US1084869A - Cornet. - Google Patents

Description

P. F. PETERSEN.

CORNET.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 6, 1912:

1,084,869. Patented Jan.20,1914.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER F. PETER/SEN, OF OKLAHOMA, OKLAHOMA.

CORNET.

Application led December 6, 1912.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, PETER F. PE'rnnsnN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oklahoma city, in the county of Oklahoma and State of Oklahoma, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Oornets, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

As is well known in the art, the cornet and other instruments of the trumpet class consist of a length of metal tubing, having one of its ends formed into or provided with a mouth-piece and the other end liared into a bell, the bore or passage through this tubing being known in this description as the air-line.

In order to cover chromatically the full tone range of the instrument, sections of tubing of different length, known as crooks, are included in the construction of the instrument, and valve mechanisms are provided for opening one or more of said crooks in as a part of the air-line.

As heretofore arranged, the cornet is provided with three crooks, each having its respective valve for opening it into the airline, the three valves being arranged in position to be operable by the first, second, and third lingers of the hand, and being known in their order from the mouth-piece end of the instrument as first, second, and third. The crooks are made of such length that the opening of the first valve lowers the pitch of the instrument one step; the opening of the second valve lowers the instrument one-haltl step; and the opening of the third valve lowers the instrument a step and one-half; the use of all the valves in combination, therefore, adding enough length to the air-line to cover chromatically the longest interval between what are known as open tones.

In orchestral playing, it often becomes necessary to lower the instrument from the original or normal pitch of B-Hat to A, in order to avoid awkward lingering, this change usually being made by lengthening a telescopic connection which is built into the air-line and commonly known as a quick-change slide.

Occasionally, a cornet is provided with a fourth crook, and a valve for said crook, for useV as a quick-change device, but, like the telescopic slide, the location and arrangement of said valve are such that its Specification of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 735,221.

manipulation requires removal of the instrument and hands from playing position, and the consequent omission of what is often the most indispensable passage of the music.

One object, therefore, of the invention is to provide means for instantly changing the pitch of the instrument, and for effecting said change without interruption in playing.

Another object is to avoid awkward fingering in passages requiring rapid alternation of valves.

Other objects and advantages of t-he invention will be set forth in the ensuing description.

Referring to the drawings- Figure 1 is a right-hand side elevation of a cornet embodying the principles of the invention. Fig. 2 is a left-hand side elevation of the cornet, with the front or bell portion broken away to expose other parts to view. Fig. 3 is a fragmental plan view of t-he instrument, with no parts shown below the line X-X of Fig. 2. Fig. 4; is an enlarged elevation view in the same direction as Fig. 2, showing a locking arm. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the end finger piece, showing the lateral lip with which the said finger piece is provided.

Referring to the several figures, in all of which like characters of reference designate like parts, the cornet shown comprises, in part, the usual length of tubing 10, which is provided with the mouthpiece 11 and bell 12. At each of the usual three points in the length of the tubing 10, a valve-casing is built into it, the bore of the tubing communicating with said valve-casings. These three valve- casings 13, 14, and 15 are provided with crooks 16, 17, and 18, respectively, and with inner valves of the well known piston type adapted, when shifted from normal position, to open said crooks into the air-line of the instrument, each valve being yieldably held to the upper or normal end of its throw by resilient means of well known arrangement. The valve mechanism in each valve-casing is -provided with a stem 19 which projects up through the cap 2O of said valve-casing and terminates in a finger-button 21. The instrument thus described is not materially dif ferent from those in common use.

In carrying out the objects stated, a fourth valve-casing 22, having a crook 23 Patented Jan.2o,1914.

of half-step length and an inner valve mechanism for said crook, is built-into the instrument immediately adjacent the third valve-casing of the original three, t-hereby placing said fourth valve-casing where its valve may be operated by the fourth finger of the hand which manipulates the original three. 1n thus placing the fourth valvecasing Q2, its valve manipulation for changing the pitch of the instrument is effected instantly, thus enabling the performer to shift the pitch at will without any interruption in playing.

While the invention, in its broader meaning, comprehends valve mechanisms of any suitable construction and arrangement, it is possibly preferable to employ valves of the piston type shown, the fourth or added valve-casing 22 and its valve mechanism being placed directly in alinement with the original three valve- casings 13, 14, and 15 as shown. Vith the fourth valve mechanism placed in this way, and having the vertical movement of the piston-valve, it may be depressed without interruption, and the improved locking means later described may be disengaged therefrom by the same finger which manipulates said valve mechanism.

1n order that the fourth valve may be temporarily locked in depressed position, as occasionally found convenient, a locking arm, best shown in Fig. il, is provided. Vithin the meaning' and intent of the invention, this arm 24 may be arranged in any suitable manner, and have movement in any direction with relation to the parts which it locks, but in the present instance and for reasons which later appear, the arm 24 is movable in a horizontal plane at right angles to the line of movement of the part which it engages, said arm being provided with a vertical pivotal stem 25 which eX- tends down into a tubular bearing 26 mounted upon and parallel with the valve-casing 22. This pivotal stem 25, which is of elastic material, is bifurcated from its lower end upward a considerable distance, and in its natural or unstrained state stands opened outward, as shown in Fig. t. By this arrangement, the stem 25, when inserted down into the tubular bearing 26, will frictionally bind said bearing and hold the arm 24 in either locked or unlocked position. The lower end of the pivotal stem 25 is provided with projections 27 which hook under the lower end of the bearing 26 and hold said stem against withdrawal upward. The finger-button 28 of the fourth or added valve mechanism is provided with a short laterally-projecting lip 29, with which the arm 24C engages to hold said mechanism in depressed position. ln thus placing the pivotal point of the arm 2li between the valvecasings and the rear or reduced portion of the bell 12, the free end of said arm is readily swung to locking engagement with the finger-button 2S by the first finger of the hand which supports the instrument, said finger naturally extending upward and across over said rear portion of the bell 1Q in convenient position for this movement.

yln releasing` the locking engagement of the arm 2st, it is swung away from the finger-button QS by the end of the finger which depresses said nger-button, the released valve then following said finger upward and restoring the instrument to normal pitch. 1n thus locating the fourth or added valve and arranging the locking mechanism described, the movements required in playing or in changing pitch are merely fingers end manipulations of the finger-button* 2S and the locking arm 2st.

ln addition to the quick-ch ange advantage afforded by the fourth valve as placed and arranged, said valve may be used in combination with one or more of the original three to obviate difficult or cross fingering encountered in thrills or other rapid alternations between tones.

Having thus described the invention, I claim l. A cornet or like musical instrument including a series of slidably mounted reciprocating valve-members provided with finger pieces adapted to be engaged by the fingers of the hand manipulating the cornet, yielding` means normally tending to move the valve members outwardly against the pressure of the fingers, and locking means controlled by the fingers fo-r holding one of the valve members in a depressed position.

2. A cornet or like musical instrument including a series of slidably mounted reciprocating valve members provided with finger pieces, yielding means normally tending to move the valve members outwardly against the pressure of the fingers, and a laterally swinging locking member controlled by the fingers and adapted to engage one of the valve members to hold it in a depressed position.

3. A cornet or like musical instrument including a series of slidably mounted reciprocating valve members provided with finger pieces, a lip projecting laterally from one of the finger pieces, and a laterally swinging locking arm adapted to be brought into engagement with the lip to retain the finger giece in a depressed position.

e. A cornet or like musical instrument including a series of slidably mounted reciprocating valve members provided with finger pieces, a laterally projecting lip, carried by one of the finger pieces, a bearing sleeve, a stem rotatable within the bearing sleeve, and a locking arm carried by the stem and adapted to be moved over the lip to hold the finger piece in a depressed position.

5. A cornet or like musical instrument including a series of slidably mounted reciprocating valve members provided With linger pieces, a bearing sleeve, a bifurcated stem fitted removably Within the sleeve, the arms of the bifurcated end of the stem having a spring action and being provided with shoulders normally engaging the end of the bearing sleeve to hold the stem in position therein, and a locking arm projecting from the stem and adapted to be brought into engagement With one of the finger pieces to hold the same in a depressed position.

6. A cornet or like musical instrument including a series of slidably mounted reciprocating valve members provided With finger pieces, yielding means normally tending to move the valve members outwardly against the action of the lingers, a laterally projecting lip upon one of the finger pieces, a bearing sleeve, a stem rotatably mounted Within the bearing sleeve and formed with a bifurcated end, the arms of the bifurcation having a spring action and being provided With shoulders adapted to engage the end of the sleeve to retain the stem in position therein, and a locking arm carried by the stem and adapted to be swung over the before-mentioned lip of one of the lingen1 pieces to retain the said linger piece in a `depressed position.

fitness my hand this 30 day of November, i912.

PETER F. PETERSEN. l/Vitnesses FRANK P. SHEPARD, GERTRUDE CHAFFEE.

Copiel of this patent may be obtained tor ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

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