Improvement in Scrapers. (open access)

Improvement in Scrapers.

Patent for improved road scraper with two-wheel vehicle and scoop pulled by a chain.
Date: July 15, 1873
Creator: Mayfield, William Dudley
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Coin-Controlled Apparatus. (open access)

Coin-Controlled Apparatus.

Patent for a simple, inexpensive, and durable coin-controlled apparatus that is "designed to indicate by the varying positions occupied by the spheres, the nature of a dream, the apparatus being designed primarily as a dream-revealer" (lines 17-20). The operator pulls a lever which forces the dice inside the glass container to move into holes. The operator reads a key on the outside of the device that indicates what he will dream.
Date: July 18, 1893
Creator: Taylor, James P.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Carriage Top. (open access)

Carriage Top.

Patent for a new and improved carriage top. This design consists in "the combination, with a vehicle-seat, a series of top-supporting bows pivoted thereto, and a jointed brace having its lower end pivoted to the seat and its upper end to one of the bows, of a rigid operating-lever having its upper end pivoted to said jointed brace and its lower end adjustably connected with the seat, whereby the position of the lower end of said lever may be varied and the brace and top secured in any desired position" (lines 51-60).
Date: July 3, 1888
Creator: Goelet, Edward Buncombe
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Arc Lamp (open access)

Arc Lamp

Patent for improvements arc lamps that "will be uninfluenced by the jar of the locomotive" (lines 17-19). Consisting of carbon-carriers rotated by clock-train.
Date: July 10, 1888
Creator: Gaston, E. James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Anti-Oscillating Attachment for Street-Cars. (open access)

Anti-Oscillating Attachment for Street-Cars.

Patent for an improved anti-oscillating attachment for street-cars. It has a car truck, equalizing pivoting bars secured between the truck ends, cushions on either side of the bars, adjustable bolts that hold the bars in place, and springs between the bolts.
Date: July 10, 1894
Creator: Chollar, Benjamin F.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling-Press (open access)

Baling-Press

Patent for "a device of this class which shall be simple in construction, in which considerable power ma be exercised without the use of complicated machinery, and which shall be rapid and effective in operation" (lines 9-14).
Date: July 23, 1889
Creator: Anderson, Zachariah J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Automatic Printing Device (open access)

Automatic Printing Device

Patent for "improvements in automatic printing devices. . .whereby the printing is effected b the movement of the paper or fabric on which the printing is done" (lines 10-16).
Date: July 23, 1889
Creator: Barradall, Norborne D. & Bradley, Andrew Jackson
Object Type: Patent
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
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Inkstand and Pen-Rack. (open access)

Combined Inkstand and Pen-Rack.

Patent for a inkstand with a magnetized pen-rack. If the pen or pencil isn't metal, a metal sleeve is provided to put around the utensil so it can sit on the rack. There is a space for ink-wells, pen-boxes, and a space for advertisements. It is meant for customers to use in lobbies.
Date: July 14, 1896
Creator: Moyer, Herman
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Letter-Box. (open access)

Letter-Box.

Patent for improvements in mail-boxes, where a movable partition is place inside of a mail-box “which is raised by the cover or lid so as to receive the mail and then drop it into the box as soon as the lid is closed, to attach to the lid an apron which rises in the box so as to make connection with the inner edge of the partition when the lid is raised to deposit mail-matter, and thus prevent any possibility of the content of the box from being abstracted when the cover is raised.” (Lines 18-27)Illustration is included.
Date: July 7, 1891
Creator: Wesson, Miley B.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Truck or Vehicle for Elevated Railways. (open access)

Truck or Vehicle for Elevated Railways.

Patent for an improved, strong, simple, inexpensive, and durable truck or vehicle for elevated railways that is meant to throw the lateral force of the car-body is exerted vertically downward onto the car's wheels.
Date: July 11, 1893
Creator: Turner, Ephraim M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Water Elevator Chain. (open access)

Water Elevator Chain.

Patent for a new and improved water-elevator chain. This design "has relation to that class of water-elevators in which the buckets are connected to an endless chain formed of wire, the several links being connected to each other by loops or eyes formed thereon; and the object thereof is to improve the construction of this class of wire chains, whereby the bearings for the links are greatly increased and strengthened and the general construction of the chain rendered more durable, also the links more conveniently coupled together or uncoupled without injury thereto" (lines 17-28).
Date: July 26, 1887
Creator: Mayfield, William Dudley
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Lubricator. (open access)

Lubricator.

Patent for an efficient lubricator apparatus that is made up of a reservoir for lubricating oil, a discharge pipe, another pipe that feeds water or condensed steam into the reservoir to displace the oil, a sediment container that has a valved discharge outlet on the bottom, a filter that cleans oil from the discharge pipe, a pipe that lets fluid into the sediment receptacle, and a steam pipe above the oil reservoir.
Date: July 16, 1895
Creator: Herold, Charles
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Vehicle-Wheel. (open access)

Vehicle-Wheel.

Patent for a vehicle-wheel that has cushioned, pneumatic, or elastic tires, shoulders, inwardly extending parallel branches, a felly that holds the branches in place and curves around the body of the tire, bolts that go through the felly and the branches, and spokes inside the felly.
Date: July 17, 1894
Creator: Penoyer, Newton D.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Speed-Indicator. (open access)

Speed-Indicator.

Patent for a speed-indicator to be used on trolly-cars and other vehicles that informs anyone looking behind the trolly-car if that car is speeding or not. An alarm goes off when the car goes above a predetermined speed, which is activated by a governor that is controlled from the wheels. A device keeps the signal normal.
Date: July 7, 1896
Creator: Bateman, Talbot Owens
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hog-Pen. (open access)

Hog-Pen.

Patent for a hog pen and feed trough that can hold and feed a variety of variety of animals. It consists of an inclosure with an opening, ways extending into and out of the opening, a sliding trough mounted in the pen, rollers that slide into and out of the pen, pulleys in the trough, a shaft journaled in the front of the trough, ropes that go around the pulleys, and a turning mechanism for the shaft.
Date: July 4, 1893
Creator: Wilkinson, Benjmon M.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hook and Eye. (open access)

Hook and Eye.

Patent for a hook and eye especially designed for clothing and keeps the area where the invention is being used is perfectly aligned and does not accidentally unhook.
Date: July 3, 1894
Creator: Wall, Frederic Watson
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
General Index and Alphabetical Record. (open access)

General Index and Alphabetical Record.

Patent for a general index and alphabetical record that organizes records in an index instead of a book.It is a chest of shallow drawers, each having a letter of the alphabet printed on its front. Attached to each drawer is a blank book.
Date: July 28, 1896
Creator: Ward, George C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Thill-Coupling. (open access)

Thill-Coupling.

Patent for a strong, durable, and simple thill coupling that does not need a spring connection in order to maintain a flexible connection between the thill and axle.
Date: July 25, 1893
Creator: Cobb, Woodson D.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Air-Compressor. (open access)

Air-Compressor.

Patent for "new and useful improvements for air-compressors" (lines 5-6), with instructions and illustrations.
Date: July 20, 1886
Creator: Harrold, Mahlon
Object Type: Patent
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.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seeding Attachment for Disk Harrows (open access)

Seeding Attachment for Disk Harrows

Patent for "improvements in seeding attachments for disk harrows, whereby the operation of harrowing the stubble and seeding-grain may be accomplished simultaneously" (lines 10-14).
Date: July 2, 1889
Creator: Rogers, Jonathan Judson & Kennedy, Oliver Sylvester
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Improvement in Car-Couplings. (open access)

Improvement in Car-Couplings.

Patent for an "improvement in car-couplings; and it consists in the arrangement and combination of devices whereby the pin is supported in a raised condition; also in a spring-slide for holding up the link ready for coupling with another car." (lines 13-18)
Date: July 2, 1878
Creator: Gassaway, John H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Motive Power. (open access)

Motive Power.

Patent for a new and improved motor. With this design, "[i]t is to be observed that the beam is provided with a series of holes near one end, and the frame is also provided with a corresponding series of apertures, so that by taking out the pin which supports the beam and changing its position the throw of the beam may be regulated at pleasure" (lines 57-63).
Date: July 26, 1887
Creator: Louthian, Lafayette D.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History