Boot Cleaner. (open access)

Boot Cleaner.

Patent for a new and improved boot cleaner. This design "affords facilities for readily and conveniently scraping all parts of the boot or shoe. The heel is scraped on [a] semicircular portion located at the top of the arch, the sides of the sole by the arms, the upper hollow of the foot by the projections, [and] the toe by the lower side of the arch or bow" (lines 38-45).
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Scovel, Purley A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator (open access)

Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator

Patent for an improvement for the Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator by removing dirt, weeds, and grass from the sides of the row. Included with this are detailed illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Flewellen, Anthony, Sr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Chopper. (open access)

Cotton-Chopper.

Patent for an improved design for a cotton chopper. The patent includes two sets of blades with opposite rotation and the ability to be stopped by the control of the operator. The design also includes improvements on cultivation and chopping for a more efficient process. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Busch, William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Planter Attachment. (open access)

Cotton-Planter Attachment.

Patent for improvements on cotton or other seed planters with a new design that allows for "simultaneously adjusting-i.e., raising and lowering-the plows in front and in rear of the seed-dropping drum " (lines 29-31) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Willcoxson, Coulmon W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Door Check. (open access)

Door Check.

Patent for a new and improved door-check. This design "relates to improvements in devices for checking the movements of a door to prevent its forcible contact with a wall or other object, and for automatically fastening it in an open position, so that it will not be accidentally closed. The invention consists of a check or catch plate adapted to be secured to the floor or wall and provided with an inclined track for the passage of a spring-bolt on the door, a transverse projection being arranged vertically at the rear end of said inclined track and formed into a seat for the spring-bolt" (lines 8-20).
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Cevor, Charles
System: The Portal to Texas History
Garden Tile. (open access)

Garden Tile.

Patent for a new and improved garden tile. This design "is to provide a . . . garden-tile which can be used as a plant-protector or as a curbing for walks, &c. The invention consists in a tile having a semicircular or U-shaped cross-section and open at the bottom and provided on its top with one or more necks through which the plants can grow" (lines 7-15).
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Flatau, Louis S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Horse-Power Machines. (open access)

Horse-Power Machines.

Patent for new and improved cog-wheel designed to improve horse-powered machines that are used in "flouring mills, and agricultural, and other machines" (lines 16-17) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Hooker, William H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ice-Machine. (open access)

Ice-Machine.

Patent for the improvements of ice machine gas compressors and its adjuncts.
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Schuehle, Jacob
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Motor. (open access)

Mechanical Motor.

Patent for an improved and efficient "in motors adapted especially for domestic use, its object being to provide a cheap, compact, durable, and efficient automatic motive mechanism which may be utilized for drivers various household apparatus" including instructions and illustration.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Miller, Noah J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Steam-Engine (open access)

Steam-Engine

Patent for improvements to be made upon steam engines, with description of parts and use and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Cross, David L.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vegetable Grater and Slicer. (open access)

Vegetable Grater and Slicer.

Patent for an improvement on vegetable graters or slicers. The design allows for more efficient cutting of the vegetables and allows for gravity to feed the vegetables through the slicer and avoiding injury to the operator. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Weitzel, Jacob F.
System: The Portal to Texas History