US761469A - Musical toy. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTBD'MAY a1, .1904,

w. A. GAY. MUSICAL TOY. APPLICATION PILBDMAR. 22, 1904.

N0 MODEL.

j Qttow we IN! NORRI! PEYEKS DO PNQYQLITNQ, WASNINGTON D C Patented May 31, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLI M ALFRED GAY, or NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

MUSICAL TOY.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 761,469, dated May 31, 1904.

Application filed March 22, 1904.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM ALFRED GAY, a citizen of the United States, residing in Newark, in the county of Essexand State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Musical Toys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a musical toy of that class in which vibratory rods are employed as the sound-emitting device, in connection with key-operated hammers, so that musical notes in the nature of chimes are produced; and to this end my invention consists of a musical toy comprising a series of vibratory rods supported in a metal base, oscillating hammers for striking said rods, and keys for operating said hammers, said hammers being provided with projections at the upper end of the hammers below the keys for actuating the hammers and sounding the rods.

The invention consists,further,of certain details of construction in connection with the oscillating hammers for producing the more eifective working of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved musical toy. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the same on line 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the lower part of the toy, drawn on a larger scale, with the front wall of the casing removed, so as to show the interior construction; and Fig. 4 is a Vertical transverse section on line 4 4, Fig. 3.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts. In Letters Patent granted to me for a musical toy on December 8, 1891, No. 464,863, a series of vibratory rods cast in a metal frame are employed, said vibratory rods being vibrated by suitable means for producing the musical sounds. i

In my improved musical toy which forms the subject-matter of this application a series of vibratory sound-emitting rods supported in a metal base are likewise employed; but in place of striking the rods at random by means of a striker a corresponding series of hammcrs and actuating-keys are arranged so that Serial No. 199,368. (No model.)

either the individual rods may be vibrated and the sound emitted in the nature of chimes or several hammers be actuated at the same time so as to emit harmonic chords, the rods being preferably tuned in the diatonic scale. They may, however, be so adjusted as to form the chromatic scale. I am not limited to the arrangement of the rods in any one or particular scale. The vibratory rods are preferably arranged in an upright casing a, on the bottom of which is supported a metallic bar I), by which the vibratory rods 0 are supported in upright position, the longest rods extending throughout the height of the casing 66 and being gradually diminished in length, so as to produce sounds corresponding from the lowest to the uppermost notes. 1

The rods are inclosed by the casing. The latter is made of any suitable material, such as wood, so as to act as a sounding-box. The

hammersd are arranged at the lower part of the casing. Each hammer is provided at its upper part with a recess and is supported by a transverse rail d, which enters said recess and which is attached to the side wall of the casing a, as shown in Fig. 3, said supportingrail being provided with rearWardly-projecting separating-pins 0Z that extend between the hammers, and thereby separate one hammer from another, so as to permit their free oscillation, While preventing lateral motion of the same; In place of the rail 03 any other suitable means may be employed for holding the hammers in placesuch, for example, as a plain shaft passing through holes in the hammers. Above the supporting-rail cl the hammers are provided at their upper ends with forwardly-projecting rest-pieces e, which extend'at a right angle from the hammershanks and on which rest verticallyguided keys 7?, provided with buttons at their upper ends, the shanks of the keys beingguided in a-horizontal guide-bar a of the frame a. A shorter front wall a extends parallel with the rear wall and closes the lower part of the easing a, in which the hammers are arranged, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. From the lower end of the hammers extend rearwardly strikerplates f, preferably of metal, which are arranged at right angles to the hammer-shanks and which are attached thereto, so that as soon as any one of the keys is depressed the corresponding hammer is oscillated, so that the striker-plate strikes its rod 0, so as to set it in vibration, and thus cause it to emit a musical sound. The hammers are held in position on the supporting-rail (Z by a transverse rail g, which extends at the rear of the same parallel with the supporting-rail, the lower front corner of said retaining-rail being preferably beveled, so as not to interfere with the oscillations of the hammers while preventing them from leaving the rounded-off edge of the supporting-rail d. The retaining-rail 9 extends to some extent over the rear ends of the separating-pins (Z and serves thereby for reliably retaining the upper recessed ends of the hammer-shanks on the supportingrail (Z, while permitting the convenient assembling of the parts on the hammer-supporting rail in front of the retaining-bar g when the parts of the toy are assembled, there being no connection between the hammers and the supporting-rail, so that the convenient placing in position of the hammer-supporting rail with the hammers thereon in the lower part of the easing is obtained.

The lower front corners of the hammers may be slightly beveled and placed in contact with an inclined wedge-piece /L, that is attached to the bottom of the casing, said wedgepiece serving, in connection with the beveled lower front ends of the hammers, to arrest and interrupt thereby the repeated oscillating motion to which the hammers are subjected on their return to normal position before they assume a position of rest. It is preferable to cover the supporting-rail as far as the same is in contact with the recesses of the hammershanks and the wedge-piece with a facing of felt for producing noiseless oscillations of the hammers. The contact of the lower ends of the hammers with the wedge-piece h also diminishes the corresponding up-and-down motion of the keys, so that they come almost instantly to a position of rest and the annoying rise and fall of the same after each depression is done away with.

The hammers (Z are preferably formed in two sectionsnamely, an upper pivoted section '2: and a lower section i, whieh'is hinged to the upper section and adapted to" swing thereon toward the sounding-rods when the hammer is actuated. In the drawings, 6 indicates the hinge connecting the hammer-sections, said hinge being formed of a piece of thin leather or other suitable material secured to the sections at that side toward the sounding-rods. For preventing the lower section of the hammer (Z flying too far back a stop plate 2' is provided, which is attached to the upper section 2' and extends into the path of the lower section t" at the side of the same opposite the hinge and striker-plate, so as to arrest the lower section at the proper point.

To the upper section of the hammer is attached a return-spring e, composed, preferably, of wire and which bears at its lower end on the lower section and acts to return the same promptly after its outward movement, thereby preventing double strokes upon the sounding-rod.

The musical toy is operated by depressing the keys in succession, by which a musical tune within the limits of the scale employed is produced. 1f chords are to be produced, several of the keys may be depressed at the same time, so that several vibratory rods are sounded simultaneously. The toy produces sounds in imitation of church-chimes, its casing being made up with a view of representing the bell-tower of a church. As all the parts are inclosed, they are protected against being meddled with. The parts employed being not connected with each other, the mechanism cannot get out of order. The upper surface of the projecting rest-pieces being provided with a facing of leather, felt, or other sound-deadening material permits the contact of the keys without noise. The hammers are returned by gravity to their normal position after each stroke imparted by a key, the metallic striker-plates imparting the required weight to the hammers for being quickly returned into their normal position, the inclined wedge-pieces acting in the nature of buffers preventing the repeated oscillations of the hammers, so that they quickly assume the normal position of rest under the influence of gravity.

The toy forms a pleasing musical toy for children, the convient and attractive form appealing to the eye, while the sounds produced are agreeable to the ear.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A musical toy, consisting of a casing, a metal bar in said casing, a series of vibratory rods supported by said metal bar, oscillating hammers located in front of said rods, said hammers being provided with rest-pieces at the upper ends and striker-plates at the lower ends, and keys guided in said casing and resting on the rest-pieces for actuating the hammers, substantially as set forth.

2. A musical toy, consisting of a casing, a metal bar supported in the bottom of said casing, a series of upright vibratory rods supported on said bar, hammers located in front of said rods and being recessed at their upper ends, a supporting-rail on which the recessed upper ends of the hammers are supported, a retaining-rail back of said supporting-rail, striker-plates one at the lower end of each hammer, rest-pieces extending in for- 3. A musical toy, consisting of a casing, a

metal bar supported in the bottom of said casing, a series of upright vibratory rods supported on said bar, hammers located in front of said rods and being recessed at their upper ends, a supporting-rail on which the recessed upper ends of the hammers are supported, said supporting-rail being provided with separating-fingers extending between the hammer-shanks, a retaining-rail back of said supporting-rail, striker-plates one at the lower end of each hammer, rest-pieces extending in forward direction at the upper ends of said hammers, and keys guided inthe horizontal portion of the casing for actuating the hammers, substantially as set forth.

4. A musical toy, consisting of a casing, a metal bar at the lower part of said casing, a series of vibratory rods supported on said bar, oscillating hammers arranged in front of said vibratory rods, striker plates at the lower ends of said hammers and forwardlyextending rest-pieces at the upper ends of the same, keys guided in the front part of the casing and resting on the said rest-pieces, and a Wedge-shaped arresting-piece located below and in front of the lower ends of said hammer-shanks, substantially as set forth.

5. A musical toy, consisting of a casing, a metallic bar in said casing, a series of vibratory rods supported by said bar, oscillating hammers located in front of said rods, said hammers being composed of an upper pivoted section and a lower section hinged to said upper section and adapted to swing thereon toward said rods, striker-plates on the lower section, a stop-plate on the hammer for arresting the return of the lower section, a return-spring on the opposite side of the hammer for returning the lower section, restpieces on the upper sections of the hammers, and keys guided in the casing and resting on the rest-pieces for actuating the hammers, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

- WM. ALFRED GAY. Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL,

HENRY J. SUI-IRBIER.

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