Blacksmith's Tongs (open access)

Blacksmith's Tongs

Patent for blacksmith's tongs. Used to handle and manipulate different sizes of rods and bars that are round.
Date: April 16, 1918
Creator: Beacham, Charles M.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hydrocarbon-Burner. (open access)

Hydrocarbon-Burner.

Patent for "a new and useful Hydrocarbon-burner...equipped with a safety device adapted to admit only a limited supply of gasolene or other fuel to the burner to enable the latter to be operated with absolute safety by either a woman or a child" (lines 5-19), including instructions and illustrations.
Date: April 22, 1913
Creator: Nemec, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow Slide (open access)

Plow Slide

Patent for a plow slide. Illustration included.
Date: April 26, 1910
Creator: Schroeder, George L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Shovel-Plow. (open access)

Shovel-Plow.

Patent for improvements in shovel-plows “by enabling the stock and shoe securely mounted and yet adjusted from one position to another, according to the work to be performed.” (Lines 9-12) Illustration is included.
Date: April 22, 1902
Creator: Michalka, Joseph
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cattle-Guard. (open access)

Cattle-Guard.

Patent for an improved cattle-guard by using a guard that has a plurality of spurs, should an animal step thereon its foot will be directed against one or more of these spurs, thus causing the animal to withdraw its foot and not attempt to pass over the rail. This will prevent the animal from crossing railway-tracks, but the spurs will not interfere with the free passage of trains. (Lines 10-20) Illustration is included.
Date: April 2, 1901
Creator: Steinmann, Herman Werner
System: The Portal to Texas History
Apparatus for Cooling Milk. (open access)

Apparatus for Cooling Milk.

Patent for a new and useful apparatus for regulating the temperature of milk.
Date: April 26, 1898
Creator: Porter, Louis H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow Cultivator and Irrigator. (open access)

Plow Cultivator and Irrigator.

Patent for an underground irrigating plow that consists of a draft bar, crank arms, plow beams that front ends swivel on the crank arms, a ratchet rod with chain spools, a ratchet lever that is attached to the ratchet rod, chains that are attached to the plow beams and the spools, braces that are attached to the crank arms, and a double-tree.
Date: April 25, 1893
Creator: Askew, Joseph W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Scoop. (open access)

Cotton-Scoop.

Patent for a simple and inexpensive cotton scoop and is "adapted to have its tines yield to facilitate its insertion in a mass of cotton" (lines 13-14).
Date: April 18, 1893
Creator: Brown, William C.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Syringe. (open access)

Syringe.

Patent for a new and improved syringe. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with inlet and outlet tubes provided with end fittings . . . of the two concavo-convex disks arranged on the tubes with their concavities opposite to each other, [one] disk being made of soft rubber and adapted to be inserted within the vagina and the [other] disk adapted to be pressed against the vulva during the operation of syringing" (lines 73-81).
Date: April 17, 1888
Creator: Streetman, Willard
System: The Portal to Texas History
Farm and Garden Implement. (open access)

Farm and Garden Implement.

Patent for a new and improved tool rack. This design "consists in the novel construction and combination of parts, whereby the device may hold implements of various kinds—such as the hoe, rake, a fork, shovel-blade, a trowel, and similar hand-tools—by simply detaching one tool from the holder and inserting another" (lines 12-18).
Date: April 19, 1887
Creator: Hewitt, Ditus Pinson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Engineer's Level-Rod. (open access)

Engineer's Level-Rod.

Reissued patent for an improvement in engineer's level which introduces a novel manner of marking the scale upon the face of the rod.
Date: April 5, 1881
Creator: Lynch, Michael L.
System: The Portal to Texas History