r,- 



rv -^f-. .f- 



^vt' 



''ij 



r 





Figure 7. — Original Plans for a Disc Graphophone Patented by Sumner Tainter in 



1888, U. S. Patent 385886. 



soluiiun of beeswax and paraffine (one part white 

 beeswax, two parts paraffine, by weight), then scrap- 

 ing one side clean and allowing the other side to 

 harden. 



The machine of sturdy wood and metal construc- 

 tion, is hand powered by means of a knob fastened to 

 the fly wheel. From the fly-wheel shaft power is 

 transferred by a small friction wheel to a vertical shaft. 

 At the bottom of this shaft a V-pulley transfers motion 

 by belts to correspondinsj V-puUeys beneath the hori- 

 zontal reels. 



The wax strip passes from one 8-lnch reel around the 

 periphery of a pulley (with guide flanges) mounted 

 above the V-puUeys on the main vertical shaft, where 

 it comes in contact with the recording or reproducing 

 stylus. It is then taken up on the other reel. 



The sharp recording stylus, actuated by a vibrating 

 mica diaphragm, cuts the wax from the strip. In re- 

 producing, a dull, loosely mounted stylus, attached to 



a rubber diaphragm, carried sounds through an ear 

 tube to the listener. 



Both reccjrdiiiij and reiiroducing heads, mounted 

 ahcrnately on the same two posts, could be adjusted 

 vertically so that several records could be cut on the 

 same 5i6-inch strip. 



While this machine was never developed commer- 

 cially, it is an interesting ancestor of the modern tape 

 recorder, which it resembles .somewhat in design. 

 Mow practical it was or just why it was built we do not 

 know. The tape is now brittle, the heavy paper reels 

 warped, and the reproducing head missing. Other- 

 wise, with some reconditionins;, it could he jnit into 

 working condition. 



Most of the disc machines designed by the \'olta 

 associates had the disc mounted vertically (see figs. 

 5 and 6). The explanation is that in the early experi- 

 ments, the turntable, with disc, was mounted on the 

 shop lathe, along with the recording and reproducins; 



76 



BULLETIN 218: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



