Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Feb., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Dec., 1896-Accepted, 3rd Mar., 1897
1, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby..
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in leaf-turners for books, music and
the like.
When the piece of music to be read only contains four pages, of which two
are the front pages and two the rear pages, the apparatus is constructed as
follows:
The piece of music opened sideways at the front page, is inserted into a frame,
the rotary axis of which coincides with the axis of a pinion and is rigid therewith ;-
the said pinion gears with a rack bar which works in suitable guides: By the aid
of strings and of transmission rollers a movement from the right to the left can be
transmitted to the rack bar by acting upon one string when the rack bar is at
the right hand extremity of its course, whilst a movement from the left to the
right is communicated to it by pulling the other string, when the rack bar is at
the other extremity of its course.
The pull upon the said strings is preferably exerted by the aid of spring pedals.
It is evident, that by pressing upon one of the pedals the rack bar is carried from
its right hand position over to its left hand position; to this displacement
corresponds a rotary motion of the pinion through 180 degrees and consequently
of the rotary axis, so that the musician will no longer have in front of him the
front pages but the rear pages. If subsequently he presses the other pedal, he
will carry the rack bar back and will have again in front of him the front pages,
The described device is thus very suitable in the case of a very short piece of
music when it is required to be played repeatedly.
In a modified device the only difference to that hereinbefore described consists
in that the frame is replaced by a wing, the axis of which always coincides with
the axis of the pinion which is rigidly secured therewith. The said wing carries
at its outer extremity a fork of wire, into which that page of the music sheet is
inserted which is required to be played.
Such an apparatus may suitably serve for reading a piece of music of 5 pages.
One inserts into the fork that sheet which carries page 3 in front and page 4 at
the rear and one then places the music upon the reading desk, in such a manner
that the music lies open with its page 1 entirely to the right of the musician, but
to the left of the axis of the pinion. From page 2 (which forms the rear surface
of page 1) a small weight must be suspended, the purpose of which is to prevent
this page from moving by itself from that position in which it has been placed by
hand or by the action of the apparatus. When the musician has finished playing
page 1, he acts upon one of the aforesaid strings and turns the wing through an
angle of 180 degrees; which action of the wing causes pages 3 and 4 to pass
from the right band half to the left hand half of the desk, so that the said pages
carry over with them, to the left, pages 1, 2; then immediately on pulling the

page_text: other string he carries back the wing, the fork and pages 3 and 4 to their original
position; the pages 1, 2 remain in place upon the left hand half of the desk on
account of the small weight applied thereto and the music lies open with its
pages 2 and 3 uppermost.
After these pages have been played, the musician again pulls the first string,
this causes the pages 3 and 4 to pass to the left hand of the desk and the piece
lies open at pages 4 and 5.
In a further modification for use with a book of music of more than 5 pages the
apparatus is provided with as many fingers or forks as there are double pages
(front and back) to be turned. Each double page is inserted into one of the said
forks; on commencing to play all the wings lie in their right hand position as seen
from the front.
After the pages to be turned have been each inserted into their respective forks,
one overcomes by hand the resistance offered by certain springs mounted respectively
upon the axes of the groups of the wings and which tend to turn these wings
toward the left so as to carry them all into the right hand position, in which they
are maintained, by causing a stop, which exerts a pressure upon the springs, to
recede to a sufficient extent toward the left. The apparatus is thus set up ready
for use. When a page is to be turned, the aforesaid stop is caused to advance
toward the right to the extent of one degree, this advancing movement is 80
calculated that one of the wings is released and enabled to follow the action of
the spring mounted upon its axis, in order to pass from the right hand position to
the left hand position. When all the wings, and the forks or fingers of which
hold pages, have been disengaged from the stop, owing to the fact that this latter
has executed a course of sufficient amplitude toward the right, then the apparatus
is re-set or remounted by moving back by hand all the wings into the right hand
position and by bringing the stop sufficiently back toward the left to enable it to
maintain all the wings in place by overcoming the resistance of all the springs.
The said stop is rigidly secured to two rack bars placed one behind, the other
and the teeth of which are oppositely inclined. The displacement of the stop
toward the left for the purpose of setting the apparatus, is effected by a rod acting
upon a bell crank lever, to which a pawl engaging with one of the latter rack bars
is pivotally connected. The gradual displacement of the stop toward the right,
which is effected each time when a page is required to be turned, is caused by
acting with a string or otherwise upon the bell crank lever, on which pivots the
pawl the advancing motion of the rack bar to the extent of one tooth toward
the right corresponds to a displacement of the stop sufficient to release one of the
wings with its forks.
Improvements in Leaf Turners for Books, Music, and the like.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 improvements in leaf-turners for books music and

page_text: Figure 1 is a rear view of my apparatus in its simplest form.
Figure 2 is also a rear view of a modification of the same.
Figure 3 is a front view of the apparatus as employed with a book of music
containing more than 5 pages.
Figure 4 is a view to an enlarged scale of the lower part of Figure 3.
Figure 5 is a detail view partly in section of a portion of the device and
Figure 6 is a plan of Figure 3.
When the piece of music to be read only contains four pages, of which two a
and b (Figure 1) are the front pages and two the rear pages, the apparatus is
constructed as follows:
The piece of music opened sideways at the front page, is inserted into a frame A
the rotary axis B of which coincides with the axis of a pinion and is rigid there-
with. The said pinion e gears with a rack bard which works in suitable guides ee.
By the aid of strings ff and of transmission rollers g gl a movement from the right
to the left can be transmitted to the rack bars d by acting upon one string f when
the rack bar d is in the position shown in the drawing, namely at the right hand
extremity of its course, whilst a movement from the left to the right is communicated
to it by pulling the other string f, when the rack bar d is at the other extremity
of its course.
The pull upon the said springs ff' is preferably executed by the aid of spring"
pedals C C'. In order to carry d from its right hand position over to its left hand
position (as effected by pressing upon the pedal C) a displacement corresponding
to a rotary motion of the pinion through 180 degrees and consequently of the rotary
axis B, must take place so that the musician will no longer have in front of him the
front pages but the rear pages a b. If subsequently he presses upon the spring
pedal C, he will carry the rack bar d back into its right hand position relatively
to the drawing and will have again in front of him.the front pages or surfaces of
the sheets a and b. The described. device is thus very suitable in the case of a very
short piece of music when it is required to be played repeatedly.
The device shown in Figure 2 only differs from that shown in Figure 1 in so far
as the frame A is replaced by a wing D represented in dotted lines, the axis of
which always coincides with the axis of the pinione which is rigidly secured
therewith. The said wing D carries at its outer extremity a fork F of wire,
into which that page of the music sheet is inserted which is required to be
played.
An apparatus of the kind described in Figure 2 may suitably serve for reading
a piece of music of 5 pages. One inserts into the fork F that sheet which carries
the page 3 in front and page 4 at the rear and one then places the music upon the
reading desk, not represented in the drawing, and surmounting the apparatus, in
such a manner that the music lies open with its page 1 entirely to the right of the
musician therefore to the left of the axis y of the pinion relatively to the drawing
which also is a rear view. From page 2 (which forms the rear surface.of page.1)
a small weight must be suspended, the purpose of which is to prevent this page
from moving by itself from that position in which it has been placed by hand or by
the action of the apparatus. When the musician has finished playing page 1, he
acts upon one of the aforesaid strings and turns the wing D through an angle
of 180 degrees; which action of the wing causes pages 3 and 4 to pass from the
right hand half to the left hand half of the desk relatively to the musician so that
the said pages carry over with them, to the left, pages 1, 2; then immediately on
pulling the other string f' he carries back the wing D, the fork F and the pages 3
and 4 to their original position; the pages 1, 2 remain in place upon the left hand
half of the desk on account of the small weight applied thereto and the music lies
open with its pages 2 and 3 uppermost.
After these pages have been played, the musician again pulls the first string f
this causes the pages 3 and 4 to pass to the left hand of the desk and the piece lies
open at pages 4 and 5.

page_text: In a further modification shown in Figure 3 the apparatus is provided with as
many fingers or forks F as there are double pages (front and back) to be turned.
Each double page is inserted into one of the said forks F; on commencing to play
all the wings D lie in their right hand position namely in the position occupied by
a single one of these wings Figure 3.
Figure 4 is a reproduction, on a larger scale, of the lower part of Figure 3;
Figure 5 is a detail part of the case Q placed behind G (Figure 3) partly in
section.
Figure 6 is a plan of Figure 3 showing the position of adjusting the apparatus,
as will be hereinafter referred to.
After the pages to be turned have been each inserted into their respective forks F
one overcomes by hand the resistance offered by certain springs hi h³ mounted
respectively upon the axes of the groups g1 92 93 of the wings. D and which tend to
turn these wings toward the left so as to carry them all into the right hand position,
in which they are maintained, by causing a stop G which exerts a pressure upon
the springs, to recede to a sufficient extent toward the left. The stop G goes
through a slot at the foot of the board G (Figure 6). The apparatus is thus in
the mounted position and ready to commence its action. When a page is to be
turned, the aforesaid stop G is caused to advance toward the right to the extent
of one degree, this advancing movement is so calculated that one of the wings D
is released and enabled to follow the action of the spring mounted upon its axis, in
order to pass from the right hand position to the left hand position, namely to that
position in which all the wings, with the exception of the single one, are represented
in Figure 3. When all the wings, the forks or fingers of which hold pages, have
been disengaged from the stop G owing to the fact that this latter has executed a
course of sufficient amplitude toward the right, then the apparatus is reset or
remounted by moving back by hand all the wings into the right hand position and
by bringing the stop G sufficiently back toward the left to enable it to maintain
all the wings in place by overcoming the resistance of all the springs. This is the
course to be followed in case the same piece is required.to be played over again. If
on the contrary the sheets of a fresh piece of music are to be inserted into the
holding forks, the operation is rendered far more easy by way of first carrying the
groups of wings g g g into the intermediate position represented in Figure 6.
This is effected by releasing a spring t retained by a hook v, which pushes the
movable wall w outwards.
The said stop G is rigidly secured to two rack bars H H' (Figure 5) placed one
behind the other and the teeth of which are oppositely inclined. The displacement
of the stop toward the left for the purpose of setting the apparatus, is effected by
a rod I acting upon a bell crank lever J, to which a pawl K engaging with the
rack bar His pivotally connected.
The gradual displacement of the stop G toward the right, which is effected each
time when a page is required to be turned, is caused by acting with a string through
the medium of a pedal or otherwise upon the bell crank lever L, on which pivots
the pawl M; the advancing motion of the rack bar H to the extent of one tooth
toward the right corresponds to a displacement of the stop G, sufficient to release
one of the wings D with its forks.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A leaf turner for music and the like, the distinctive features of which consist
in the use of supporting frames or forks, into which the leaves to be turned
are inserted; these frames or forks being actuated by rack pinions engaging with
rack bars in case where a very limited number of leaves is required to be turned,
and released by ratchet and pawl if pieces of music containing several sheets are to
be turned.
2. In leaf turners of the beforedescribed kind the use of forked wings whose

page_text: axes symmetrically arranged relatively to the middle of the disk, and actuated by
springs are released thus causing the leaves to turn, by displacing a suitable stop.
from its original position in which it keeps all the springs under pressure.
Dated this 3rd day of December 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.