IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF REEDS AND REED PLATES FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake of the firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co Patent Agents Southampton Buildings; London for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF REEDS AND REED PLATES FOR
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS." Communicated to him from abroad by Mellen Bray
of Newton Massachusetts United States of America Manufacturer'
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said: William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th July 1883.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
REEDS AND REED PLATES FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS" communicated to me from
abroad by Mellen Bray of Newton, Massachusetts, United States of America
Manufacturer
This invention relates to the manufacture of reeds and reed-plates for musical
instruments and has for its object to materially reduce the cost of the reeds and
reed-plates, by using thinner metal, without necessitating any change in the
construction of the reed-boards
Reed-plates were formerly made by taking a piece of metal of about one sixteenth
of an inch in thickness and cutting a cavity in one side thereof, through the
bottom of which cavity the throat was cut for the passage of air, and upon the
opposite side a metal tongue was rivetted to produce, by its vibrations, the musical
note.
The reed-plates in any instrument were of uniform thickness, but the tongues
were of different thicknesses according to the note to be produced, but in the case
of the higher notes were much thinner than the plates
The metal cut away in forming the throat, and cavity was depreciated.in value
though not entirely wasted
In the Specification of former Letters Patent dated February 7th 1882 N° 590 a
method is described for forming the cavity and throat in read-plates by swaying.or
compressing the plates in dies which forced the surplus metal out laterally between

page_text: the said dies, the tongue being formed from the same plate by compressing the
metal over the throat to the required thickness and cutting away its edges around
three sides of the tongue to give it liberty to vibrate
The metal required for forming reed-plates in this manner
thickness as that required in the first method referred to.
was the same
The present invention partly consists in forming the reed-plate or reed and
reed-plate combined, from a plate of metal, but little thicker than the required
thickness of the reed tongue to be formed by swaging or bending the said plate of
metal to form the cavity and throat and turning a portion of the edge of the said
plate at right angles, or nearly so, to the main body of the said plate to increase
its thickness around its edge as hereinafter described. The tongue or reed is
formed from the same piece of metal by compressing and cutting away sub-
stantially in the same manner as described in the said former specification. The
manufacturer is thus enabled to use plates of different thicknesses for the different
notes corresponding nearly with the thickness of the different tongues
It further partly consists in subjecting a strip or ribbon of sheet metal, of a
thickness but slightly greater than the desired thickness of the reed tongue to be
formed, to the action of suitable swaging or embossing dies, to form therein a
number or series of double recesses, the smaller or inner recesses being adapted to
form the throats of the reed-plates, and the larger recesses being each surrounded
by a vertical or nearly vertical rim to increase the thickness of the said reed-
plates, or in other words, to convert the said strip or ribbon of metal into a series
of partially formed or unfinished reeds, ..and reed-plates in a condition to be cut
or separated from the said strip and submitted to the final operations of trimming
the reed-plates, and milling, bending, and tuning the reed-tongues as hereinafter
described.
It also partly consists in an improved blank; from which to make a series of
reeds and reed-plates, formed of a strip or ribbon of sheet metal having a number
of transverse cuts or slits therein partially separating the said strip, and dividing
it into a number of sections connected together by narrow ties of the metal at
each edge, each section being adapted to have a reed-plate formed therefrom as
hereinafter described
In the accompanying drawings
+
Figures 1. 2 and 3 are a plan, a side elevation and an end view respectively of
the blank from which the reed and reed-plate is made.
Figures 4. 5 and 6 are respectively a plan, a longitudinal section and a transverse
section of the same blank after being subjected to the swaging dies..
Figures 7.8 and 9 are respectively a plan, a side elevation and a transverse
section of the same after the first milling operation and the trimming of the flange.
Figures 10, 11 and 12 are respectively a plan, a side elevation and an end
elevation of the same after the second milling operation.
Figures 13. 14. and 15. are respectively a plan, a longitudinal section and a
transverse section of the finished article
Figures 16 and 17 are a plan and an edge view respectively of a reed and reed-
plate of a modified form
Figures 18 and 19 are respectively a plan and a transverse section on the
line x, x Figure 18 illustrating a modification of this invention.
Figures 20 and. 21 are respectively a plan and a side elevation illustrating
another modification
Figures; 22 and 23 are similar views illustrating another modification
Figure 24 is a plan of a strip of sheet metal from which a series of the reeds and
' reed plates are to be formed.
Figure 25 is a plan of a similar strip.having transverse slits formed therein
Figure 26 is a plan of a strip after being acted upon by the swaging or embossing
dies to form therein a series of unfinished reed plates, and
Figure 27 is a longitudinal section of the same.
A indicates the blank from which a reed-plate or a reed and reed-plate combined

page_text: •
may be formed the said blank being cut from sheet metal of a thickness but little
in excess of the greatest thickness of the particular reed to be produced. therefrom.
This blank is subjected to the action of suitable swaging dies, in a drop, or other
press, to strike it up or stamp it into the shape illustrated in Figures 4, 5, and 6,
by forming therein the recesses a and b, the former serving when the whole. is
completed as the throat of the reed plate, and the cover to the said recess a forming
the reed.
r
The recess b is formed for the purpose of giving the proper thickness to the edges
of the reed plate to adapt it to fit the grooves in the reed board as heretofore made,
and at the same time to stiffen the reed plate by virtue of the vertical or nearly
vertical sides c surrounding the said recess.
The operation of swaging leaves the blank with a horizontally projecting irregular
flange d, as shown in Figure 4, which flange must be trimmed by suitable cutting
dies to an uniform width from the wall as shown in Figures 7, 10 and 13, or it
may be entirely removed as shown in Figures 16 to 23 inclusive.
.
The next step is the separation of the sides of the reed or tongue from the reed-
plate, which is done by subjecting the swaged blank to the action of a milling tool
or tools, to cut away the corners of the metal thrown up to form the recess a along
the whole length thereof, as shown in Figures 16 and 17, or only for the greater
part of said length as shown in Figures 7 and 8, the said cutter or cutters being so
arranged and operated as to cut away the metal to a width just equal to the
thickness of the side walls of the recess a and to a depth slightly in excess of the
thickness of the metal covering of the said recess or in other words so as to sever
the metal, covering the recess a, from the side walls thereof in such a manner, that
the reed when completed may vibrate freely within the throat of the reed-plate.
The end of the reed or tongue e is then severed in like manner from the end wall
of the recess a as shown in Figures 10 and 11.
The next operation is to give to the reed or tongue the desired variable thickness
which is done by milling its upper surface, and bending it downward into the
throat as shown in Figure 14.
This milling of the upper surface of the reed or tongue may be done before the
tongue is severed from the walls of the recess a if desired, or the varying
thickness may be imparted to the reed or tongue by pressure during the swaging
operation as described in said former Specification.
The present invention is an improvement upon the invention described in the
said former specification in that the reed-plate is formed of much thinner metal,
thereby materially reducing its cost.
It has been found desirable by actual experiment that the reed or tongue e should
be connected to the wall of the recess a at one end and for some little distance
from the said end along the sides thereof, in order to strengthen the said reed, to
accomplish which I make one end of the recess a of less depth than the remaining
portion, and inclined thereto, and mill straight through from end to end of the
raised projection thrown up in forming the said recess, as shown in Figures 20 and
21; or I make a portion of the length of the said recess a at one end of a less
width than the remainder of its length, and mill only the wider portion of the
projection thrown up in forming the said recess as shown in Figures 22 and 23; or
the recess a may be of equal width and depth throughout as shown in Figures 4, 5
and 6, and the milling for separating the sides of the tongue e may terminate
before reaching the end of the raised projection thrown up in forming the said
recess, as shown Figures 7, 8, 10 and 11.
In the modification shown in Figures 18. and 19 the recess a is formed as shown
in Figures 4, 5 and 6, the milling being done as shown in Figures 16 and 17, and
then portions of the walls of the recess a near the uncut end of the reed or tongue e
are bent inward till their upper edges are directly beneath the reed or tongue é as
shown in Figures 18 and 19.
It will be seen that while very much less metal is used in making a single reed
and reed-plate by the use of this invention a very stiff reed-plate, having a
:

page_text: thickness at its edge from its seat to its upper surface corresponding to the
thickness of the reed plates heretofore in use and adapted to fit the grooves in the
reed boards, is the result.
It is obvious that thicker metal will have to be used for the bass notes than
for those of a higher key, in fact I intend to use, metal about two numbers by 5
gauge thicker than the desired thickness of the thick end of the particular reed to
be produced.
Instead of forming the reed-plates or reeds and reed-plates combined from the
short blanks shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, they may be formed in series in a long
strip or ribbon of thin metal.shown in Figure 24, which is first submitted to the
action of suitable dies to form therein a number of transverse cuts or slits f, g, g,
at stated intervals, thus partially severing the strip A and dividing it into a number
of sections connected together by narrow ties of the metal at each edge of the
strip A. The said cuts or slits may be formed by simply dividing the metal
to make a cut as at f (Figure 25) or by punching out narrow pieces as at g, g
Figure 25.
The blank thus prepared is fed intermittently in the direction of its length
between swaging or embossing dies to form therein, in succession, a series of
double recesses, as before mentioned, and is delivered from the said dies in the
form shown in Figures 26 and 27, each section of the blank A being adapted to
have formed therefrom a single reed-plate and reed. The reed-plates are now ready
to be submitted to the final operations for finishing the same, which operations
consist in separating the reed-plates from each other, trimming the horizontally
.projecting irregular flanges d or cutting them away altogether, milling to separate
the sides and one end of each reed tongue from its reed-plate, and then milling,
bending and tuning the reed tongues all as heretofore described. The action of the
swaging or embossing dies is to draw in the metal at the sides and ends: of the
reed plates between the corners thereof, so that the edges of the plates will form
irregular lines curving inward, hence the object of the cuts or slits f and g, g, is to
allow the drawing in of the metal, and prevent too much stretching thereof at the
ends of the reed-plates. The width of the strip A and the distance apart of the
slits fg, g, may be varied according to the size of the reed-plate which it is desired
to form.
The action of the embossing dies upon the sheet metal strip or blauk A is to
bend or emboss and slightly stretch the metal to the desired shape as distinguished
from compressing and displacing or condensing and forcing out the surplus metal
as would be the case when forming the desired recesses or depressions in a rolled
metal bar or rod.
Having thus fully described the said invention as communicated to me by my
foreign Correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I Claim
1
First. A reed-plate made from thin sheet metal, and having two parallel edges,
and a lip or rib around its outer edge bent at right angles, or nearly so, to the
main body of the plate, to form a seat or support at a lower level than that
portion of the plate through which the throat is cut, substantially. as described.
Second. A reed and reed-plate made from a single piece of thin sheet metal,
a portion of the edge of the said plate being bent at right angles, or nearly so,
to the main body thereof, to raise the reed, and that portion of the plate from
which the reed is cut, to a level above the bearing surface of the said plate, as
set forth.
Third. The ribbon of blanks herein described (from which to make reed-plates
or combined reeds and reed-plates), which consists of a strip or ribbon of sheet
metal provided with a series of transverse slits partially severing the same and
dividing it into a number of sections, each section being adapted to have formed
therefrom a single reed-plate, or a combined reed and reed-plate, substantially as
set forth.
Fourth. The process of forming reeds and reed-plates, which process consists in

page_text: forming in a strip of sheet metal of an even thickness, but slightly in excess of the
required thickness of the reed tongue to be formed, a series of transverse slits*
partially severing the said strip and dividing it into a series of sections, submitting
the said strip to the action of swaging or embossing dies to bend or strike up
portions thereof to a different plane in order to form therein a series of recesses,
thereby converting the said strip into a series of partially formed or unfinished
reeds and reed-plates, and then submitting the same to the final operations of
separating and trimming the reed-plates and milling, bending and tuning the reeds,
substantially as described.
In Witness whereof I the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this Tenth day of July in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty three.
WM ROBT. LAKE (L.S.)