US824050A - Portable player for musical instruments. - Google Patents

Description

No. 824,050. PATENTED JUNE 19, 1906.

E. s. VOTEY.

PORTABLE PLAYBRT'OR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1903.

2 8HEBTSS HEET 1.

WITNESSES? 4 INVENTOR a. 56% azawtf y a ATTORNEYS;

:No. 824,050. Y PATENTED JUNETQ, 1906.

* B. s. VOTEY.

PORTABLE PLAYER FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS EDWINS. VOTE). OF NEW YORIL COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.,

PORTABLE PLAYER FOR PATENT oFFIoE.

N. Y.., ASSIGNOR TO THE AEOLIAN, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19, 1906.

ipplioatinn filed June 22, 1903. Serial No. 162,506.

To all whom, it 'ITMJ/l/ cancer-rt:

Be it known that I, EDWIN S. VOTEY, a

- citizen of the United States, residing in the also shown broken away borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of New York, (post-office address, Aeolian Hall, No. 362 Fifth avenue, New York -city,) have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Players for Mu: sical Instruments, of which invention the fol lowing is a specification, accompanied by drawings, which illustrate a preferred form thereof.

. An object of the invention isithe provision of means to permit the arrangement of the mechanism for actuating the keys under the keyboard of a musical instrument in that class of mechanically-played musical instruments in which a tracker and music and takerolls are in playing position located in front of the keyboard for convenience of manipulation. r

A further object is to mount the tracker and music andtake-up rolls on an attach ment' so that they may ing position either for clearing the keyboard of any obstruction when the iano or organ. is to be played by hand or for s 'pment of the instrument.

- The invention-is described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, as being applied to certain known and used forms of mechanism, and the improvements constituting the present invention'ar'e incorporated in the claims.-

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of a mechanical musical instrument the casing being shown in section and a keyboard being at each end. Fig. 2 is a transverse section thereof viewedv from the right of Fig. 1. 'Fig. 3 is a detail sec- 4 tional view, on a larger scale, showing the mechanical musical frame for supporting the tracker and'music and-take-up rolls, shown, as well'as riving mechanism and a means for reversing the" direction of movement ofthe'mnsie-sheet. Fig. {1 is a section i Fig. 5 is a section on the on line 4. 4 of Fig 3 A line5 5 of.Fig'. 13 and'Fi'g. 6 is an enlarged dei tail of the pneumatic playing mechanism Y .Itisold and well knewnin inany'forrns of instruments to control primary pneumatic: by a tracker-board and be moved from playarts of these being also its connections, over which tracker-board a perforated music-sheet travels, and to cause primary pneumatics to operate secondarypneumatics, which in turn control the neumatically-operated mechanism for eflectuating the playing. It is also old and well knownto provide in connection Withsuch a tracker-board a-music-roll and a take-up roll for operating the .music-sheet either toun'- wind it from the music-roll slowly or to unwind it rapidly from the take-up'roll, the reverse movement being accomplished by a suitable reversing-lever.

In the drawings I have selected for illus: tration a well-known form of instrument, and it is not, therefore, necessary to describe in detail the old and well-known parts thereof.

The essence of the present invention 0011- sists 1n mounting the tracker so as to move with the music-roll and the take-up rolls when they are moved to a orto, position below the leaving the keyboard free the instrument by hand.

eyboard, thereby ppsition for playing for the playing of In the preferred wayof carrying dut the invention the usual type of tracker and music and take -up rolls is provided, with the exception that they are movable from opera-.

tive ,position for automatic laying to nonoperative position to permit p aying by hand.

The following-described construction is the preferred form of the present invention: A

ortable case a is rovided, which in use is coated under the I? quires for this reason that the tracker, music, and -take-up rolls be mounted so that they may be moved into position for automatic playing or into position within the case when the automatic portiqnfof the mechanism is not to be used. The-case has ivoted thereame c which to at a a suitable'sup ortin supports a tracker whic h by means of flexible connections, such as tubes d is connected with the primary neumatics, such as e, which actuate valves e, that in turn control' secondary the valves f, w ich are in turn arran ed to control thepneumatic motors f hese pneumatic devices are simply shown here b way of exam 1c of pneumatic devices-whic may be use'd to actuate the keys I) or any other art of the piano-action throu h any suitabiia'connection with the motors 5. As

neumatics f for actuatingeyboard b, and-which re-- upon the ends of levers 1).

The take-up roll it is driven by a shaft 'i, which carries a gear-wheel iand is journaled in the wall of a box or casing 7', located at one side of the supporting-frame 0.. This gearwheel meshes with a pinion 7c, arranged on a shaft 7c, journaled intlie casing said shaft also-ca'rr ing a sprockethe e J. On the shaft is, etween the pinion 7c and a clutch member 1, also on the shaft, is a smaller sprocket-wheel 712 said clutch being adapted by a feather-and-groove connection (not necessar to be shown) to couple the sprocketwhee k todri've the sprocket k As shown, the pinion 7c, sprocket-wheel k andclutch member Zare ,inadein the form of a sleeve 1 which slides on the 'shaft, i1 1 which case when with the, in my the side of thels wheel 7c t e pinion]; is disengaged gear-wheel the pin 1 on clutch member-l is engaged rocketorn'the e powera or vicev verses Th transmitting shaft a is s rocket-chain m, (indicated by dotted lines a so trained over the sprocket-wheel k, be-

' fore referred'to. Also, mounted on the shaft a is a sprocket-wheel'o,- Fig. 1,driven from a suitable s rocket chain -0, trained. over sprocket eel a on motorsha'ft g for the pur ose of rotating the shaft a'.- A revers- 'ingever it is rovided at n in the box or casing j. The ever nis provided with a button M, which projects through "the box or casingj for the manipulation of said lever it,

which, actingon the clutch member Z,- serves as a reversin -lever for the purpose resently to a'p ear.

chain p, which isalso trained over a sprocketwheel 1), that is mounted on a shortshaft p V constructed at that end which projects out-- side the casing 7' to-. 'serve in well-known manner as a couplin to receive the shaft of the music-roll h. r'T 's is a convenient point.-

to describe the operation of the mechanism for transmitting motion to the rolls to cause the music sheet to travel over the tracker.

I Whn the mechanical musical instrument is in operation for automatic playing, the reversing-lever n is in the position shown in full lines in Fig. '3, -the'gar-wl reel 'i being;

then'drivenfromthe s rocket-chainzdrive m h m i in consequence c which rotary motion rovided with a" sprocketheel .m, over w 'ch is trained a e sprocket-wheel 7: efore re-' ferre to, has trained thereover a sprocket is imparted to the lower take-u roll it to wind the music-sheet thereon an to unwind it from the music-roll at a slow rate of speed. After the piece of music has-been played the music-sheet is rewound-on the music roll by v reversing the direction of rotation of the rolls this being effectuated by shifting the lever n so as to engage the clutch l and the clutch l at one side of the sprocket-wheelsk The sprocket-chain p will then be driven toimart rotary motion directly to the music-roll om its shaft, thereby rewinding the musicsheet onto said roll.

The sup orting-frame c for the music and take-up r0 1s and the tracker may be moved into the position shown in full'lines in Figs. 1

and 2, so as tobe located in positionfor manipulationin' front of thekeyboard b, 'or in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,

in which position it is moved into a recess or receptacle 9 in front of the case a. This recess is of such size as toreceive the entire supporting-frame and parts supported thereby and makes it possible to store the frame and. supported parts in the case for transportation or for obtaining'free access to the keyboard I) for manual playing.

A tempo-slide 1', provided with apointer to h set opposite a scale r, moves in a slot r in one wall of the box or casing j, it being mounted u onla bent-wire sliding piece 1' which is guided in the box or casing porting-frame which, when the same is moved up into'the position shown in Fig. 1, constitutes the back of the frame, with acranked finger s, which is, bymeans of a connecting rod 8, connected withthe valve 8 of the tempo mechanism. (Not necessary to be illustrated in detail.) g

The swinging su porting-frame for the I tracker, music, an .take-up rolls ma be fixed in positionlshown full lines in Fig. 2) for automatic playing bya special catch; but

this is not necessary, as when the frame is raised to such position it passes the center of gravity and rests against-a superposed portion-as, for instance, the keybed or (projecting artof that art of a piano un erlying the eyboard. 1

to the; tracker, are of suificientlength so that no breakingstrain will be exerted thereon during the raising or lowering of the swinging su ortin -frame. I

v e be lows t of the pneumatic playing mechanism are operated 1n well-known man- The wire slid- 7 --in'g piece? is provided at that side of the sup? rod e flexible tubes d, leading ner from treadles If, these treadles being piv oted," sothat they may be moved into the posltion shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 when .out of use. The compartment vin which the 'treadles are arranged 1s closedv by means of a door-u, hingxed to a strip 11/, that is guided in suitable wa s at the sides ofthe compart merit, but which in Fig. 2is shown in raised.

position for obtaining. access to the treadles t. When the door uis moved up, as shown, it will be located in front of and will close the recess g, which receivesthe movable support 0.

Between the treadles t are located extension-pedals v of the piano-pedals w. The extension-pedals c are formed as crank-arms of rock-shafts '0, which are journaled in suitable bearings at the base of the apparatus case a. The rear ends of the rock-shafts v are provided with hooks w, which engage over the ends of'the pedals 10, that extendthrough the back of'the case a.

The operation of the entire apparatus when in the form of the invention shown in the drawings is .as follows: The case a is moved under the projecting keyboard 'or 'tion of the piano, so that the pivot a 'wi be arranged properly relatively to the keyboard. The sliding door a is then raised and the treadles t pulled out so that their feet will rest upon the floor to permit of the oscillation thereof and the operation of the bellows.

The movable support 0 is moved from the dotted-line position in its recess (1 either before the door is raised or afterward into full line position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the said support, with the supported partsas the tracker, music, and 'take-11prollsbeing ar ranged in front of the forward ends of the keys I) in convenient position for manipula: tion by the operator of the apparatus; The music-roll, if'not already in position, is then placed in position above the tracker andthe music-sheet passed across the tracker'f'and attached to the take-up roll. The apparatus is now in playing order, and it is only necessary to operate the treadles to automatically perform the music which is cut in the musicsheet. When it is desired to manually perform on the piano ororgan, the treadles tare moved into the case a, the door a moved down, and the movable support c swung down into the dotted-line position shown in Fig. 2. The performer now plays, as usual, upon the keys I) and obtains-the desired expression by the actuation of the extension-pedals V. This is done without removing the case a, with its contained parts, from underneath the keyboard.

Having thus described my invention, and

without limiting myself to details, what I claim as new therein, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the keyboard of a musical instrument, a case separate from the instrument and located under the keyboard, actuating mechanism connected with that of the instrument, 'a tracker, operating connections leading from the tracker to said mechanism, for therespective notes, and a swinging support on the case on which the tracker is mounted to permit its movement upwardly -as set'forth.

' fort in front of the keyboard or downwardly be- 6' 5 low the same, substantially as set forth.

.2. The combination of the keyboard of a musical instrument, a'case separate from the the instrument,.a tracker, operating connections leading from the tracker to said mechane ism, for the respective notes, a movable su port on said case, and music and take-up ro ls mounted on said support for moving a musicsheet. across the'tracker, said support being adapted to benioved up in front of the keyactuating mechanism connected with that of board, or down below the same, substantially 4. The combination of a -ke board of a musical instrument of a case be ow the keyboard providedwith a recess in front, actuating mechanism located in the case and connecte with that of the instrument, a tracker,

opera ng connections leading from the tracker to said mechanism, for the respective notes, and a movable support-,onsaid case on which the tracker is mounted, said support being movable upwardly in front of the keyboar or downwardly into the said ual playing, respectively, substantially as recess, for permitting mechanical and mtg; 5

. 5. The combination ofa keyboard of a" I musical instrument of a case below the,key boar'd provided wit .a recess in'front,act uating mechanism located in the case and con- IIO nected with that of the instrument, atra cker,

operating connections leadin from the tracker to said mechanism, for t e respective notes, a take-up roll, and a movable sup ort on said case on which the take-up rol is wardly in front of t e keyboard or down into the said recess, for permitting mechanical and manual pla 'ng, respectively, substan tia'lly as set fort '61 The combination of akeyboard of a musicalinstrument, of a case below the key-' board provided with a recess in front, a'ctuat ing mechanism located in the case and con-" nected with that of the instrument, a tracker,

operating connections leadin from the tracker to said mechanism, for t e respective notes, a music-roll, and a movablesupport 1r 5 mounted, said sup ort being movable up- V on said case on which the music-roll is mounted, said support being moyable upwardlyin front of the keyboard or down into the said recess, for permitting mechanical andmanual playing, respectively,.substantiallyas set zfort Z. In a portableplayer for musicalinstruments, the Combination of a case. detachable from. and ap licable to such an instrument io fpr'ovided wit afront recess and in which the operative parts of the player are 'contained and a support for a tracker, music-roll an takemp pivoted at the top of thecase and movable into said recess, substantially as set s forth.

' 8. In a portable player for musical instruments, thecombination of. a case detachable from and. ap licable-toi. such an instrument provided with afront' recess and in which the operatiye parts ofthe' layer are contained, and a support for a ta e-'up roll pivoted at the top of the case and movable into said re cess, substantially asset forthl 9. The combination with the keyboard and pedals of a manually-played musical instru- 10. A mec amcalplayer for keyboard mu-.

sical instruments is apted to be positioned beneath the keyboard of .such instrument I and integrally removable from such position,

having means for carrying and operating a controlling music-sheet, and a support, on which said sheet-carrying means is movably mounted to occupy alternatively an operative position above such keyboard, or a nonoperative position beneath such keyboard.

11'. A mechanical player for keyb oa rdmumeans carrying rotatable rolls for said music-- portion.

' aaaos'o sicai instruments including a casing adapted to positioned beneath the keyboard of such instrument and integrally removable, from such position, p" er-supplying means for winding musicest in said casing,

sheet, and a support on which said roll-carrying means s-movably mounted to occupy alternat'ively an operative position above such I keyboard or a non-operative position beneath such keyboard. v 12 A mechanical player forkeyboard musical instruments including a casing adapted to be positioned beneath: the keyboard of such instrument and integrally removable from such position, a movable" front portion on said casing, power-supplying means for winding a music-sheet in said casing, means carrying rotatable rolls for such music-- sheets, and a support on "which saidfroll-carrying means is movably mounted'to occupy alternatively anoperative position above said 7o keyboard, or a non-operative position be-' neath said keyboard and behind'said front 13. In combination with a musical instru ment having a keyboard extending forwardly of its lower frontportion and a'pluraiity of means beneath said'keyboard'for separately operating its sound produci' fi g" devicesja mechanical player adapted, to be positioned beneath said keyboard and." integrally removable from said position,- having means for cooperating with said firstnamed'means to sound said instrument, meansfor carrying and operating a controlling music sh'eet, and a support on which said sheet-carrying means; is movably mounted to occupy alternatively anoperativepos ition above said keyboard, 7, or a non-operative position beneath said key board.

In testimony whereofl have signed thisspecification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses: D

' EDWIN S. VOTEY.

Witnesses GEORGE E. KELLY, E. O. THoMPsoN.

Images