US905166A - Zither. - Google Patents

Description

J. D. FORBMAN. ZITHBB. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18, 1908.

905,166. Patented Dec. 1, 190s.

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J. D.. FOREMAN.

ZITHER.

APPLIGATION FILED, :UNB 18, 1908.

905, 166. Patented Dec. L 190s.

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Joh n. D. Foreman J. D. IEGREMANIA ZITHER,

APPLIGATION FILE-D. 1UNB18,1908.

905, 166. Patented Dec. '1, 1908.

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John. D. Foreman.

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JOHN D. FOREMAN, OF HUDSON, MICHIGAN.

ZITHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1, 1908.

Application led June 18, 1908. Serial No. 439,195.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it lrnown that I, JOHN D. FOREMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hudson, in the county of Lenawee and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Zithers, of which the following is a specification. j

This invention relates to musical instruments and has especial reference to that class of such devices which are known as zithers.

An object of this invention is to relatively position the strings on an instrument of this nature that they may be more readily accessible to the fingers of the player and so that the strings used may be clustered in juxtaposition to one another.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a plurality of strings arranged in such relative position to one another that this device will have many of the advantages of a piano, the operator being enabled to play practically any musical composition, and occupying but small space.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a scale which is positioned beneath the strings to designate the same more clearly than devices of such a nature heretofore contrived.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description and it will be understood that changes in the specific structure shown and described may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification and in which like numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a top plan view of the instrument. F ig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. F ig. 3 is an elevation of the reduced end of the instrument. Fig. 4t is an elevation of the opposite end of the same. Fig. 5 is a transverse section. Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, designates a sounding board which is supported at its opposite sides by the wrest plank 11 and the string block 12. The sounding board 10 is provided with sound holes 8O and 31. The wrest plank 11 and the string block 12 are supported upon a bottom 13 which is mounted upon suitable legs 2O which are positioned at the corners and at the intermediate edges thereof. The front of the instrument is straight while the rear edge is parallel to the front at the bass end to about one third of the length of the instrument when it tapers toward the treble end where it is considerably reduced.

The string block 12 is provided with a plurality of pins 13 which are disposed at an angle for the purpose of supporting the forward ends of strings 111. A string rail 15, which is provided with slots 16 is positioned over the pins 13 and is supported in such position by a front strip 17 and a strip 1S carried upon the upper face of the sounding board 10. The string rail is provided with a rib 19 in its upper face towards the inner edge thereof adjacent to the slot 16. The rib 19 is formed of German silver preferably and is provided with a series of notches in its upper edge for the relative positioning of the strings 14 which are passed thereover.

The rear of the instrument is provided with a supporting strip 21 which extends above the sounding board 10 and supports upon its upper edge a forwardly extending strip 22 which carries the upper extremities of the wrest pins 23.

A bridge 25 of common structure is positioned upon the sounding board 10 a short distance forward of the wrest pins 23 for the purpose of supporting the strings 14 and of holding them in their relative positions.

The arrangement and number of strings 14 form an important part of this invention. The strings are 67 in number and are arranged as follows: At the right or treble end of the instrument three chromatic octaves of twelve strings each are provided which are marked oif by the numeral 26. Adjacent to the strings 26 are ten diatonic strings which are intermediately disposed upon the instrument and are designated by the numeral 27. A bass octave 28 is positioned adjacent to the diatonic strings 27 having a space between them for the purpose of more readily determining the position of the same. Finally there are three sets of bass strings of three strings each comprising strings which form chords most common in bass aceompaniments. It can be readily seen that a musical instrument having the strings thus arranged can be played very readily and with comparative ease on account of the adjacent position of the strings most frequently used. The three groups of three strings each render it possible for the operator to play chords of most frequent occurrence with greater perfection and satisfaction than if picking the same from the ordinary arrangement of the strings when the operator is liable to strike a wrong string and to produce a discord.

For the purpose of designating the different strings a strip 29 is employed bearing the names of the strings and Corresponding symbols. The symbols which designate the diatonio notes are positioned in the top line of the strip 29, the three groups of three strings are all. diatonic and are thus designated upon the strip 29l by the numerals which are disposed one above the other. The chromatic notes or semitones are designated by the name of the string with a numeral positioned above it in the second line of the strip E29.

What is claimed is:

A musical instrument comprising a sounding board, a bottom, legs on said bottom, a wrest plank on said bottom, a string block on said bottom, said wrest plank and said string block supporting said sounding board, pins on said block, a front strip, a string rail on said front strip, a strip on said sound board for supporting said string rail, a rib on said string rail, a rear supporting stiip, a forwardly extending strip on said rear strip, a plurality of wrest pins carried by said forwardly extended strip and extended through and engaged in said wrest plank.l

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN D. FOREMAN.

"Witnesses TILLIAM' S. BROWN, ALFRED E, BRYANT.

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