Improvements in Mechanical Musical Instruments.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Nov., 1899-Accepted, 30th Dec., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanical Musical Instruments.
I, ERNST PAUL RIESSNER, of Wahren, near Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony, Empire
of Germany, Manufacturer, 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:-
The present invention relates to that class of mechanical musical instruments
which is provided with interchangeable note discs and consists essentially in
arranging the various parts of the instrument in such manner as to effect the
interchange of the note discs by means of a smaller opening in the same and
without operating the note disc holder from the driving mechanism, which takes
up too much of the driving power. In order to effect the desired result the parts
are so arranged and constructed as to allow of the shifting of the note discs with-
out however having to move the disc holder, which operation, hitherto performed
by the driving mechanism, is rendered unneccessary.
In order to render the present specification more easily intelligible reference
is had to the accompanying drawings in which similar letters of reference denote
similar parts throughout the several views:
-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the instrument showing the casing in section,
Fig. 2 is a front elevation and Fig. 3 a plan of Figure 1, Fig. 4 is a side eleva-
tion showing the note disc holder thrown back and the casing with the note disc
carriage pushed in, Fig. 5 is a detail cross section draw to a larger scale of the
mechanism for producing the notes, Fig. 6 is a similar detail view showing a
modified form of the same mechanism, Fig. 7 is a detail side elevation showing
the disc-carrying spindle and Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the disc with the
spindle in section.
The spindled on which the note discs are suspended is fixed in the casing and
provided with an enlargement at that point in its length which is occupied by
the note disc when the instrument is being played, and two conical, surfaces ff
at either side of the enlargement enable the disc to be pushed on to and off the
said enlargement. The note discs BB are placed in a carriage A between the
uprights A¹A¹ of the same the said carriage being adapted to run
on rails
mounted at either side of the casing. Each disc is provided with a central orifice
large enough to fit over the enlarged part of the shaft d. said orifice being desig-
nated and thus the discs will hang slightly concentrically and loosely on the
smaller part of the said shaft d. The mechanism for operating the teeth of the
sound producing comb c is constructed to occupy as little space as possible, so
that the discs having an opening or orifice a (Fig. 8) may be passed over the
holder arm and the striking mechanism from the position shown in Figure 1 to
that in Figure 4. When the carriage with the required discs BB is placed in
the instrument the arm or holder is thrown back as shown in Figure 4 and
afterwards turned down into the position shown at Figure 1.

page_text: Two modifications of mechanism for vibrating the teeth of the combs ce are
illustrated in Figures 5 and 6. Referring to Figure 5 a vertical bed plate i is
arranged at the lower part of which the striker wheel 2 for the combs cc is
mounted to rotate. A vertically reciprocating lever is mounted in the bed plate
and has its upper end pivoted to one arm m of a bell crank lever the lower or
downwardly extending arm 7 of which is normally pressed towards the bed by
means of a spring n, so that the head k of the arm m has a tendency to pass into
the openings of the note disc moving above it, which movement of the said bell
crank lever has the effect of rotating the striker wheel p a part of a turn to
strike the teeth of the combs and thus sounding the required note. The bed i
is mounted on the plate and one such striker mechanism is of course pro-
vided for each tooth of the combs. As indicated at Figure 6 instead of the lever
mechanism, a chain and chain wheels may be employed, in which case a toothed
wheel is advantageously mounted below the disc and operated to turn the
striker wheel p by means of projections on the lower surface of the said disc B.
Each disc B is provided with teeth around its edge as indicated at the lower part
of Figure 2 and the said disc is rotated by means of a gears (Fig. 2) mounted
in the forked end of a lever C pivotally supported at t and having its rearward
end wheld against a cam disc by means of a spring, the said cam disc being
rotated by the drum D of the driving clockwork. A gear is mounted on the
pivot of the lever C and serves to transmit the motion of a gear on the drum
to the gear which is fast to the driving toothed wheel s of the disc. Thus by
rotating the cam a the lever C will be turned on its pivot and bring the driving
gears into engagement with the disc B.
When the tune has been played through, the opening a will have been brought
round again in position in front of the striker mechanism and the carriage A may
be pushed inwards bringing the next disc into position to play and passing the
one just used over the striker mechanism and this operation may be repeated at
the end of each tune until all the discs have been used up. Thus it will be
seen that no necessity exists for throwing up the disc holder, when the tune disc
is shifted.
The two modifications of the striker mechanism described serve to show that the
apparatus may be adapted for use in connection with any system of note disc.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
Mechanical musical works having interchangeable note discs and being char-
acterised by;-
a A series of note discs (B) having each a slot (a) the said discs being
capable of being moved over the striker machanism so that any one of
the same may be brought into operative connection with the driving mech-
anism substantially as described:
b: A note disc holder (b) formed to lie through all the note disc slots, so
that the said discs may be moved over the same, said disc being thus
rendered capable of retaining its normal position both whilst the music
is being played and when the works are at rest substantially as described;
e: The note discs (B) having a central orifice (9) arranged eccentrically to
the shaft (d), so that the discs may be noiselessly moved along the said
shaft or spindle () when the carriage is moved, the said spindle being
provided with an enlargement (f) conically tapered down to the diameter
of the spindle (r) at each end and adapted to support the disc, for the
time being played substantially as described.
A vertically disposed wheel carrying plate (i) mounted on the bed
plate (h) in the upper end of which levers (m) or tooth wheels (g), are.
mounted to rotate, the said levers (m) being operated by vertically reci-
procative levers (0) and the wheels (q) by means of chains (") to actuate

page_text: striker wheels mounted in proximity to the sound producing combs, the
said levers (m) or tooth-wheels (9) being moved by the note disc in the
manner and for the purpose substantially as described.
Dated this 21st day of November 1899.
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
31, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.