The stylus was patented on December 17, 1889 with patent number 417,231. The application for patent was filed on March 23, 1889.

This instrument was an improvment of the stylus. It was used to mark the staff on any type of surface depending on the amount of pressure placed on the handle. The object was to make a durable stylus, and it was designed to be easily used.

An important improvement in the stylus was that the points would not have any lateral motion which resulted in faulty work. The points would be almost rigid under light pressure. The resilience of the points was provided by a piece of rubber added to the head. The reason for adding this piece of rubber was to compensate for the slight inequality in the surfaces that were used to print or engrave the staff lines.

In the figures to the right and below, the device is shown as a five-pointed stylus, such as would be adapted to use with many of the processes for printing music, for drawing the musical staff, or scratching or impressing the same on any desired material.

Fig. 1 - side elevation of the device showing the head or holder and as much of the points as would project from the opening on the end.

Fig. 2 - an edge view of Figure 1.

Fig. 3 - is a side elevation of the head with a portion of the casing broken away to show the interior arrangement of parts.

Fig. 4 - is a longitudinal section of the head, showing the form and position of the points as well as the preferred manner of securing them and the position of the elastic material or spring.

Fig. 5 - is a side view of the points.

Fig. 6 - is an edge view of the points.

Fig. 7 - is a section showing the contour of the points.

A - head
B - handle
C - points pivoted in the head with a pin passing through the head
D - spring or elastic substance to give resilience to the points

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