Cotton Elevator. (open access)

Cotton Elevator.

Patent for a new and improved cotton elevator. This design "facilitate[s] the delivery of cotton to the gin, and at the same time . . . removes from the cotton the gravel and other foreign substances that may be in it, thereby preventing injury to the gin and causing it to deliver the cotton in a cleaner and better condition" (lines 7-13).
Date: June 14, 1881
Creator: Newton, William Frederick
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device for Twisting Wire Cables of Suspension Bridges. (open access)

Device for Twisting Wire Cables of Suspension Bridges.

Patent for a new and improved cable twister. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the casting having grooves and openings therein, of the semicircular disks . . . having grooves therein and openings extending through the same, the bolt for binding the several parts together, and the arms extending out from the disks" (lines 1-7).
Date: June 11, 1889
Creator: Runyon, Edwin Elijah
System: The Portal to Texas History
Permutation Lock. (open access)

Permutation Lock.

Patent for a new and improved combination lock. This design consists of "[a] door having at its edges the sockets formed by ribs and mouths in combination with permutation-disks, seated in said sockets and handles" (lines 5-8).
Date: June 28, 1881
Creator: Sevier, Moses Nimrod
System: The Portal to Texas History