AN ANTIPHONE OR APPARATUS FOR EXCLUDING SOUND FROM THE EAR
Year: 1884

page_text: I JOHANN MAXIMILIAN PLESSNER of Stuttgart in the Empire of Germany
late Captain Prussian Army. do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"AN ANTIPHONE OR APPARATUS FOR EXCLUDING SOUND FROM THE EAR." and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This Invention has for its object the excluding of sound from the ear for the
purpose of procuring quietness, as the lid excludes light from the eye, thereby
rendering the greatest service to all brainworkers, whose labours, requiring
concentrated mental efforts ought not to be disturbed by noises. The apparatus.
will prove equally useful to invalids by giving rest to the overrought auditory
nerves, without the costly process of spreading straw on the pavement, an expedient
which only breaks the sound of carriage traffic without preventing other street
noises from passing through walls and windows.
The only effectual means for a momentary excluding of sound from the ear
consisted up to the present in the inserting of the fingers into the outer ear passages
exercising certain pressure for the complete closing of these passages. As however
this primitive method, which deprives one of the use of both hands and can thus
only be applied for a very short time, an invention was needed for producing the
same effect without the instrumentality of the fingers. This problem I have solved
by the construction of a contrivance, which I call an antiphone, consisting of two
stoppers of peculiar shape, which when fixed to the ear close the outer ear passages
and exercise the required pressure, without any artificial means, simply by the
elasticity of the slightly extended cartilaginous auricle itself.
In order to have the apparatus always at hand and to avoid mislaying and
missing it, when most needed, I have arranged it in such a way as to be attacheable
to a watch chain where it may be worn as a trinket. This combination of portable
time pieces and antiphones will be especially useful when travelling for the total
excluding of fainter, or the diminishing of intensive noises in carriages, railway
trains, ou board ship in hotels and boarding houses, as also for gunnery practice
when the use of the antiphone will prevent deafness or thickness of hearing.
For the better understanding of my invention I refer to the Figures 1 to 4 of
the accompanying Drawings, wherein Figure 1 gives a view of the antiphone in
real size as worn on a watch chain. A. A are two small grapnel shaped stoppers
with thin shanks 8. 8'. each having a ball b. b. at its lower, and a half disc d. d². at
its upper end. The half discs are each perforated with a hole for attaching the

page_text: "
stoppers to a hook or ring R. Figure 2 shows the position of a stopper when fixed
to the ear, the ball entering freely into the outer ear passage, whilst the half disc,
being flat against the inner side of the scapha, is held in its place and slightly
" Anthelix
pressed in the direction of the ball. by that part of the auricle called
practical trials having established the fact that the depth and diameter of the
outer ear passage varies considerably and independently of the size of the scapha
and the arranging of stoppers with adjustable shanks having proved inconvenient
I found it more practical to construct the antiphones of different but unchangeable
dimensions as shown in Figure 3. Each of the six balls, shown below the line x. z.
real size and which I designate with the letters A to F, may be fixed to one of the
six handles shown above the line x. y. The handles I designate with the numbers 1
to 6. There are thus 36 stoppers of varying dimensions, which will enable any
person to select the Antiphone, fitting his ears and this may be denominated by a
letter and a number as for instance D' in Figures 1. 2 and 4. This arrangement
will simplify the purchasing and selling of fitting Antiphones, since the size of
each stopper is stamped upon the half discs, as shown in Figure 3. The width of
the latter and of the shanks remains the same in all stoppers and is as shown in
Figure 4 representing a section of an Antiphone D*.
As regards the material of which the stopper may be made I have found metal
the most suitable, especially aluminium and nickel, silver or gold, since it facilitates
the application of light hollow balls, thereby forcing the vibrations of the air to
pass through various strata of metal and air before reaching the drum of the ear
which diminishes the intensity. All brittle substauces like glass and porcelain are.
unsuitable, since a breaking of the thin shanks may cause an injury to the
Lympanum, boxwood, papier maché, vulcanite celluloid and ivory may be used
with advantage, but are less durable than metal.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
An ear stopping contrivance, called an Antiphone substantially as described and
shown in Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying Drawings for the purpose of totally
excluding fainter sounds from the ear, or for diminishing intense air vibrations and
noises, which apparatus when in use, is held in its position without any artificial
fixing simply by the pressure of the slightly extended anthelix and when not in
use may be worn as a watch guard pendant.
Dated this 20th day of February 1884.