Automatic Gate. (open access)

Automatic Gate.

Patent for an automatic gate that can be unlatched and opened by a vehicle approaching; and then, closed and latched again after passage of the vehicle. The automatic gate is reliable, not easily deranged, and simple in construction.
Date: June 13, 1911
Creator: Laas, Louis August
System: The Portal to Texas History
Animal Trap. (open access)

Animal Trap.

Patent for a new and improved animal trap. This design consists in "a platform having a rod or bar secured to its upper face, and having the ends of the choke-spring coiled thereon, pins or prongs extending from one edge of the platform for engagement with a side of a box, a box having one of its sides elevated, against which the pronged end of the platform abuts for engagement therewith, and having recesses in its opposite ends for the recession of a loop, which passes thence over the free end of the platform for binding the same to the box" (lines 3-14).
Date: June 12, 1888
Creator: Beach, Philemon Theodore
System: The Portal to Texas History
Insect Gathering Machine (open access)

Insect Gathering Machine

Patent for insect gathering machine. Illustration included.
Date: June 27, 1905
Creator: Fogle, James Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Fire-Extinguishers for Lint-Rooms. (open access)

Improvement in Fire-Extinguishers for Lint-Rooms.

Patent for a fire-extinguisher for lint-rooms with design specifications and instructions on operating procedures and usage, including illustrations.
Date: June 11, 1878
Creator: Morrell, Zachariah N.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sash-Holder (open access)

Sash-Holder

Patent for "an improved device, easily attached,cheap of manufacture, and durable and efficient in use, which will dispense with the employment of weights and cords, and which will not be affected by the Weather to allow the window to fall by the shrinkage of the holder" (lines 14-20).
Date: June 10, 1890
Creator: Stukes, John Marion
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Brakes for Wagons and Cars. (open access)

Improvement in Brakes for Wagons and Cars.

Patent for "am improved brake for wagons, cars, and other vehicles which shall be simple in construction, convenient in use, and powerful in operation" (lines 19-22) including illustrations.
Date: June 24, 1879
Creator: Franklin, Mathew C. & Landrum, Nathaniel
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Gin Feeder. (open access)

Cotton Gin Feeder.

Patent for a new and improved cotton-gin feeder. This design consists in "a rectangular inclined box, endless feeding belts having spiked slats, the revolving fan at the upper end of the inclined box, and screen at the opposite end and lower side of the box, through which the sand and dirt from the cotton may escape, the current of air from the revolving fan assisting in expelling the sand and dirt, the latter falling between the slats and down the inclined bottom of the box and out through the screen" (lines 73-83).
Date: June 22, 1886
Creator: Wiley, Jesse G.
System: The Portal to Texas History