US397856A - George h - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

G. E. EEEEINGT'ON.

METHOD 0E RECORDING. SPEECH.

No. 397,856. I Patented Feb. 12,1889.

'n UNTED Sierrasv drones H. nERR1NG'ros,0r wlonrra,

EDVARD' l-l. JOHNSON,

PATENT OFFICE,

KANsAs, Assiexou 'ro' inlassen, AND or New vaan, N. v

METHOD oF RECORDING sPEEci-n SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 397,856, dated February 12, 1889. Applicstgntded June 18@ 887. Serial No. 241,796. '(.No morleid To all whom, it mag/ conce'm Be itknown that I, GeoRGE H. HERRING'roN, of Wichita, in the county of Sedgwick and State of Kansas, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Phonographs, of

which the following is a spcciication.

In my application filed September ll, i886,V is set forth a processof recording sound-vibrations by softening a material, passing it un- Io der the needle of a phonograph, and then al lowing it to cool. In the application referred to I described the use as the recording medium of a material capable of being softened by heat and hardening when cooled.

I5 My present invention relates to anothe specific process to the same end, one of whose advantages is that the appliances required for heating and cooling the material are dispensed with.

My :improvement consists, mainly, in the employment as a recording medium of a material which is softened by a chemical soli/cnt before passing under the vioratingt'reedle,

and afterward hardens as it dries.

I prefer to place the material upon the sur- `face of a thin flexible strip, which is fed by suitable mechanism from a drum on one side of the apparatus to one on the other side, passing under the vibrating needle, and before reaching such needle coming in contact with the solvent. Suitable materials for the purpose are celluloid, glue, wax,'n1olasses, pitch, asphalt, or various glutinous or resinous substances, or two or more of such substances in combination. A compound which I have -found especially advantageous is one of celluloid -mixed with a smaller quantity of molasses and beeswax, thecelluloid and beeswax being dissolved with ether or other suitable sol vents .4.0 -before mixing. "This mixture. I then spread evenly on a stri p of pape-'norothersuitablesurface and. allow lit. to dry hard, and then finish it with as smooth a surface as possible. An-

.othcr combination which I haye used to great advantage is one of glue, molasses, and wax, applied in a similar manne.' hatjust described. This forms a particularly smooth and glossy surface, and prevents largely the harsh grating sound, which is an objection when tin-foil is used. l

I employ solvents suitable for the particular material used. For instalce, with celluloid I may use ether, with glue, and water, which maybe heated, or with other materials alcohol, ammonia, or acetic acid, the proper solvent being employed for thc material used,as will be readily understood.

Convenient apparatus for carrying my invention into eifect is illust-rated in the accompanying drawings.

Figure l illustrates a form ol apparatus in which the strip is passed through a bath of the solvent. Fig. 2 illustrates a form in which the solvent is applied by means lof a brush, and Fig. 3 is a view of a portion of the strip. 65

In Fig. 1, A represents a suitable inclosing box or case. B is a vessel containing the solv ent. C is the mouth-piece or ear-piece, a; vthe` .'diaphragm, and b the vibrating point or needle. D is a spool or drum carrying the strip 7o c, on which the sound-vibrations are to be recorded. This is a strip of paper or other Vsuitable iiexible material of sufficient strength for the'purpose, and is covered with the soluble substance d, Fig. 3, such as above de'- 75 scribed. This strip passes over .a roller, e, and then over the two rollers f f in lthe vessel B, under the surface of the liquid, then over the Vroller g, which brings it directly under the needle, and, iinally, to the vreceiving drum or S'o spool E, on which it is wound, this drumheing revolved by a sprin g or any suitable motor,

as indicated, so as to move the strip when in operation continuously along underthe needle.

As the strip passes through the solvent its surface is softened by the act-ion thereof, so

that it readily receives the impressions of the needle as it. vibra-tes in accordance with sound-vibrations projected against the diaphragm. The drum E. is placed atasufticient 9o distance, s othatthe surface dries before "the strip is wound thereon. The surface of course hai-dens as it dries, so that -the Impressums remain' permanently thereon.

The drums are prefernbl y removable, so' that 9'5 the drum, with the record upon it, may be removed, and suchrecord may be' reproduced by' placing thedrum in a similar machine, of

course with't-hesolvent omitted, and passing it under the needle.

In the form shown. in Fig. 2 the strip c passes from the spool D to the spool E under ICO `1owhich vessel contains the solvent.

aperture in the bottom E the vessel4 a porous the needle, as before. The Vessel and the rollers therein are omitted, and the strip passes directly from a roller, 71, supported on the side of thecase to the roller g under the diaphragm.

5 Between the 'rollers hand'g a brush, fi, rests lightlyT on the top of the. strip. In this case this brush takes. the'place of thevessel of Fig; 1 as the receptacle for the solvent. A

' vessel, k, is supported by the top of tliebox, 'From an body, Z, which is preferably a mass'of iibrous or spongy material-as wicking or spongehangs down and rests on the brush 2'-, whereby the brush-is kept constantly provided with the solvent. The traveling strip is therefore .I l continually moistened with' ,the liquid as it moves and reaches the needle, with its surface in the desired soft and impressible condition.

v4o I prefer to provide the 'brush with a handle,

, 711,-'pi'vete at .1. and passing through aslotin the side of the ease, whereby when the machine is not in use, or when it is in use for reproducing sound,the strip may ige l{removes} from contact with thesolvent bylpressing down on the projecting handle. A spring.'n

catch', o, is preferablyprovided for'liolding brush away from the strip. The drum E is turned by a switable motor, as before.

Ido not claim herein'the method'of record-V 3:5V

ing sounds by softening the record i-i1g medinm, passing it through the recording-instru"-V `ment while ,in vsuch softened condition, and "then allowing it to harden to set the impressions, since this is claimed in my prior application, filed Septemberll, 1886;

That I claim isj y l. The methodherein, described of making a permanent record of Vibrations,.whieh conf .siste in softening a body 'of material by age.

chemical solvent, passing the same through 'the recording-instrument while itis in a softened condition, and then allowing it to harden, 2. The method of recording phonetic vibra-l tions, which consists in covering a strip of material with a substance capable of being 'softened by. achemical solvent, subjecting:

said substance to the action of snch solvent, passing itin its softened condition under the vibrating point of a phonograph, :and after- 5ov Cbrrectlon m Letters' Pa'tet No. 397,856

` It is hereby eertiied that Letters Ptent .-397, 856, granted February 12V, 1889, upon the application of George Harrington, TViehiggti Kansas, .for a-n improie- 4ment'in1 \`athod of Recording Speech,4 an error ppears in the printed spdeication requiring the 'folloiwing correction, viz: On page 1, 53, the Word and should be stricken out and that the 'said Lette-re Patent should be read. with this correction thereinA that the samejmafj eonformftothe record .of the'ease in the Patent Ofiee.` Signed, oountersigned, Yand sealed this of February, A. D. 1889.

' L,v HAWKIN S,

AAssals'tant Secretztry of ,the Inte-rior.

[SEALY Countergigned:

BEN'roN J HALL,

Gommz'ssmwr of Pdtenta.

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