The Talking Machine Patent Archive

Patents you could hear

Wax cylinder

Patent drawing showing a rotating wax-coated disk mounted on a base with an upright frame, a crank-driven flywheel turning the disk through gears, a cutting-style recorder mechanism above the disk connected by tubing to a nose-fitting mouth-piece, and several detail insets of the stylus, reproducer, and friction-clamp components.RECORDING AND REPRODUCING SPEECH AND OTHER SOUNDS.Chichester A. Bell and Sumner Tainter · May 4, 1886Patent drawing of Edison's phonograph showing a circular electro-magnetic motor with four magnets and a fly-wheel, plus a horizontal cylinder machine with a horn, recorder and reproducer arms, and a swinging holder frame.PHONOGRAPH.Thomas A. Edison · July 31, 1888Patent drawing of a boxed phonograph recording apparatus showing a diaphragm and needle above a roller, flanked by two heating and cooling chambers with guide rollers, an oil lamp for heat, and gears and cranks (H, K, I) driving the recording strip through the mechanism.METHOD OF RECORDING SPEECH.George H. Herrington · November 13, 1888Patent drawing showing a horizontal shaft with a tapering hollow reamer, a large drive pulley labeled D, steam inlet and exhaust pipes, and a gage-arm mechanism, alongside a separate detailed cross-section and side view of the reamer's knife arrangement.MACHINE FOR MAKING PHONOGRAM-BLANKS.Thomas A. Edison · November 27, 1888Patent drawing of a graphophone erasing attachment showing a record cylinder, carriage with reproducer and recorder arms, and a hinged eraser roller mechanism with control rods and finger-piece, plus enlarged detail views of the eraser wheel and alternate blade forms.ERASING ATTACHMENT FOR PHONOGRAPHS.Philip T. Dodge · March 31, 1891Patent drawing of a graphophone mechanism showing a wax cylinder, a curved sound tube leading to a horn, a diaphragm-supporting frame with pivoted styles, and a threaded guide rod for traversing the cylinder, with hand-signed inventor and witness signatures below.PHONOGRAPH.John H. White · January 26, 1892