US236830A - Francis e - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

ment for Musical Instruments.

H R 0 O M H R h c a t t A d r a 0 B y e K Iw-vowvo v Erma-EMA om.

N. PETERS, FHOTQ-UTHOGRAPNER. WASHINGTON. D C,

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE,

FRANCIS E. MOORE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

KEY-BOARD ATTACHMENT FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 236,830, dated January 18,1881,

Application filed J um) 13, 1880.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANCIS E. MOORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Attachments for Musical Instruments, of which the following; is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements on that class of attachments for musical instruments which consist, essentially, of a me chanical apparatus adapted to be readily secured to or removed from the key-board of the musical instrument, and provided with the following elements, viz: a series of springactuated hammer -levers, each adapted to be vibrated about a pivotal center and to strike a blow upon one of the keys of the instrument, a strip, sheet, or band of paper, cloth, or other thin flexible material, having cut therein a series of perforations of varying lengths, arranged to represent the different notes of a tune, and a mechanism for feeding said strip, sheet, or band of perforated material past the ends of said levers, to mechanically strike, in succession, the proper keys of the instrument to produce musical chords or tunes.

The present invention consists of a novel combination and arrangement of mechanism, which is fully hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a plan or top view. Fig. 2 is a transverse section in the plane :0 :20, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section in the plane 3 y, Fig. 1.

Similar letters indicate correspondi n g parts.

In thedrawings, the letter A designates a case which can be readily secured to or removed from the key-board of a musical instrument, such as an organ, melodeon, or pianoforte. This case is provided with a platform B, over which the music-sheet is fed.

In the example shown in the drawings the feed mechanism consists of a roller, 0, which is mounted in suitable bearings at a slight elevation above the platform B, and to which a revolving motion is imparted by a hand-crank or winch, D, or by any other suitable means. When a winch is used I apply the same to a shaft, a, which carries a worm, b, that gears in a worm-wheel, c, mounted on a shaft,cl,and

()1 0 model.)

this shaft is geared together with the arbor of the feed-roller by cogwheels cf.

In the platform B is a series of mortises, g, which form the guides for a corresponding series ofjacks, E, the heads of which are beveled and made to project into grooves 71., formed in the roller 0. Beneath the platform B is aseries of han'nner-levers, F, corresponding in number and position to the jacks E, so that each of said levers supports one of thejacks. Said levers vibrate on a rod, t',which is mounted in lugsj, Fig. 2, secured to the bottom of the case A, and each of the levers is subjected to the action of a spring, 7., which has a tendency to depress its inner and to raise its outer end, causing the corresponding jack to rise up into the corresponding groove in the roller 0. The inner ends of the levers F are provided with tappets hand they are in such a position that when the case A is fastened on the key-board each of said tappets stands directly over one of the keys K, and that when one of the levers F is permitted to follow the action of 1ts spring the corresponding key is depressed. The springs k are so adjusted that they bear upon the levers F with a uniform power, and the tappets Z are adjustable, so that they can be readily brought in the desired relation toward the keys.

The music sheet consists of a strip, sheet, or band of card-board, paper, cloth, or other thin flexible material, having cut therein a series of perforations of varying lengths, arranged to represent the different notes of a tune, and if said music-sheet is caused to move over the platform B, beneath the roller 0, the jacks E,as the same come in contact with the solid portion of the music-sheet, are depressed to a distance corresponding to the depth of the grooves h in the roller O,and to the thickness of the material composing the musicsheet, and the inner ends of the hammer-levers F are lifted a corresponding distance above the keys, so that the latter remain in their normal position of rest; but as soon as one or more of the jacks meet corresponding perforations in the music-sheet the corresponding hammer-levers are free to follow the action of their springs, so that they act on the correspondin g keys and cause the same to speak.

It will be readily seen from this description that by means of the grooves h in the roller 0,

-I gain the great advantage that the throw of the hammer-levers does not depend solely upon the thickness of the material composing the music-sheet,but chiefly upon the depth of said grooves, and I am therefore enabled to use comparatively thin in aterial for the music-sheet without affecting the correct operation of my apparatus.

It will also be readily understood that the music-sheet can be caused to move through between the roller 0 and the platform B by any suitable feed mechanism, and in this case the roller 0 can be made in the form of a bar provided with grooves to receive the heads of the jacks E.

I do not claim as my invention an attachmentfor musical instruments such as described in Patent No. 216,429, dated June 10, 1879.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a mechanical apparatus constructed to be attached to the key-board of a musical instrument, the combination of the longitudinal roller or bar O,havin g a series of grooves, h, a platform, B, arranged beneath the grooved r the rotating roller 0, arranged above the platform for feeding the perforated music longitudinally over theplatform, and having a series of annular grooves arranged over the upper ends of the jacks, all constructed as described, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANGIS E. MOORE.

Witnesses OHAUNoEY T. SEooa, W. HAU'FF.

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