Year: 1897

page_text: ларготещение и патр
I, GUSTAVE FRANTZ LYON, of 22, Rue Rochechouart, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
My invention more particularly relates to harps with crossed strings arranged in
two planes and intersecting at or about their medial portions.
According to my invention the upper head or top-piece of the harp is formed of a
single metal piece, one end of which is embedded in the post or standard, while its
opposite end is supported by another piece of aluminium or other suitable metal and
of double tee section the lower end of which receives the base of the post or standard.
The said double tee piece is situated within the sounding chest, which may be of
wood and all the strings, after passing over the sounding board, are attached by means
of hooks to the said piece.
The post or standard, is of metal, consisting for instance of a steel tube, and
constitutes the third side of a firm triangular arrangement of which the upper bead
or top piece and double tee piece form the other sides which triangular arrangement
will remain unimpaired and unaltered, under atinospheric influences.
In the said sounding chest are perforations, which can be closed simultaneously by
means of shutters operated through a pedal whenever it is desired either to deaden
the sound or to uncover the points of attachment of the strings.
The damper is placed just below the upper head or top-piece, and is also operated
by a pedal.
A set of diapasons or tuning-pieces is combined with the instrument.
The strings are first secured to the hooks or staples which are provided for the purpose
upon the double tee piece and each string then passes through a perforation provided
in the sounding board, and its strengthening rods and is attached to pegs on the
upper head or top piece; which pegs enable the strings to be very readily adjusted
and tuned.
The damper is operated by a pedal which acts on a lever at the end of which there
is a set screw carrying a hook to which is fixed a wire or the like passing over a pulley.
situated near the upper part of the post or standard and attached to the extremity of
a bell-crank lever pivoted to the upper head or top-piece. To the opposite end of
which bell-crank lever is secured one of the supports of the damper, a second support
being connected to a lever turning about a pivot carried by the said upper head or
top-piece.
Two springs serve for restoring the whole of the mechanism to its normal position;
one of which springs is secured to the pedal, while the other is fixed to the bell-crank
lever.
The operation of this mechanism is extremely simple:-
By the depression of the pedal by the performer's foot, the nut and hook are
lowered, and the wire is thereby caused to actuate the lever which in its turn depresses
the damper. Upon the removal of the foot from the pedal, the springs at once cause
the pedal and damper to resume their initial positions.

page_text: The pedal for actuating the shutter-operating mechanisin is made capable of
performing two distinct movements, one of which takes place in the vertical direction
about the axis on which it turns, while the other is horizontal upon a pivot supporting
this axis and mounted in a bracket.
This last movement is to enable the shutters to be kept closed, by a sideway
movement of the pedal lever engaging it with a horizontal notch.
To the pedal there is attached a wire or the like which passes over a pulley, the
end being secured to a roller carried by suitable supports. Upon this roller there are
secured chains or the like which are attached to the extremities of the fulcrummed
shutter-carrying levers.
Two springs, one of which is secured to the pedal while the other connects the two
levers serve to keep the shutters open at ordinary times.
When, however, the pedal is depressed the roller is set in motion by means of the
wire and the chains or the like being wound thereon draw the ends of the levers of the
shutters together, whereby the shutters are caused to take up their position in front
of the apertures.
The diapasons or tuning-pieces may be twelve in number, their object being to
enable the harpist to tune his instrument, giving, as they do, the twelve semitones of
an octave.
The required sounding is obtained by striking one of a number of external knobs
or keys. Each such knob or key transmits motion through the medium of a bell-
crank lever to a flexible rod and hammer this hammer thereupon striking the diapason
plate whereby the desired note is made audible.
A spring serves to raise the whole mechanism after one of the keys or knobs has
been pushed and released.
D
1 1001
Improvements in Harps.
I, GUSTAVE FRANTZ LYON, of 22, Rue Rochechouart, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
My invention more particularly relates to harps with crossed strings arranged in a
two planes and intersecting at or about their medial portions.
The object of my invention is to provide a harp, having a novel construction
whereby the frame shall possess increased strength and resistance to the strain exerted
by the strings while the weight of said frame is materially diminished.
It is also my object to provide a harp which is equipped with means whereby the 4
strings may be tuned without the aid of another instrument.
I also aim to provide a harp having a sonorous box or chest, so constructed that it
shall have a considerable degree of resistance to strain, said box being provided with
openings and having combined therewith shutters capable of being operated
simultaneously by a pedal, or pedals to open, or to close, said openings, to permit the
full volume of sound to escape, or to muffle the same, according to the expression
which the player desires to produce.
And in order that my said invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will now proceed to describe the same in detail, reference being had for
this purpose to the accompanying drawings, in which,
Figure 1 is a vertical section taken through the frame of the harp.

page_text: Figure 2 is a section taken upon the lines A, B, C, D, E, F, in Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a section upon the line D-E, Figure 1, the scale being enlarged.
Figure 4 is a detail view, upon an enlarged scale, showing the mechanism for
operating the muffling device.
Figure 5 is a detail view showing the pedal and connecting parts for operating the
shutters.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 are views showing the diapasons and the means for operating
the same in tuning the harp.
The reference-numeral 1, in the drawings, indicates the back frame of the harp and 2
denotes the upper portion of the said frame. The back 1 is shaped in cross-section
approximately like a letter T, and is preferably constructed of aluminium, which
possesses tensile strength, rigidity, and lightness. The upper part 2 is hollow, or
chambered, and the third side of the triangular frame consists of a hollow post 3, which
I prefer to make of iron.
Upon the back 1 is mounted the sounding-board, or sound chamber 4, which is
formed of wood and provided on each side of the tee shaped frame 1, with a series of
openings 5. These openings are formed in a curved wall 6 which is supported upon
the tee-shaped frame 1. Within the sound-chamber are arranged shutters 7
(Figure 3) having such form that they may be brought to register with and close the
openings 5. For this purpose the said shutters are rigidly mounted upon the ends
of levers 8 which are fulcrummed on brackets 9, the latter being placed upon the
cross-head of the tee-shaped frame 1, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3. The levers 8 are
connected by a spring 10 by which the shutters are normally drawn toward the
frame 1 and off the openings 5, thereby opening the latter. The levers 8 are operated
to move the shutters 7 and close the openings 5, by means of a pedal 11, having one.
end pivotted upon a post 12, which is itself, pivotted upon a bracket 13, arranged
within the chambered base of the frame 1. The free end of said pedal 11, projects
through an opening 14, in the curved wall 6 of the sound-chamber, and lies in a
convenient position to be operated by the foot of the player. A cord, or wire 15 is
attached to the pedal 11 and extends upward to and over a pulley 16, and thence
around a cylinder 17, which is mounted between the brackets 9. Upon said cylinder
are wound cords, or wires 18, having their ends attached to the ends of the levers 8.
By applying a strain to the cord, or wire 15, by depressing the pedal 11, the
cylinder 17 will be caused to revolve in such a direction as to place the cords or
wires 18 under tension drawing the ends of the levers 8 toward the said cylinder.
This movement will carry the shutters 7 over the openings 5 and close the same.
When the pedal 11 is released, the spring 19 raises the said pedal 11 and the spring 10
immediately removes the said shutters from the openings 5.
As the pedal 11 is operated either to close the openings 5 or released to permit the
shutters to open the apertures, in the sounding board or sound-chamber, the
springs 10 and 19 will maintain the cords or wires 18 in a uniformly stretched
condition. The shutters 7 may be retained in their closed position by slightly turning
the pedal 11 horizontally after operating it, and thereby bringing it into a notch of
the opening 14 in the wall, this movement being permitted by the pivotal support
of the post 12 in the bracket 13, as shown in Figure 5.
In the upper part 2 of the frame of the harp are placed a series of diapasons, as
I term them, and which consist of vibrators, or suitable devices for producing musical
tones, such, for example, as the plates 20, Figures 6, 7 and 8, each of which is caused
to produce a musical sound by the blow of a hammer 21. This hammer is supported
by the end of a sensitive spring 22, the other end of the spring being rigidly mounted
on an L shaped or bell crank lever 23, having its shorter, horizontal arm rigidly
attached to a à pivotally supported weight-block 24, (Figure 8) arranged near one of
the side walls of the chambered upper part 2 of the frame. Each of these bell crank
levers has an operating shank 25 and knob or key 26, as shewn in Figure 8, the
former passing through and the key 26 lying outside of the wall of the chamber in
which the diapasons are arranged. The diapasons are sounded separately by striking
a light blow with the finger upon the key 26 corresponding to the note desired,

page_text: As already stated, the upper part 2 of the frame is hollow, or chambered, and in
order to obtain the maximum range of expression, I provide means whereby the
chamber may be thrown open or closed, at the will of the operator. This consists of
a closing, or muffling plate 27, having such form that it can constitute part of the
lower wall of the chambered portion 2, being held in its closed position by a bell-crank
lever 28, one arm of which is telescopic and is pivotally connected with a lug 29 on the
inner face of the plate 27. The other arm of said bell-crauk lever has its end
connected by a spring 30 to a rigid part of the top 2, so that normally the action of
said spring will lift the plate 27 and close the opening in the chambered top 2. To
control the latter, I attach a hook 31 to a pedal 32, which is linked to a lever 33 as
shown in Figure 4, the end of said hook being connected to a wire 34 which is carried
up through the hollow iron post 3 and over a pulley 35, its end being connected to
the arm of the bell crank lever 28 in such manner that it will pull in a line of
direction opposing the pull of the spring 30. This allows the plate 27 to drop by
gravity and permits the sound vibrations to escape from the chambered portion 2.
A screw nut 36 enables the wire 34 to be regulated, and a spring 37 raises the
pedal 32, after being depressed by the foot. The aforesaid plate 27 is situated
between the two rows of strings.
The metal employed in the construction of the frame has no function save that it
adds resistance to the strain imposed upon the frame. I preferably use wood
exclusively in forming the sounding-chamber or box in so far as the sound producing
qualities are concerned, and I make no claim to the use of aluminium, broadly, in the
construction of musical instruments.
As there are in my harp 12 diapasons they allow the player to properly tune his
instrument as they give the 12 semi-tones of an octave.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
The herein before described improvements in harps the said improvements
consisting in a double tee-shaped frame-portion 1, surrounded by a wooden sounding
chamber 4 having a number of openings 5 which can be closed by a series of normally
open shutters 7 operated by a pedal, and a top-frame portion 2 formed of a hollow
metallic piece, in which are arranged a series of diapasons to tune the harp, a muffling
plate 27 being provided beneath and forming part of this top frame portion, situated
between the two rows of strings and operated by a pedal, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Dated this 15th day of December 1807
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.