IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR MECHANICALLY PLAYING PIANOFORTES AND OTHER MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS WHEREIN THE NOTES ARE SOUNDED BY PERCUSSION
Year: 1884

page_text: I FRANCIS HERBERT WENHAM of 238 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer Do hereby Declare the nature of my said Invention
for "IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR MECHANICALLY PLAYING PIANOFORTES AND OTHER
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS WHEREIN THE NOTES ARE SOUNDED BY PERCUSSION" to be
as follows:
The object of my improvements in mechanism for mechanically playing Piano-
fortes and other musical instruments wherein the notes are sounded by percussion
is to obtain simplicity of construction and cause the striking action that sounds
the notes to be performed by the direct force of the machine, so that the perforated
bands (analogous to those now commonly used for mechanical or automatic music)
are relieved of all strain from the striking of the notes.
In mechanism constructed according to this Invention the parts that depress the
keys or notes consist of a series of vertical rods arranged in a straight line above
the keys, one for each key. The key rods are normally raised out of contact
with the keys, which may be effected by a spiral spring, each key rod fitting
loosely into a slot or socket and one end of the spiral spring is attached to a pin
on the outer face of the key rod, and the other to a hook on a top bar-This gives
a pulling force from the centre which presses the top of the rod backwards against
the edge of the base board-The extent of the rise of the key rod is limited by a
stop or cross pin-In order to sound the notes of the instruments the various key
rods are depressed in an order according to the air required to be played, and this
is effected as follows:-Above them is a vibrator which may consist of a continuous
strip extending the whole length over the key rods and swinging from back centres.
The strip is kept in continuous rapid vibration which may be effected by means of
a crank and connecting rod from a revolving spindle-The motion must be faster
than the shortest interval used in musical performance-The spindle may be driven
either by a gut band and pulley from a larger pulley on the band or main driving
spindle of the machine, or silent or skew gear or any other suitable means may be
used-The fast or crank spindle may carry a fly wheel in order to equalise the
motion and prevent jerking when several notes or keys are struck together-The
striking of the notes is caused by the top eige of the key rods being moved un ler

page_text: the edge of the vibrator by means of a wire or rod operated as the perforated
music sheet passes and the key rod comes under the vibrator and is pressed down
on the key beneath the key rod by its upward spring follows the rise of the
vibrator and is released and returns to its normal position-The thrusting wires
or rods may be operated by a number of bell crank levers pinioned on to the base
board of the machine, from the other arm of which bell cranks wires or rods are
carried to the end of the machine and attached to the bottom arm of another series
of bell crank levers in a transverse line; the extreme ends of the tops or horizontal
arms of these bell crank levers are turned upwards and are caused to project above
the plate that supports the music sheet, by spiral or other suitable springs The
projecting ends when raised enter freely a groove cut in a bar set above the plate
sufficiently to allow for the thickness of the music band-This band is drawn
forward, which may be effected by passing it between rollers which are caused to
turn slowly by wheel gear to suit the speed or time of the music-The action is as
follows The ends of all the transverse bell crank levers are first depressed and
the perforated music strip is passed under the grooved bar and entered between
the rollers-The said bell crank levers are then released but so that the ends
thereof rest on the blank part of the paper and cannot rise, but when the mechanism
is driven the music band is drawn forward and as perforations arrive over the ends
of the bell crank levers their ends respectively rise therein by the force of their
springs and by the means hereinbefore described the corresponding key rod is
brought under the action of the vibrator-After the note is struck the levers are
again immediately depressed by the passing edge of the holes.
Instead of the vibrator any equivalent device may be used such as a rotating
spindle extending the whole length of the notes having projecting pins or cams on
its circumference under which the key rods are thrust.
The whole instrument may be hinged from the base board from the back to the
.attachment which connects it with the instrument, so that by means of a lever and
cam action the whole of the key rods can be raised or depressed at will in order to
obtain either the " "piano or "forte or "crescendo" expression in music―The
perforations required for the various notes in the paper music band I prefer to
make circular as being best suited for the purpose of this particular design of
instrument.
"
37
The mechanism constructed according to my Invention may be made as a device
separate from the musical instrument attachable thereto when desired in which
case when applied to ordinary. pianoforte keyboards the key rods of the mechanism
will be made of different lengths to suit the black and white keys Or the said
mechanism may be made an integral part of the musical instrument, the key rods
acting upon any suitable arrangement of levers or operating parts for striking the
notes.

page_text: I FRANCIS HERBERT WENHAM of 238 Goldhawk Road Shepherds Bush in the
County of Middlesex Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
"IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR MECHANICALLY PLAYING PIANOFORTES AND OTHER
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS WHEREIN THE NOTES ARE SOUNDED BY PERCUSSION" and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:—
The object of my Improvements in mechanism for mechanically playing Piano-
fortes and other musical Instruments wherein the notes are sounded by percussion
is to obtain simplicity of construction-in the said mechanism and to cause the force
of the striking action by which the notes of the Instrument are sounded to be
applied to the mechanism in such a manner that the perforated bands which are
used therewith (analogous to those now commonly used in what are known as
Organettes for the mechanical or automatic playing of music) are relieved from
strain due to the striking of the notes.
I. will describe, my Invention with reference to the accompanying Drawing,
Figure 1 of which is a cross section of a part of an apparatus constructed according
to my Invention Figure 2 is a back view and Figure 3 is a plan of the end of the
apparatus at which the operating mechanism is situated and 'shewing sufficient of
the apparatus to render the following description intelligible, the said apparatus
being of a length and width to accommodate the number of operating parts corre-
sponding to the number of keys upon which it is to operate in the instrument with
which it is to be used. The parts which strike the keys or notes consist of a series
of vertical rods A arranged in a straight line above the keys; there being a rod A
for each key or note upon which the apparatus is to operate. In Instruments such
as piancs having keys or notes at different elevations; the said rods A are of a
corresponding length (as shewn in Figure 2) so as to bring all the series of rods A
to one plane at their upper ends. The said rods A are normally raised out of
contact with the keys or notes which may conveniently be effected by a spiral
spring B, one for each rod, the said spiral springs being attached at one end to a
pin b on the key rod and at the other end to the top bar C. Each rod A fits loosely
so that it can rise and fall in a socket or tube (one for each rod) which is wider at
top than at bottom. The springs B give an upward pull to the rods A out of the
centre which has the effect of throwing the tops of the key rods A backwards
against the edge of the base-board D, as shewn in Figure 1. The extent of the rise
of the key rods A is limited by a stop or cross pin a, coming against the bottom
edges of the sockets or tubes in which the said rods slide. In order to sound the
notes of the instrument the key rods A are depressed in an order according to the
air to be played and this is effected as follows:-Above the said rods A is a lever
or vibrator which preferably consists of a continuous strip F extending over the
whole series of key rods A and swinging from end centres (one of which is shewn
at f) mounted in suitable bearings not shewn in the drawing. This strip F is kept
in continuous rapid vibration which may be effected by any suitable means.
shewn in the Drawing it is effected by means of a connecting rod G attached at
one end to the said strip F and at the other end to the crank pin h of a disc h²
affixed to the shaft H turning in suitable bearings (not shewn in the Drawings):
The motion of the strip F must be equal to or faster than the shortest interval used
in musical performance. The shaft H may be rotated by any suitable méa is such
for example as a gut band and pulley. As shewn in the Drawing it is driven by
As

page_text: means of a transversely mounted shaft I through the wheel and pinion I and ³
respectively fixed upon the shafts I and H having oblique teeth constituting what
is termed "skewgear" or "tangent gear" for obtaining a silent action. The shaft I
can be conveniently operated by a handle J fixed thereto and situated at the front
of the apparatus. The shaft H. may carry a fly wheel h in order to equalize the
motion and prevent jerking when several keys or notes are struck together. The
striking of the keys or notes is effected by the tops of the key rods A, situated
above the keys or notes to be struck, being moved under the edge of the vibrating
strip F by means of wires or rods (one for each rod A) pushed forward in the
required order,. which is effected by the perforated music sheet L as it passes
through the apparatus. When the rods A. are thus caused to come under the
vibrator F they are pressed down thereby onto the keys or notes beneath and the
key rods so depressed, afterwards, under the action of the springs B, follow the rise
of the vibrator F and as the perforated sheet passes on are released by the withdrawal
of the push rods k which operated them, and the said rods A therefore return to
their normal position as shewn in figure 1. The thrusting wires or rods k may
conveniently be operated by a number of bell crank levers m centred at m² on to
the base board of the apparatus, the wires or rods / being attached to one end of
the said levers m, the other ends of the said bell crank levers m having wires or
rods n attached thereto, which wires or rods n are carried to the end of the
apparatus at which the perforated strip L is situated and each are there attached to
the one arm of another series of bell crank levers p situated in a line with the
width of the perforated sheet L and having an axis p2 common to all of them. The
other arms of these bell. crank levers p are turned upwards as shewn at p³ and are
caused to constantly tend to project above and beyond the edge of the plate Q that
supports the perforated sheet L. The springs p' tend to press them into this
position. The projecting ends p³ of the said bell crank levers p cannot take the
position shewn in figure 2 when the unperforated parts of the sheet L is passing
over them as the said unperforated parts keep them down but when a perforation
comes opposite any one of the said ends p³ it allows the lever of which it forms
part to rise under the action of its spring 2' and therefore to pull the rod n and
through the bell crank lever m and rod or wire le to thrust the key rod A corre-
sponding thereto under the vibrator F. The band L is drawn forward over the
ends p³ of the bell crank levers p, which may be effected by passing it between
rollers R. R., which may conveniently be caused to rotate by the toothed wheels 22
and one on the shaft I, and the other on one of the rollers R and of a size to suit
the speed of the music. Above the level of the plate Q is a bar S having in its
underside a groove 8 for receiving the ends p³ of the levers P when they pass
through the perforations of the sheet L. The bar serves with the plate Q
as a guide for the said sheet L. The action of the apparatus is as follows:-
The ends p³ of all the levers p are first depressed, which may be effected by a
push bar W arranged to press against the opposite arms of all the levers, and
the end of the perforated sheet L is then passed under the grooved bar S and
entered between the rollers R. The said sheet L may be folded in a zig zag manner
so as to unfold in sections like a map or be arranged in any other convenient
manner. The said levers p are then released by drawing back the bar W but they
do not yet alter their position because the ends ps thereof rest on an unperforated
part of the perforated sheet L, but when the mechanism is driven the rotation of
the rollers draws the said sheet L forward in the direction of the arrow in figure 2
and as perforations therein arrive over the ends p³ of the levers p the said ends
respectively rise through the said perforations by the force of the springs p* and by
the means hereinbefore described the corresponding key rods A are brought under
the direction of the vibrator F. After the keys or notes have been struck by the
said key rods the levers p are again immediately depressed by the passing edge of
the holes in the perforated sheet L bearing upon the inclined fronts of the said
ends p³ (see Figure 2) thereby depressing the said levers p and withdrawing the
wires or rods and releasing the key rods A at the rise of the vibrator. The

page_text: springs p which act on the bell crank levers p are of course more powerful than
the sideway force of the springs B which draw up the key rods A out of reach of
the vibrator.
The handle x and swing bar x² are for the purpose of increasing or diminishing
the sound of the notes for obtaining musical expression the board D being by these
means raised or lowered from a hinge joint 3 at the back connecting it to the
instrument or the attachment by which it is connected to the instrument so as to
vary the distance of the lever ends of the key rods A from the keys, so that they
strike the keys or notes with more or less force.
In the drawing I have not shewn the framing and bearings for the shafts. They
may be arranged in any suitable position.
I do not limit myself to the precise details hereinbefore described and illustrated
in the drawing as it is evident that they may be varied without departing from
the nature of my Invention. For example the key rods A instead of being
depressed by the vibrating strip F may be depressed by means of two rotating
rollers between which they are gripped when they are moved into a slanting or
abnormal position by the wires k, and so be carried and held downwards by the
said rollers till allowed to rise by the withdrawal of the wires k. Or instead of the
vibrator F a rotating spindle may be used, the said spindle extending the whole
length of the key board and having a pin or cam or pins or cams on the circum-
ference under which the key rods A are thrust and by which they are depressed.
The perforations in the Sheet L I prefer to make circular or with rounded ends,
as that form is the best suited for the purpose of the particular design of this
apparatus but I do not limit myself to any particular shape of the said perforations.
The apparatus constructed according to my Invention may be made as a device
separate from the musical instrument and attachable thereto when desired or the
said apparatus may be made an integral part of the musical instrument, the key
rods acting upon any suitable arrangement of levers or operating parts for striking
the notes.
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
,
First. An apparatus for mechanically playing pianofortes or other musical
instruments the said apparatus being constructed or arranged substantially as
herein before described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
Second. In apparatus for mechanically playing pianofortes or other musical
instruments the employment of a vibrator or its equivalent kept continuously in
motion so as to operate upon rods or the like which are placed under its action by
mechanism brought into operation by the movement of a perforated sheet, substan-
tially as and for the purpose herein before described.
Dated this 17th daw of Navamhas 1001
F. H. WENHAM,