US989874A - Mechanical musical instrument. - Google Patents

Description

G. DE c. BEGO. MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLIGATION FILED 00T.23l 1902.

Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

uunuuuuunu 989,8749 Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

G. DE G. RBGO.

MECHANICAL MUS'CL INSTRUMENT. APPLIOATION FILED 001:23, 1902.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A G. DE U. RBGO. MECHANICAL MUSICAL' INSTRUMENT.

APPLIOATION FILED 001.23, 1902.

989,8?4 Patented Apr, 18, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 G. DE C. RBGC.

MECHANICAL 'MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

APPLIGATION FILED ooT.2 s,19o2.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

.Jg 33 51176 I Patented Apr. 18, 1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT clarion. l

GEORGE :DE CAIROS REGO, OF SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA.

MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1911,

Application led ctober 23, 1902. Serial N o. 129,268.

To all 'whom 'it' may concern.'

Be it known that I, GEORGE DE CAIRos Reco, subject of the King of Great Britain,

, organs, and the like.

residing at Sydney, in the Colony of New South Wales, Australia, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement 'in Mechanical Musical Instruments7 (Case'1',) of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying' drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates in general to musical instruments, and in particular to mechanical musical instruments which are operated by the traveling of a perforated sheet of music over a tracker board or similar device having 'a series of ports with which the perforations in the music sheet successively register as the sheet advances. Instruments of this kind are, mechanical piano players, (frequently called self-players,) zeolians, reed Certain of these instruments, such as the mechanical piano players of self-players, are employed tooperate the keyboard of another instrument such as a piano;.in'others of these instruments the traveling sheet of music is ar-- ranged in the instrument itself and produces the operation of the same.v

The object of my'invention is to arrange for the accentuation of. any note or series, group or collection of notes, so that such note or series or group of notes will be played more loudly 'than the other notes in the-composition. yThe most common application of this principle would be to accent a melody or melodic phrase so that it will stand out over the accompaniment. A

In carrying out my invention as hereinafter more particularly set fo-rth, I provide -a duplex or double tracker board; that is, a

tracker board having two like sets of ports or openings, eaclrsim'ilar to the usual set of ports or openings in a tracker hoard; and I connect. each set of ports or openings with the usual pneumatic apparatus or pneumatics so that the latter will be selectively actuated by the admission of air into the ports. I also provide a. duplex perforated sheet of music; that is, a sheet of music adapted to extend and travel over both sets of tracker hoard ports and I provide this sheet of music. with wo diiterent sets or series of perforations, one for'lthe unaccented or.t.he accompaniment notes, and the other for the accented or melodic notes. By such arrangement the unaccented or accompaniment perforations travel over one set of tracker board ports or openings and actuate the pneumatics in the usual way to produce the accompaniment notes, while the other set of perforations travels over the other set of tracker board ports or openings and causes the actuation of the pn'emnatics .so as bring about the accentuation of the notes of said second set 'of perforation's.

As a preferred arrangen'ient, the unaccomed o1 accompaniment set of perfor-ations includes .all of the notes both unacccuted and accented, and the accented set of perforations includes only the accented notes. and' these latter'perforations are placed correspondingly on the music sheet so that. the corresponding notes in the two sets of perforations reach thecorresponding ports simultaneously.. l In this way a pneumatic or pneumatic apparatus for actuating an accented note or series of notes, receives a double impulse, one from the unaccented or accompaniment setof tracker board ports, and the other from the accented or melody set of ports. This double actuation produce.-4 a distinctly harder blow, thereby causing the louder 'actuation of the accented or melodic note or series or group of notes.

As a matter 'of further and specific improvement, I desirably arrange for the control of the accented or melody notes so as to-vary the loudncss or prominence of the same, as wellA as to control the loudness of board ports at the salue time that the corre# spending acconuianiment or unaccented pei'-,

forations reach the corresponding ports. As

-a result the wind is cconomized, because it is not used .in the accented or melody pneumatlcs aft-er the accentlng cii'ecl has been sccured after the striking ol the blow. l also 4provide other matters of further specific improvement which will be pointed out hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown my invention as applied to mechanical piano players or seht-players, although it vwill be understood that I donotintend to be understood as so limiting it, as its use can be extended toA other musical instruments without departing from the spirit of` the invention. In as much as there are two well known and different -types of mechanical piano players operating on diiferent principles so far as the pneumatic actions are concerned, I have shown both of such types with my' invention applied to each. In one type the pneumatics which operate the fingers for striking the piano keys,open to` produce the striking blow, and in the other type these pneumatics close.

In the accompanying drawings, Figures 1 and 2 are respectively longitudinal and Atransverse sections of a portion of a mechanical piano player embodying my present invention; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the l music sheet and the tracker board over which the music travels; Fig. 4 is a view of the lever arrangement for controlling the expression of both the accented and unaccented notes; Fig. 5 is a viewer' a printed music sheet showing the score for -a player einbodying the present invention; Fig. 6 is a transverse section of a portion of a player constructed with opening pneumatics, ernbodying my invention; Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 7-7 in Fig. 6; and Figs. 8

and 9 are transverse sections of'a portion of'a player provided with closing pneumatics embodying my invention.

` d icated at 2, 2, and the ports in the section 'b at 3, 3. From the tracker board 1 tubesl or passages 4, 4, and 5, 5, lead downwardly, the pipes 4, 4, being extended from the section a', andl 5, 5 from the section b. The

- tubes or pipes 4, 4, can 'be made either ot -flexible elastic material suchas "rubber, or' of metal such as lead, as desired iin the construction of the instrument. -'l;ie.y extend downwardly from the tracker pbard l to a front board 6, which latter is p jovide with two sets or series of apertures r- ducs 7, 7 and 8, 8 whereof the series' 8, 8, isr conveniently inthe rear of theseries 7, 7. The pipes '4, 4 and 5, 5 are connected .with these two different sets'or series of apertures, the pipes 4, 4, for example, with the rear series 8, 8, and the pipes 5, 5, with the front series 7, 7, all as well shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

I will refer now more particularly to Figs. 6 and 7, which, it will be remembered,

show a portion of' a player Whose p'neumaticsv v produce the'striking blow by opening. In these figures, the front board 6 is shown arranged at one side of a structure whose top 75 is the mounting board 9, which it'is understood is the usual board-upon which the pneumatics for actuating the striking fingers of the player,are arranged. One of these pne'uinatics c is shown in Fig. 6, in or- 80 dei' tov indicate their location and-generall arrangement. As they form no part of my present invention, they have not been shown indetail or fully. It is understood that they are `the usual set or series ,of pneumatics for operating tlie strikin .ing'ers, one pneumatic for each finger. T e'bottoniot' the structure consists of the lifter. board 10 provided with ducts l1, 11,-and'12, 12, whereof the ducts 11,v 11, connect withthe apertures or ducts 7 7, in the front bo-ard- 6, and the ' ducts 12, 12, connect with the rear apertures 8, 8, in said front board. The lifter board 10 is provided lwith two sets of lift. Y ers 13, 13, and l4,"l4,fwhicharezmade of 95 flexible material such as leather, in the usual manner. The litters 13, 13, are ,arran ed at the eiidsof the ports 11, 11, and the lifters 14, 14, at the ends-of the portsl 12, 12.

The structure is provided with a valve board 15 which lis arranged between the mounting beard 9 and the lifter boa-rd 10. Between the mounting board 9 and valve board 15 is a partition 16 and an end wall 17.;' the former divides 'the space between the boards 105' I 9 and 15 into two chambers 1'8 and 19 which form wind trunksand are understood to be connected with the outside air. The space etween the boards 10 and 15 is an exhaust or vacuum chest 36 and is understood to be 110 connected with the vacuum or exhaust ap' paratusgcommonly employedin piano players. The mounting board 9' is provided witlia series of apertures 20, which are understood to communicate with the iinger'- 115 actuating pneumatics c, of the player. These apertures 20, 20, extend dwn through the partition 16 4and are connected with cross ducts'orpassages 21, 21, which extend across the board 15.' Each duet or passage 120 21 is provided with two ports 22 and^23 at one end, and a ,portl24 at=the other end. The ports -22 and 23 are controlled by. valves -25 and 26on a valve spindle 27 ,supported by the lifter 14. The port 24' is controlled 125 'by a valve 28von a valve spindle 29 carrie-d by the lifter 13. 4The-'valve spindles 27 and 29 'are provided with the usiial supports and* guides 30,-30 and 31,31. 'A supplemental valve bo'ard 32, is arranged beliiv'and sup- .i3-3

man

ported by the valve board 15. rlLhis supplemental board 32 is provided` with a valve one of the spools, as for examplethe' spool 41, in the usual manner. The music sheet 40 is provided with two sets or series of perforations 43, 43 and 44, 44.' The .perfora- v tions 43, 43, register, as the music sheet is drawnalong, with the . ports 2, 2 in the section a ot the tracker board, and the perforations 44, 44, register with the ports 3, 3, in

' lthe section b thereof. The perforations 43,

43, are for the notes which are not to be accented, which for convenience I shall call accompaniment notes, althoughA it will be seen that this is more limiting than is required by the invention. The perforations 44, 44, are for the notes'which are to be accented, which for convenience I shall term the melody notes. The accompaniment side.

of the music sheet has perfor-ations correspending tothe perforations on the melody or accented side. By preference the melody perforations, however, are all short in length, whereas the corresponding perforations in the accompaniment side are of various lengths so as to give t-he full time value of the note. A

From the foregoing the operation of the As the music 'sheet advances the perforations 43, 43, admit air into the ports 2, 2, and thereby cause t-he operation of the litters 14, 14'. The operation of these latter cause the ports 22,

22 to be opened, and 23, 23 to be closed,

thereby establishing communication between the accompaniment. -or unaccented wind trunk 18 and the pneumatics, through the ports 20, 20, thereby causing the actuation of the pneumati'cs. Communication with the exhaust or vacuum chest 36 at such time is prevented by the valve 34 controlling the port 35, and thereby interference with the action'of the pneumatics when the litters 14, 14, alone are operated, is prevented. At the same time that the perforations 43, 43, are causing the actuation of the pneumatics, to

-play the accompaniment notes, the melody perforatlons 44ad1nit air into certain of the ports 3, 3, in the section of the tracker board. This causes the actuatlon lof the lifte'rs 13, 13, thereby actuating vthe valve spindles 29, 29, and connecting the ports 24, 24, also with the wind trunk 19,'l there y The movei ing communication between the duct 21 and the exhaust chest 36. In as much as the melody perforations 44,44, have their counterparts in the perforations 43, 43, the pneumatics actuating the fingers which are 'to play the melody, receive double or augmented 0r emphasized actuations, thereby causing the playing of the melody more loudly or prominently than the accompaniment. Since the perforations 44, 44, are. desirably short, the melody actuations of* the pneumatics are momentary only at the striking of the note, 'after whichthe melody actuation ceases; the sustaining of the accented notes during their proper time values, is accomplished by the accompaniment actuations. This eifects an economy of wind and reduces the labor of operating the machine.

The scoring of music for a duplex tracker board and music sheet operating in accordance with my invention as just described, is

shown in Fig. 5. In this arrangement the staves 3 land 4 bear the complete composition and are forthe accompaniment section of the tracker board and music sheet; the

'staves 1 and 2 bear the melody notes or theme, and are for the melody or unaccented side of the tracker board and music sheet.

I will refer now to Figs. 8 and 9, in which, it will be remembered, is shown certain mechanism of a mechanical piano player operated by pneumatics which close to produce the striking blow. ln this construction a front board (3 having ducts or' passages 7, 7 and 8, 8a, whereof thepassages 7a are connected with. the tubes or pipes 4, 4, and the. passages 8 with the tubes or pipes 5, The hoard (5l is extended downwardly to form oneside of a structure, and on the opposite side is a rear board 45. .The top of the structure is formed by a top board 4G,

,and the bottom by a bottom board 47. Be-

low the top board 46 are a primary valve board 4S and primary lifter board 4%). Between the boards 4G and 48 is a partition 5() dividing the space between said boards into wind trunks 51 and 52. The space between the boards 48 and 4S) is a vacuum chamber or chest S'and is understood to be connected with the vacuum-producing apparatus ot the player. The board 46 is provided with ducts or passages 53, o3, the partition 50 .with ducts or passages 54,21nd the ,board 48 with ducts or passages 55, 55, whereof the l corresponding ducts or passages 53, 54 andA communicate with one another to form -continuous ducts or passages, shown in Fig. T he passages 55, 55, each have ports 5G and 57, and these arc controlled by puppety valves 58, 58, actuated Aby litters 59, 59, arranged on passagesGO, G0, communicatingr with the rear front board apertures or openings Ta, The board 48 isalso provided with passages (5,1., 01, each having `ports 62 `l and63 controlled by a' puppet valve 64, actuated by litters 65, 65 on ducts or passages 66, 66, communica-ting with the front ducts or passages 8a, 8 in the front board 6a. The

passages 53 and tilcommunicate respectively Vwith'passages 67 and 68m the rearboard 45, and these in turn communicate with passages 69- and 70 in a lifter board-71. On this lifter board are arranged lifters 72, 72

and 73,7 3, located in exhaust chests 74 and 7 5 respectively. The lifters 72, 72 and 73, 73

control' valve spindles 76, 76 and 77, 77,

' fingers.

' music sheet cause the operation of the lifters :cate with the outside air. board \71l is another wind chest 82a, other having valves 78 and 79, and 80 respectively. Above the exhaust chests 74, 75 are ducts or passages 81, 81, which are understood to communicate with part of the usual set of pneumatics d, d which operate the striking Above the passage 81 is an air trunk 82.which is understood to communie I Below the lifter pneumatic ducts or passages Sli, 81*,'exliaust chests 74a and 75a, and lifters and valves 72,-

721,73 a, 73, etc., corresponding to the wind trunk 82, the passages 81, 81, etc. The paslsages ,81s, 81a communicate with the other portionvof the set of pneumatics d, 0 3. The lowerpneumatic passages 81, 811L and controlling valve mechanismscommunicate, by

" ranged between the ports or passages 7a and means of ducts or passages 7a and 8a ar- 88l controlling the pneumatic passages 81, 8l.

The arrangement herein shown operates on'the same general principles as that set forth in connection with Figs. 6 and 7: The accompaniment perforations 43, 43, in the 59 59, thereby admitting air into the passages 55, 55, and actuating the litters 72, 72, as a result ofwhich communication with the passages 81, 81, is cut oil from the wind trunk 82 and opened 4to the accompaniment exhaust. chest 74, vthereby causingv the pneumatics to be exhausted and collapsed orA closed. In a similar -way thev melody perforations 44, 44, cause the operation of the more forcibly .than the accompaniment notes. It'will be seen that the only communie-ation between the wind trunk 82 andv the pneumatic passages 81, 81, is by way of ports controlled by the accompaniment valves 78, 78, .whereby the operation of the accompaniment notes is not interfered with `by themclody Valve mechanism.

In Fig. 4 I have shown an 'arrangement for controlling 'the wind in the wind'chests' 18 and 1 9, in the arrangement of Figs. 6 and 7, and in the exhaust chests 74,75 in the arrangement of Figs. Band 9. AIn this arrangement there are two levers 86- and 87 -whereof the lever 86 is to control the accompaniment notes, and the lever 87 to controlthe melody notes. These two levers are shown as being connected with links 88, andv 89 respectively, which it is understood 'are' connected with valves suitably located' in the wind trunks or vacuum chests asIequired. These valves are' not shown inthe drawings,

as the part of the player in which they are located is not shown;`but it will be Iunderstood that they can be any suitable form of controlling valve, such for example as simpley slide valves adapted to move back and forth across the various passages, to ope'n them to a greater or less extent as desired. The levers 86 and 87 are led to the top and front of the player in any desired manner, and the lever 87 has a bent end 90extending-through a slit near the t'op of the lever`86. The control is effected by shifting either or both of these levers as required. The arrangement is such that this can be done readily by placing the top of the lever 86 between two of the fingers of the left hand andvoperatin vthe lever 87 by the thumb of the 'samehan' thereby placing the entire expression inthe control of one hand-,and permitting a' variation relatively between the accompaniment and melody parts as desired.

It will be seen bythe' foregoing, that I provide a simple, practical and effective manner of allowing the-accent of any note or series or group of notes. It e un- Vderstood that I do not intend to limit myself tothe arrangement herein set forth,- as the same can be modified, varied orchanged, -without departing from thespirit of my invention.

'What I claim as my invention 1s:-

. 1..The combinationl with.; Aa duplicate/ tracker board, and du licatesets of passages -leading4 therefrom, o pneumatic key-striking mechanisms, two pneumatic -ducts'- or chambers, a third ductoij chanlgcr, passages leading tothe pneumatic key-'strikin mechanisms, and two valve systems, one o which opens and closes said passages to one of said pneumatic ducts or chambers and said 4thirdduct,.to control said systems, and the other 'of which valve systems opens andfclo'ses the other pneumatic ductor chamber to 'said' passages so as to coperate with the lilstmentioned valve mechanisms to cause the secondv pneumatic," duct or chamber to intersiy certain actuations of thekey-striking mechanisms, substantially as described.

.2. In i a mechanical musical instrument, the combination with the pneumaticallyQoperated key-strikingrmechanism, of two wind systems, a-duplicate tracker systemgoverning said striking mechanisms through the agency of said tWo `Wind systems, valves for In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe controlling said two Wind systems, and lemy name this 17th day of Getober A. D., vers controlling said valves, said levers be- 1902.

ing associated and one of the same being GEORGE DE C-AIROS REG. bent and the other having an aperture Witnesses: through which the bent end of the first lever NELSON BOOTH,

is extended. MILLER BELFIELD.

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