Improvements in or connected with Mechanical Musical Instruments.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th June, 1893-Accepted, 22nd July, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Mechanical Musical Instruments.
I, FERDINAND PIETSCHMANN of 25, Brunnenstrasse, in the City of Berlin, in
the Kingdom of Prussia, Manufacturer, 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 relates to improvements in or connected with mechanical musical
instruments, principally of the kind in which steel reeds or a scale or comb of steel
reeds are played or vibrated, and in which motion is imparted to the working
mechanism either by a crank turned by hand or by mechanical means, such as a
spring motor or the like.
My improvements have reference, first, to the arrangement of auxiliary or by-
instruments in combination with a musical box, which auxiliary or by-instruments,
however, are independent of the mechanism which plays the tune. The object of
this part of the invention is to provide auxiliary or by-instruments which may,
at pleasure, be played by hand as an accompaniment to the mechanically played
tune.
I am aware that the arrangement of accompaniment-by-instruments, such as
drums, kettle-drums, cymbals, bells and the like in combination with mechanical
musical instruments is not unknown, but such by-instruments used to be played by
the mechanism of the instrument, being worked automatically and independent on
the main driving shaft, while I intend to provide such auxiliary by-instruments
which may be played at will by hand while the tune is being performed by
mechanical means.
Another part of my invention has reference to an improved abutment-stay or
bridge for holding the perforated travelling music sheet, the said abutment-stay
being so arranged as to open automatically, when unlocked, and to be automatically
locked again when forced down; the object of this part of the invention being to
provide a more convenient means of exchanging the music sheet.
Another part of the invention has reference to improved means of guiding endless
music sheets above the box and of preventing the sheet from becoming stopped up
below the abutment stay.
A further part of the invention consists in forming, within the box of a musical
instrument, two lateral chambers for receiving the staples of links of an open music
sheet, which is made to travel from one lateral chamber to the other.
And, finally, the invention has reference to an improved wheel, which, engaging
the corresponding apertures of the music sheet, serves to advance the same for
imparting to it a constant travelling motion.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mechanical musical box, carrying on its upper
surface auxiliary or by-instruments to be played by hand;
Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional elevation of that part of the top of the box
which carries the levers for playing the said by-instruments and the knobs for
working said levers ;
Figure 3 is a plan of the corresponding part of the top or cover of the box.
A is the box of the musical instrument, which box contains any suitable mechanism
for playing a tune, the said mechanism may be worked by a handle and crank B, or
by mechanical means, such as a spring motor within the box, and the sounds
produced may be controlled by a travelling perforated music sheet C in the well
known manner.
On the top or cover D of box A are secured sundry by-instruments, such as a
large drum F, a small drum H, a cymbal G and a bell E; the said by-instruments are

page_text: independent of the mechanism worked by the crank B and may be played by hand,
as an accompaniment, by striking the knobs e, f, g, said knobs being connected to
levers E, F, G, arranged below the top or cover D and connected to the striking
sticks or knockers e, f, g, as clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3. A spring h
returns the levers and knobs to their original position when the knob has been
released by the finger.
The special means for playing the said by-instruments may vary and they form
no part of my invention, for instance, the knobs and levers might be replaced by
keys arranged on the upper surface of cover D, or other suitable means may be
employed to be played by the fingers and make the said instruments sound in
accompaniment of the tune mechanically played.
Figure 4 is a plan, and Figure 5 a side view of the improved abutment-stay I
for holding the music sheet C down against the push point levers, or other
mechanical means destined to engage the perforations of the said sheet.
According to this invention, the said stay or bridge I is secured to a shaft K
arranged to turn in lugs or bearings k; or spring L is wound on the said shaft,
teuding to turn the same so as to raise the stay in the direction of the arrow,
Figure 5, when the free end i of the said stay is unlocked. The purpose of this
part of the invention is to automatically lift the stay I and make the sheet C free
for being exchanged by simply unlocking the free end of said stay.
The locking device may consist of any convenient latch, but I prefer to employ
the automatic device represented in Figures 4 and 5, which consists in a sliding
bolt M having a longitudinal play in bearings N N and a recess m, through which
the free end of the stay I may pass up and down when the said recess m is opposite
the said end i. A spring m² wound around the bolt M tends to force the bolt M
in the opposite direction to the arrow in Figure 4, and thereby the recess m is
normally held in a position not coincident with the lug i. To unlock the stay 1, it
will only be necessary to draw the bolt M in the direction of the arrow so far as
to bring the recess m opposite the lug i, which, under the action of spring L,
passes up through the said recess m. To lock the stay again in the position of
Figures 4 and 5, it will only be necessary to force the stay down; the lug i thereby
will bear upon the inclined surface m of the recess m and shift the bolt M so far
as to allow the said lug i to pass through the recess m. When the said lug i has
passed the recess, the spring m² automatically pulls back the said bolt M into the
position represented by Figures 4 and 5, and the stay I is at once and automatically
locked again. This device for automatically raising and locking the abutment-stay
greatly facilitates the operation of exchanging the music sheet C.
In Figures 6 and 7 I have shown, in sectional side elevation and plan, an
improved guide for carrying the music sheet C above the upper surface of the
box A, thereby avoiding the necessity hitherto existing of carrying the said sheet
around the box or through a slot of the same.
The improved guide consists of an arm R pivoted as at r to the casing, the bent
portion R of the said arm carries discs O, or a cylinder, around which the music
sheet is passing while travelling under the abutment stay I. The said guide O
prevents the music sheet C from folding and becoming stopped up below the stay I,
and it secures an equal and constant travelling motion of the said sheet. While
the instrument is out of use, the arm RR' may be swung to the other side, as
indicated by dotted lines in Figure 7, and in such position it forms no obstacle in
the packing and forwarding of the box.
The said pivoted arm RR' may be replaced by a hinged plate or drawer, serving
as. a guide to the music sheet, the discs or roller O being secured to said plate or
drawer in any suitable manner.
A modification of the guide is illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, Figure 8 being a
side elevation and Figure 9 a plan of the box provided with the guides. In this
case, the said guides P P consist of round bars or rods arranged on either side of
the abutment-stay I and secured to the top of the box A by suitable standards P.
Or the said bars or rods P' may be removably fitted in position, to project across

page_text: the path of the endless music sheet C, which, while travelling, is guided by the said
rods P. Instead of a pair of guide-bars, a single bar arranged in the path of the
sheet C will, in some cases, be sufficient to obtain the purpose in view.
If an open music sheet, composed of a number of folding links, is employed, I
employ the construction of the box A which is shown by Figure 10 in longitudinal
section and by Figure 11 in plan view, the cover A' being removed.
This improved construction consists in providing two lateral compartments T
and T', one at each side of the compartment S which contains the mechanism of
the instrument, said mechanism being but partly indicated in the drawings.
The staple of folding links of the open music sheet C' is put into the compart-
ment T, and, on beginning to play, the upper end of the sheet is slipped below the
abutment stay I.
Whilst the instrument is playing, the sheet is advanced by the
well known means and delivered into the compartment T' where the links fold up
again to form a staple. In order to secure a regular folding up of the links, a
lever U, pivoted to the partition s', may be employed, said lever carrying a
roller U, which, by its own weight, rests upon the link which comes forth from the
central compartment S, and forces the said link to fold up in due course.
The object of this construction is, first, to hold the two staples of the open
sheet C within the box A of the instrument. By this means, the box may be
shifted or carried while the instrument is playing. With other boxes of the kind,
the staples of the sheet links are resting outside of the box, and, if the latter is
shifted or removed, the said staples come out of order. By this means, also, the
music may be played piano by closing the cover A'.
other boxes of the kind,
the music sheet is fed forward into the box and carried out of the same at the
other side, through slots or apertures in the sides of the box, and the sounds will
come forth through said slots or apertures, though the cover be closed.
In
As shown
in Figure 10, the box is closed all around when the cover A¹ is down, and the
sounds are heard but very softly from within.
As will be seen in Figure 11, the sheet C' has a row of apertures c near its two
longitudinal edges; the said apertures e serve for advancing the sheet by means of
a wheel or wheels, the teeth of which engage the said apertures c.
The wheels
usually employed for imparting motion to the sheet, have either edged teeth or
points, which cause a rapid wear and tear of the sheet, or they have rounded pro-
jections screwed into holes in the circumference of the wheel body. Such rounded
off teeth are preferable for the purpose in view, but the construction of a wheel
with radially projecting round headed screws is expensive and the heads of the
screws do not always fit closely up to the circumference of the wheel disc. Or the
screws become loose in their tapped holes and fall out, or their heads stand out
from the surface of the wheel and the sheet will be injured and torn by engaging
the recess.
To avoid all such difficulties, the body V of the wheel is formed in
one piece with rounded off projections v, as shown in Figures 12 and 13, Figure 12
being a front view and Figure 13 a side elevation of the wheel. Such wheels of
solid metal are ten times cheaper than the wheels with round headed screws,
and the projections are not liable to become loose or stand out from the
body V of the wheel.
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-
1. In a mechanical musical instrument with single reeds or reed combs (so called
musical boxes), the arrangement, in combination with the casing, of auxiliary or
by-instruments, such as drums, kettle-drums, cymbals, bells and the like, to be
played at will by hand as an accompaniment, the said by-instruments being
independent of the mechanism of the instrument substantially as set forth.
2. In a mechanical musical instrument, an abutment-stay or bridge I arranged
to automatically be raised by a spring L, when unlocked, substantially as and for
the purpose described,

page_text: 3. In a mechanical musical instrument, an abutment stay or bridge I, arranged
to be automatically raised on releasing its lock and to be automatically locked again
when forced down by a sliding bolt M, recess m and spring m³, substantially as and
for the purpose set forth.
4. In a mechanical musical instrument the arrangement of a guide or guides,
pivoted or sliding or removable or fixed, projecting into the path of the travelling
music sheet and guiding the same above the surface of the box or casing substan-
tially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. In a mechanical musical instrument, the construction of the casing with two
lateral compartments T and T¹, one at each side of the central compartment S and
communicating with the latter for the purpose of receiving the staples of the
sheet links of an open music sheet within the interior of the casing, substantially as
set forth.
6. A driving wheel V for the music sheet, having rounded off projections or
teeth which are formed in one piece with the body of the wheel substantially as
and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 13th day of June 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.