US623235A

US623235A - Hand-extender

Info

Publication number: US623235A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1899-04-18
Anticipated expiration: 1916-04-18

Description

No. 623,235. Patented Apr. l8, I899.

r. L. CRANE.

HAND EXTENDER.

(Application filed Oct. 13, 1898.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE.

FREDERICK L. CRANE, OF MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS.

HAND-EXTENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 623,235, dated April 18, 1899. Application filed October 18, 1898. Serial No. 693,404. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK L. CRANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Malden, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Hand-Extender, especially adapted for the use of pianists, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference -being had to the accompanying drawings,

forming a part of this specification,in explaining its nature.

It is well known that there are certain parts in the hand which so confine its movements that in some cases a person playing the piano cannot stretch suiiiciently far to play an octave. My invention is especially adapted for the use of such persons, for I have discovered that in many such cases these parts can by proper exercise be elongated,so as to very considerably increase the players stretch.

For this purpose my invention consists in a hand-extender having two finger-rests which are adapted to be adj ustably separated from each other, and I have shown in the drawings what now seems to me the simplest and most convenient construction for carrying out my invention.

Figure 1 of the drawings shows my device applied to a hand and in use. Fig. 2 is a plan view, Fig. 3 being a view in which the fingerrest-s are turned at right angles to their position in Fig. 2.

A represents a threaded rod having a shoulder a cut on one end, and there is a handle A on the other end. A block I3 is riveted against the shoulder a, so as to turn on the end of the rod A, and to this block is attached a finger-rest C.

D is a second block, threaded on its interior, so that its position may be adjusted upon the rod A. To it is also attached a finger-rest E, similar to the finger-rest C. Each rest is preferably made of a piece of heavy braid, one end of which is attached directly to the block, the other end being attached either directly to the block or, if is desired to make the loop adjustable in size,to a strip of leather or other material 0, which in turn is attached to the. block by means of screws 0, as shown in the drawings. As shown in the drawings,

the loop C is provided with not only the holes in each end through which the screws 0 pass,

but another set of holes marked 0 If it is desired to make the loop shorter, the screws may be removed and the upper end of the loop pulled along and the screws reinserted through the holes 0 and the holes in the other end of the loop into the block. The loop c may be constructed in a similar man ner. By this means the length of the loop which forms the finger-rest may be adjusted. The finger-rest E is similarly constructed, the leather in this case being lettered c and its screw c. Other methods, however, of construction, by means of which the loops 0 and 6 may be made adjustable in size, will readily occur to one skilled in the art, or each block itself may be loop or hook shaped to form a finger-rest.

To use my device, the finger-rest C is put over the little finger of the hand, as shown in Fig. 1-, preferably so as to pass around the block B, thus shortening the loop and binding the finger somewhat in the rest, so that it will not slip out therefrom. The other finger-rest is placed over the thumb, and by turning the rod A by means of its handle A the block D will be separated from the block 13 and the thumb and little finger thus strained apart. This device having been applied in the manner described and left on the hand in that position for some little time, it will be found that the parts confining the thumb and little finger will be lengthened slightly. The screw may be then turned so as to still further separate the blocks B and D and again stretch these parts. Thus it will be lengthened little by little, and the application of this device from day to day for a short time each day will produce a marked effect upon the reach of the hand in playing.

I have shown the finger-rests in the form of loops of braid, and I believe that this is the best and simplest form of fingerrest, for the braid will cling to the fingers, and thus will not tend to slide off; but the rests may be made in other ways, the essential feature of the device being a hand-extender carrying finger-rests and means for adjustably sepa rating these finger-rests from each other, whereby the necessary stretching of the hand may be accomplished.

It is evident that a hand-extender of the kind described may be used for the purposes of extending other portions of the hand than that described. For example, it is very desirable that the ligament which connects the digital extremities of the metacarpal bones should in some cases be extended in order to facilitate the playing of extended chords. This can be accomplished by attaching the rests to the little finger and index-finger and adjusting the rests as above described. In a short time the results of its use will be very marked.

It will be noticed that the finger-rests in my device are entirely independent of each other-that is to say, are nothinged or otherwise connected save as each is mounted upon the adjusting devices so that each is inde pendent of the 0therand they may be separated to an extent depending simply upon the length of the adjustment.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States 1. A hand-extender comprising two fingerrests each separate from the other, and means whereby each may be moved bodily from the other as set forth.

2. 'lhehand-extender above described consisting of a threaded rod carrying two fingerrests adapted to be separated from each other by the rotation of said red, as set forth.

3. A hand-extender consisting of a threaded rod carrying two finger-rests each adjustable in size, as set forth.

4. The hand extender consisting of a threaded rod carrying a finger-rest adjustable thereon, and at one end a block adapted to turn freely thereon, said block having a flexible loop attached to one side thereof and adapted in use to be drawn over two other sides thereof,whereby the finger will be bound firmly against the block and yet may be easily inserted therein and withdrawn therefrom, as setforth.

FRE DK. L. CRANE.

In presence of GEORGE O. G. COALE, Gno. A. WALsH.