pivoted arm having the shoulder or offset adapted to fit the recess and provided with the [other] arm to direct the said shoulder or offset to the said recess when the coupling-arms come together, the said shoulder and recess forming the terminals of the air-pipes at the ends of the cars" (lines 92-100).
Date: February 8, 1887
Creator: Haltom, Samuel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ant Trap. (open access)

Ant Trap.

Patent for a new and improved ant trap. This design consists in "[a]n ant-trap, comprising the body and the inward-projecting tubes having the protecting-caps on their inner ends, the outer faces of the caps being convex and provided with apertures of greater diameter than the bore of the inner end of the tube" (lines 90-95).
Date: February 22, 1887
Creator: McCallum, Walter Randolph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brace for Bedsteads. (open access)

Brace for Bedsteads.

Patent for a new and improved brace for bed frames. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the bedstead having bolts at the corners, the hooks at the centers of the end rails, and the hooks at the centers of the side rails, of the two wires on each side having their ends secured to the bolts, engaging the hooks and passing to the side of the bed and engaging the hooks, the rings strung on and embracing the adjoining wires between the hooks . . . so as to cause the wires to be brought together, and the cord or strap connecting the said rings so as to slide the rings upon the wires" (lines 20-31).
Date: February 14, 1888
Creator: Warfield, Dunbar Griffith
System: The Portal to Texas History