US1505514A - Pedal zither - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 19, 1924. 1,505,514

' J wElSs E'EDAL 21mm iled Nov. 2'?, 1922 Patented Aug. 19, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JQHN XVEISS, F BROOKLYN, 'NEW YORK.

PEDAL Application filed November T0 all wiz-'0m t may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN VVnrss, citizen of the United States, and resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pedal Zithers, of which the following is specification.

This invention relates to musical instruments, and the main object is to provide a form of Zither which is played by he feet of an operator. This makes the instrument exceedingly adaptable with orchestras, as the drummer can manipulate it with perfect ease.

Another Aobject is to provide an instrument which has a removable keyboard, the latter being adapted to be telescoped into the body of the instrument when not in use.

These and other objects will become apparent in the description below, in which characters of reference refer to like-named parts in the drawing.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevational View of the instrument, the upper portion being broken away to expose the arrangement of the music wires.

Figure 2 is a sectional side elevational view of the same.

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the full and half tone damper bars in detail.

Figure 4; is an enlarged sectional elevational view similar to Figure 2 showing the keyboard folded within the instrument.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the keyboard, showing the hammers flattened preparatory to being telescoped into the casing or body of the instrument.

Describing the drawing in detail, the numeral 1 indicates side walls of an upright casing which has a front wall 2. The upper end of the casing has a door panel 8 hinged thereto which when opened permits manipulation of the studs 4 to which one end of the music wires 5 are attached. The latter are raised above the sound board 6 by the blocks 7 which are mounted at the upper and lower ends of the said board, A chamber 8 beneath the sound board is provided to give the proper resonance to the notes played. Said chamber is entirely enclosed by the back 9 which is composed of laminated boards and has an opening 10 in the sound board thru which the sound passes.

A pair of damper bars 11 and 12 are arranged one above the other, both being slid- EITHER.

2'?, 1922. Serial No. 603,384.

able in the cross guides 18. The wires are arranged in groups which provide musical sound of the range of octaves. On the lower damper bar 11 a plurality of pads let are mounted, each pad being adapted to contact with the entire set of wires of its respective octave. The upper damper bar 12 is similarly provided with pads 15 which are of such length as to contact with half the number of wires of each octave. This arrangement permits a full or half tone dampening of the wires. A block 16 is rigidly mounted on each damper bar intermediate of its length from which a stem 17 projects outwardly, the end of the latter being surmounted by a push button 18.

The key board consists of a removable casing built in the form of a rectangular box, the side wall 19 being spaced apart so as to be slidable into the lower end of upright casing between the walls 1. A front wall 2O and rear wall 21 are secured to the respective ends of the sides 19 and a board 22 partly covers the front part of the box. The rear edges of said cover has hinges 23 thereon to which a lifter bar 24; is attached. The latter is rotated about said hinges and is adapted to depress the keys 25 which are hinged to the front 20. Posts 26 project upwardly from the base and have crank arms 28 rotatably mounted therein. The rear ends of the crank arms are connected to the keys 25 by the levers 29. The opposite ends of the crank arms have resilient blades 30 upon which semi-circular hammer heads 31 are mounted, said hammer heads being of suflicient length to strike an entire octave.

The cover board 22 has a plurality of bolts 32 upon which heads 33 are provided. Said bolts are adapted to rest upon the keys 25 and urge the latter downwardly when depressed.

Vhen using the instrument, it is assembled as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The keyboard is beneath the upright casing and extends forwardly therefrom. The upper door 3 may be opened to permit a larger volume of sound and also for manipulation of members 4. The instrument is generally used by a musician such as a drummer whose hands are occupied with other instruments, and is played by the feet. In depressing the bolts 82, the latter will urge the keys 25 downwardly. This action causes the levers 29 to rotate the crank arms 28 and swing the blades 30 until the hammer heads 31 strike the music Wires 5. As pressure is lifted from the bolts the hammers are returned to their normal position of rest, by the springs 34. Dampening of the sound emitted is accomplished as heretofore described. Then the instrument is made ready forearrying, the lifter bar 24: is rotated upwardly, permitting the blades 30 to lie parallel to the coverboard 23. The upright casing is inverted andthe entire keyboard is slipped into the casing and covered by the double hinged doors 35 .which are secured in closed position by the hinge hooks 36.

l claim A pedal Zither comprising, an upright casingthaving music wires mounted therein, double hingeddoors on said casing When liftedproviding an opening, a separate keyboard adapted to be inserted into the opening having a pluralityof keys therein,a post adjacent each key, acrank arm fulcrumed in each post, a lever connecting said crank arm and key, a flexible blade on each crank arm, and hammer heads on the ends of the blades-to strike vthe music Wires When the bolts are depressed, springs adapted to rei turn the crank arms to normal position, a pair of damper bars slidable in front of the music Wires, pads on said bars, said pads on one bar being adapted to dampen all the Wires andthe pads on the other bar being adapted to dampen half the wires, a stem on each of said bars adapted to manipulate the damper bars, and means for inserting said keyboard into the casing.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of Ne7 York, this 17 day of November, A. D. 1922.

JOHN WEISS.

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