US1006669A - Automatic player for musical instruments. - Google Patents

Description

MEADE. AUTOMATIC PLAYER FOR MUSIGAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR. 25, 1907.

' Patentad Oct. 24, 1911.

5 SHEETSSHBET 1.

INVENTOR 7 ATTORNEYS W N ESS ES 1 QWQA QYWA N. G. MEADE. AUTOMATIC PLAYER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

.L 1 9 1 4 2 O 0 d e t n 9 LIU a P. m 9 1 5 2 L. A M D E L I r N 0 I T A w. L P P A 5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES 1 ATTORNEY- N. e. MEADE. AUTOMATIC PLAYER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLIOATiON FILED MAR. 25, 1907. 1,006,669. Patented Oct. 24., 1911.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J 5/ 32 0 az nnnnuunnnnnnuunnnunnnunnnnnununnnn .uunnnunnm-ll 64 .4. 5 v 44. l mmmnmm 6,

1 "1: jlilllmhm I APPLIGATION FILED MAE.25, 1907.

Patented Oct. 24, 1911.

5SHEBTSr-SHEET 5.

NORMAN G. MEADE,'OF WILKINSBURG', PENNSYLVANIA,- ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF JOHN B. GOMSTOCK, OF EDGEWOOD PARK, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC PLAYER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORMAN G. MEADE, a citizen of the United States, and a'resident of Wilkinsburg, in the county of Allegheny 'and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a. "new and useful Improvement in Automatic Players for Musical Instruments, of which the following is a specification.

My'in'vention relates to devices for the automatic production of music and has special reference to automatic players for pianos and like instruments.

The object of my invention is to provide a device of the class above indicated that shall be simple and durable in construction and that shall embody improved means for automatically regulating the tempo, touch and pedals of the instrument with-which it is connected.

Automatic piano players have usually 'con 1- prised means for operating the piano keys by strikers or hammers, such means being governed by a sheet of perforated paper that was passed gradually over a set of holes in the wall of a pneumatic chamber. According to my present invention, 1 provide a chamber or hollow cylinder having? a'series of holes in one wall, means for exhausting the air from the-chamber, a series of spring contact members, and pins which are fitted loosely into the holes in the chamber wall and which are adapted to effect the closure of electric circuits through onev or more of the spring contact members when air or other fluid-pressure is applied to their outer extremities. These contact members correspond in number and relativelocation to the keys of a piano and several additional contact devices are provided which are adapted to effect the automatic control of the tempo or rate of playing, the operation of the pedals, and the touch, or the force with which the playing hammers or strikers are actuated. The admission of air-pressure to the chamber is dependent upon a plurality of perforations or holes through a sheet or strip of suitable material, such as paper, which is passed over the chamber, preferably from one roll to another, in'a wellknown manner, and additional perforations, as hereinafter explained, are provided for I the control of expression.

Specification of Letters Patent.

-12 is driven from this main sprocket wheels 21 and 22 that are Patented Oct. 24,-

Application filed March 25, 1907. Serial No. 364,531.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which l v Figure 1 is a plan view of an automati piano player constructed in accordance therewith. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, Figs. 3 and 4 end elevations,and Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8 detail views of the device shown in Fig.1. Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic view of the action and circuit connections "for a plano and my improved playing device. Referring to Figs. 1 to 8, inclusive,:of the drawings, the device illustrated comprises a stationary base 1, a vacuum chamber 2, and rolls 8 and 4 which .are supported upon the base 1 by a frame 5. This frame consists of two end brackets or plates 6 and 7 that are bolted to the base, and tie-bolts 8 that interconnect the end brackets. The air is exhausted from the chamber 2 by means of pumps 9 and 10 which comprise oscillating cylinders and pistons and which are driven by an electric motor 11, through a train of gears, a shaft 12 and eccentric projections l il k f a y a we nown type 0 centri al um or by any other suitable device for exlihusti ing the air from the cylinder. A main driving shaft 14; of the mecha-' nism is rotatably mounted in stationary bearings 15 and is connected to the shaft of the motor 11 bya pinion 16 on the motor shaft, a gear wheel 17 and apinion 18 on a jack shaft 19, and a gear wheel 20 which is fixed to the shaft 14 and meshes with the pinion 18, the pinion 16 meshing with the gear 17 on the jack shaft. The pump shaft shaft by connected by a chain 23' and by gear wheels 24 and25, the sprocket wheel 22 and the gear wheel 25 being keyed to a rotatable jack shaft 26. The rolls 3 and 4 are rotatably mounted upon shaft projections between the end 95,

brackets 6 and 7,. and spur gear wheels 28 and 29 are attached'to corresponding ends of the rolls 3 and 4 on the extremities of the shaft projections which extend through the end frames 6 and 7. A beveled gear wheel 30 is attached to the opposite shaft projection from the'ro'll 4. The longitudinal axes of the chamber 2 and the rolls and 4 are substantially parallel. Ode on pumps 9 and 10 may be replaced drically curved the outer surfaces of the chamber is of cylindrical curvature and the position of the rolls is such that when a film or strip is wound over the roll 3, across the .cylinsurface of the chamber 2, and onto the roll 4, a slight downward pressure is exerted against the engaged surface of the chamber. A screw-threaded rod 31 is rotatably mounted in brackets 32 that are attached to the end plate 6 and the rotation of this rod is effected through a beveled gear wheel 33 which meshes with the beveled gear wheel 30.

Between the end bracket 7 and the corresponding stationary bearing 15, a bell-crank lever 33? is pivotally mounted upon the shaft 14. The bell-crank lever comprises two arms 34 and 35 substantially atright angles to each other near the extremities of which sheaves 36 and 37, a spur gear wheel 38, a sheave 39 and a spur gear wheel 40 are rotatably mounted. The sheaves 37. and 39 are connected by a belt 41 orv other driving connection, andthe sheave 36 is connected to a sheave 42 with which the shaft 14 is provided, by means of a crossed belt 43. The sheaves 36 and 37 and gear wheel 38 are attachedto the same shaft, so

' in one direction by a inner extremity with that their angular velocity is always thesame. This is also true of the sheaves 39 and the gear wheel 40. Therotation of the bell-crank lever on the shaft 14 is limited stop 44 which is attached to the end'bracket 7, and it. is constrained to occupy this extreme position in which the gear wheel, 38 meshes with the gear whee1'29of spring 45. The jack shaft 26 1s alfixed to the outer extremity fulcrumed" at an intermediate point 26 and has a slot and pin. connection at its the arm 35 ofvthe bellcrank lever 33. The arrangement of parts is such that the gearwheel 25 meshes with the gear wheel 24 only when-the arm 35 engages the stop 44. y

An actuating electrom gnet 46, having windings 47 and an armature 48 that v1s pivoted upon a pin 49, is attached' to the stationary bracket 7, and this armature 1s connected to the, outer extremity of the arm 34 of-the bell-crank lever 33 by means of a link 50. When the energized, its armature is ,rotatedthrough a slight angle about its axis and, inconsequence of this movement, the bell-crank lever is rotated in opposition to the sprlng 45 until the gear wheels 38 and 25 are re- 'spectively disengaged from the gears 29 and 24 and the gear wheel 40 moves into engagement with, the gear wheel 28. When the bell-crank lever occupies one position, the take up roll, onto which the music strip is wound, is rotated in one direction and the other roll is free to follow. On the contact member in the roll 4 by a helical of a Y lever 26 which 'holes inthe plate. :68 and the slots 66 electro-magnet is.

other hand, when the bell-crank lever occupies its opposite position, rotation of the roll on whichthe musicstrip was originally wound is eflected in a reverse direction and the take up roll is free. The function of this portion of the mechanism will be more specifically pointed out hereinafter.

A motor-starting switch 51 is attached to the end bracket 6 and comprises a movable contact member 52, stationary contact members 53 and 54, stops 55, which limit the movements of the member 52, and a spring'56 that tends tokeep the movable its open-circuit position. The switch 51 is adapted to be closed by the movable member 58 of a switch 57 that closes the circuit of the magnet windings 47 of the ele'ctro-magnet 46 when said movable contact arm is moved to engage stationary contact members 59. The arrangement of parts is such that when the.

switch 51 occupies its open circuit position, the switch 57 also occupies its open .pigicuit position, but when the motor circuit is compl "he switch 57 may be closed by energ. an actuating magnet 60, having a winding 61 and a movable armature 62 that is connected to the movable arm 58 by means of a link 63. ,In starting the motor, the switch 51 may be manually closed by means of an actuatin" red 64 that does not interfere with the ree operation of the switch under normal conditions by reason of a spring 65 which holds the adjacent end of the rod out of range of the switch.

The chamber 2 may preferably be constructed as illustrated in Fig. 6,- which is a sectional elevation of this portion of the device, the upper cylindrical surface being provided with a plurality of grooves or saw cuts 66 in order to direct the air into the holes 67, which may be somewhat irregularly located. A smooth contact surface, over which the music strip 3O may pass, is p1'0 vided by a sheet metal plate 68 that is bent to conform in shape to the surface of the chamber and is provided with a series of slots or openings 69 through which air may.

be admitted tothe slots 66, when perforations in the music strip coincide with these may be omitted if the holes 67 are regularly located and are provided with sharp edges so that their coincidence with the holes in the music strip may be well defined. A comb or notched. strip 70, of conducting material, is supported upon a ledge 71 in the chamber 2 and extends substantially throughout its length. The projections or teeth of the comb form independent, resilient fingers a, b, 0, (Z, c, f, g, h and 2' which may be moved into engagement with stationary contact points 72 by pins 73that are fitted loosely into the holes. 67 andarest upon the contact fingers,

The sheet. metal plate.

ends of. the pins.

magnet winding 75 which encirclesv one leg of the core. The core member 74 is pro- {vided with a 'znagnetizable strip 76 that is rotatably attached to the core proper and is adapted to icompletely close the magnetic fcircuit whena magnetic field is produced by energizing the windings 75. This movable member is mechanically connected to one of the piano keys 77 by means of a wire or strip'78, the lower extremity of. which is hooked intoengagement with an eyelet 79- that is attached to the piano key. The del sired result may obviously be obtained with equal facility, whether the magnet is located above the key and its movable member is cbnnected'to it at a point between its'fu-lcrum and its inner end, as shown, or whether the magnet is located below the key and its movable member is connected to thekey between its fulcrum and its outer end. The position of the magnets will, of course, be determined by the style of instrument to which the player is attached. The space occupied by one of the electromagnets 73? is materially greater than the width of a sinle 'key plus the distance between adjacent eys, and, consequently, adjacent electromagnets are staggered in a well-known 4U manner.

In obtaining the expression, particularly variations in the tempo and touch, a devlce similar to that illustrated in Fig. 5 may advantageously be employed. This device comprises-a plurality of stationary contact ring segments 80 which are fixed to aninsulating plateor slab 81, a rotatable engaging contact arm82, a ratchet wheel 83 fixed and a pawl 87 which is pivotally attached to the outer extremity of the armature 86 thereto, an electro-magnet 84 having a winding 85 and a pivotally mounted armature 86,

and is held in engagement with the ratchet wheel 83'by means of a spring'88.

Assuming that a music strip is wound on the roll 3 and that its loose end is passed over the curved surface of the chamber 2 formed by the plate 68' and is attached to the roll 4, the electric motor 11 may be i started by manually actuating the rod 64 to close the switch 51.

' The motor 11 may be of any suitable type having a variable speed characteristic and may be supplied with energy from any suitable source. The circuit connections for-the in Fig. 5.

motor, which, as illustrated in Fig. 9,'is a' compound wound motor of the direct current type, may be traced as follows: Energy is supplied from-a relatively high voltage source of electrical energy,such"as a shunt generator 89, through a variable resistance and switch 51 to the motor 11. The variable resistance 90 is intended to etfecta speed regulation of the motor rather. than to serve as a starting rheostat, and in case an alternating current motor is employed for driving the device, this resistance can be replaced by an auto-transformer or other suitable means for varying the voltage applied to the motor circuit. Asillustrated,

the resistance 90 is controlled-by a device, such as that shown on a'larger scale in Fig. 5, and, under normal conditions, the movable contact arm occupies a position such that approximately half ofthe resistance is included in the motor circuit and, therefore, a speed variation ispermittedin either direction. A reasonable amountof themusic strip may preferably be left without per forations, sothat the motor. may have an opportunity to accelerate, and, when normal conditions obtain, the music-strip will be traveling over the holes 69 in the plate 68 at a substantially constant speed. As predetermined perforations in the sheet pass over the'holes oorrespondingto the desired keys, certain of the pins 73 are given a downward motion so that the corresponding contact fin ers engage the stationary contact terminals 2. A circuit is' now completed through any convenient source,'such as a storage battery 91, illustrated in Fig. ,9, to the comb or notched stri tionary contact terminals 2, and conductors 92, to magnet windings 75 of the electromagnets 73*, the circuits being completed from these points'through a single resistance 93 to the negative terminal of the battery.

The resistance 93 is representative of ja ny suitable voltage-varying means and may be mechanically arranged, as thedevice shown In this case, as before, 'under normal conditions, the movable contact arm occupies such a position that approximately one half the resistance is included in the circuit.

Inasmuch as the function of the pedals in a piano is'well known, I deem it unnecessary to describe their action here, butin my automatic device, these parts are actuated, as;

illustrated in Fig. 9, by means of electromagnets 94:, 95 and 96. Thesemagnetsare provided with windings 97,98 and 99 and movable core members 100, 10-1, and 102 that are severally connected to thejpedal-actuat: ing rods by means of links- 103. ,The magnet windings 97, 98 and 99 maybe energized selectively by the closure of control switches 104, 105 and- 106. These switches are elec-* trically operated, being equipped w th mag 70, throughstanet windings 107, 108 and 109, which, in turn, may be energized when contact fingers d, e and f are moved into engagement with their cooperating stationary contact terminals 72. It will be readily understood that the desired pedal action may be effected.

by providing suitable perforations in the music strip 30 for selectively applying airpressure to the pins 7 3 that correspond to the contact fingers.

The regulation of the tempo is effected by increasing and decreasing the active portion of the resistance 90, and the touch or the force with which the hammers or strikers are actuated may be varied by decreasing or increasing the active portions of the resistance' 93. The regulation of the resistance 90 and the regulation f the resist: nce 93 are respectively dependent upon the actuation of the contact fingers h and g and are similarly effected, so only one will be de' scribed in detail, reference being had to Fig. 5 in connection with the diagram of Fig. 9. The magnet winding 85 is energized directly from the battery 91 when contact finger It moves into engagement with its stationary contact terminal 72, and the resulting 'motion of the armature 86 effects the rotation of the contact arm 82 from one of the contact ring segments 80 to the next adjacent segment by reason of the engagement of the pawl 87 with the ratchet wheel 83, the number of teeth on the ratchet wheel corresponding to the number of ring segments. It will be readily understood that, with the arrangement shown, rotation of the movable contact arm can only be efiected in one direction, but, by providing a series of perforations in the music strip, the contact arm may be moved from one ring segment to any other desired ring segment so quickly that no perceptibly undesirable effect on the music will result. For example, a single perforation will, of course, move the arm in a clockwise direction from one ring segment to the next adjacent ring segment, and

' on the other hand, five perforations, close together, in a direct line, on the music sheet will virtually effect a counter-clockwise movement from any one contact ring segment to the next adjacent contact ring-segment.

- plate 68 a single gizes the magnet windings 47 of the electromagnet- 16 from the main source of energy. As soon as this magnet is energized, the bellcrank lever 33* is rotated through a small anglein opposition to the spring 45 until the gear wheels 38 and 25 become disengaged from the gear wheels 29 and 24, and the gear wheel 40 moves into engagement with the gear wheel 28. As soon as these conditions obtain, the roll 3 is rotated'in a reverse direction from its normal playing motion and, consequently, the music strip is rewound ,upon theigoll 3. A repetition of the musical notes in a reverse order is prevented by the equalization of the air-pressure within. and without the chamber 2 which follows the disengagement of the gear wheel 25 from the gear wheel 24; and the stopping of the exhaust pumps.

The screw-threaded rod 31, which is driven from the roll 4c, is providedwith a traveling nut 112, which is provided with a pawl projection 113 to engage the arm 52 of the switch 51 and move it slightly in order that the spring 56 may move it to its open-circuixt position when the music strip has been entirely rewound upon the roll 3. In this way, the motor is employed for rewinding the music strip onto the original roll, and, after this action is complete, the motor cir-- cuit is interrupted. A slight movement of the arm 52 by the projection 113 is sufiicient to enable the spring 56 to separate the contact member 53 from the terminal 54:,ar'1d,

thereupon, the nut 112 immediately stops in such position as to permit the rod 6 1 to engage the arm 52 and move it to its circuitclosing position when desired.

I claim as my invention:

'1. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination with a pneumatic chamber having a set of holes through one wall, a roll or cylinder rotatably mounted at each side of the chamber, and a perforated strip or film wound on one roll, of a pump for exhausting the air from the chamber, a motor for driving both the pump and the rolls, and means dependent upon predetermined perforations in said strip or film for reversing the rolls and for disconnecting the pumpfrom the motor.

2. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination with a pneumatic chamber having a set of holes through one wall, a roll or cylinder rotatably mounted ateach side of the chamber, and a perforated strip or film wound on one roll, of a pump for exhausting the air from the chamber, a motor for driving both the pump and the rolls to wind the filmv from one roll to the other, means for reversing the rolls to rewind the strip and for disconnecting the pump fromthe motor, and means for automatically bringing the motor to rest when the rewinding operation is completed.

3. In an automatic musical instrument, the combination with a pneumatic chamber having a set of holes through one wall, a roll or cylinder rota ably mounted at each side of tire chamber and a perforated strip or film wound on one roll, of a pump for exmotor, and meansdependent upon the openhausting the air from the chamber, a motor for driving both the pump and the rolls, and an eiectro-responsive device for revels ing the rolls and for disconnecting the exhaust pump from the motor.

4. In an automatic musical. instrument, the combination with a pneumatic chamber having a set of holes through one Wall,

spring contact fingers disposed in the chamber, actuating pins that engage the fingers and project loosely into the holes in the chamber wall, a roll or cylinder rotatably' mountedfat each side of the chamber, a perforated strip or film wound on one roll, an exhaust pump for the chamber, and an electric motor for driving the pump and for transferring the strip or film from one roll to the other and over the holes in the cham ber, of an electro-responsive device for reversing the rolls and for disconnecting the exhaust pump from the motor, an electrically-operated circuit interrupter for the ing of the motor circuit for deinergizing the electrc-re'sponsive device.

5. In an automatic musical instrument,

the combination with a pneumatic chamber.

having a set of holes in one wall, a roll mounted at each side of the chamber, pumps for exhausting the air from the chamber,- and a motor for driving the pumps and for actuating the rolls in one direction, of a perforated strip or film wound on the rolls and stretched over the holes in the chamber, and means controlled by the stripor film to automatically reverse, the rolls and stop the pumps and to finally interrupt the motor circuit.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 18th day of March,- .1907.

NORMAN G. MEADE. Witnesses:

R. J. DEARBORN,

BIRNEY HINES.

Images