A Process of Making Barrels for Musical Instruments.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 8th Feb., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Process of Making Barrels for Musical Instruments.
I, LUTHER ADELBERT BARBER, residing at Groton, in the county of Tompkins and
State of New York, one of the United States of America, Gentleman do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to an improvement in :-
The manner of making Barrels or Cylinders for Musical Boxes and other Musical
Instruments for which Rolls can be used to produce the tunes; and it consists in
laying out a scale on a flat plate instead of upon a cylinder, and securing to its surface
small raised points to correspond with the tunes desired to be produced, this plate
with points being used as a pattern from which a matrix is made to receive the
deposit of metal by the electrotyping process, and then bending the electrotype so as
to form it into a cylinder, as will be more fully described hereinafter.
The object of my invention is to form the barrels or cylinders of musical instru-
ments of different kinds by making the electrotypes from flat patterns, and then shaping
the electrotypes into barrels or cylinders for the purpose not only of forming the
cylinders much more cheaply and rapidly than has heretofore been done, but by this
means securing such accuracy as to make the barrels or cylinders interchangeable
either by changing the whole barrel or the electrotype shell, which may be slipped on
or off a suitable core or drum.
Figure 1, of the accompanying drawings represents a flat pattern from which the
electrotypes are formed.
Figure 2, of the accompanying drawings is an end view of a cylinder which is
formed by bending the electrotype into shape.
A, represents the flat plate upon which the scale is first laid out, and to which the
projecting points are secured in any suitable manner as indicated by the scale. This
plate having the points attached, then forms the pattern from which any suitable
number of electrotypes are formed. The electrotypes will in all cases be made
sufficiently thin to be readily formed into a cylinder C, as shown in Figure 2.
This cylinder need not necessarily be made by electrotyping alone, for they may be
formed of rubber, celluloid, or any other material which will answer the purpose, and
they will be cast, blown, or otherwise formed from the flat plate which is made in the
first instance. If so desired the process may be carried out by swaging thin copper
or other metal with dies, or a thin casting of some metal may be made, the same
being formed into a cylinder as above described, or the cylinder can be made by
using the above named flat plate or pattern in getting a matrix or mold of material
which can be formed into a cylinder previous to the electrotyping process.
By the construction here described, it will readily be seen that after the pattern is
once formed the cylinders can be very rapidly and cheaply made, and made inter-
changeable with each other thus enabling the number of tunes played by any one
instrument to be increased indefinitely.
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;
The process herein described of forming cylinders for musical instruments and other

page_text: machines, consisting in forming a flat pattern, then making a thin electrotype
therefrom, and then bending this electrotype into a cylinder, substantially as shown
and described.
"
Dated this 10th day of September 1889.
FELL & WILDING,
1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Agents for the Applicant.