Cotton Chopper, Scraper, and Cultivator (open access)

Cotton Chopper, Scraper, and Cultivator

Patent for improvements so that the "choppers may be raised, in order to leave standing such of the growth of the cotton as is necessary, or while turning corners; third, in means hereinafter to be described, by which the depth at which the scrapers and choppers run into the ground maybe adjusted" (lines 16-22).
Date: May 6, 1890
Creator: Ellis, David P,
System: The Portal to Texas History
Plow Cleaning Attachment. (open access)

Plow Cleaning Attachment.

Patent for a new and improved plow cleaner. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the mold-board of a plow, having parallel longitudinal slots . . . of upper and lower rollers, belts passing around the same beneath the mold-board, scrapers connected to said belts in line with the slots and adapted to pass over said mold-board, and means for rotating said belts" (lines 93-99).
Date: May 6, 1890
Creator: Dyer, Charles Valentine.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Piston-Rod Packing (open access)

Piston-Rod Packing

Patent for "provide a metallic packing for piston-rods that is self-adjusting; secondly, to provide a packing the parts of which are so arranged as to avoid any escape of steam through the gland of the stuffing-box; thirdly, to provide a packing that does not require a lubricator; fourthly, to provide a packing that relieves the piston of all friction, except when steam is admitted to stuffing-box end of cylinder" (lines 19-27).
Date: May 9, 1890
Creator: Carlson, Frank A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design "relates to improvements in cotton-chopping machines in which revolving hoes are attached to plows; and the object of [the] improvement is to afford facilities for chopping out cotton by means of horse-power instead of by hand" (lines 8-13).
Date: May 13, 1890
Creator: Green, Frank
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fastener for Bedsteads. (open access)

Fastener for Bedsteads.

Patent for a new and improved fastener for bedsteads. This design consists in "[t]he combination, in a bedstead, of the head and foot board provided with inclined bores or holes, and slots extending from the bores or holes to the face of the boards, the side rails being provided with vertical bores or holes, and slots communicating with said bores or holes, and the locking plate adapted to connect the rails and head and foot boards and comprising the oppositely-disposed converging cylindrical beads and the integral web connecting the beads" (lines 78-88).
Date: May 13, 1890
Creator: Watson, Thomas H.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sanitary Closet (open access)

Sanitary Closet

Patent for "improvements on sanitary closets for destroying the human excrement-s on the premises with little labor and expense" (lines 8-11).
Date: May 13, 1890
Creator: McCamant, Theodore F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Washing-Machine (open access)

Washing-Machine

Patent for "improvements in the water-wheel and in the, mechanism for imparting motion thereto, whereby the washing-liquid is made to flow upward between the sides of an outer and inner pan and downward upon the articles to be washed, which are inclosed in the said inner pan, as will be now described and claimed, and is adapted to wash any articles that may be placed within the said inner pan" (lines 17-26).
Date: May 13, 1890
Creator: McCausland, William, I.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Well Lining. (open access)

Well Lining.

Patent for a new and improved well lining. This design "has for its object to provide a seamless lining extending from the bottom of the well to the surface of the ground and designed to exclude all foreign or impure substances from the well-water—such as pass through the cracks of the brick or stone lining now commonly employed—and also to exclude ants and other insects and prevent the damage frequently cause through this source" (lines 9-17).
Date: May 13, 1890
Creator: Blackmon, Albert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Seed-Meal Heater (open access)

Cotton-Seed-Meal Heater

Patent for improvements to cotton-meal heaters "to provide means to communicate as much heat as possible to the meal contained in the heater in as short a time as possible, and to retain the heat in the meal until it has all been used in forming the cakes" (lines 18-22).
Date: May 20, 1890
Creator: Price, James Sterling
System: The Portal to Texas History
Electric Bath-Brush (open access)

Electric Bath-Brush

Patent for improvements to an electric brush so that it is "exceedingly effective in its operation and at the same time simple in construction, combining lightness with durability, and securing the best results medicinally to the user. A further object consists in providing a construction whereby the entire brush may be dismantled, so as to obtain access to the interior when necessary, and to permit of the brush being used as an ordinary bath-brush by simply removing the batteries" (lines 15-25).
Date: May 20, 1890
Creator: Williams, Robert E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hame Fastener. (open access)

Hame Fastener.

Patent for a new and improved hame fastener. This design consists, "with the bar provided with a rack and longitudinal ways, of the housing provided at each end with downwardly and inwardly projecting lugs engaging said ways, and a spring provided with a stop, the link seated in a groove on the housing provided with a finger-hold, and an offset on said link adapted to strike against a projection on the spring for limiting the movement of said link" (lines 64-73).
Date: May 20, 1890
Creator: Anderson, Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Suspension-Bridge (open access)

Suspension-Bridge

Patent for improvements in suspension bridges "to increase the strength of the same and reduce the n-umber of parts and simplify the general construction of the same" (lines 10-12).
Date: May 20, 1890
Creator: Hill, James Oliver
System: The Portal to Texas History
Top Prop. (open access)

Top Prop.

Patent for a new and improved top-props for carriages. This design consists "[i]n combination with an arm having perforations and slot, plate provided with arm, pin, and bolt, and arms . . . secured, respectively, to the arm and the carriage-top" (lines 76-80).
Date: May 20, 1890
Creator: Anderson, Lee
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fence. (open access)

Fence.

Patent for a new and improved fence. This design "compris[es] the main end and intermediate posts anchored in the ground, the longitudinal wires connected to said main end posts and let into said intermediate posts, said end posts being suitably braced and said longitudinal wires being connected together by tie-wires, and the supplemental posts, to which are also bound or secured said longitudinal wires, having the horizontal feet of approximate figure-8 shape resting squarely on the ground or surface" (lines 69-79).
Date: May 27, 1890
Creator: Kerr, James, Sr.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Metal Cross Tie for Railroads. (open access)

Metal Cross Tie for Railroads.

Patent for a new and improved cross-tie for railroads. This design consists, "with a plate-metal cross-tie body having inclined sides which are integrally joined at an apex and longitudinally-slotted, forming rail-seats, and integral lips on said apex, of a rod oppositely threaded at its ends, nuts which fit in the cross-tie body and are adapted to engage the right and left hand threads on the ends of the rod, integral lugs formed on the nuts, means to rotate the rod, and means to lock the rod from rotation" (lines 29-39).
Date: May 27, 1890
Creator: Taylor, James P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Platform for Harvesters. (open access)

Platform for Harvesters.

Patent for a new and improved platform for harvesters. This design "has particular reference to the platform thereof or that portion designed to receive the grain as it is cut by the reaping mechanism; and among the main objects in view is to provide a platform located in rear of the reaping mechanism that is capable of being contracted and extended, and also to provide other parts that may be withdrawn inward, whereby the machine, as a whole, is decreased in width, and its passage through farm-gates from field to field and over unbroken ground is facilitated" (lines 11-22).
Date: May 27, 1890
Creator: Lewis, Thomas E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Rule Gage. (open access)

Rule Gage.

Patent for a new and improved rule-gage. This design "relates to improvements in gages for carpenter's rules; and it consists of a gage formed of sheet metal adapted to be detachably applied to an ordinary two-foot rule to convert it instantly into a gage-rule" (lines 7-11).
Date: May 27, 1890
Creator: Dickins, Sam
System: The Portal to Texas History