The US patent office site, http://www.uspto.gov/, is a truly remarkable
place.  As well as mechanical music, I collect antique electric fans and
that's what started me there.

It's a little tricky, because _old_ patents can only be looked up by
patent number (most of the time the manufacturers only gave a patent
date, which is useless for searching) or by ccl (current classification
number).

The ccl for music is 84, and I've had good luck with ccl numbers like
84/53 and 84/58 for player piano patents.  You click on the patent
number and it shows you the original drawings.  What a _great_
resource!  (Second only to MMD!)

I've spent a lot of time there, and managed to run across the John
McTammany patent for the Encore Banjo.  The patent number is 705,952.
I'm not sure yet, but perforators might be found under a different ccl
number.  Have fun with this site!

Dale Wilson