US1643562A - Keyboard musical instrument - Google Patents

Keyboard musical instrument Download PDF

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Publication number
US1643562A
US1643562A US19932A US1993225A US1643562A US 1643562 A US1643562 A US 1643562A US 19932 A US19932 A US 19932A US 1993225 A US1993225 A US 1993225A US 1643562 A US1643562 A US 1643562A
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United States
Prior art keywords
fingers
keys
strip
music
striking
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Expired - Lifetime
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US19932A
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English (en)
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Kucharski Stanislaus
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Individual
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Individual
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10F—AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
    • G10F3/00—Independent players for keyboard instruments

Definitions

  • This invention relates to a player device which can be attached to existing keyboard instruments, which owing to the special construction is more particularlysuitable for manipulation by untrained lovers of music and chiefly constitutes-a device for playing keyboard instruments accordingto individual feeling without any practice and knowledge of music, by simple means, owing to the possibility of controlling the time and the strength of sound.
  • I i 1' This is attained chiefly by a specially advantageous construction of sucha kind that, by depressing one or only a few keys by hand, on the one hand a music roll is advanced step by step, and on the other hand a pressure is exercised by means of auxiliary lingers on the keys to be played at the time, the said keys being switched in 'by' a relay controlled-by the music roll.
  • Fig. 1 shows the player device in front elevation, as placed upon thekeys of a piano, the front covers of the casing being removed,
  • Fig. 2 is a sectional view of Fig. 1.
  • Fig. 3 shows the music strip.
  • Fig. ⁇ l is an enlarged detail.
  • a music strip (Fig. 3) is employed, which may be a thin band ofcelluloid, metal, paper or the like about 35 mm, wide, and is similar to a motion picture film or the like in having perforations 18 at its edges, which is employed to obtain the selection of the various keys to be depressed. Owing to the small size of this film, the whole player device may be built verynarrow and easily attachable to the key-board of the instrument to be played. l
  • a number of perforations 19 are formed in the music strip 8, and are arranged by groups of four rows in succession between each two successive perforations 18 nthat is, in the passage of the music strip through the device, four rows are presented beneath the selecting devices, and according to the perforations in these rows, the respective keys are prepared for actuation.
  • Thenumher of columns along the width of the strip may be determined at will according to the exact width of the strip and the size of the apertures, andaccording to the number I on line 2-2 19,932, and in Germany March 29, 1924.
  • the player device itself comprises a cabinet 1 having a top, front and rear walls, and a hood 27 arranged on its top.
  • This hood has a hinged cover 29 which carries the contact block 20 having a plurality of contact pins 20 seated fixedly therein, and in number equal to the number of keys to be played;
  • These contact pins 20 are arranged in four rows at distances apart corresponding to the distances between the rows of apertures 19 on the music strip 8.
  • each of these pins 20 is in electric contact with each other and are connected to a suitable source of electricity by the conductor 100.
  • Each of these pins 20 is of substantially larger diameter than the thickness of the music strip, and has a spherical end, and is inclined both 1ongitudinally and laterallywith respect to the direction of movement of the strip; and'as the strip moves between the blocks carrying theupins and the respective conductors 31.
  • these pins revolve about their axes and ride over the edges of the perforations so that the strip continues in its movement (enlarged view of 4).
  • a supporting table 30 of insulating material through which passes a number of conductors 31 equal to the number of keys to be played.
  • These conductors are arranged in four rows, and in such manner thateach conductor is presented exactly opposite one of the pins 20 with which it cooperates in the manner to be described hereinafter: they havea resiliency in their support so that when an aperture is presented between a pin and its respective conductor, these move into conductive relation; and when the strip material comes between them, they are forced apart, and the respective circuit is broken.
  • the rolls 8 and 8 which carry the music strip 8.
  • the music strip 8 passes from roll 8 over the top of the supporting table 30, and between the contact pins 20 andthe conductors 31', and into the space inside the spring 32, and is wound up upon the roll 8 in any suitable manner as by a'spring device represented at 83.
  • This movement occurs step by step by means of the. gripper 9 which engages successively in the apertures 18 at the edge of the music strip 8.
  • Each of the conductors 31 is connected to an individual electromagnet 26 as by the lead wire 102 in Fig. 2.
  • These electromagnets are horizontally positioned within the casing 1 at a point substantially vertically above 'the' key 5 which corresponds thereto. From this electromagnet the circuit is com pleted back to the other. pole of the source of electricity through a conductor 101.
  • Fastened to the lower side of the rear wall of the casing 1 as by the posts 42 are a plurality of springs -11 which project forwrzirdly and carry attheir forward ends the bars 13. Similar fingers and springs are provided for the black keys, at a proper elevation above those described.
  • the key fingers 4 are provided at their lower ends with the striking knobs 4 of felt or similar material.
  • Each of the fingers 4- is positioned opposite its r spective electromagnet 26, there being as many fingers as there are electromagnets and hence as there are keys to be played, which in turn is determined by the number of possible perforations contained within the four rows on the music roll 8.
  • each of these striking ledges 3 and 3 is provided at its front end with a retaining flange 3 (Fig. 2).
  • auxiliary keys '2 which are mounted upon key bars 2 pivoted within the casing 1. Since the construction of these auxiliary keys and key bars is identical, only one has been represented in the figures.
  • the key bar 2 is pivoted in the mechanism at 2 and has a connection 12 (Fig. 1) at the free end of the striking ledge 3", so that as the key 2 is depressed, the bar 2 will act upon the ledge 3 and net have been drawn into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2 or have been left in the full line position.
  • auxiliary key 2 When the auxiliary key 2 is released, itis returned, together with the operative striking ledge 3 or 3 by a recoil spring a.
  • the auxiliary key 2 is provided with means to actuate the gripper 9 at each successive depression.
  • the key 2 for this purpose has a gripping loop 2
  • the ledge 3 has an upstanding pin 12 with an enlarged head 12.
  • a gripper lever 7 is pivoted upon the casing and hood at 10 and is pivotally connected at 16 to the gripper 9. The free end of the other end of the gripper lever 7 is fastened to a spring 11 which is presented beneath the head 12 and secured on the casing 1.
  • the gripperlever 7 swings about its fulcrum 10 upon the operation of the ledge 53*, to cause the gripper 9 to engage and ad Vance the music strip 8by a stepwise movement which is of constant amount for each oscillation of the lever 7 and is independent ofthe movement of the ledge 3 Since the downward movement of the ledge 3 may be of different amount for different instruments, according to the distance necessary to bring the striking fingers 4 into contact with the respective keys 5 and depress the latter, a stop 17 is provided to positively limit the amount of movement of the gripper lever 7, and a resilient connection 11, 12 isprovided to take up the remaining or differential movement of the ledge 3*.
  • the member 12 en- "counters the spring 11 and at first rocks the lever 7 upon which the spring 11 is mounted in a clockwise direction until the lever 7 encounters the stop 17; thereafter the member 12 merely bends the spring 11 downward more or less until the ledge has completed its movement.
  • the spring 11 upon release of the ledge serves to assist the'return of the latter and the member 12 to the normal position.
  • the gripper 9 is pivoted to the end of lever'7 upon a pin 16, and has a hook at its free end to engage in the equally spaced perforations 18 of the music roll.
  • the respective striking ledges 3 and 3 are actuated and cause the selected fingers 4 to depress their corresponding keys 5.
  • the player By striking one of the keys 2 difierently from the other key, the player is enabled to control the relative loudness of the melody or accompaniment.
  • the right hand ledge strikes the keys for the high tones and that at the left, 3, strikes the keys for the low tones. This insures that the player is able to bring out the melody or the accompaniment more strongly at his. option: by striking the right hand auxiliary key in one instance and that at the left in the other.
  • the plurality of striking ledges 3 and 3" are respectively positioned above divisions of the register of the keyboard, so that the bass and treble notes may be struck difi'erently: the melody being brought out by the treble notes and the accompaniment by the bass notes.
  • the cover 29 is raised and the music strip Wound on the roll 8 is placed in position; the outer end of the strip is brought over the supporting table 30 and the gripper 9, and engaged with the take-up roll 8 in anysuitable manner: it will be understood that thetake-up roll 8 is caused to rotate in any well known way.
  • the cover 29 is now replaced so that the music strip is visible through the window 28.
  • the player device is generally placed on only aportion of the keyboard, for e'xample over 70 keys, and the remaining keys remain without being played.
  • the strip ledges 39 and 40 are provided at the lower side of the casing 1.
  • the ledges 40 are fixed to the casing to project behind the nonplayed keys, to prevent the movement of the device forwardly or rearwardly, while the ledges 39 are situated between the black keys of the instrument and serve to determine the position of the device against a movement to the right or left on the piano.
  • tive magnet 26 is interrupted by the presence of the thickness of the music strip between the respective contact pin 20 and the conductor 31, and hence the deenergized electro-magnet 26 will release its. finger 4 which moves under the action of the spring and bar 41, 43 from the position shown in dotted lines to the position shown in full lines.
  • Other electromagnets 26 may at this same time be actuated to bring their respective fingers 4 into the range of action of the striking ledges 3, 3, according to the perforations 1 i It will be understood that at each depression of the striking key or auxiliary key 2, the music roll is advanced simultaneously with the downward movement of the respective striking ledge 3 3 the ledge engages the actuating fingers 4 and causes'the playing of the piano.
  • the music strip has been moved and the magnets 26 are energized so as to attract the proper fingers '4 for the next chord or note to be struck: these fingers are drawn against the edge flange 301? the respective striking ledge, and are not actuated at the lVhen the key 2 is permitted to restroke.
  • the deenergized magnets 26 permit their fingers 4 to fiy back, while the energized magnets 26 give a further movement to their respective fingers 4 so that the latter move into operative relation with regard to the respective ledges 3 3 In this way, each noteor chord is set up while the preceding note or chord is being played.
  • the perforations 19 corresponding tothe several pins 20 and the respective conductors 31 are prepared in such relationship to each other that the perforations for the outer right hand row of pins in Fig. 1 for one note may lie between the positions of the perforations for other rows for other notes,-and an overlap of the perforations occurs.
  • the distance of advancement by the pawl 9 is less than the longitudinal extension oi the several rows of pins 20 with respect to the music strip: and this advancement occurs. by such an incidental fraction of this extension that as the music strip comes-to a standstill following each advancement, different transverse lines of apertures are presented to the respective pins.
  • any pin should encounter an aperture at which it will not remain when the movement of the strip is completed an actuation of the corresponding finger will occur, but since the ledges 3 3 have been depressed, the respective fingers 4 thus energized will strike the edge off the respective ledge, and be held there temporarily by the respective electromagnet: and during the further movement of the music strip, the circuit will be broken so that the respective finger 4 will be permitted to fiy back prior to the raising of the ledge 53*.
  • a player device for key-instruments comp ising a frame, .a plurality of striking fingers fulcrumed on said frame and disposed above respective keys, each of said fingers having a movable iron element, a respective electromagnet fixed to said frame to move said element, means to selectively energize the electromagnets according to the notes to be struck and an actuating member to depress the selected fingers.
  • a player device for key instruments comprising a plurality 0t striking fingers disposed above respective keys, each of said fingers h ving a stem, a respective resilient support for each of said stems and fingers to permit the same to move bodily downward and to rock back and forth from front to rear with a normal bias into the front position, an actuating member to depress all fin gers and stems which have been rocked to the rear and devices to rock selected stems,
  • said actuating member including means to hold non-selected stems from moving to the rear until said member disengages the selected fingers upon return from depressed position.
  • a player device for key instruments comprising a plurality of striking fingers disposed above respective keys, means to select said fingers controlled by a music roll and including an individual device for each finger to move the finger to an operative position when selected, means to depress the disposed above respective keys, means to select said fingers controlled by a music roll and including an individual. device for each finger to move the finger to an operative position when selected, means to depress the selectively moved fingers to strike the cor-' responding keys and mechanism moved by said depressing means to advance saidroll for selection of the fingers for one note or chord during the striking of the preceding note or chord, said depressing means including devices to hold the nonselected fingers from movement into position for depression until said depressing means releases the selected fingers of said one note or chord.
  • a player device for key instruments comprising a plurality of striking fingers disposed above respective keys, means to select said fingers controlled by a music roll and including an individual device for each finger to move the finger to an operative positi-onwhen selected, means to depress the selectively moved fingers to strike the corresponding keys and mechanism moved by said depressing means to advance said roll for selection of the fingers for one note or chord during the striking of the preceding note or chord, the whole register of the keyboard being divided into a plurality of parts, and said depressing means being provided with separate depressing devices for'each division of the register.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Electrophonic Musical Instruments (AREA)
  • Stringed Musical Instruments (AREA)
US19932A 1924-03-29 1925-04-01 Keyboard musical instrument Expired - Lifetime US1643562A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
DE1643562X 1924-03-29

Publications (1)

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US1643562A true US1643562A (en) 1927-09-27

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US19932A Expired - Lifetime US1643562A (en) 1924-03-29 1925-04-01 Keyboard musical instrument

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US (1) US1643562A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
FR (1) FR595908A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB (1) GB231523A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
NL (1) NL20589C (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)

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FR595908A (fr) 1925-10-12
NL20589C (enrdf_load_stackoverflow)
GB231523A (enrdf_load_stackoverflow) 1925-10-01

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