IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRESENTING OR EXHIBITING TO AN AUDIENCE THE WORDS OR SCORE OF AN OPERA OR OTHER DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE, OR OF A CONCERT, LECTURE, OR THE LIKE
Year: 1881

page_text: .
LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lako,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRESENTING OR EXHIBITING TO AN AUDIENCE
THE WORDS OR SCORE OF AN OPERA OR OTHER DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE,
OR OF A CONCERT, LECTURE, OR THE LIKE." A communication from abroad
by Thomas Lloyd Jones, of St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America,
Mechanical Engineer.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lako at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 1st October 1881.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRESENTING OR
EXHIBITING TO AN AUDIENCE THE WORDS OR SCORE OF AN OPERA OR OTHER
DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE OR OF A CONCERT, LECTURE, OR THE LIKE."
A com-
munication from abroad by Thomas Lloyd Jones, of St. Louis, Missouri, United
States of America, Mechanical Engineer.
This Invention relates to apparatus or devices for presenting or exhibiting to
an audience the words or score of an opera, play, or other dramatic performance
for exhibition, or of a concert, lecture, ceremony, or the like, where it is desirable to
exhibit to the eyes of the audience the words or other symbols of the utterances of
the singers, players, or speakers addressing the audience.
The said Invention consists mainly in a movable transparency bearing the said
words or symbols, and illuminated by a light at its roar. This transparency moves
past an opening which is between the audience and the light, the movement of the
said transparency being so timed as to carry the words corresponding with those,
D031

page_text: said transparency will vary according to the class and position of the motor used
to actuate the same as above stated; various forms of motors may be employed,
and the motor need not necessarily be in the immediate vicinity of the libretto-
scroll.
The transparency is illuminated by a suitable light, such for instance as the gas-
jets, at M, aided by the reflector N. By arranging the device as shewn behind
the proscenium walls d, d', the light is not thrown upon the stage so as to interfero
with the action of the stage-lights. This position of the libretto-scroll is also
desirable for the reason that the players or speakers upon the stage are enabled to
see the said scroll and utilize it as a prompter. For this reason, but more especially
for the convenience of the audience, it is very desirable to use two of the scrolls,
one at each side of the stage, in order that persons in any part of the stage or
house may readily see the words.
A desirable arrangement of the words upon the transparency is shown in
Figures 4 and 5; that is to say, the words are arranged in columns e, the number
of the said columns corresponding to the number of the principal characters
appearing in the play. Posted or arranged above the opening C and the columns e
in any suitable manner, as for instance upon a card or sign O are the names of the
characters. This card or sign remains in position during the play as a fixture, and
as the utterances of the various characters are made the words or symbols appear
beneath the respective names upon the said card or sign O, thus readily directing
the attention of the spectators or audience to the proper character.
To illustrate the working of the device or apparatus a scene from the opera
"Pinafore" is introduced. In Figures 4 and 5 the transparency is adjusted into
the position it should occupy when Ralph Rackstraw has just sung the words
"Farewell my own, etc.," in the column below his name, and when Josephine_is
about to sing the words, "I will atone, etc.," in the column beneath her name. By
the time she has ended her song the transparency will have moved upward to bring
the words "A bone, etc.," into view in the column e beneath the name of Sir J. Porter,
and so on.
In Figures 5 and 6 the device or apparatus is shown in a portable form, the
transparency, the rollers, the light, and the reflector, and if desired the motive
mechanism being contained in a case P. The movement of the parts of tho
apparatus is regulated by the brake Q. The motor may be a spring. R, R', repre-
sent friction brakes which bear upon the roller-shafts or pulleys upon the said
roller shaft, and serve by preventing the rollers rotating too easily to keep the
transparency properly in place upon the rollers. The words printed or otherwise
arranged upon the transparency E or E¹ need not necessarily be in the same
language as that spoken or used by the actors or singers, as they may, for instance,
speak or sing in the Italian language while the words on the same transparencies
may be in English, in fact one of the chief advantages of the present Invention is
that by its use the utterances of an actor or singer using a foreign language may
be interpreted in a language familiar to the audience. A further advantage arising
from the use of the two transparencies or scrolls E and E' in conjunction is that
one language can be used upon one transparency or scroll and another language
upon the other transparency or scroll.
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 under-
stood that I claim,—
-
First. The combination with the movable libretto-scroll or transparency
arranged to travel past an opening in the wall or walls at the side or sides of a
stage or platform of the rollers F, F, substantially as above set forth and for the
purpose specified.
Second. The combination with the said rollers and transparency of a suitable
motor or driving mechanism whose rate of speed can be regulated for the purposes
specified.
Third. The combination with the motor or driving mechanism for actuating the

page_text: libretto-scroll or transparency, of the levers L, L', the cords L², L³, and the
levers,, controlled from the front of the wall a, substantially as above set
forth and for the purposes specified.
•
Fourth. The combination of the opening C in the wall d, the movable trans-
parency E, the rollers F, F¹, and the lamp or lighting device M, substantially
as described.
Fifth. The combination of the scroll E, the rollers F, F, and the brakes R, R¹;
substantially as above described and for the purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this First day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
IM DADT TAKE