Wire-Cloth Fan for the Destruction of Insects. (open access)

Wire-Cloth Fan for the Destruction of Insects.

Patent for an improved fly-swatting fan that employs wire mesh to create less of a shadow so that the user has more of a chance to hit the insect. This improved fan also allows for easier flow of air that creates less of an air flow that might blow the insect away from the fan and allow for the insect to avoid injury or death. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 18, 1880
Creator: Taylor, Morse K.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Bale Binder. (open access)

Cotton Bale Binder.

Patent for a new and improved cotton bale binder. This design "consists of a simple contrivance for binding cotton and other bales together when loaded on flat cars to prevent the load from being shaken apart and separated by the shocks and jolts of the car, and also to prevent the bales from being pulled off by cotton thieves, the said contrivance consisting of two or more hooks having pulleys or eyes strung on a rope, the rope being fastened to one of the eyes or pulleys forming one end of the binder, the hooks being caught in the bands of the bales" (lines 7-18).
Date: May 8, 1883
Creator: Burr, Lewis
System: The Portal to Texas History
Range-Finder for Rifles. (open access)

Range-Finder for Rifles.

Patent for range-finder for rifles, with illustrations. The invention "is adapted for ready application to a rifle by producing a simple dovetailed groove in the stock or stock-tip, near the front end" (lines 9-12).
Date: May 22, 1883
Creator: Ord, Edward O. C., Jr. & Kress, John A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Refrigerating Apparatus. (open access)

Refrigerating Apparatus.

Patent for a new and improved refrigerator. This design consists "[i]n a refrigerating apparatus, the combination of a trap cylinder communicating with a horizontal cylinder which unites two vertical piston-cylinders, said piston-cylinders having suction and compression valves arranged at their upper ends in a cap having separate communications with suction pipes with compression-pipes communicating with said trap-cylinder" (lines 44-52).
Date: May 12, 1885
Creator: Conacher, Alexander
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, with a draw-bar having a socket and buffer-prongs on its ends, of a ball in the socket, coupling-hooks pivoted between jaws connected with the ball, a weighted stem projecting from the ball, and a sliding latch-rod for engaging with the stem and automatically releasing it when the cars come together" (lines 8-15).
Date: May 19, 1885
Creator: Hampl, Joseph & Jacobs, David
System: The Portal to Texas History
Stamp Canceler. (open access)

Stamp Canceler.

Patent for a new and improved stamp canceler. This design "is to provide a . . . stamp-canceler, which is so constructed that it punctures or perforates the stamp and inks it at the same time, but does not mutilate the letter or other contents of the envelope" (lines 7-12).
Date: May 4, 1886
Creator: Luzenberg, Edward A. & Sachs, Edward
System: The Portal to Texas History
Two Wheeled Vehicle. (open access)

Two Wheeled Vehicle.

Patent for a new and improved vehicle. This design "is to provide a vehicle in which a person can ride over rough ground without serious inconvenience or discomfort incident to travel over such roads. . . . [and] to so construct a gig that a person can get into the same without serious inconvenience, and to this end it is made low, the rear of the shafts being extended in line with the axle and the step secured to the shaft and extending somewhat below it. . . . [and] to provide a gig with springs that will work in two directions—laterally and vertically" (lines 20-34).
Date: May 11, 1886
Creator: Buckel, Charles
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
Kitchen Cabinet. (open access)

Kitchen Cabinet.

Patent for a new and improved cabinet. This design "consist[s] of the body having a top . . . adapted to support a bread-board, the elevated casing provided with drawers, and an intermediate receptacle, the shelf thereof forming a recess . . . said recess adapted to receive the back edge of the bread-board . . . the hinged cover provided with a hinged shelf, the inclined abutments for said cover, and the cleat secured to one end of this cover at such an angle to the inclination of said abutments that when the cover bears against them the hinged shelf will be supported in a horizontal position by said cleat" (lines 22-37).
Date: May 3, 1887
Creator: Lane, Fernando G. & Acheson, Charles S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ice Making and Blocking Machine. (open access)

Ice Making and Blocking Machine.

Patent for a new and improved ice machine. This design consists in "the combination of a non-conductive casing containing a freezing tank having water supply and discharge pipes, a water-tight diaphragm supported in said casing above the bottom of said tank having downwardly-tapered hollows in its upper surface and corresponding upwardly-tapered molds in its under surface, and a refrigerating medium contained within the said casing over said diaphragm and filling the hollows in the latter" (lines 82-91).
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Knox, George F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Barrel for Outhouses. (open access)

Barrel for Outhouses.

Patent for a new and improved barrel. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the barrel-head having the opening, of the cover adapted to close said opening, the bolt extending through said cover and into the barrel, the clamping bar longer than the width of said opening in the barrel-head, said bar being centrally pivoted by a rivet to the lower end of said bolt, and a nut screwed upon the upper end of said bolt for clamping said cover in position" (lines 16-25).
Date: May 8, 1888
Creator: Carrico, Thomas W.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Wardrobe, Bureau, and Wash Stand. (open access)

Combined Wardrobe, Bureau, and Wash Stand.

Patent for a new and improved combination chiffarobe and wash stand. This design is "constructed with a main wardrobe section provided with hinged upper doors having lower ledges or shelves, respectively, and bureau and wash-stand structures hinged at opposite sides of the wardrobe below its doors and adapted when closed to close the lower front part of the wardrobe, and said door-ledges forming top covers to the wash-stand and bureau" (lines 31-40).
Date: May 8, 1888
Creator: Wulff, Henry F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Drilling Tool for Wells. (open access)

Drilling Tool for Wells.

Patent for a new and improved drilling tool for wells. This design "relates to tools for drilling or boring Artesian, oil, and other deep wells; and it has for its object to prevent the loss of drill or auger or any portion of the drill-rods. With this end in view the invention consists in the improved means for connecting the tool to the lower end of the drill-rod" (lines 9-15).
Date: May 28, 1889
Creator: McLane, Hiram H.
System: The Portal to Texas History