Coffee Pot. (open access)

Coffee Pot.

Patent for a new and improved coffee pot. This design consists in "the cover, the jointed parts by means of which the cover is connected to the pot, and the guide through which the part has a sliding movement" (lines 79-83). This novel construction "is to produce a coffee pot in which the cover is made adjustable, so as to be adapted to close over the top of the pot, or to be dropped back out of the way when the condenser is used" (lines 17-21).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Cummings, James K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dredging Machine. (open access)

Dredging Machine.

Patent for a new and improved dredging machine. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with a boat or the like, provided with depending hangers at its bow and stern, of the shaft journaled in said hangers, and provided with a spiral screw extending throughout its length" (lines 88-92). It is "for removing sand-bars and similar obstructions in the beds of harbors or in streams by loosening the sand or the like, so that it will be suspended in the water and carried off by the natural or created current" (lines 22-26).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Crockett, John Richardson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Log-Turner (open access)

Log-Turner

Patent for "that class of log-turners which is operated by power, and has for its object to provide a device that will be quick and positive in its operation" (lines 39-42).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Ferris, Henry Murry & Gallon, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Money Changer and Counter. (open access)

Money Changer and Counter.

Patent for a new and improved money changer and counter. This design "is to provide novel means for automatically assorting coins of different denominations . . . [and] to provide a series of graded pockets for the reception and retention of different coins of different denominations, and which will receive the coin only of the denomination for which it is provided; to provide novel means for discharging a coin of a given denomination from its pocket in order to make the proper change, and which will only discharge one coin at a time to prevent too much money from being delivered" (lines 15-30).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Greer, John William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seed Planter. (open access)

Seed Planter.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists in "the combination of the frame, the hopper having a notch or opening in its rear edge, the seed-spout extending vertically along the rear side of the hopper and communicating therewith through said notch, the reciprocating rod having a jointed upper end provided with a seed-cup, the rock-shaft having crank-arm, and an arm connected with said reciprocating-rod, the crank-shaft, pitman, driving-wheel, and the sprocket-gears and chain connecting the crank-shaft and wheel-axle" (lines 84-96).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Clark, Council H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Street Car Motor. (open access)

Street Car Motor.

Patent for a new and improved street-car motor. This design consists in "the shaft geared to an axle of the car, the friction-wheels free to slide on the said shaft and having the annular collars, the rods . . . connected to the said annular collars, and the lever connected to the said rods to move the friction-wheels toward or from each other" (lines 16-22).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Sparks, John Parks
System: The Portal to Texas History
Swing. (open access)

Swing.

Patent for a new and improved swing. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the two folding frames, provided with jointed braces, of the horizontal cross-bars secured to said frames, the swinging arms pivoted to said bars and also to the car, cross-bars secured to these arms, [and] the curved levers" (lines 95-100). Said curved levers are hinged to "the cross-bars, [and] the crossed ropes or chains [are] connecting the short arms of said levers to the cross-bars, and the pull-cords [are] attached to the long arms of said levers and [are] extended to the seats of the said car" (lines 1-5).
Date: May 10, 1887
Creator: Rigby, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing Machine (open access)

Washing Machine

Patent for an improved washing machine consisting of a wash-boiler into which one or more streams of hot water may be thrown.
Date: May 10, 1883
Creator: Caldwell, James S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Planter. (open access)

Cotton Planter.

Patent for a new and improved cotton planter. This design is for "a cotton-planter, the vibrating agitator having radial flanges and lateral flanges upon its bow, and clamped to the under side of [a] rocking shaft by means of cuffs and [a] clamp-screw, in combination with [a] hopper having [a] removable adjustable bottom" (lines 62-67).
Date: May 10, 1881
Creator: Walton, Jacob Gipson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cultivator. (open access)

Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved cultivator. This design is "for cultivating stubble, sugar-cane, cotton, corn, and other plants planted in rows or drills, which will remove the soil from the sides of the rows without injuring the roots, and will throw soil around the plants, and which shall be simple in construction and convenient in use" (lines 15-21).
Date: May 10, 1881
Creator: Brenner, August William & Fraser, James
System: The Portal to Texas History
Governor for Cotton Gins and Cotton Gin Feeders. (open access)

Governor for Cotton Gins and Cotton Gin Feeders.

Patent for a new and improved governor for cotton gins. This design "consists, first, in the combination of an oscillating or movable roll-breast with a regulating attachment, whereby the size of the roll or the pressure of the cotton in the roll-box is made to regulate the feed to the gin to any desired degree; second, in forming a series of slots through the outer side of the roll-breast, so that the cotton seed may be discharged through the outer side of the breast, as well as in addition to the usual slot which is made through the bottom of the roll-box" (lines 15-25).
Date: May 10, 1881
Creator: Forbes, Lycurgus D.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Straw Cutter. (open access)

Straw Cutter.

Patent for a new and improved straw cutter. This design "relates to certain improvements in straw-cutters; and it consists in the [novel] construction and arrangement of parts" (lines 13-15). The novel construction and arrangement of parts means that "[t]he machine is simple, durable, and inexpensive in construction, will not readily get out of repair, and will perform the necessary work in an efficient manner" (lines 1-4).
Date: May 10, 1881
Creator: Cornish, John A.
System: The Portal to Texas History