IMPROVEMENTS IN METAL MUSICAL WIND INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Lawson and Henry Carter
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on
the 18th October 1861.
We, JAMES LAWSON, Trumpet Major, & HENRY CARTER, Trumpet Major,
both of the Royal Artillery, Woolwich, in the County of Kent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN METAL
MUSICAL WIND INSTRUMENTS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to improvements in the construction of metal
wind instruments, whereby we obtain in one instrument combining both the
tones and properties of the bugle and the trumpet, and which is readily con-
verted from a trumpet to a bugle, or vice versa. We further adopt a particular
combination of metals in producing these combined instruments. The bell of
the instrument, and some portion of the coil towards that end we make of bell
metal; from this point one or two convolutions are made of copper (in the
bugle part); a short piece of brass tubing communicates from the the copper
to the mouth-piece; several coils or convolutions of brass tubing are introduced
between the mouth-piece and the copper coils to complete the part of the
trumpet. The whole of the tubing is permanently fixed in the instrument,
and in the case of the trumpet, the whole length of the convolutions of brass,
copper, and bell-metal is employed, while in the other case, when used as a
bugle, the passage of the brass trumpet tubing is shut off from the instrument,
the sound being produced by the passage of air through the mouth-piece tube,
the copper tube, and the bell-metal part of the instrument only. These

page_text: instruments may be made of other combinations of metals, or of a single metal
only, but we believe such will be less effective than instruments produced
by the foregoing combination. In order to change the instrument from a
bugle to a trumpet, or from a trumpet to a bugle, we construct it with what
may be termed a four-way tap, or rotary valve fitted in a suitable seating
conveniently disposed some seven or eight inches from the mouth-piece, the
tubing leading from which forms one of the apertures or ways of the tap;
another way opens to to the copper tube, while the remaining two passages or
ways are the openings to the two ends of what we have above termed the
trumpet tubing. By this means it is simply necessary to turn the plug of the
tap a quarter of revolution in one direction to change the instrument from a
bugle to a trumpet, while the reverse movement changes it from a trumpet to
a bugle. In the first instance the mouth-piece tube is placed in direct com-
munication with one end of the trumpet coils, while the other end is placed in
communication with the copper tube leading to the bell; in the second case
the mouth-piece tube is placed in direct communication with the copper or
bugle tube. A lever & suitable stops are provided for moving & determining
the position of the plug of the tap, & indications of the position when set as a
bugle and as as a trumpet. If it is desired, the motion of the plug may be
facilitated by the action of a spring, to cause it to complete its movements
quickly. We further improve the instrument by making the bell of larger
capacity than usual for bugles, that is to say, the body of the bell is all con-
siderably larger throughout, and tapers regularly from the copper (a point at
about the middle of the length beyond the first bend) to near the open end.
As compared with the ordinary trumpet bell it is rather smaller at the mouth,
but very much larger in the body part. We also bend the body of the bell a
little, so that towards the open end it inclines upwards, instead of being
horizontal when blown as usual.