US1097048A - Autoharp. - Google Patents

Description

G. L. REYNOLDS & P. M. NIOKERSON.

AUTOHARP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1911.

Patented May 19, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

[NVE/vm/es v WITNESSES COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH (10-. WASHINGTON. D. c.

G. L. REYNOLDS & P. M. NIOKERSON.

AUTOHARP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1911.-

Patented May 19, 1914.

INVENTORY 05. 55M fl B Mf/M [TU] 1| HH W1 TNESSES i I W Affameyx I COLUMBIA PLANOGBAP CD., WASHINGTON, D- C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE L. REYNOLDS AND FREDERICK M. NICKERSON,

CHUSETTS.

OF EAST BOSTON, MASSA- AUTOHAR-P. I

To all whom it may concern.

B it known that we, GEORGE L. REYNOLDS and FREDERICK M. NICKERSON, citizens of the United States, residing at East Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Autoharps, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to autoharps, and particularly relates to a structure which comprises an attachment for musical instruments of the harp type.

The primary object of the invention is to facilitate the mechanical production of the principal major and minor chords on the harp or analogous stringed instrument so that all of the major and minor chords provided for may be produced in each one of twelve keys.

The invention comprises essentially a carriage or frame which is shiftable transversely across the strings of the harp or. like instrument, said carriage having mounted thereon a series of depressible mute bars, which latter are capable of being thrown into cooperative relation with the strings of the instrument in a well known manner, whereby a chord or arpeggio may be produced upon the vibration of the strings by the handof the player, or otherwise. WVhen a chord is so produced, the strings which are muted by the application of the mute-bars will be rendered inoperative, according to the structure hereinafter described.

A further object of the invention is to combine a scale indicator with the shiftable carriage above referred to, by which means the position of the tones of the diatonic scale of any key may be indicated, with the shiftable carriage in any selected position to correspond with said key.

A still further object of the invention is to provide locking mechanism which so cooperates with the shiftable carriage that, when the carriage has been moved to a position so that the various major and minor chords may be played in any selected key, the carriage may be locked in its desired position, and cannot be moved until a movable pin is depressed, which pin corresponds to another key in which it may be desired to 1% or a full understanding of the present invention, reference is to be had to the fol- Specification of Letters Patent. 7

Application filed May 23, 1911.

Patented May 19, 1914.

Serial No. 628,995.

lowing description and to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a top plan view of an autoharp of ordinary form, having the improvements comprising the present invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is a side view of the harp, looking toward one end thereof; Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken about on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. h is a sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a detail view of the depressible lock plate which co-actg with the shiftable carriage; Fig. 7 is a detail fragmentary view, showing the frame-plate having the locking projections which co-act with the frame plate above referred to; Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of Fig. 4; and Fig. 9 is an enlarged top plan view of the shiftable carriage and showing more clearly the manner of coloring the finger- ,pieces attached to the mute bars.

Throughout the following detail description and on the several figures of the drawings, similar parts are referred to by likereference characters.

Referring particularly to the drawings, the numeral 1 denotes an auto-harp of ordinary construction, the same comprising a suitable base and a series of strings 2 applied thereto in the customary manner, said strings being arranged to render successively the tones of the chromatic scale. A frame or carriage 3 is movable transversely with relation to the strings 2, said frame comprising the two oppositely disposed end bars 4, 4, and the two side bars 5 and 6, the whole having approximately a rectangular shape. Vertically disposed guide members 7, 7, the same being of substantially U- shape, are fastened to the base of the harp l in any suitable manner and adjacent opposite sides thereof, and between the sides of the members 7 are journaled suitable rollers 8 on which the side bar '5 of the carriage is supported and adapted to be freely movable thereover when the carriage is operated. A pin 9 passes through the upper ends of the two sides of one of the guide members 7 in such a manner as to prevent the dis placement of the bar 5 from the guide member in which the pin is placed. The pin 9 also serves as a means for the connection of an indicator 10, which indicator is, therefore, not movable with the carriage 3. The indicator 10 is provided on its upper surface with legends, such as are shown in Fig. 1, which indicate the positions on the harp of the strings which correspond to the notes F, G flat, G, etc. The indicator 10 may consist of a metal plate, or strip of any desired material.

Projecting outwardly from the end bars 4 of the carriage 3, are a pair of brackets 11, in which is mounted a rotatable scale indi cator 12, the same being provided with a series of spaces, which are numbered 1 to 7, throughout the length of the scale indicator. Indicator 12 comprises a transversely rectangular or otherwise polysided bar. hen the shiftable carriage 8 is moved so that it is possible to play in any certain selected key, the scale indicator 12 will, of course, move with the carriage 3, and the numbers 1 to 7 in the spaces thereon will indicate the positions of the tones of the diatonic scale of such selected key, by virtue of the fact that each of the spaces will lie directly over one of the strings of the harp. The inclicator 12 has journals at one end received in suitable bearings in the brackets 11, one of the brackets being slotted so as to facilitate removal of the indicator when desired. One end of the indicator 12 is provided with a suitable handle 13, whereby the part 12 may be readily manipulated for purposes of adjustment.

Between the side bars 5 and 6 of the carriage 3, are arranged a plurality of mute bars 14-, the same being substantially parallel to each other and to the side bars 5 and 6. The mute bars 14 are mounted at their opposite ends in guides 15 which are provided upon the inner sides of the end bars 4. Springs 16 are employed to normally hold the bars 1% at the upper limit of their movement upon the carriage. Each of the mute bars 14 is provided upon its under side with pads which are so spaced as to damp certain of the strings when the mute bar is depressed, and allow others of the strings to vibrate by virtue of the fact that such vibrating strings will lie in the spaces between the pads. The pads are so arranged with reference to each other, that, by the use of each of the mute bars, a different chord may be produced, when the player runs his fingers over the strings of the harp. For instance, one of the mute bars will produce the chord of the diminished seventh, another a major triad, another a minor triad, and so on. The carriage 3 being mov able over the strings of the harp transversely thereto, it will be understood that each of the chords represented may be played in any one of the twelve keys, since, inasmuch as the mute bars are incapable of endwise movement with relation to each other, except in the peculiar manner hereinafter described, all of the chords may always be correctly transposed from one key to another by the movement of the carriage. Each of the mute bars 41 is provided upon its upper side with indicating means of a preferred character, in order to indicate the nature of the chord which may be obtained by depressing the particular mute bar. For instance, the words may be printed on each of the mute bars which indicate the character of the chord, and it is desirable that the initial letters of the legends of the various mute bars be in transverse alinement with each other, with respect to the arrangement of the mute bars, in such a manner that such initial letters be opposite one of the letters on the indicator 10, by which means the particular key to which the carriage has been set will be indicated. For instance, in Fig. 1 if we suppose the letter M to be the initial letter of a legend which indicates that the mute bar on which such letter M is placed will produce a certain chord, the fact that such letter M is opposite the letter F on the indicator 10, will indicate that the carriage 3 has been set with reference to the strings of the harp so that all of the chords will be produced in such key of F.

In practice any number of the mute bars 14 may be employed, each one to represent a different chord, but in the accompanying drawings we have represented fourteen of such bars. It is contemplated, according to the present invention, to permit endwise, as well as downward movement on the part of several of said bars. By this means, each of the mute bars capable of such movement, may represent chords of different pitch, so that when such mute bar is depressed vertically downwardly, one chord of a certain pitch may be produced, while if the bar is pressed in an endwise direction and then depressed, a chord of a different pitch may be produced. In order to permit of such movement, a portion of the end of the mute bar is removed, as is indicated in Fig. 9, so that a space is left between the end of the mute bar and the end bar 4:, whereby endwise movement of the mute bar may be brought about, A spring 15 is interposed in the spaces between the end of the mute bar and the end bar 1 in order to maintain the mute bar in the desired position.

Each of the mute bars 14 is provided with a finger piece 17 for depressing the same, and the said finger pieces are preferably colored in such a manner that each color will represent a certain chord.

Projecting outwardly from the side bars 6 of the carriage 3 are superposed spaced frame- plates 18 and 19, in which are mounted a plurality of keys 20, the latter having the customary finger pieces at their upper ends and being normally held upraised by means of springs 21 surrounding portions of the same between the plates 18 and 19. The lower plate 19 is formed with downwardly extending locking projections 22, which are particularly shown in Figs. 5 and 7, the said projections 22 being of the same form and spaced from one another and adapted to be engaged by a detent 23 which extends upwardly from a depressible lock-plate 24 arranged beneath the plates 18 and 19, and hinged by means of a pintle-rod 25 to a base-plate 26, the construction being shown in Fig. 6. The base-plate 26 is secured to the harp 1 in spaced relation to the base of the latter, being direct-mounted upon short posts 27, and is formed with a rectangular opening 26 which corresponds in size to the size of the ,depressible lock-plate 24E. Springs 28 arranged on the pintle-rod 25 normally tend to maintain the plate 24 in upraised position with its detent 23 engaging the respective predetermined projections 22, said plate 241 being adapted, however, to be readily moved downwardly against the tension of the springs 28 by the downward pressure of one of the keys 20. By this action, the detent 23 will be disengaged from between the respective projections 22, permitting the carriage 3 to be freely moved transversely with reference to the springs of the harp. The lock-plate 24 is provided intermediate its ends and substantially in alinement with the detent 23, with a slot 29 which is elongated so that it may receive therein the lower end of any one of the two rows of keys 20. It will be seen that in the formation of the two rows of keys 20, the keys of one row are arranged in preferably staggered relation to those of the other. A post 35 is mounted on the plate 26 in such a manner that the slot 29, the detent 23, and the said post 35 will be in alinement, the purpose of the post 35 being to indicate to the operator the position of the slot 29, so that he will know in what direction to move the carriage when it is desired to change from one key to another, when playing. Normally the carriage 3 will be locked from movement by the engagement of the detent 23 between the respective predetermined projections 22, so that the carriage will be maintained in a desired position, making it possible to play in any selected key until the carriage is shifted. Such shifting movement is made possible by the depression of any one of the keys 20. It will be understood that each of the twelve keys 20, corresponds to a certain key of the scale, and accordingly each key is provided on its upper surface with an indication of the key of the scale to which it corresponds, all of which is shown in Figs. 1 and 9. WVhen one of these keys 20 is depressed, the carriage being locked by the engagement of the detent 23 between the respective projections 22, and it being assumed that a key has been selected for depression which corresponds'to the key of the scale in which it is desired to play, the lower end of such selected key will engage the plate 24 and move the latter downwardly a sufficient distance so as to disengage the detent 23. So long as the key is held depressed in contact with plate 21, the Plate 2 1 will remain depressed, thus permitting the carriage 3 to be moved transversely of the harp 1 for adjustment of the carriage. Such transverse movement of the carriage 3, as thus described, is permitted until the lower end of the depressed key reaches the slot 29, whereupon said slot will receive the lower end of the key and permit the lock-plate 24 to immediately spring upwardly. Upon such upward movement of the lock-plate 24, its detent 23 will engage between the respective locking projections 22 and lock the carriage from further movement. The carriage will thus be held in position so that the playing can be performed in the key which was selected, so long as the carriage is held in such position.

From the foregoing it will be seen that by virtue of the structure described, the carriage 3 is mounted at one side upon the guide members 7, while the opposite side of the carriage carrying the frame- plates 18 and 19 is normally supported by the lower ends of the projections 22 resting upon the base-plate 26 and capable of sliding freely over the surface thereof when not held by detent 23.

By the means described for locking the carriage 3 in position, the adjustment of the carriage will permit of very accurate playing of the desired chords. As has been stated before, the coloring applied to each one of the finger-pieces 17 will afford a ready means of identifying to the player the position of a certain chord, so that the nature of the chord having been identified with a certain color by means of a chart, it will not be necessary for the player to be guided by printed legends indicating the chords on the mute bars. For this reason it is not absolutely necessary that any printed indication of the character of the chords appear on the mute bars, other than one or two letters on each bar. The scale indicator 12 is provided with legends which denote the tones of the strings over which they are placed so as to cooperate with the indicating means carried by the mute bars to denote the scale with which the adjustment of the carriage corresponds.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In combination a stringed instrument and an attachment therefor comprising a carriage movable transversely of the strings of the instrument, mute bars mounted on the carriage for cooperating with said strings,

means for mechanically controlling the eX- tent of movement of the carriage, said controlling means comprising a lock for the carriage, and means for releasing the lock and for automatically rendering the lock again effective.

2. In combination, a stringed instrument, and an attachment therefor comprising a carriage movable across the strings, mute bars on the carriage for cooperation with the strings, a member normally locking the carriage in a predetermined position, means for releasing the carriage, and means for restoring the effective locking action of the locking member for relocking the carriage in a predetermined position.

3. In combination, a stringed instrument, and an attachment therefor comprising a carriage movable transversely of the instrument, brackets mounted on said carriage, a scale indicator sustained by said brackets, and mute bars carried by said carriage, said mute bars being mounted to be depressed into cooperative relation with the strings of the instrument, each mute bar bearing a legend indicating the chord to which the mute bar corresponds, and said scale indicator having indications corresponding to the notes of the diatonic scale.

l; In combination, a stringed instrument and an attachment therefor comprising a carriage movable transversely with relation to the strings of the instrument, mute bars carried by said carriage, each of said mute bars being provided with means which indicate the chord. corresponding to the mute bar, and an indicator having a fixed position with relation to the movement of the carriage, said indicator being provided with legends which denote the tones of the strings over which they are placed.

5. In combination, a stringed instrument and an attachment therefor comprising a carriage movable transversely of the instrument, mute bars mounted on the carriage for cooperation with the strings of the instrument, a lock member for normally preventing movement of the carriage, and keys engaging the locking member for releasing the carriage and controlling movement thereof.

6. In combination, a stringed instrument and an attachment therefor comprising a carriage movable transversely of the instrument, mute bars mounted on the carriage for cooperation with the strings of the instru ment, locking mechanism for the carriage comprising a depressible lock plate, a detent carried by said plate, obstructions on the carriage adapted to be contacted by said detent, and keys on the carriage for depressing the lock plate to release the detent from said contact.

7. In combination, a stringed instrument and an attachment therefor comprising a carriage movable transversely of the instrument, mute bars mounted on the carriage for cooperation with the strings of the instrument, locking mechanism comprising a base plate, a depressible lock plate thereon, locking projections carried by the carriage, a detent on the lock plate, spring means normally holding the lock plate in a raised position causing cooperation of its detent with one of the looking projections, the lock plate having a slot, and keys, each one of which is adapted to depress the lock plate to release the carriage from the detent, said keys being adapted to engage the slot of the lock plate to permit the detent to be automatically reongaged with a locking projection.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE L. REYNOLDS. FREDERICK M. NICKERSON.

Witnesses:

FRANK Mon'rnN PUsHAW, EDWARD L. HoEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

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