US922121A - Attachment for harmonicas. - Google Patents

Description

R. J. FRASER. ATTAGHMBNT FOR HARMONIGAS. APPLICATION ITILED D30. 7, 1907.

Patented May 18, 1909.

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R. J. FRASER.

ATTACHMENT FOR HARMONIGAS.

APPLICATION I'ILBD DEQ. '7, 1907.

Patented May 18, 1909.

2 SHEETS-BEBE! 2.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1909.

Application filed December 7, 1907. Serial No. 05,5%2.

certain new and useful improvements in Ati tachments for Harmonicas; and i do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to harmonicas and has for its object to provide an attachment which may be applied to any harmonica of the ordinary construction and which will render much easier th playing of the instrument.

in carrying out my invention 1 provide a member which is slidable alone the harmonica and is provided in its portion which extends over the ducts of the harmonica, an opening through which air is to be blown or drawn to sound the reeds. i also provide upon the harmonica a support or bracket having indicated thereon numbers which are arranged in numerical order and which are equal in number to the number of ducts of the harmonica. The slidable member above referred to carries a pointer or indicator which, when the said member is slid along the harmonica, indicates the number of the duct before which the opening in the slidable member is positioned. By using this attachment and employing music sheets which have indicated thereon the numbers of the ducts which are to be played and their order, no knowledge of music or of the tune is necessary.

in the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the harmonica, showing the attachment applied thereto, Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof, Fig. 3 is a rear elevation, Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view, Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the slidable member of the attachment, and, Fig. 6 is a plan view of a portion of a music sheet .used in connection with the attachment.

In the drawings, there is shown a harmonica which is indicated in general by the reference character A and which is provided with the usual ducts 10, there being two reeds 11 provided for each duct, it being understood that one reed is sounded when air is blown through the duct and the other reed sounded when the air is drawn through the duct. The reed plates of the harmonica are covered in FRASER, a 1

the usual manner by face plates 12 held in ace by means of small bolts and nuts 1.3. ".ods are provided each at their ends with an eye 15 and the rods are attached to the harmonica by means of the bolts mentioned above the said bolts being passed through eyes in the ends of the rods and the nuts being engaged upon the bolts. These rods are so formed that when attache l in the manner stated above, they v end u and rearwardly from the harmonica upper ends of the rods are bent to extend vertically as at 16 and thence ltient back upon themselves as at 1?". ends of the rods in the manner stated kerts are formed and engaged in th kerl s are the ends of a strip 18, the said strip having indicated thereon numerals 19 arranged in ascending numerical order from lelt to right, these numerals being equal in number to the number of ducts 10 of the harmonica. In other worcs each numeral indicates a sep arate duct. The upper edge of the strip is formed, at a point above each of the numerals 19 thereon with a pointed tooth or spur 20 the function of which will presently be fully stated.

As has heretofore been stated, the attachment includes a member which is slidablc upon the harmonica and this member is comprised of a plate 21 bent to form a connecting portion 22 and spaced side portions the member being "tted over the forward edge of the harmonica with its connecting portion extending across the said edge. An opening 23 is formed through the said connectin portion of the member and by sliding the member upon the harmonica, this opening 23 may be brought to register with any one of the openings or ducts that may be desired.

In order that the slidable member above described may be held against displacement from the harmonica, a tongue 24 is formed integral with each longitudinal edge of the plate from which the member is formed and these tongues are extended rearwardly from the respective edges of the plate and are bent to extend behind the rear edge of the harmonica and secured end to end. A finger ring 25 is secured to the tongues at their point of connection one with the other and it is by this means, that the slidable member may be moved along the harmonica or hold while the harmonica itself is being moved. Fixed at its lower and forward end to one of By bending the said P the tongues 24 of the slidable member is a pointer or indicator 26 which is extended upwardly and rearwardly and has its extreme free end portion extended substan tially vertically as at 27 rearwardly of the strip 18, the extreme upper end of this portion, which is indicated by the numeral 28, extends slightly above the horizontal plane occupied by the upper toothed edge of the said strip 18, it being understood that as the movable member is slid along the harmonica, the pointer will register with the numerals 19 on the strip 18 and indicate to the player the location of the opening in the said member.

In pplying the attachment to a har monica, the movable member is first slid into position upon the harmonica and the rods 14 are then attached one to each end of the harmonica. The movable member and the harmonica are moved one with respect to the other and air currents are blown or drawn through the opening in the connecting portion 01"? the movable member, said op ening being brought to register with the proper ducts.

In connection with the attachment I employ a sheet of music of a novel character, this sheet having indicated thereon in successive order the numbers of the ducts through which it is necessary to blow or draw air currents in order to render the desired music. In view of the fact that the currents of air passing through the ducts of the harmonica in opposite directions will sound different reeds, a character is printed above each number upon the music sheet to indicate whether the required reed is to be sounded by blowing or drawing, and these characters are arbitrarily shown as B and D, the former indicating that the reed is to be sounded by blowin into the proper duct and the latter that the reed is to be sounded by drawing the air through the duct. This music sheet is clearly shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings.

What is claimed, is-

l. The combination with a harmonica, of a mouth-piece slidably mounted thereon comprising a plate having an opening adapted to successively register with the ducts of the harmonica, said plate having rearward bends engageable respectively with the top and bottom of the harmonica, ears projecting from the rear edges of the bends, said ears extending behind the rear edge of the harmonica in spaced relation therewith, and being fastened together at their ends, and a flat spring connected to the ears and engageable at its free ends with the rear edge of the harmonica.

2. The combination with a harmonica, of a mouth-piece slidably mounted thereon and having an opening adapted to successively register with the harmonica-openings, arms rojecting rearwardly from the ends of the harmonica, a chart carried by the arms, and an indicator carried by the mouth-piece, and comprising an arm projecting rearwardly therefrom having at its free end a finger extending behind the chart and projecting above the top edge thereof.

In testimony whereof, I my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

RUSSEL J. FRASER. Witnesses:

O. R. LORWAY, D. MAoLEAN.

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