In 1885, when the \'olta associates were sure that 

 they had a number of practical inventions, they filed 

 applications for patents. They also began to look 

 around for investors. .-Xfter giving several demonstra- 

 tions in Washington, they gained the necessary sup- 

 port, and the American Graphophone Co. was or- 

 ganized to manufacture and sell the machines. The 

 \'olta Graphophone Co. was formed to control the 

 patents. 



The Howe sewing ukhIiIik' factory at Bridgeport, 

 Connecticut, became the American Graphophone 

 plant; Tainter went there to supervise the manufac- 

 turing, and continued his in\entive work for many 

 years. This Bridgeport plant is still in u.se today by 

 a successor firm, the Dictaphone Corporation. 



The work of the V'olta associates laid the foundation 

 for the successful use of the dictating machine in 

 business, for their wa.\ recording process was practical 

 and their machines sturdy. But it was to take several 

 more years and the renewed work of Edison and 

 further developments In Berliner and many others, 

 before the talking machine iiidusirs- realK- got under 



way and became a major facior in home entertain- 

 ment.'" 



'" The basic distinction Intwccn the first Edison patciit, and 

 the Bell and Tainter patent of 1886. was the method of record- 

 ing. Edison's method was to imient the sound waves on a piece 

 of tin-foil (wax was included as a recording material in his 

 English patent); the Bell and Tainter improvement called for 

 cutting or "engraving" the sound waves into a wa.\ record, with 

 a sharp recording stylus. 



The strength of Bell and Tainter patent is indicated by the 

 following excerpt from a letter written by a Washington patent 

 attorney, S. T. Cameron, who was a member of the law firm 

 which carried on litigation for the .\merican Graphophone Co. 

 The letter is dated December 8, 1914, and is addressed to 

 George C. Maynard, Curator of Mechanical Technology, U. S. 

 National Museum: "Subsequent to the issuance of the Bell and 

 Tainter patent No. 341214, Edison announced that he would 

 shortly produce his 'new phonograph' which, when it appeared, 

 was in fact nothing but tlie Bell and Tainter record set forth in 

 their patent 341214, being a record cut or engraved in wax or 

 wax-like material, although Edison always insisted on calling 

 this record an 'indented' record, doubtless because his original 

 tin-foil record was an 'indented' record. Edison was com- 

 pelled to acknowledge that his 'new phonograph' was an 

 infringement of the Bell and Tainter patent 341214, and took 

 out a license under the Bell and Tainter patent and made his 

 records under that patent as the result of that license." 



PATENTS WHICH RESULTED FROM THE VOLTA LABORATORY ASSOCIATION 



Patent 



Recording and repro- 

 ducing sounds 



Apparatus for record- 

 ing and reproducing 

 sounds 



Paper cylinder for 

 graphophonic 

 records 



.\pparatus for record- 

 ing and reproducing 

 speech and other 

 sounds 



Graphophone 



firaphophonc 



Graphophonic tablet 



Machine for making 

 paper tubes 



Mounting for dia- 

 phragms for acousti- 

 cal instruments 



Tablet for use in 

 graphophones 



.Support for grai)ho- 

 phonic tablets 



.Speed regulator 



Grai5hoi)hone tablet 



Inventors 

 C. S. Tainter 



C. .S. Tainter 



C. S. Tainter 



C. .S. Tainter 



C. S. Tainter 

 C. S. Tainter 

 C. S. Tainter 

 C. S. Tainter 



CI. S. Tainter 



C. S. Tainter 



C. S. Tainter 



C. S. Tainter 

 C. S. Tainter 



78 



BULLETIN 218: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM Ol- IIISIURV AND TECHNOLOGY 



