Patent GB-189916087-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Self-playing Musical Instruments.
Inventor: JAMES REGINALD WILLIAM
Filed: 1899-08-05
Granted: 1900-08-04
Abstract: 16,087. James, R. W., [Shonnard, H. W.]. Aug. 5. Automatic instruments.-The invention relates to means for playing keyboard instruments mechanically. The keys 5 are operated by strikers 6, which are actuated by the armatures 7 of electromagnets 8. The armatures are curved so as to diminish their leverage as they approach the magnets, and so produce uniformity in the force applied to the keys. The electromagnets are in circuit with a conducting-roller 10, and also with conducting-fingers 11 which drop through holes in a non-conducting tune-sheet 12. The fingers consist of three separate plates, so as to produce certainty of action in case there should be any irregularity on the side of the tune-sheet, which might otherwise prevent the finger from making complete contact with the roller. The tune-sheet is wound from a roller 14 on to a roller 13, and is pressed upon by a spring arm 49 so as to keep its tension uniform. The arrangement for operating the rollers 14 and 13 for winding and re-winding the tune-sheet is shown in Fig. 5. The tune - sheet rollers, as well as the roller 10, are carried in a drawer, which, when pushed in, causes a gear on the roller 13 to engage with a bevel gear 16 in connection with an electrically - d r i v e n shaft 19. When the drawer is pulled out, a gear 15 engages with a pinion on a telescopic shaft 38 and 40, and causes the roller 13 to be driven, thus re-winding the tune-sheet. The shaft 19 is in two parts connected by a clutch which can be disconnected by an eletromagnet in circuit with the main motor 20. If this circuit is broken, the clutch is disconnected, and the parts of the shaft 19 can turn with respect to one another, When the drawer is pulled out, the tune sheet can be changed. The main motor circuit can be broken, either by hand or automatically at the end of a tune, by a switch operated by a special finger acting like the others in conjunction with the tune-sheet. This finger energizes an electromagnet, thus opening the switch, which, however, is automatically closed again by a rod 83 on the drawer whenever the latter is operated, thus setting the apparatus in motion. The motor 20, which is of ordinary type, is governed by a regulating-device consisting of a wheel 52 acted upon frictionally by a pad on an arm 60 which can be operated so as to move the pad radially to the wheel and so regulate its speed. When the pad is moved opposite a cup-shaped hollow in the wheel, the wheel is entirely freed from its operation. The tails of the fingers 11 are connected to a contact-bar 74, which can be removed with the whole set of fingers, and the contacts on the bar 74 are in turn connected to a fixed contactbar 77, this arrangement being made to facilitate the removal of the fingers. The drawer and the case containing the contact-devices turn in one piece round a pivot 3, to enable the parts to be readily reached. The magnets 8 are carried on blocks 85, provided with raised flanges which form guides for the armatures. The blocks 85 are carried between bars 86 and 87, clamped together by bolts, which, when loosened, enable the blocks 85 and the magnets to be adjusted in position.