IMPROVEMENTS IN CORNETS AND OTHER WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS to be as follows:
Year: 1884

page_text: I JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CORNETS AND OTHER WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS to be as follows:-
"
This Invention has for its object the production of a wind musical instrument
in which are avoided those combinations of the pistons that are usually had
recourse to in order to produce certain sounds but by which the rendering of
certain passages is extremely difficult of attainment. In addition to this the
Invention has for its object to obtain perfect accuracy throught the whole compass
of the instrument.
A cornet or like instrument as heretofore constructed with three pistons is
incapable of uttering correctly any other notes than the following:-

page_text: By dispensing with the blackened notes and using the only true notes of the
three piston instrument the subjoined notes only will be found in its chromatic
scale.
By only taking account of the notes indicated open or in outline it appears
that four chromatic degrees are wanting per octave. According to this Invention 5
the instrument is provided with additional or supplementary pistons which enable
it to produce with great accuracy those sounds that are difficult or impossible to
produce with instruments as heretofore constructed.
In carrying out this Invention as applied to a cornet for example a fourth
piston is employed for the purpose of lowering the instrument to the extent of one 1
major third thus enabling it to produce the following harmony.
These pistons are provided with wind passages crooks or sliding tubes con-
structed and arranged in the most convenient manner to give the additional
sounds, the other parts of the instrument being of any ordinary or suitable
construction.
Instruments constructed according to this Invention are enabled to produce
sounds that are absent from ordinary instruments. The ut grave may be produced
in like manner by the addition of a sixth piston which lowers the instrument by
an enhanced or augmented fourth but as this note is obtained with great accuracy
and privity by means of the combination of the second with the fifth' piston
it is preferable to avoid further increasing the weight of the instrument by a
sixth piston.
The herein before described system or arrangement may be applied to other wind
instruments in which pistons or their equivalents are employed.
The Invention also enables the facile execution of trills or shakes to be effected
by means of suitable combinations in the fingering which may be readily performed
by the aid of the improved arrangement hereinbefore described.
1 19
.
J. HENRY JOHNSON,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C.,
Agent for the said L. Cousin.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I JOHN HENRY JOHNSON of 47 Lincoln's Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CORNETS AND OTHER WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS" and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
This Invention has for its object the production of a wind musical instrument in
which are avoided those inconvenient combinations of the pistons, that are usually.
had recourse to in order to produce some of the sounds involved in the correct
rendering of certain passages. In addition to this the Invention has for its object
obtaining perfect accuracy throughout the whole compass of the instrument by
dispensing with all the thirds of the sonorous body (which are invariably too low)
as well as obviating the employment of several pistons simultaneously (which
always produces too high a note.
A cornet or like instrument as heretofore constructed with three pistons is
incapable of uttering correctly any other notes than the following.
By only taking account of the notes indicated open or in outline it appears that
four chromatic degrees are wanting per octave.
The improved instruments constructed according to this Invention are free from
these disadvantages being provided with extra or supplementary pistons (including
the necessary wind passages, crooks or tubes) whereby the necessity for having
recourse to difficult combinations of pistons in order to produce certain sounds is
partially or entirely obviated as hereinafter described.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer
to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings the same letters of
reference indicating corresponding parts in both the Figures.

page_text: Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side elevation of a cornet constructed
according to this Invention and Figure 2 represents the same instrument viewed
from the opposite side.
In the said Drawing the tubes containing the three pistons with which cornets
are usually provided are marked with the letter A the sliding tubes or crooks
connected therewith for the purpose of adjustment being marked a. A fourth
piston is provided according to this Invention working in a tube A¹ connected with
a sliding tube or crook B for the purpose of adjustment. A² is another tube
containing a fifth piston and similarly connected to a suitable sliding tube or
crook E. The said fourth piston in the tube A¹ has the effect of lowering the
tone of the instrument to the extent of one third thus enabling the following
harmony to be performed with facility and precision.
The ut grave may be produced in like manner by the addition of a sixth piston
which lowers the instrument by an enhanced fourth but as this note is obtained
with great accuracy and purity by means of the combination of the second with
the fifth piston it is preferable to avoid further increasing the weight of the
instrument by a sixth piston.
The herein before described system or arrangement may be applied to other wind
instruments in which pistons or their equivalents are employed.
The Invention also enables brills or shakes to be performed with facility by
means of suitable combinations in the fingering which may be readily obtained by
the aid of the improved arrangement herein before described.
When required the extra pistons may be disregarded in playing and the
instrument manipulated in the manner heretofore practised.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
First In cornets and other wind musical instruments in which pistons or their
equivalents are used the employment of a fourth and a fifth or two extra pistons
substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying Drawings.
Second-In cornets and other wind musical instruments in which pistons or their
equivalents are used the employment of a fourth a fifth and a sixth or three extra
pistons substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described with reference
to the accompanying Drawings.
Dated this 4th day of Sentomber 1884