United States Patent Office.
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HENRY B. MORRIS, OF ITHACA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO THE AUTOPHONE
COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BARREL FOR MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.
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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 322,390,
dated July 14, 1885.
Application filed May 1, 1884. (No model.)
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To all whom it may concern:
  Be it known that I, Henry B. Morris, a citizen of the United States,
residing at Ithaca, in the county of Tompkins and State of New York,
have invented certain new and useful improvements in Barrels for
Mechanical Musical Instruments; and I do hereby declare the following to
be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will
enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use
the same.
  This invention consists of a barrel or music-roller for mechanical
musical instruments, on which the music it is designed to play is
represented wholly by pins, each prolonged note being obtained by a
succession of pins in close contiguity, forming in effect a continuous
ridge.
  In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I have
illustrated in the annexed drawings, and will proceed to describe, a
section of a music-roller on which the pins are arranged along the
convolutions of a spiral line, the roller being intended for a
mechanical musical instrument which operates with a spiral feed.
  Figure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a music-roller
constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of
the same.
  The music-rollers of mechanical musical instruments are usually
provided with pins for playing the short notes and with staples of
varying lengths for playing prolonged notes. The use of staples, which
of necessity require to be varying lengths, is a practically insuperable
obstacle to the manufacture of music-rollers by machinery, for it would
be extremely difficult to construct a machine capable of selecting the
proper staple at the proper time and of inserting the varying staples if
they could be selected. This difficulty is wholly overcome by providing
music-rollers with a succession of closely contiguous or adjoining pins
wherever a prolonged note occurs, as shown at various points along the
section of roller illustrated in the drawings, the closely-set pins
being just like the pins for playing the shortest notes. Thus, if a
single pin represents a one-eighth note, a one-fourth note would be
represented by two, a one-half note by four, and a whole note by eight
adjoining pins.
  Music-rollers of this description may be prepared automatically by
suitable machinery--such, for instance, as is described in an
application for United States Letters Patent filed by me of even date
with the application for this patent, and bearing serial number 130,007.
  I claim as my invention--
  1. A music-roller or barrel on which the short notes are represented
by separated single pins and the longer notes by a succession of like
but closely adjoining pins, substantially as before set forth.
  2. A music-roller or barrel on which the pins for playing a piece of
music are arranged along the convolutions of a spiral line, the shortest
notes being represented by separated single pins and the longer notes by
a succession of like but closely adjoining pins, substantially as before
set forth.
  In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two
witnesses.
    HENRY B. MORRIS.