IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING OR DEADENING SOUND
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Fearon, of Great George Street, West-
minster, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING OR DEADENING SOUND."
Sealed the 13th April 1865, and dated the 11th November 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Fearon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
November 1864.
I, FRANCIS FEARON, of Great George Street, Westminster, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING OR DEADENING SOUND," to be as
follows:
The object of my Invention is to lessen the effect of sound in the ears of
travellers by railway, or in other cases where continuous sound may be
unpleasant or distressing to individuals. In order to effect this I cause a
small plate (padded or otherwise) made of any suitable material, to press on
each tragus of the ear. This may be effected in various ways, several of
which will be herein-after alluded to, but it will be sufficient in this my
Provisional Specificatiou to describe that which I prefer.
I make a thin piece of steel (or other metal or material) in the form of a
bow compass (or nearly so) the bow coming under the neck and the ends of
the legs under or near the lobes of the ear, and it is on the ends of these legs

page_text: that the plates (which are about the size of a farthing) are fixed or fitted.
The centre of the bow is formed as a spring and so elongated downwards as
to admit of pressure from thumb and finger for the purpose of fixing the
apparatus or removing it. When worn, each of the two plates closes and
presses lightly on the tragus of each ear, the metal pieces or wires descending
in curve or straight under the lobes of the ears, and so downwards below the
under jaw, meeting at the centre as aforesaid, where a spring or other.con-
trivance allows of their being pressed outwards to release the plates or one of
them. The plates and wires may be enameled color of flesh if preferred, and
I would here observe that the apparatus may be made to fit on from the back
of the neck (with very slight alteration of the parts) or even from the top of
the head, but I prefer to effect my object from under the lower jaw, as then
nearly all the parts of the apparatus are less visible, and if the wearer has
whiskers or beard entirely so, except as to the plates on the tragus, which may,
as aforesaid, be enameled the color of the skin.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Fearon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th May 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
FEARON, of Great George Street, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Francis Fearon, Her special licence that I, the said Francis
Fearon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Francis Fearon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully, might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Im-
PROVED APPARATUS FOR SOFTENING OR DEADENING SOUND," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Francis Fearon, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the

page_text: said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same. to be filed in. the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Fearon, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawing,
forming part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters of reference
placed thereon:-
The object of my Invention is to lessen, the effect of sound in the ears of
persons travelling by railway, and of other persons in the many other cases
where continuous noise or din may be distressing to the ears.
I make an apparatus by means of which a small plate made of iron, steel,
silver, or any suitable material, and padded on its inner surface with a soft or
smooth elastic or semi-elastic substance, is made to press on the tragus of
each ear, by which means the ear is stopped and the entry of sound is to a
considerable extent prevented. The pressure is produced by means of a
spring formed by a stiff elastic rod, of metal or other suitable material,
branching out of and connecting the two plates, which rod is curved or arched;
and when the apparatus is worn usually passes down the sides of the face and
immediately under, above, or in front of the chin. The arch of the spring is
so shaped that when the apparatus is not in wear the space by which the
padded plates at its extremities stand .apart is narrower than the face of the
intended wearer, so that when the apparatus is put on the padded plates are
forced further apart than is natural to them, and this force being resisted.by
the elasticity of the spring a pressure is produced which, when the padded
plates are. placed over the tragi of the ears; has the effect of closing thein.
The natural spring.of the arched rod may be increased by forming one or
more convolutions or twistings of the rod itself at or near the point of the
arch, as shown on the Drawing, or by extraneous means.
'
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawing is a front elevation (about natural size)
of one form of the apparatus above described, the spring being made of strong
wire, two plates of brass, and their padding covered with velvet ; and Figure 2
is a side view of the same. a, spring; b, metal plates; c, pads which press on
the tragus of the ear.
I would here observe that the form of apparatus illustrated on the Sheet of
Drawing is but a type of my Invention, and that I make the spring part of
my apparatus of various forms; further, that I do not limit myself to the use

page_text: of any particular material, but employ that which I find most conducive to
the end required, namely, a gentle but firm pressure of the padded plates on
the tragus of each ear; and although I prefer effecting my object by a spring
passing from beneath or near the chin up to the ears, the apparatus may be
made to fit on from the back of the neck or head, or even from the top of the
head, and this may be effected with very slight modification of the spring, for
instance, by curving it so as to make it pass under the lobe or over the top of
the ear in such manner as to bring the pads on the tragi. The spring may
be of one piece, as illustrated on the Drawing, or in two or more parts hinging
on one or more pivots at a common centre, and made of thin plates of steel
or other metal in lieu of wire. If the spring and the back of the plates
be enameled so as to imitate the color of the skin or the hair the apparatus
will not readily attract observation, and when worn.by men wearing whiskers
or beards, or both, or by ladies wearing bonnet strings, will be almost
invisible. If desired a spiral or other extraneous spring may be fixed below
any pivot when the spring carrying the pads is formed in two or more pieces,
and by pressure of the thumb on one side below the pivot and a finger on the
other above it on the opposite side, one or other of the plates may be tem-
porarily pressed outwards from the tragus of the ear, permitting full sound to
enter. On removing the hand the pad may be made to resume its place on
the tragus, so that the sound may be deadened as before.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and shewn a means by
which I carry it into practical effect, I would have it. distinctly understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein given or to the
Figure shewn on the Sheet of Drawing, as modifications may be made without
departing from my Invention, and I claim the exclusive use of apparatus for
stopping or deadening sound by means of pressure on the "tragus" of each
ear, substantially as herein described and illustrated by the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Fearon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of May, in the year of Our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.