IMPROVEMENTS IN REEDS FOR HARMONIUMS AND OTHER SIMILAR FREE REED INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hyacinthe Gabriel Gouverneur, of Stebbington
Street, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN REEDS FOR HARMONIUMS AND OTHER SIMILAR
FREE REED INSTRUMENTS."
Sealed the 6th April 1875, and dated the 6th February 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hyacinthe Gabriel
Gouverneur at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 6th February 1875.
I, HYACINTHE GABRIEL GOUVERNEUR, of Stebbington Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REEDS FOR HARMONIUMS AND OTHER
SIMILAR FREE Reed Instruments," to be as follows, that is to say :-
Hitherto the frames of the reeds of harmoniums and other similar,
instruments have usually been formed by casting, whereby from the
difficulty of entirely freeing cast metal from impurities, regularity.
in the tone of the note produced by the reed could not be depended..
upon.

page_text: My improvements consist in forming the frames of the reeds by
cutting them out of rolled brass, iron, zinc, or other suitable metal by
means of suitably arranged cutting tools and a press (preferably by a
cutter and press similar to those employed in the Mint), the rectangular
slit in which the tongue vibrates being cut out at the same time.
The extremities of the frame of the reed are rounded off instead of
being square, and thus I simplify the manufacturing tools. The tongue
or vibrator is fixed in the usual manner.
The great hardness and compactness of the metal thus obtained
renders the tone of the improved reed much more regular and superior
to that produced by the old reeds; and the frames can also be produced
`at a much cheaper rate than hitherto.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Hyacinthe Gabriel Gouverneur in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 5th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HYACINTHE
GABRIEL GOUVERNEUR, of Stebbington Street, in the County of Middle-`
sex, Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Hyacinthe Gabriel
Gouverneur, Her special licence that I, the said Hyacinthe Gabriel
Gouverneur, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Hyacinthe Gabriel Gouverneur, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REEDS
FOR HARMONIUMS AND OTHER SIMILAR FREE REED INSTRUMENTS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Hyacinthe Gabriel
Gouverneur, my exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in

page_text: writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hyacinthe Gabriel Gouverneur, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawing hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
Hitherto the frames of the reeds of harmoniums and other similar
instruments have usually been formed by casting, whereby from the
difficulty of entirely freeing cast metal from impurities, regularity in
the tone of the note produced by the reed was uncertain, could not be
depended upon, and often failed.
My improvements consist in forming the frames of the reeds by
cutting them out of rolled brass, iron, zinc, or other suitable metal by
means of suitably arranged cutting tools and a press (preferably by a
cutter and press similar to those employed in the Mint), the rectangular
slit in which the tongue vibrates being cut out at the same time. The
tongue or vibrator is fixed in the usual manner.
The great hardness and compactness of the metal thus obtained
5 renders the tone of the improved reed much more regular and more
sonorous than that produced by the old reeds, and the frames can also
be produced at a much cheaper rate than hitherto.
One of these improved reed frames is shewn in plan, longitudinal
section, and transverse section, respectively, at Figures 1, 2, and 3 of
O the accompanying Drawing.
It will be seen that the extremities of the frame of the reed are
rounded off instead of being square as hitherto, and by this means I
simplify the manufacturing tools. .
And having now described my Invention and the best means with
5 which I am acquainted for carrying the same into effect, what I claim

page_text: is, the improvements in reeds for harmoniums and other similar free reed
instruments, as herein-before described...
In witness whereof, I, the said Hyacinthe Gabriel Gouverneur,
have hereto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witness,
W. A. GILBEE,
4, South St.,
Finsbury.
G. GOUVERNEUR. (L.S.).
'