Resource Type

Improvement in Harvesters. (open access)

Improvement in Harvesters.

Patent for cutting grain in gavels at regular intervals along the track of the machine, including illustration.
Date: April 21, 1857
Creator: Wilson, J. C. & Wilson, T. G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Portable Fences. (open access)

Improvement in Portable Fences.

Patent for portable fencing with sections that can be connected and set up in a particular area, or removed and put elsewhere at will.
Date: April 21, 1874
Creator: Griffin, James Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton and Corn Planter. (open access)

Cotton and Corn Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists "[i]n combination with the hopper having its front wall inclined and formed with a guide-groove, the inner wall of which is cut out, the belt having its side edges working in the groove, and having hooks attached to the same between the side edges, said hooks projecting through the cut-out portion of the groove, so as to have free communication with the seed in the hopper" (lines 88-96).
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Easley, Levi
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bed Bottom. (open access)

Bed Bottom.

Patent for a new and improved bed bottom. This design "consists in a spring-bed formed of two U-shaped spring-rods or frames formed by the rods, which frames have their end pieces crossed and secured at their free ends in the opposite ends of slates. To the longitudinal pieces of the spring-frames the side edges of a piece of canvas are secured, and spiral springs are secured on the slats below the canvas" (lines 11-19).
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Bentley, Travis C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for improvements to press for making bales of hay.
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Chidester, John E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Picker's Sack. (open access)

Cotton Picker's Sack.

Patent for a new and improved sack for cotton pickers. This design "is to improve that class of sacks which are used by cotton-pickers and form a receptacle for cotton after it has been culled from the bolls, and in which it is carried to the gin. These sacks as now made are packed with cotton so as to be unwieldy, difficult to manipulate, and unhandy to empty, thus necessitating a great deal of labor and much waste of time" (lines 7-15).
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Dye, Charles Headen
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churning Device. (open access)

Churning Device.

Patent for a new and improved churn. This design consists "[i]n a churning device, the combination, with a base and a spring-bar held therein, of a cross-bar hinged to the said base and a churn-carrying bar secured to the said hinged and spring-bars" (lines 69-73).
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Wood, Sylvanus B.; Wood, Hervey & Wiley, Thomas Wilson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Compensating Pump-Spring. (open access)

Compensating Pump-Spring.

Patent for improvements in compensating pump-springs by “storing up in the downward or idle stroke of the suction-rod, a power which is expended during the upward stroke to assist the crank in lifting the rod; and at the same time reducing the power required to drive the pump, equalizing the resistance, increasing the efficiency and generally prolonging the life of the entire mechanism.” (Lines 36-40) Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Black, William L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn-Power. (open access)

Churn-Power.

Patent for improvements in churns is to “simplify and improve the construction of the means for operating vertically-reciprocating churn-dashers and to enable the dasher to be adjusted vertically, according to the amount of lacteal fluid to be churned.” (Lines 11-15) Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Dickey, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press. (open access)

Baling-Press.

Patent for improvements in baling-presses by using a four-sided baling box/chamber with supporting-upright doors arranged at the top, at the front and one of the sides of the box. These doors can be hinged at diagonally-opposite corners of the box; locking-bolts are pivoted at the free end of the each door, the top door with locking-bar sliding through apertures in the uprights and the lever for operating the top door. Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Klockmann, Henry G.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire-Stretcher. (open access)

Wire-Stretcher.

Patent for improvements in wire stretchers by using a T-shaped lever “to stretch the wire readily to the desired tension, and is capable of maintaining the wire at that tension until after stapling or otherwise fastening the same to a post.” (Lines 61-65) Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Kennedy, Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Wire Stretcher. (open access)

Wire Stretcher.

Patent for a new and improved wire stretcher. This design "relates to that class of wire stretchers or tighteners which are adapted to be applied upon the strands of wire forming a fence, and are used to tighten or stretch the same by winding the strand about one end of the device and engaging the other end of the latter with the strand" ( lines 11-17).
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Irvine, John B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window Screen Holder. (open access)

Window Screen Holder.

Patent for a new and improved window-screen holder. This design "consists in the combination, with a window-frame and a window-screen held in the same, of wires secured on the casing of the frame and having bends near their upper ends, and of hook-eyes held on the sides of the screen-frame and surrounding the wires. The invention also consists in a plate pivoted to the under side of the bottom rail of the screen-frame for covering a recess formed in the under edge and inner side of the said rail or piece" (lines 13-23).
Date: April 21, 1885
Creator: Barlow, Henry C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Strainer for Coffee-Pots, &c. (open access)

Strainer for Coffee-Pots, &c.

Patent for a strainer for coffee and tea strainers "so constructed as to be attachable in the lower end of the spout or body of the pot, as shown; and the object of my improvement is to construct a strainer to be removable, durable, of minimum cost, and perfect in its operation" (lines 13-18).
Date: April 21, 1896
Creator: McClellan, John A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine. (open access)

Washing-Machine.

Patent for improvements in washing-machines known as “roller and bed and it consists of a rubber-bed adapted to operate in conjunction with a rotatory rubber…….the bed being regulated by tightening screw-nuts upon the hooks which connect the springs with the end walls of said casing.” (Lines 13-22) Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Wood, Commodore R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Whiffletree. (open access)

Whiffletree.

Patent for an improvement in whiffletrees, made out of steel. It includes a description and illustration.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Flatau, Louis S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Derrick. (open access)

Derrick.

Patent for improvements in derricks or machines for hoisting heavy objects, which can be easily erected and operated; this device “can be manipulated with ease and by which the article being elevated or lowered may be changed in position without moving the support.” (Lines 20-23) Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Lindsey, William E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Cooling Milk and Butter. (open access)

Device for Cooling Milk and Butter.

Patent for improvements in devices for cooling milk and butter by using textile materials to cover the buckets or pails that contain milk or butter or other food articles, then saturated these textile covered buckets or pails with water; thus reducing the temperature of the articles contained in the buckets or pails, owing to evaporation. Illustration is included.
Date: April 21, 1891
Creator: Hall, Charles T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Buggy-Spindle (open access)

Buggy-Spindle

Patent for a buggy spindle for "taking up lost motion in the axle box should it be too short or too worn" (lines 10-11). Illustrations included.
Date: April 21, 1908
Creator: Messer, Jeremiah Clark
System: The Portal to Texas History
Window Shade and Curtain Hanger (open access)

Window Shade and Curtain Hanger

Patent for a window shade and curtain hanger. This invention is designed with a bracket attached to the frame in order to hold the pole for draping a shade or curtain. Illustration included.
Date: April 21, 1908
Creator: Gregson, Emily G. L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well Drilling Apparatus (open access)

Well Drilling Apparatus

Patent for a well drilling apparatus. This invention applies to the drilling of oil wells. Illustration included.
Date: April 21, 1908
Creator: Milliron, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lubricator for Eccentrics (open access)

Lubricator for Eccentrics

Patent for a lubricator for eccentrics. This invention is a means for supplying oil to a lubricating chamber as a method of regulating the flow of lubricant from said chamber. Illustration included.
Date: April 21, 1908
Creator: Helm, Clyve Dolphin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lock (open access)

Lock

Patent for a lock. Illustrations included.
Date: April 21, 1908
Creator: Winslow, Walter W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mail Bag Catchers and Deliverer (open access)

Mail Bag Catchers and Deliverer

Patent for a mail bag catcher and deliverer. This invention is designed for the retrieval and delivery of mailbags by passing trains. Illustration included.
Date: April 21, 1908
Creator: Anderson, John
System: The Portal to Texas History