US372786A - Gramophone - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

E. BERLINER.

GRAMOPHONE.

No. 372,786. Patented Nov. 8, 1887.

Attorney v UNITED STATES PATEN OrrIcE.

EMILE warmer; wasnmeiron, nisrmc'r or. connnsm.

csa nop enesrncmcs'rron rennin: warm... Patent No.s72.7s6.dated1ovempe: a, ins-r.

Original application nn'a-m 4,1as1, sum as;

Ibald whom it may concern. I

Beit known that I, EmLsBnBLmnn, acitizen of the United'States, residing at Washattempted to cause a stylus attached to a vi-.-

sPOken words,j and'. is designed to overcomethe defects inherent in that art as now practiced and in the apparatus-used therefor.

'Bythe ordinary method of recording spoken words or other sounds for re reduction it is bratory diaphragm toiudent'a travelingsheet of tin-foil or other like substance to a depth varyingin accordance with. the-amplitudes of the sound-waves to be recorded. ,This attempt is necessarily more or less ineli'ective, for the reason that the force of i a diaphragm vibrat- ,ing under the impact of sound-waves is very weak, and that in the act of overcoming the resistance of the tin-foil or other material the vibrations of the diaphragm are notonly weakcued, but are also modified. Thus while the record contains as many undulations as the sounds which produce it, and in the same orderof succession, the character of the recorded uudulaticusismore or less difierent from those .of the-sounds uttered against the diaphragm.

There'is, then, a true record of the pitch, but a distorted record of the quality of the sounds obtained. The simple statement that, thematerialupon-which the record is made resists the movement of the diaphragm is not sufiicient to explain theilisto'rtion of thecharacter otf'the undulations, for if that resistance were uniform, or even proportional to the displacement of the-stylus, the record would'be simply -weakened,.bnt not distorted; but it is a fact that the resistance of any material to indenta- .tion increases fasterthan the dept-h of indenta- 011,80 that a vibration of greateramplitude of the stylus meets with 'a disproportionately greater resistance than a vibration of'smaller amplitude. For this" reason loud sounds are even less aceuratel y recorded than faint sounds, and the individual voiee'of a loud speaker recorded and then reproduced by the: phonograph cannot befrecognized. With a vie'wof and this application tiled September 26. 1883'. L tN omodolJ are still present.

seen 'No. 250,121.

overcoming this defectt has been attempted to engrave .instead of indent a record of the vibrations .of the diaphragm by employinga stylus shaped and operating like a chisel upon a suitablyprepared surface; but even in this case the disturbing causes above referred to apparatus of the phonograph or graphophone In addition to this, if in the type it is attempted to avoid the disturbing influence of the increase of resistance of the record-surface with the depth of indentation or cut as much-as possible by-primarily adjusting the stylus so .as to touch the recordsurface-only lightly, then anotherdisturbing influenee is brought into existence by the fact thatwithsuchadjustment,whenthediaphrngm moves outwardly, the stylus will leave the .record-surface entirely, so that part .of each vibration will not be recorded at all. This is more particularly the casewhen loud sounds are recorded, and'it manifests itself in the re production, which then yields quiteuninteh ligibie sounds.

It is the object of my invention to overcome these difficulties by recording spokfen vords orother sounds without perceptible friction between the recording-surface and the recording-stylus, and by maintaining the unavoid' able friction uniform for all vibrations of the diaphragm. The record thus obtained, almost frictionless, I copy in a solidresisting mate.-

.rial, by any of the methods hereinatter described, and I employ such copy of the original record for the reproduction of the recorded sounds.

Instead'of moving the recording-stylus at rightangles to and against the record-surface, I cause the same to move under the influence of sound-waves parallel with and bare] y in contact with such surface, which latter is covered with a layer of any material that ofi'eis a minimum resistance to the act-ion of a stylus operating to displace the same, all substantially in the manner of the well-known phonautograph by Leon Scott. All this will more fully appear from the following detailed description, inwhich reference is made to the accompanying diawings, whichillustiate one of the numerous formswhich my improved apparatus may assume, and in which Figure l'is a perspective view of my recording and reproducing apparatus; Fig. 2,'a like view of the recording and reproducing diaphragm with its stylus; Fig. 3, a similar view of a portion of the support for the record-suit face; Fig. 4, thesame view with the recordsurface applied; Fig. 5, a plan view of a phonautographic record; Fig. 6, a perspective of a phonautographio record copied in solid resisting material; and Fig. 7, the copied record mounted, ready for application to the support.

The general arrangement of the parts is best illustrated in Fig. 1, in which a Tshaped basegate, A, is shown, upon which two standards,

' cured to the side walls of the box K. This layer of elastic material is designed to serve as the support for the record-surface both in recording and reproducing.

For recordingI employ a thin strip of paper, parchment, metal, or any other suitable substance, which is secured at both endsto bars 0 d, inthe manner shown in Fig 7,..with reference to acopy of a record, and is then placed upon the elastic support f, with the bars 0 d entering into but projecting atboth ends beyond the box K, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, with reference toan engraved copy of a' record. Bolts q, passing through the projecting ends of bars o d, are employed to draw the record-strip tightly about the drum, and the length of the strip is such that the ends of the same meet as nearly as practicable upon a straight line, z. The record-sheet is then prepared to receive the record by covering its surface with a thin layer of any substance which is easily rcmovedby' the action of the recording-stylus. I may use lamp-black, which is deposited by placing a smoky flame under'the record-strip and by slowly turning the drum until all parts of the strip are covered with'the deposit. It is well known thatalayer of lampblack thus deposited, while it adheres well to the surface of. a solid body, is nevertheless easily removed from thcsame. It requires only an exceedingly small force to draw aplainlyvisible line upon such surface, owing to the fact that the spicules of carbon of which lampblack is composed are only loosely superimposed upon each other, and are exceedingly light. All this haslong since been recognized and utilized in the production of phonautographic records," and I take advantage of these facts in my improved method ofrecording and reproducing sounds.

The'diaphragm m is mounted in a frame, n, with its plane-at right angles to the axis of drum G. A post, 0, is fixed to the center of the diaphragm, and a slot in said post receives one end of stylus S, which is pivoted in the post by a pin, it. The stylus extends over and beyond the frame, with its free end barely in contact with the recordsurface, and is also piv.-; otally supported in .a slotin a post, p, secured.

to the frame by means of a pin, it, as shown in Figs. '1 and 2. It will now be seen that the stylus is in effect a lever having its fulcrum in the pin it, and that its free end can only move in lines practically parallel to the record-surface: If it is 'now desired to produce a record rotated by means of crank L, or by any other suitable means, 'andsound's. are uttered or di-.

tion the stylus only penetrates a uniform layer 7 of loosely-heaped carbon spicules and barely touches the record-surface, it is clear that the slight friction at the free end of the stylus will be uniform, whatever he the amplitude of vibration. Consequently the vibrations of the diaphragm will not be modified or changed by the reaction upon the same of a sensible and varying resistance, as is the casein all other mechanical sound-recorders.

Having thus obtained an accurate phonautographic record, the same maybe fixed by applying a thin solution of varnish of any kind which dries very rapidly and which does not obliterate or change the record.

If in this process the deposit of lamp-black be made thick enough, the line drawn by the stylus would represent a groove of even depth, preserving all the characteristics of the'sounds which produced itand which may be handled and touched with impunity. The latter is then removed from the drum and may bepreserved any length of time without danger of its being disfigured. This record I then copy in solid resisting material, preferably metal, either by the purely mechanical process of engraving. or by chemical deposition, or by photo-engraving. I prefer thelast-named process, which enables me to produce the most accurate copy of the original record in copper, nickel, or any other metal without in any way or manner affecting the original record. The

copy thus obtained, which may be multiplied to any desired extent, is a grooved wave-line upon a strip or sheet of copper or other metal, asshown in Figs. 1, 4, 6, and 7, and 'for the reproduction of the recorded sounds it has the advantage over -the ordinary records in tinfoil, wax, -&c.,- that it is not sensibly attacked by the reproducing stylus, and will stand an indefinite number of reproductions without the slightest variation in the accuracy and loudness of the reproduced sounds.

The copied record is fixed at both ends to the bars 0 d, as shown in Fig. 7, and is placed "of sounds the drum is slowly and uniformly upon the elastic support f" upon the drurn'in the same manner as has been described with ',reference to the original record-strip, and as 18 illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4. Gare-must be takenthat the "two ends of the undulatory groovesy meet exactly, as will .be readily understood. This condition of the apparatus is shownin Fig. 1 with the engraven record uponvthe drum and the free end of the stylus entering the undulatory groove. If, now, the drum is rotated with uniform speed, the end of thestylns will be forced "to --follow"the-. undulations of the groove 3 and-the diaphragm will be vibrated positively in both directions in strict accordance therewith, and will therefore reproduce the exact sounds which originally produced the record. Thispeenliarity of positive vibratory movement in both direct1 o n s of the diaphragm is a feature which also distinguishes my method and any appriratus 110m. others heretofore used. 1

In. the'tphonograph and graphophcnc the .end of the reproducing-stylus whiohlbears .-upon the indented or engraved record has a vertical upward and downward movement.

it is forced upwardly in a positive manner-by riding over the elevated portion of the record, but its downward movement is effected solely by'theelastic forceof the diaphragm, which latter 'is-- always under tension. In my improvedapparatus'the stylus travels in a groove of even depth and is moved positively in both d rections. It does not dejpendupon the clastiolty of the diaphragm for its movement in 5 one direction. This I consider to be an adyantage sinoe bythis method the whole movement of the diaphragm is positivelycontrolled by the record, and is not aliected or modified lay-the physical conditions of the diaphragm, 4o "whichconditions necessarily' vary from time to time and constitute some of the causes of imperfect re roduetion of recorded sounds.

In practit ng my. method of recording and; prodnoing-sonnds Iam not limited to the use 5 of the identical appnratus'herein shown and described; -This apparatus may be varied indefinitely without seriously impairing itsutility-for the purposes in view. Thus it is not absolutely necessary that a.diaphragm should be used "for receiving the impact of sound--. waves inrecor'ding and for remitting sounds in reproducing. 'Any sonorous body of whatever shape andmaterial maybe used in lieu of: a diaphragm-proper. The recording-sub face need n'bt'be mounted upon a drum',but

,finaybesu-pporind in any suitable manner upon a "support of any'description which is adapted original record, substantially as described.

to move the s'ameunder the stylus evenlyand with approximately uniform speed.- Nor do I confine myself to the use of lamp-black as a -63 substratum for the phonantographic record, although I have found this substance to yield excellent results. Any other substance which adheres well to the support and may at the minimum force may be employed.

WhileI have found the process of photoengraving to yield admirable copies of the same time be removed from the same with a 6 fphonantographic record, I do not mean to confine myself to this process to the exclusion of other processes for copying and multiplying the original record in solid resisting material;

and it will be readily understood that the details of construction of my apparatus and the manipulations of the same may be greatly changed without departing from the fundamental idea of my invention.

Ido not herein claim the apparatus shown anddescribed, either generically or specificall'y,asa whole or in part, since the same forms the subject of another application for patent previouslyfiledby me and of which this is a division.

-What Ido claim, and desire to-secure by Letters Patent, is 4 -1. The method or process of recording and reproducing spoken words and other sounds, which consists-in first drawing an undulato'ryline of even depthi-n a traveling layerot' non: resisting material by and in accordance with sound-vibrations, then producing the record I thus obtained in solid resisting material, and finally imparting vibrations to a sonorons body by and in accordance with the resisting reoord, substantially as described.

2. The method or process of. reproducing sounds recorded phonantographically, which consists in copying the phonautogxaphic record in solid resisting, material, and then imparting vibrations to a sonorous body by and in aceordancewith the copy of the orignalrebord, substantially as described. I

3. The method or process of reproducing sounds recorded phonautographically, which consists in copying the'phonantographie' record in solid resisting material by the process of photo-engraving, and then imparting positive to-aud-t'ro movements to a sonorous body by and in accordance with the copy of the In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

j EMILE BERLINEB, Witnesses:

JUL US SOLGER,

Jsoon G Co en.

Images