NEW MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I, CARL PIEPER of 109/110 Gneisenau-Strasse, Berlin in the kingdom of
Prussia, Civil-Engineer and Patent-Agent do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for a "NEW MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT" to be as follows:-
My invention relates to musical instruments in which reeds, or pipes, or other
devices suitable for bringing forth musical notes, are caused to sound by mechanical
means so as to produce a melody, and its object is to so construct the instrument
that it will act by being bodily swung round on a non-rotating axle.
For this purpose the parts operating to produce the notes are enclosed in, or
attached to a box or frame arranged to be rotated upon an axle passing through
the instrument at a certain distance from the centre of gravity thereof, and one end
of which is adapted to be held in the hand, while the body of the axle is provided
with means by which the operating parts are actuated when they are caused to
rotate around the axle.
Motion may for instance be imparted by means of a worm on the said axle and
a worm-wheel engaging therewith, to perforated music sheets, to cylinders having
pins on their surface or to other known devices adapted to operate the valves of
reeds, while the bellows which produce the wind for sounding the reeds, are worked
by a connecting rod pivoted to a crank fixed to the end of the axle.

page_text: I, CARL PIEPER, of 109/110 Gneisenau-Strasse Berlin, kingdom of Prussia,
Civil-Engineer and Patent-Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
invention for "A NEW MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT," and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to musical instruments in which reeds, or pipes, or other
devices suitable for bringing forth musical notes, are caused to sound by mechanical
means so as to produce a melody, and its object is to so construct the instrument
that it will act by being bodily swung around on a non-rotating axle.
For this purpose the parts operating to produce the notes are enclosed in, or
attached to a box or frame arranged to be rotated upon an axle passing through
the instrument at a certain distance from the centre of gravity thereof, and one
end of which is adapted to be held in the hand, while the body of the axle is
provided with means by which the operating parts are actuated when they are
caused to rotate around the axle.
On the annexed sheet of drawings Fig. 1 shows in sectional elevation and Fig. 2
in sectional plan a mechanical musical instrument with my invention applied
thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the perforated band. F, Fig. 1. Figs. 4 and 5
are respectively a sectional élevation and transverse sectional view of another
instrument coinprising my invention. Figs. 5 and 6 are details thereof. Fig. 7
shows in sectional elevation and Fig. 8 in transverse section an instrument of the
kind described in the specification of my British letters patent A.D. 1882 No. 3660,
and also involving my present invention. Fig. 9 is a part in detail.
In all these instruments the box O, in which the operating parts are enclosed, or
to which they are attached, is rotatively connected to an axle A¹ having at one end
a handle A. By this handle the instrument is held in the hand while it is swung
round on its axle. On the said, axle there is a screw-thread or worm B engaging
with a worm-wheel C from which motion is conveyed to certain valve-operating
devices, and to the end of the axle is fixed a crank K, on which turns one end of
the connecting rod L, whose other end acts on the bellows I. It will be seen that
by these means the wheel C is rotated and the connecting rod operated when the
instrument is handled as described.
The other portions of the instruments represented by drawing do not in
themselves constitute any part of the invention, but I shall briefly describe them,
in order to completely show how the invention may be applied in practice.
According to Figs. 1, 2 and 2 there is fixed upon the axle of the aforesaid
wheel C a roller D, over which and the auxiliary rollers E and E³ runs a continuous
travelling band or sheet F, having perforations corresponding with the notes to be
produced, and adapted to register with the beaks of levers a, connected to the
valves of reeds h, provided with vibrating tongues i; the parts being so arranged
that, when a perforation is opposite to the beak of a lever a, this lever and the
valve attached to it, will be lifted by a spring b, and the corresponding note will be
sounded by the air fed into the chamber H by the bellows I, and the pressure
whereof is regulated by the bellows M. G is a tension roller for the band F. If
preferred, the said band may also be operated by the wheel C when it is coiled on
an axle M and attached with one end to the roller D.
In the instrument shown by Figs. 3 to 6, the axle of the wheel C carries a
cylinder D¹, adapted to actuate the valve-levers a by means of pins and cams fixed
on its surface or in grooves turned into the surface. The cylinder may, however,

page_text: also be carried out with notches in which engage the beaks of valve-levers,
constructed as in Fig. 1; or the cylinder is made hollow and provided with
perforations for the same purpose. In order to allow various tunes to be played
on one instrument, the cylinder D¹ may be made with an exchangeable sleeve
carrying the pins, notches or perforations; or, the said pins, notches or perforations
are attached to, or formed in flat sheets of any suitable material adapted to be
fastened on the surface of a smooth cylinder. Moreover, sheets of this kind may
be caused to run over two or more cylinders or rollers, in a similar manner as in
the instrument shown by Figs. 1 and 2, the beaks of the valve-levers being, in
this case, opposite to one of these cylinders or rollers.
According to Figs. 7 to 9, the axle of the worm-wheel C has a perforated disk D*
attached thereto for operating the valve-levers a, the said disk rotating between
two rows of tines e, Figs. 8 and 9, by which besides, the levers a are guided. The
outer row of these tines is fixed to a bar f that may be turned up for allowing the
disk to be exchanged. The bellows I are actuated in the latter two instruments in
the same manner as in the one described first.
The invention may, however, also be applied to instruments in which the notes
are produced in other manner, or in which motion is conveyed to the operating
parts by other means than those shown in the drawing and described.
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:
1., A mechanical musical instrument in which the box or frame carrying the
operating parts, is pivoted on an axle A¹ not passing through its center of gravity,
and which is provided with a handle A adapted to hold the instrument by, and
with means by which motion is imparted to the operating devices when the
instrument is swung round on its axle, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2., In a mechanical musical instrument pivoted on an axle A¹ not passing
through its center of gravity, and having a handle A, adapted to hold the
instrument by, the combination with the said axle of a worm B engaging with the
worin-wheel C, from which motion is conveyed to the reed-operating devices, and of
a crank K connected by the rod L to the bellows I, the aid worm-wheel C and
rod L being actuated when the instrument is swung round on its axle, substantially
as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this first day of October 1884.