Improved Horse-Power. (open access)

Improved Horse-Power.

Patent for an improvement in horse-powers (tread-powers) by changing the construction and arrangement of the driving wheels.
Date: May 18, 1869
Creator: Dillaha, J. G.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Cotton-Cleaners (open access)

Improvement in Cotton-Cleaners

Patent for a device that enhances the performance of cotton-cleaner machinery.
Date: May 1, 1877
Creator: Greaves, James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement of Cotton Cleaners and Condensers (open access)

Improvement of Cotton Cleaners and Condensers

Patent for changes in the parts of cotton cleaner and condenser machinery, includes illustrations. The changes in machinery seek to eliminate impurities in the cotton while also compacting the cotton into a sheet.
Date: May 1, 1877
Creator: Greaves, James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sulky Plow and Cotton Scraper. (open access)

Sulky Plow and Cotton Scraper.

Patent for a new and improved sulky plow and cotton scraper. This design "relates to an improvement in sulky-plows, its object being to render the plow right or left hand for operation, to adjust the angle of presentation of the plow with relation to the line of draft, and to adapt the plow as a cotton-scraper; and it consists of the combination and arrangement of parts" (lines 14-20).
Date: May 16, 1882
Creator: Baucum, Samuel C.
Object Type: Patent
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
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Knee Pad and Protector. (open access)

Knee Pad and Protector.

Patent for a new and improved knee pad. This design consists in "the combination of a body or main portion, padding contained therein, a re-enforcing piece secured to the said main portion, and a spring interposed and bearing between said main portion and re-enforcing piece . . . [a] cap-piece for knee-protectors slitted from its opposite edges . . . forming flaps, combined with connections for securing said flaps to the body of the cap-piece" (lines 72-81).
Date: May 17, 1887
Creator: Ridgill, Angus G.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Box for Matches, &c. (open access)

Box for Matches, &c.

Patent for a new and improved matchbox. This design "relates to boxes or cases of the class having folding securing flaps or covers . . . To this end [the] invention comprises . . . a box or case open at one extremity for insertion and removal of its contents, and provided with a slot or opening extending from its open extremity to or nearly to its opposite extremity to permit access to and removal of its contents, and having a folding flap or cover adapted to close its openings and be detachably secured so as to effectually confine and protect the contents of the box" (lines 8-27).
Date: May 21, 1889
Creator: Marshall, John F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Railroad Cross Tie. (open access)

Combination Railroad Cross Tie.

Patent for a new and improved railroad-ties. This design "pertains to certain new and useful improvements in railroad-ties, having for its object the production of a metallic tie extremely simple in construction, and by means of which a rail can be readily removed or secured in place and a firm elastic bearing is secured for said rail" (lines 14-20).
Date: May 21, 1889
Creator: Bagby, William Henry
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Watch Case Pendant. (open access)

Watch Case Pendant.

Patent for a new and improved watch-case pendant. This design "is to improve the construction of the bow and crown-holder of stem-winding watches, so that they will be prevented from working loose. Furthermore, to produce a bow and crown-holder which may readily be attached to watches having the ordinary holder thereon, and, finally, to produce a stem which shall be simple of construction, and which may be attached to a watch with but a slight expense" (lines 15-24).
Date: May 21, 1889
Creator: Rohrer, Edmond Charles & Joseph, Isidora
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Chopping Machine. (open access)

Cotton-Chopping Machine.

Patent for improvement in stalk-choppers particularly adapted for chopping cotton. When the chopper is started the sprocket upon one of the traveling wheels will impart motion to the sprocket through the medium of the sprocket-chain, which will rotate the gear-wheel and in turn the pinion and the crank will impart a reciprocatory motion to the pitman and the horizontal bar, this will give the cutter-blade a reciprocatory motion. The speed of the reciprocatory chopping blade can be regulated. (Lines 45-55) Illustration is included.
Date: May 26, 1891
Creator: Guyton, James W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Clothes Pounder. (open access)

Clothes Pounder.

Patent for a new and improved clothes pounder. This design "consist[s] of an outer cone with openings and socket near its upper end, a plurality of smaller cones with open bottoms within the outer cone and having their upper ends secured to the bottom of the said socket of the larger cone, and a conical guard around the upper end of the outer cone and extended below said openings independent of the outer cone and terminating in a vertical depending flange at a distance from the said outer cone" (lines 77-87).
Date: May 3, 1892
Creator: Davis, Jordan G.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Folding Bed. (open access)

Folding Bed.

Patent for a new and improved folding bed. This design consists "of the base having side standards and an intermediate screen, two beds pivotally connected together and to the said standards at their inner corners and adapted to fold on each other and against the said screen, two drop-doors to close the open sides of the base and adapted to extend beneath the outer corners of the beds and support and hold them in a closed position, and two twin springs, one for each side of the bed, each spring being approximately U-shaped, the parallel members having coils at their upper ends" (lines 81-93).
Date: May 10, 1892
Creator: Yeager, James Ernst
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit-Gatherer and Pruning Implement. (open access)

Fruit-Gatherer and Pruning Implement.

Patent for a combination orchard tool that gathers fruit, holds it in a bag, and can sever fruit stems in order to pick them. After severing, the fruit falls into the bag. The operator pulls a string that falls along the long handle, and the knife springs up from the bag so that it can sever the stems.
Date: May 30, 1893
Creator: Chambers, Silas
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Tablet-Holder. (open access)

Tablet-Holder.

Patent for "tablet-holders for stenographers, clerks, copyists, &c.; and has for its object to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device for supporting a tablet while taking notes or while copying therefrom; and to provide improved means for securing the tablet to the supporting plate or board of the holder." (Lines 8-15) Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 7, 1895
Creator: Stuart, Benjamin F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rotary Gang-Plow. (open access)

Rotary Gang-Plow.

Patent for a rotary gang-plow that has laterally movable castings, stirrups, beams working in the stirrups, axles connected to the disks, and adjustable sleeves.
Date: May 14, 1895
Creator: Willis, WIlliam Beale
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coat-Adjuster. (open access)

Coat-Adjuster.

Patent for a machine that holds a coat for a person and puts it on that person, thus avoiding the need to personally put on a coat. Pivoted arms hold on to the coat and clamps are connected to the arms which hold on to the coat.
Date: May 11, 1897
Creator: Spoon, William L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Process of Baling Cotton. (open access)

Process of Baling Cotton.

Patent for certain new and useful improvements in processes of baling cotton.
Date: May 3, 1898
Creator: Bessonette, Charles L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Vehicle - Brake. (open access)

Automatic Vehicle - Brake.

Patent for a new and improved automatic vehicle brake.
Date: May 10, 1898
Creator: Elliott, Joseph Samuel
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Pneumatic Propulsion Means. (open access)

Pneumatic Propulsion Means.

Patent for a new and improved pneumatic propulsion means, including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 2, 1899
Creator: Walker, James C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Press for Cotton, Wool, Hay, &c. (open access)

Press for Cotton, Wool, Hay, &c.

Patent for "a press which will compress the cotton or other material into bales of hexagon, cylindrical, or other shapes, the shape of the bale corresponding with the shape of the bale-receptacle used" (lines 11-15).
Date: May 7, 1901
Creator: King, John Morris
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Envelop Fastener (open access)

Envelop Fastener

Patent for an envelop fastener. Illustration included.
Date: May 2, 1905
Creator: Albea, Mary
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Signal System (open access)

Electric Signal System

Patent for electric signal system. Illustration included.
Date: May 16, 1905
Creator: Adams, Edwin Johnson
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well-Drilling Machine (open access)

Well-Drilling Machine

Patent for a well-drilling machine that is simple, compact and effective with general improvements over other models.
Date: May 15, 1906
Creator: McAfee, Claude M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Distributing Apparatus (open access)

Water Distributing Apparatus

Patent for a water distributing apparatus. This inventions' design is for hot and cold water and used primarily in connection with heating or cooking stoves so as to utilize the heat furnished there in. Illustration included.
Date: May 21, 1907
Creator: Sanders, Henry M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History