Resource Type

Animal Power. (open access)

Animal Power.

Patent for a new and improved engine. This design has a "tread-wheel on which the animal is placed, and which is provided with a cog-wheel on its under side to mesh with a pinion placed on one end of the crank-shaft, a connecting-rod which is attached at one end to the crank and at the other to a pivoted lever . . . a second connecting-rod which is fastened to the upper end of the pivoted lever . . . a balance-wheel, and the main driving-shaft provided with a number of arms, each one of which carries a planet-wheel for the purpose of moving around a fixed wheel" (lines 15-29).
Date: July 7, 1885
Creator: Yarbrough, Ezekel James & Kyker, John Marshal
System: The Portal to Texas History
Attachment for Seed Planters (open access)

Attachment for Seed Planters

Patent for "improvements in attachments for seed-planters" (lines 5-6) where seeds will not be unevenly planted including illustrations.
Date: July 7, 1914
Creator: Hooks, Jesse J.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bagging Strecher. (open access)

Bagging Strecher.

Patent for a bagging stretcher that provides a device to be "associated with the baling press for drawing taut the bagging which is used to cover a bale".
Date: July 7, 1914
Creator: Davis, William R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Balling-Compress. (open access)

Balling-Compress.

Patent for balling press that provides a compress for pressing bales of cotton, including illustrations.
Date: July 7, 1914
Creator: Mikeal, Isham
System: The Portal to Texas History
Band-Tightener. (open access)

Band-Tightener.

Patent for a lever used to tighten the bands on bales of cotton or other materials, including illustrations.
Date: July 7, 1903
Creator: Mullane, Dennis.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bustle. (open access)

Bustle.

Patent for a new and improved bustle. This design consists in "[a] bustle consisting of a single piece of wire bent in spiral form, and bent at its ends to form loops to which are secured straps . . . having a buckle, and the elastic strap secured to the strap and engaging a buckle on the strap" (lines 85-90).
Date: July 7, 1885
Creator: Davis, Charles Robert
System: The Portal to Texas History
Canning Apparatus (open access)

Canning Apparatus

Patent for a boiling receptacle to efficiently boil water while food may be cooked above the boiling water. Illustrations included.
Date: July 7, 1908
Creator: Wilson, William Wharton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Collar-Support. (open access)

Collar-Support.

Patent for improvements to collar supports "...to provide a supporter which may be readily pinned to the collar and which is therefore easily detached therefrom when desired" (lines 11-14) including illustrations.
Date: July 7, 1914
Creator: Towler, Mary E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combination Tool (open access)

Combination Tool

Patent for a combination tool. "The object of the invention is in a ready, cheap, thoroughly-feasible and practical manner and in small compass to combine a rule square, bevel, miter-gage, level, and plumb, the parts to be so combined and arranged as to permit of the use of one without interference with the others" (line 9-15) illustration included.
Date: July 7, 1903
Creator: Chambers, Silas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Halter and Weaning-Muzzle. (open access)

Combined Halter and Weaning-Muzzle.

Patent for a combined halter and weaning muzzle, "the halter being adapted for use independently of the muzzle and the latter being detachably connected to the halter" (lines 17-19). The halter is "the combination of a chin-strap and nose-band made in one piece and a weaning nose-band" (lines 18-20).
Date: July 7, 1896
Creator: Schow, Ottinus E.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Pessary and Womb-Battery. (open access)

Combined Pessary and Womb-Battery.

Patent for a combined pessary and womb-battery. It is inserted into a woman's vagina and is used to deliver medication "and to stimulate the genitals to a healthy and normal action both mechanically and electrically" (lines 11-13). The device is worn without discomfort and can be worn while pregnant.
Date: July 7, 1896
Creator: Keller, Martha Ellen
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corner-Planter and Fertilizer-Distributer. (open access)

Corner-Planter and Fertilizer-Distributer.

Patent for improvements in corn-planters and fertilizer-distributers is to combine the two into one machine by dividing the hopper into two compartments; one for fertilizing material and the other for corn-seeds. The bottom of these two compartments, each has its own opening design to dispense the seeds and fertilizers. Illustration is included.
Date: July 7, 1891
Creator: Davis, William Haywood
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Chopper (open access)

Cotton-Chopper

Patent for new improvements in cotton choppers which allows them to be durable and strong, yet flexible with adjustable parts to accommodate soil and growth conditions including instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 7, 1903
Creator: Gerding, Fred F.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Cleaning and Bat-Forming Apparatus. (open access)

Cotton-Cleaning and Bat-Forming Apparatus.

Patent for a cotton-cleaning and bat-forming apparatus that prepares cotton for compression into bales. The apparatus is meant to increase the value of the cotton it processes, and do so in an efficient and inexpensive manner. The amount of compression doubles the number of pounds of cotton one can fit into a bale. The chute does not let air out of the apparatus while cotton is being cleaned, and the air-pressure in the cleaner-condenser does not restrict the cotton's movement into the cleaner.
Date: July 7, 1896
Creator: Patterson, Warren A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Handling Apparatus. (open access)

Cotton-Handling Apparatus.

Patent for a cotton handling apparatus, which automatically feeds the cotton into the gin and stops if there is an overflow.
Date: July 7, 1908
Creator: Sullivan, Arthur A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Huller, Cleaner, and Gin-Feeder (open access)

Cotton Huller, Cleaner, and Gin-Feeder

Patent for an "improved cotton huller, cleaner, and gin-feeder adapted for separating the hulls and foreign substances from the cotton, ... and feeding the seed-cotton to a gin" (line 8-12) illustrations included.
Date: July 7, 1903
Creator: Larson, Eric B.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Handkerchief, &c. (open access)

Design for a Handkerchief, &c.

Patent for "a new and original design for handkerchiefs, fans, napkins, cards, and similar articles" (lines 8-10).
Date: July 7, 1896
Creator: Bowen, George R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Design for a Handkerchief, &c. (open access)

Design for a Handkerchief, &c.

Patent for a design for handkerchiefs, cards, napkins, etc., which features an Indian head,, a lion head, unicorns, scrolls, etc. Includes instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 7, 1896
Creator: Bowen, George R.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Ditcher. (open access)

Ditcher.

Patent for "new and useful improvements in Ditchers" (lines 5-6).
Date: July 7, 1903
Creator: Brown, John Dayton
System: The Portal to Texas History
Drawers and Pantaloons. (open access)

Drawers and Pantaloons.

Patent for new and improved pants. This design consists in "[a] pair of pantaloons, each leg of which is composed of a single piece, having the two edges and extended from the crotch to the foot of the leg, said extended portions being lapped one upon the other and united by the double lines of stitching, one in front and the other in rear of the usual line of the inside seam, whereby the leg is given a double thickness on the inside, and a smooth unbroken surface, adapting them to be worn in the saddle with comfort" (lines 16-26).
Date: July 7, 1885
Creator: Blake, Samuel Diggs
System: The Portal to Texas History
Farm Gate. (open access)

Farm Gate.

Patent for a new and improved farm gate. This design consists "[i]n a swinging-gate, the combination of a plate provided with notches upon its upper outer end and connected to the upper end of the inner gate-post, a lever pivoted to the plate and connected with the upper pintle of the gate, a latch pivoted to the lever and extending down through a slot therein to engage with the notches in the plate, and suitable cords and pulleys for operating the latch and lever" (lines 17-26).
Date: July 7, 1885
Creator: Akin, Leonidas T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fire-Escape. (open access)

Fire-Escape.

Patent for improvements in fire-escapes “in which a rope forming part of the device, has its upper end attached within a window or other opening of a building and is connected with apparatus to raise and lower an ascending fireman or other person escaping from the building.” (Lines 16-21) Illustration is included.
Date: July 7, 1891
Creator: Rutledge, William O.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Flexible Joint. (open access)

Flexible Joint.

Patent for a flexible joint for rigid pipes that allows the pipes to be taken around a bend or moved around easily in the operation of a sand pump or hydraulic dredging machine.
Date: July 7, 1908
Creator: Brown, Martin William
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fly-Trap. (open access)

Fly-Trap.

Patent for an improvement to fly traps in which the flies are attracted by a sweet smelling substance down a funnel into the substance from which they are unable to escape. The flies either drown in the substance or are poisoned.
Date: July 7, 1914
Creator: Brown, Thomas E.
System: The Portal to Texas History