A New or Improved Stringed Musical Instrument.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Stringed Musical Instrument.
We, HARRY MACKWOOD MILLINGTON, trading as Witton, Witton & Co., of
32, Hanover Street, Islington, in the County of London, Pianoforte Manufacturers,
and JOHN SUTHERLAND YOUNG, of 20, Dunlace Road, Lower Clapton, in the
County of London, Mechanic, do hereby declare, the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a new or improved stringed musical instrument.
According to the invention the body of the instrument is made somewhat
similar to that of a zither but is provided with a free sounding-board made on
the principle of the sounding-board of a piano. It is strung with steel and
covered strings normally damped by means of damper-bars having dampers which
are normally held upon the strings by springs as hereinafter described. Each
damper-bar is advantageously provided with dampers of an inverted T-shape
and is adapted to damp a note and its octaves so that by having a damper-bar
corresponding to each note all the notes of the instrument are thereby damped.
The damper-bars are guided at the ends in grooves in suitable uprights which
are provided at their upper ends with stops against which the bars can be brought
by keys provided in a key board resembling that of a pianoforte, by means of
wires which are attached to the damper-bars and to the said keys in such a
manner that by depressing a key the damper-bar attached thereto is raised against
the action of its spring thus freeing the strings which are normally damped by
the particular bar.
As the octave runs from C to C, the two C keys are connected together by means
of a coupling rod so that they operate together.
To provide for allowing the instrument to be played without the employment
of the dampers we arrange underneath the inner ends of the keys, a bar which
is connected to one end of a pivoted lever the other end of which can be depressed
by means of a suitable key thereby raising the inner ends of the keys and lifting
the dampers from the strings.
In practice we find it advantageous to provide a printed slip representing the
Okey board of the piano in connection with the strings so that the player can see
at a glance the situation of
any
note.
The instrument may be made to stand on four legs and when used is placed
on its case which acts as a resonator.

page_text: Π
t
A New or Improved Stringed Musical Instrument.
We, HARRY MACKWOOD MILLINGTON, trading as Witton, Witton & Co., of
32, Hanover Street, Islington, in the County of London, Pianoforte Manufacturers,
and JOHN SUTHERLAND YOUNG, of 20, Dunlace Road, Lower Clapton, in the
County of London, Mechanic, 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 a new or improved stringed musical instrument of
the kind known as autoharps.
In the accompanying drawings;-
Figure 1 is a sectional end elevation of a musical instrument made according
to the invention:
4
., I
Figure 2 is a plan thereof:
Figure 3 is an isometric view illustrating the key movement; and,
Figure 4 is a similar view shewing a modification in the key movement.
Figure 5 is a view of a detail drawn to a larger scale.
The body a of the instrument is made somewhat similar to that of a zither as
is clearly seen from Figure 2 but it is provided with a free sounding-board made
on the principle of the sounding board of a piano. It is strung with steel and
covered strings b, which are normally damped by means of damper-bars_c, c
having dampers c¹, c' normally held against the strings b, b by springs d, d.
The dampers care preferably of an inverted T-shape, as shewn, and each of the
said damper-bars e is adapted to damp a note and its octaves so that by having
a damper-bar corresponding to each note, all the notes of the instrument are
thereby damped.
The damper-bars c, c are guided at one end in grooves e¹, el in an upright e and
at the other end between pins f¹, f1 fitted to an upright f.
With this arrangement it will be obvious that, all the notes being normally
damped, it is necessary to remove a damper-bar e to enable a note and its
octaves to be sounded in the manner usually adopted with instruments of this
class.
Now, to enable any one, or any combination, of the dampers to be raised in
order that any desired chord may be played, we make use of a key-board arrange-
ment whereby by depressing a key or a combination of keys forming a chord,
the corresponding strings of the instrument will be free to be sounded.
This key-board is. shewn at g in Figures 1 and 2, and in Figures 3 and 4 we
have illustrated two methods of operating the dampers from the said keys.
Referring first to the arrangement shewn in Figure 3, the key g corresponding
to each damper-bar c is pivoted at g¹ and is connected to the said damper-bar c
by a rod h. The spring d, which, as above mentioned, normally maintains the
dampers upon each damper-bar e in contact with the strings, is coiled upon
the said rod h and bears against the upper side of the said damper-bar c and the
underside of the box or case containing the set of dampers, as clearly shewn, so
that in addition to normally damping the wires it holds the key at rest upon
the key support i. With this construction it will be obvious, that by depressing
the key in the usual manner the rod h and thus the damper-bar and dampers are
moved against the action of the spring d so as to leave the strings of a note
and its octaves corresponding to the damper-bar free to be sounded. h¹, h¹ are

page_text: uts upon the rods h and against which the keys g bear; by turning the nuts
he keys can be adjusted until they are level with one another.
It is advantageous to provide two C-keys but only one damper-bar in connection
therewith so that it is obviously necesary that the said damper-bar be raised
when either C-key is depressed. To this end we provide the coupling arrangement
shewn in Figure 3 comprising the pin j fitted upon the underside of the lower
C-key and bearing against one arm of the coupler k, the other arm of
which is connected to a pin j¹ fitted to the underside of the upper C-key. When
either key is depressed the damper-bar corresponding to the C-strings will be
raised.
In the arrangement shewn in Figure 4 the dampers c¹ instead of bearing upon
the upper side of the strings b, are pressed against them laterally by the
springs d, d which in this case are fitted between the ends of the damper-bars
and the upright f. To operate the damper-bars the keys are provided with
downward extensions g² which engage in notches c2 formed in the damper-bars
so that by depressing a key the corresponding bar is moved slightly forwards
thereby releasing the strings it normally damps, the springs d returning the
dampers against the strings when the pressure upon the key is relieved. In
this case also only one damper-bar but two keys are provided for the C-strings
so that it is essential that the same strings be freed by the operation of either of
the two keys. The projection g² on the key g having no damper-bar bears against
a pivoted lever 7 the free end of which bears against the end of a pivoted lever m
the other end of which bears against a projection upon the damper-bar con-
trolling the C-strings, so that should either of the two C-keys be depressed the
dampers will be moved away from the strings to enable the same to be sounded.
In practice we find it advantageous to provide a printed slip n representing the
key-board of a piano in connection with the strings, as shewn in Figure 2, so that
the player can see at a glance the situation of any note. The instrument may
be made to stand on four legs and when used may be placed on its case, which' acts
as a resonator.
Figure 5 shews to a larger scale a key which I have found to answer well
in practice. In this case the downward projection of the key shewn in the
action illustrated in Figure 4 is replaced by the curved screw-threaded wire or
pin g³ having a nut upon its end, the said nut engaging in the notch in the
damper bar as herein before described. This arrangement allows of the adjustment
of the nuts to bring all the keys g level with one another.
To provide for allowing the instrument to be played without the employment
of dampers we arranged in connection with the keys or with the damper bars,
a lever or bar which is adapted to be operated by a button or the like so as to
simultaneously release all the dampers from the strings.
To obtain greater length of strings for playing upon and thereby to improve
the tone of the instrument we taper the damper action as is clearly shewn in
Figure 2.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
5 invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. In a stringed musical instrument of the kind described and wherein damper
bars each corresponding to a note and its octaves normally damp all strings and
are controlled by keys the employment of a dummy key by depressing which the
50 strings corresponding to another key are released, substantially as herein before
described.
55
2. A stringed musical instrument constructed, arranged and operating, sub-
stantially as herein before described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the
accompanying drawings.
3. A stringed musical instrument of the kind described and having the action
hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 4. In a stringed musical instrument of the kind described in Claim 2, the
employment of the key hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figure 5 of
the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 26th day of January 1899
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.