Improvements in or relating to Music Desks for Musical Instruments.
Year: 1892

page_text: Complete Specification Left, 28th Nov., 1892-Accepted, 21st Jan., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Music Desks for Musical
Instruments.
I, JOHN ALBERT WESER, of 423 West 43rd Street, in the City, County and
State of New York, United States of America, 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 :-
This invention relates to music desks or leaves of that type wherein the desk
both swings out and slides down to bring it to the position for use.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a rear elevation of my improved music
desk and of the surrounding portion of the front of the case;
Fig. 2 is a horizontal section thereof in the plane of the line 2-2 in Fig. 3;
Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse mid-section showing the desk closed;
Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the desk open;
Fig. 5 is a similar section showing a modified construction.
Let A designate in general the front part of the case of a musical instrument,
as for example an upright pianoforte or parlor organ, and B the music desk or
leaf thereof.
The case A is made as usual with an opening, which is closed by the desk B
When
when the latter is in its normal position or out of use as shown in Fig. 3.
the desk is in use it is swung forward at the bottom and brought down to the position
shown in Fig. 4. It is consequently both a swinging and a sliding desk, since to
admit of its descending movement its upper end is arranged to slide in the case at
the upper side of the opening.
The case A is formed as usual with side bars a a at opposite sides of the music
desk opening, with a cross-bar 6 beneath the opening, and with a cross-bar c
extending across the front of the case at the top of the opening. This upper bar
is formed at its rear side with two vertical grooves d d extending upward from the
sides of the opening. The desk B is constructed with a frame consisting of side
bars e e and a bottom bar f, the latter being extended forward sufficiently to form
a rest for the music. Within this frame is held the board or plate g of the music
desk. When the desk is closed, as shown in Fig. 3, this board occupies a plane
inside of the inner face of the upper bar c, and in this position the upper ends
of the side bars ee of the desk lie in the grooves d d in the back of the top bar. As
the desk is swung out at its lower side and drawn down, its upper end descends,
the ends of its bars e e sliding down in the grooves d d to the lower part thereof,
but is stopped before the bars are drawn out of the grooves so that no gap, is left
between their upper ends and the frame of the case at the opening. The desk is
guided in its movement at its upper portion by means of two rollers h h (preferably
felt covered) arranged at opposite sides and just back of the lower edge of the
front bar c. These rollers bear against the rear side of the bars e e, and form a
rolling fulcrum on which the bars may slide and rock.
As thus far described the construction is the same as that of the music desk
7

page_text: heretofore manufactured by me.
This construction is preferred by me for use with
my present invention, but so far as my present invention is concerned, the con-
struction of the side bars e to slide in grooves d is not essential. Any other suitable
guide may also be substituted for the rollers h h.
The lower end of the music desk may be supported and guided in its movement
in various ways, preferably by interposing a crank-arm or link between it and the
lower bar of the case. In the construction shown, this crank-arm or link consists
of a strip of wood or other material i extending preferably the entire width or
nearly so of the desk, as shown in Fig. 1, and fastened by hinges jj to the lower
bar of the case, and by hinges kk to the lower edge of a back-bar or strip!
attached to the back of the desk. By this construction the desk is firmly supported
at its lower side from end to end.
To hold the desk firmly in place in either its open or closed position, 1 provide a
spring-arm C, preferably a leaf-spring, arranged to exert a rearward pressure
against the desk at a point between its guiding rollers and link i. The spring
exerts its pressure against a roller or other provision n, preferably a felt covered
roller. mounted upon the rear side of the desk. This roller is mounted preferably
in a forked support or bracket q fastened to the back board or strip 7 of the desk
as shown. The leaf-spring C is attached rigidly to a block p and projects down far
enough to engage the roller n in the lowest position of the desk, the lower end of
the spring being curved upwardly as shown at C' to form a hook adapted to engage
the roller and limit its downward movement, and thereby constitute a stop for
checking the downward movement of the desk. By means of this stop the move-
ment of the desk is arrested before the guiding strip; or board i is brought into
abutment with the bar b, so that all strain of the hinges j k which might result
from the desk being checked by this abutment is avoided. The spring is arranged
to exert a continual pressure upon the roller n in either position thereof in the
direction of the arrows and also upwardly, thereby drawing the desk back
rearwardly and preventing the finished front faces of the board g and side bars e e
from coming in: contact with and rubbing against the rear surfaces of the upper
cross bar c of the case, as would otherwise occur, and which would be liable to mar
the finish of the front of the desk, and also supporting a part of its weight. The
rearward tension of the spring thus preserves these faces from being injured. The
spring also serves to hold the desk in position whether open or closed. In the closed
position: shown in Fig. 3, its rearward pressure keeps the upper part of the desk
against the rollers h and the lower part against the strip i, while as the desk is
pulled out and drawn down its downward movement carries the link or strip i
down nearly to a horizontal position, so that the tension of the spring tending to
throw the desk backward is resisted by this strip, since the tension is communicated
through it intend wise direction. Or, more exactly, the strip i constitutes a link the
axial line of which is drawn through its hinge pivots as shown at a in Fig. 4,
_ and by the downward movement of the desk this axial line is carried down so far
as to be approximately parallel with the direction of the rearward thrust of the
spring, so that this thrust has no tendency to close the desk, since an upward thrust
is first required to institute the closing movement thereof. The downward movement
of the desk might be sufficient to bring the axial line a a beyond parallelism with
the direction z of the spring thrust, or it might be not quite sufficient to bring this
line into parallelism with the direction of the thrust; provided in the latter case the
weight of the desk, plus the friction, were sufficient to add to the resistance and
prevent the spring from spontaneously lifting and closing the desk. The strip i
thus constitutes essentially a link, and might be substituted by various other con-
structions of links; as for example by a wire line as shown in Fig. 5, pivoted at one
end in a block attached to the lower bar of the case, and at the other end in a
block attached to the back of the desk. In this figure, the rollern is mounted
on a wire q¹ forming a bridge between the opposite side bars e of the desk. As a
further provision against the scratching or marring of the finish of the front side of
the desk, and also to hold the desk more firmly in position when open, I provide

page_text: the desk at its upper front side with a yielding cushion r projecting slightly from the
front face of the board gg, and in such position that when the desk is fully open
this cushion shall wedge itself tightly against the lower margin c¹ of the upper front.
bar c of the case, so that by this wedging the desk is as it were jammed fast, so that
while in use it is immovable, and to close it a considerable upward thrust is
necessary to disengage the frictional cushion from the upper margin of the opening.
The cushion may conveniently be made of a rubber-headed tack. By preference
I employ two such cushions in the positions shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, where
they serve to hold the desk firmly at opposite sides. The back of the top rail c is
provided with a recess r¹ in position to receive each cushion when the desk is in the
closed position.
r
By disposing the points or rollers and n to be close together when the desk is
closed, as in Fig. 3, at which time the tension of the spring C is least, and to
separate as the desk opens, as in Fig. 4, during which movement the tension of the
spring increases, the change in the force of the spring is compensated by the
separation of the rollers, thus giving an easy and uniform motion to the 'desk.
"
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. The combination with a musical instrument case having a front opening, of a
music desk adapted to close said opening mounted to swing out and slide down,
having at its upper part a sliding connection with the case, a link pivoted to the
case and to the lower part of the desk for guiding the bottom thereof in its swinging
movements, and a spring exerting a tension rearwardly against the desk in a
direction approximately parallel with the position of the link when the desk is fully
open, whereby when the desk is partly closed the tension will be effective to close
it, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The combination with a musical instrument case having a front opening, of a
music desk adapted to close said opening mounted to swing out and slide down,
having at its upper part a sliding connection with the case, a bar or roller n connected
to the rear of the desk, and a leaf-spring C mounted on the case and exerting
a rearward pressure against said bar or roller, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
3. The combination with a musical instrument case having a front opening, of a
music desk adapted to close said opening mounted to swing out and slide down,
having at its upper part a sliding connection with the case, a link pivoted to the
case and to the lower part of the desk for guiding the bottom thereof in its swinging
movements, and a spring exerting a tension rearwardly against the desk, and a stop
applied to said spring for limiting the downward movement of the desk, substan-
tially as herein before described.
4. The combination with a musical instrument case having a front opening, of a
music desk adapted to close said opening mounted to swing out and slide down,
having at its upper part a sliding connection with the case, a bar or roller n connected
to the rear of the desk, and a leaf-spring C mounted on the case and exerting a
rearward pressure against said bar or roller, and said spring formed with a hooked
end C¹ adapted to engage said roller and form a stop to limit the downward move-
ment of the desk, substantially as hereinbefore described.
5. The combination with a musical instrument case having a front opening, of a
music desk adapted to close said opening mounted to swing out and slide down,
having at its upper part a sliding connection with the case, and a cushion r applied
to the upper part of the desk and adapted when the latter fully open to wedge
itself against the upper margin of the opening, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
6. The combination with a musical instrument case having a front opening, of a
music desk adapted to close said opening mounted to swing out and slide down,
having at its upper part a sliding connection with the case, a link pivoted to the

page_text: case and to the lower part of the desk for guiding the bottom thereof in its swinging
movements, consisting of a strip i extending longitudinally of the desk connected by
hinges to the lower margin of the opening and by hinges k k to the desk, and
a spring arranged to exert a rearward tension against the desk, substantially as
hereinbefore described.
7. In a musical instrument case, a music desk having a roller n, a roller / on the
case for guiding said desk, and a spring C on the case and acting against said roller n
to resist the opening movement of the desk, said rollers relatively disposed to be
close together when the desk is closed and to be separated as the desk opens,
whereby by their relative movement the varying tension of said spring is com-
pensated, as and for the purpose set forth.
8. In a musical instrument case, a music desk having a roller n, a roller / on the
case for guiding said desk, and a spring C on the case and acting against the roller n
to retain the desk in the closed position, said spring constructed to exert its tension
against said roller in such direction as to in part sustain the weight of said desk, as
and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 28th day of November 1892.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agent.