IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE TRANSMISSION AND REPRODUCTION OF SOUNDS BY ELECTRICITY
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Chase Barney, of 53, Bernard Street, Middlesex,
for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE TRANSMISSION
AND REPRODUCTION OF SOUNDS BY ELECTRICITY.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Chase Barney at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th May 1882.
WILLIAM CHASE BARNEY of 53 Bernard Street Middlesex.
APPARATUS FOR
ELECTRICITY.
IN
THE TRANSMISSION
AND
REPRODUCTION
IMPROVEMENTS
OF SOUNDS BY
One part of my invention relates to Improvements of an Instrument for the
reproduction of sounds invented by Reiss, and in order to demonstrate clearly my
Improvements I annex a drawing of Reiss' instrument and I quote a description
of it as follows:-the receiver B, figure 1. consists of an electro magnet m,
mounted upon a sounding box or resonator W, and included in the circuit of the
electrical conductor from the transmitting station. Facing the poles of the electro-
magnet is an armature a, which is attached to a broad but thin and light metallic
plate i, the plate i, is suspended from the upright support k, its motion being
regulated by the adjusting screw and the spring 8. My improvements consist
in removing the sounding box w, Fig. 2. and placing it against the steel
spring and in suppressing the screw L. and the adjusting spring 8, and in
substituting for the thin plate i, a narrow steel spring g, one end of which
is firmly secured to the support and to the other end is attached an armature
facing the poles of the electro-magnet m. from the centre of the armature on
the side farthest from the magnet projects a short spur p which is held by the
pressure of the spring against a tympan or sounding box T the spring being so
adjusted that the spur on the armature will always remain in close contact with
the tympan or sounding box and also so that the armature can never come into
contact with the magnet, or the end of the spur may be attached to the tympan
or sounding box
In order to obtain greater amplitude of vibrations of the tympan instead of
attaching the armature to one extremity of a spring 9, Fig: 21 attach it to

page_text: about the middle of a rigid bar b, Fig: 3 of brass or other suitable metal, one
extremity of which bar Fig: 3 is fastened loosely to a support k and the other
extremity is attached to the centre of the tympan T
I further improve the apparatus Fig. 4 by substituting for the straight electro-
magnet a horse-shoe electro-magnet with a helix on one leg only, and to the top
of the other leg is attached loosely one extremity of the bar b, Fig: 4 and about
the middle of the bar is fastened an armature which is in front of the other pole
of the electro-magnet and the other extremity of the bar is fastened to the centre
of a tympan T
The operation of this Instrument is as follows:-when undulatory currents of
electricity pass through the helix on the electro-magnet the magnetization of the
magnet increases and diminishes in proportion to the increases and diminutions of
the current and consequently the armature of the electro-magnet is thrown into
vibrations corresponding to the undulations of the current, and the tympan
necessarily vibrates with the armature and sounds are produced which may be
greatly intensified by attaching to the tympan a suitable sounding box. It is not
necessary that the tympan should be made of a material capable of inductive
action, but it may be made of wood, brass, glass or any material suitable for a
sounding board, nor is it necessary that the tympan should be placed in front of
the poles of the electro-magnet,
Another part of my invention relates to an improved combination in an apparatus
well known as Professor Hughes' Microphone which is used for the purpose of
causing undulations in a current in a closed circuit
A Microphone used in a telephonic circuit should be capable of causing great
variations of undulations of the current, and also should be very sensitive to the
impact of sound-waves; and it is very advantageous that the sound-waves should
fall directly upon the loose parts of the microphone, and not through the medium
of any vibratory material, because the vibratory motions of such a material will
cause secondary vibrations, which will interfere with the faithful response of the
microphone to the sound-waves, and as a consequence the articulation at the
receiving end will be indistinct
My improved Microphone is constructed in the following manner-To the flat
surface of a semi-globe of metal g, fig 5 the rounded part of which is slightly
flattened, like the terrestial globle is at the poles, I attacli one end of a thin bar b,
of pith, light wood, or a tube of stiff paper or other equivalents the metalled end
of the bar rests loosely in a cavity sunk in a block of carbon C. preferably gas-coke
carbon, the bar necessarily stands perpendicularly without any support and will
vibrate responsively to the slightest vibrations of the surrounding air, in order
however to prevent the bar from vibrating too easily the upper end of the bar sets
loosely in a hole sunk in a block a, of wood or any suitable material placed so that
the bar shall incline slightly from a perpendicular position but never be able to
assume that position; or a very light bar of any good conducting metal may be
used having on some part of it fixed a piece of pith or other light material upon
which the sound-waves inay fall, provided that the bar may stand perpendicularly
without any extraneous contrivance by reason of the position of its centre of
gravity. When a bar of any other material than metal is used a very fine copper
wire w, or other light good conductor is placed inside or outside the bar, one end
of which is connected to the metal on the end of the bar, and the other end of
said conductor may be connected to one terminal of the primary wire of an
induction coil, and the carbon block in which the metalled end of the bar rests
may be connected to one pole of a battery the other pole of which is connected to
the other terminal of the primary wire, or the microphone may be placed in the
main line circuit.
Several of these microphones can be connected together by connecting electrically
all the carbon blocks c together and all the upper ends of the wire w in the bars
together or by connecting alternately the carbon blocks with the upper ends of the
Wires

page_text: The movements of the bars caused by the impact of sound waves upon them
produce changes in the surface contacts of their metalled ends with the carbon
blocks and undulations of the current are produced
I do not confine myself to the use of metal on the lower end of the upright bars,
carbon can also be used for that purpose nor is it necessary that the material of
the block or bar on which the upright bar rests shall be carbon, metal or any other
suitable material can be used; the upper end of the upright bar may be of carbon
or other suitable material, and the upper block or bar may be of carbon or other
suitable material so that variations in the electrical surface contacts there may be
made

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Chase Barney in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd August 1882.
WILLIAM CHASE BARNEY of 53 Bernard Street Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR THE TRANSMISSION AND REPRODUCTION OF SOUNDS BY
ELECTRICITY.
One part of my invention relates to improvements of an instrument for the
reproduction of sound invented by Phillip Reiss, a drawing of which instrument is
represented in (Figure 1) of the annexed drawings.
I am aware that Professor Alexander Graham Bell made certain improvements
in the instrument invented by Phillip Reiss, described in my specification, which
improvements consisted in suppressing the screw 1, the spring 8, and the sounding
box w, and in substituting for the thin plate i, "a bar of iron fastened loosely by
one extremity to the uncovered leg of a horse-shoe electro-magnet, and its other
extremity attached to the centre of a stretched membrane,' as described and
shewn in the drawings in Letters Patent No 4765, dated December 9th, 1876,
granted to William Morgan Brown on a communication to him from Professor
Bell. The instrument made in this manner does not reproduce articulate speech,
and this device was disclaimed by the Patentee, on the 13th February 1878, for
the reasons assigned in the Disclaimer, that, "the description of this device had
been published in Great Britain prior to the 9th December 1876," and also because
"of its small utility."
My improvements consist in removing the sounding box w, the screw l, and the
adjusting springs, (Figure 1.) and in substituting for the thin plate i, a narrow
steel spring g, (Figure 2) one end of which, is firmly secured to the support ; the
other end of said steel spring g, is in front of, close to, but not in contact with the
poles of an electro-magnet m. Upon the end of the spring g, a thin plate 2, made
of cardboard, cork, mica, wood, brass, glass, ebonite, iron, steel, or of any equivalent
material is held firmly. The said plate may be round, oval, oblong, triangular or
rectangular, and must be clamped firmly around its edges, sides or points, in any
convenient manner.
One form of my improved instrument is made in the following manner,-On a
straight bar m, (Figure 3) of soft iron, is placed a helix h, the covered wire wound
thereon, being in the circuit of a battery B, with a second helix h¹, placed on the
end of the bar m, the covered wire wound thereon, being in the main line circuit.
One extremity of a steel spring g, is firmly secured to the casing of the electro-
magnet m, the other extremity thereof extends over, close to, but not in contact
with, the end of the core in the helix h¹, and against this end of the spring g, is
firmly held a plate p, at right angles to the axis of the helix; this plate may be
made of cardboard, cork, wood, glass, brass, mica, iron or steel, or of any equivalent
material which may, or may not, be capable of inductive action, and the plate may
be round, oval, oblong, triangular, or rectangular, and it must be clamped firmly
around its edges, sides, or points, between parts of the casing of the electro-magnet.
The connection of the wire on the helix h, is made with the local battery B, at the
binding posts b, b, and the connection of the helix h', is made with the line wires
at the binding posts e, e, (Fig 4).
I do not confine myself to the use of a straight bar electro-magnet; any form of
electro-magnet may be used in combination with the spring g, and the plate p, in
the manner heretofore described; nor do I confine myself to the use of electro-
magnets; a permanent magnet, having a soft iron extension of its pole or poles, on
which is a helix, the wires of which are in the line circuit, may be used. When a
horse-shoe magnet is used, one extremity of the spring g, may be firmly secured to

page_text: one limb of the magnet, the other extremity being held in the manner described,
in front of, close to, but not in contact with, the other limb of the magnet.
This instrument may be placed in a case (Figure 4), or in a sounding box
(Figure 5), having one or more accoustic tubes t, t, opening in front of the
plate p-upon the side of the box are suitable commutators c, c, on which are to
be hung the ends of the accoustic tubes t, t, when the instrument is not being used,
in which case the circuits of the two batteries are opened and the line circuit is
closed for the call bell; and on removing the accoustic tubes, the circuits of the
batteries, and of the line are closed for the purpose of speaking and hearing-in
the same box is placed a microphone for producing undulating currents of electricity.
In accoustic tubes, in which are metallic spirals, there is always a buzzing sound,
therefore I prefer to use a simple tube of gutta-percha about one half of an inch in
diameter, the interior surface being smooth, and instead of a funnel shaped car-
piece, use a flat ear-piece of wood, about two & a half inches in diameter, similar
to that of the ordinary stethescope. In my provisional specification, I described
several forms of microphones which may be used to create undulations of a current
of electricity in a closed circuit, but I do not desire to make any claim for
them.
Having described my invention what I claim is ;-
First, In an instrument for reproducing sound by means of electricity the com-
bination of a bar of soft iron, having a helix surrounding it, the wires of which are
in the main line circuit, with a spring made of a material capable of inductive
action, firmly secured at one end to a fixed support, the free end thereof extending
over, and close to the pole or poles of the electro-magnet, a plate made of card-
board, wood, ebonite, cork, mica, glass, brass, or of any equivalent material, held
firmly by pressure on its edges against the free end of the spring, substantially as
described.
Second, In an instrument for reproducing sound by means of electricity, the
combination of a bar of soft iron, having a helix surrounding it, the wires of
which are in the circuit of a battery, and a second helix surrounding the end of the
bar, the wire thereon being in the main line circuit, with a spring made of a
material capable of inductive action, firmly secured, at one end to a fixed support,
the free end thereof extending over, and close to the pole or poles of the electro-
magnet, and a plate made of card-board, wood, ebonite, cork, mica, glass, brass, or
any equivalent material, held firmly by pressure on its edges against the free end
of the spring, substantially as described.
Third, In an instrument for reproducing sound by means of electricity, the
combination of a permanent magnet, having a soft iron extension of one, or both,
of its poles, and on one or both of said extensions is a helix, the wires thereof
being in the main line circuit, with a spring made of a material capable of
inductive action, firmly secured at one end to a fixed support, the free end thereof
extending over, and close to the pole or poles of the magnet, with a plate made of
cardboard, wood, ebonite, cork, mica, glass, brass, or of any equivalent material,
held firmly by pressure on its edges against the free end of the spring, substantially
as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Chase Barney, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this 22d day of August in the year of our Lord, One
1
1
WILLIAM CHASE BARNEY. (L.S.)