Can Opener. (open access)

Can Opener.

Patent for a new and improved can opener. This design consists "[i]n a can-opener, the combination, with a radius-bar having a handle at one end and a vertical fulcrum or pivot-pin, of an adjustable sleeve mounted on the bar and carrying two cutters, one being adapted to act as a guide and the other as a cutter" (lines 27-32).
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Misener, Richard Oliver
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machine for Building and Rerolling Wire Fences. (open access)

Machine for Building and Rerolling Wire Fences.

Patent for "new and useful Improvements in Machines for Building and Rerolling Wire Fences"(lines 5-7), including instructions and illustration.
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Edge, John S.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Mechanical Movement (open access)

Mechanical Movement

Patent for invention has relation to mechanical movement and object is to provide a mechanical means for operating trip lever or other devices, and to this end the novelty consists in the system of lever cranks.
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Pickle, Obadiah A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Sulky Plow. (open access)

Sulky Plow.

Patent for a new and improved riding plow. This design consists in "[t]he combination of the bent axle having the vertical curved portion, the draft-bar secured to the axle, the plow-beam pivoted at its front end to a bracket secured to the draft-bar, rack secured to the plow-beam, pinion secured to the axle and engaging with the rack, sprocket-wheel on the shaft with pinion, sprocket-wheel journaled above [another] wheel and having a crank, and the endless sprocket-chain connecting the wheels" (lines 30-39).
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Miller, Tedor T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Hay or Cotton Press. (open access)

Hay or Cotton Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling press. This design consists "[i]n a hay-press, the combination of the box or casing having suitable doors in its top, bottom, and side, and supported on longitudinal base-strips, a main lever having a short toggle-arm, a semi-rotating fulcrum thereof, auxiliary arms pivotally connected with the main lever, reciprocating followers, and a drum and cord" (lines 26-33).
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Bragg, Thomas P.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Harrow (open access)

Harrow

Patent for related rotary harrows that consists of improve hereinafter scribed.
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Bettreton, Elijah Thomas
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fence. (open access)

Fence.

Patent for a new and improved fence. This design "is to provide a simple and improved fence which can be built with superior facility and economy, and utilize trees in range with the fence, and which will furthermore possess advantages in point of inexpensiveness, durability, and general efficiency" (lines 12-17).
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Ferguson, John Stephenson
System: The Portal to Texas History
Seeding Machine. (open access)

Seeding Machine.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists "[i]n a seed-planter, the hopper having the open bottom, in combination with a shaft journaled in the hopper above the bottom, stirrers located on the shaft and working through the said bottom, a packer working vertically within the hopper above the stirrers, and a connecting-rod attached to the packer and secured to the hub of the stirrer" (lines 27-34).
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Miller, Tedor T.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Saw Gummer. (open access)

Saw Gummer.

Patent for a new and improved saw gummer. This design "is to improve the action and prolong the usefulness of the bit and dies, and to prevent the clippings from interfering with the operation of the machine" (lines 26-29).
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Clopton, John Benjamin
System: The Portal to Texas History
Device For Illustrating the Transposition of Musical Scales (open access)

Device For Illustrating the Transposition of Musical Scales

Patent for an improvement in machines for transposing musical scales in which a marked and perforated original scale is run over the machine and automatically transported, with levers and rods to mark the sharps, flats, and other information.
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Neill, John, Frances
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Stalk Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Stalk Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved stalk cutter. This design consists in "[t]he frame mounted upon sled-runners and provided with braces, draft pole, and knives, in combination with the rake having check-bar, the sliding bar, connecting bar, and lever, all co-operating" (lines 89-92).
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Woodard, James A.
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper (open access)

Cotton Chopper

Patent for a new and improved stalk chopper. This design "consists in the combination of a suitable carrying-frame, which is to be attached to the plow, a shaft on which the chopping-wheel is placed, and which is operated by the revolving axle, and the chopping-wheel having adjustable cutting blades" (lines 13-18).
Date: July 28, 1885
Creator: Miller, Julian Tolbert
System: The Portal to Texas History