Improvements in Keyboard Musical Instruments.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Oct., 1891-Accepted, 21st May, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Keyboard Musical Instruments.
A communication from abroad by ANNIE DIXON, wife of Alexander Hutton
Dixon, Manufacturer, of 337, King Street West, Toronto, in the Dominion
of Canada.
I, REGINALD WILLIAM JAMES, of 1 Queen Victoria Street, in the City of
London, Civil Engineer, 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 :--
The object of my invention is to design simple mechanism by which the music
produced by a key instrument may be transposed from a higher to a lower key
or vice versa without the exercise of any skill upon the part of the performer, and
it consists essentially of a series of levers arranged between the sounding mechanism
and key board, the said levers being operated by mechanism by which they may
be altered so as to bring a higher or lower toned reed in connection with the key
in which the piece is written; substantially as hereinafter more particularly
explained.
Figure 1, is a perspective view of a portion of the organ action connected with
my invention, parts being broken away to expose its construction.
Figure 2, is a skeleton plan.
Figure 3, is a skeleton end view.
Figure 4, is a view showing it adapted for a piano.
A, is a coupling rod pivoted at, a, located on a centre line drawn through the
sticker pins E. To one end of the coupling rod, A, I pivot a bar, C, from which
bar the pins D, project which pins are employed for the purpose of steadying
the levers, E, a lever E being loosely fitted into each of the pins, D. The
opposite end of each of the levers, E, is pivoted at b, to the bar F, the end of
which bar is connected to the coupling rod, A.
A plate, G, is hinged or pivoted to the frame H at d, the other end of the
plate, G, being notched or recessed to receive the bar F. The outer end of the
said plate G, has a tongue e, formed on it to fit into a groove made in the frame, H,
as indicated.
It will be observed that a pivot a, of the coupling rod A, is on a projection
extending from the hinged or pivoted plate G.
I may mention here that the bars, C, and F, extend across the action and that
a coupling rod is located at the opposite end of the key-board, similar to the
coupling rod A. A lever I, is connected at one end to the bar, F, as indicated.
This lever is pivoted at f, and extends through a notched slot, J, in the frame of
the organ.
K, is a spring located as indicated for the purpose of holding the back end of
the lever, I, down, and as this lever is connected to the bar F, the said har and
its connections are likewise held down, so that the button L, on each of the
levers E, is held in contact with its respective sticker pin, B.
In order to transpose the music from a higher to a lower key, or vice versa, the
lever I, is pressed down so as to clear it from the notch k, in the slot J, in which
it may at the time be fitted. The pressing down of the front end of the lever, I,
will of course elevate the rear end of the said lever, and as the latter end is
connected to the bar F, the said bar will be slightly elevated, thus raising the back
end of the levers E, and depressing their front end sufficiently to clear them of the
bottoms on the keys M, so that the said levers may be moved about an axis
situated at the centre of each of the sticker pins E respectively from one side to
the other without interfering with or injuring the said buttons N. It therefore

page_text: follows that it is merely necessary to press down the lever I clear of its slot k.
and move the said lever from one slot to the next in order to transpose the music
half a tone higher or lower as may be desired that is, the end of the lever E is
moved from a position at right angles to the frame to a diagonal position in
relation to the same; so that for example, the end of the lever E which was 5
under key C may be moved under C by the movement one way of levers E and
under Cb by the movement in the opposite direction.
In an ordinary octave coupler, a key is made to operate its own sticker pin and
at the same time a pin an octave above or below by means of a bent wire lever,
one end of which touching the lower side of the key near the front and the other
resting on a button on a sticker pin an octave higher or lower. In my octave
coupler the sticker pins B are not operated directly by the keys M but through
the intervening levers E. As these levers are not stationary but are shifted as
the music is transposed, it is impossible to operate the stationary octave coupler
wires Q directly from them. Consequently it is necessary to provide the levers 0, 1
pivotted on the support P. These levers are operated by the buttons L on the
sticker pins and their other ends operate the coupler wires Q, in and through
them a sticker pin an octave above or below as in an ordinary action. When the
octave carriage R is thrown up the octave levers O are brought in contact with
their respective buttons L on the levers E which operate the sticker pins B 2
consequently when the key is pressed down to play a particular note, its octave is
played by the octave lever O pressing down its coupler wire Q. Thus any lever E
will always operate its own sticker pin and at the same time one an octave above
or below no matter under what key its end may be brought in transposing.
It will thus be seen that by providing the levers E, and O, arranged as described, 2
the music can be transposed with ease and accuracy without any special skill on
the part of the performer.
Although my invention is specially designed to be used for the purpose of trans-
posing the music of an organ, it will be seen that it can be easily adapted for a
piano or other similar musical instrument.
With reference to Fig. 4, which indicates a plan of adapting my device to a
piano, it will be observed that instead of the keys M, being extended back to
operate the jack S, the said keys are made shorter and under each key a lever E,
is placed. Each lever E, is pivoted at m, near the jack s, and is supported on a
movable bar C, and is held thereto by a pin D, in the same way as the said 3
levers E, are held in the application to an organ, as shown in the other figures
of the drawing, but instead of moving the bar, C, in Fig. 4, as it is moved in
Figure 1, I form a rack on the bottom of the bar C, in Fig. 4, and pivot a
pinion T, operated by a crank bar U.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a key instrument, a series of levers arranged between the key-board
and sounding mechanism of the instrument in combination with mechanism by
which the said levers may be adjusted so as to bring a higher or lower toned 4
note in connection with the key in which the piece is written; substantially as
and for the purpose specified.
2. In an organ, a series of levers arranged between the sticker pins and key-
board and connected to a flexible frame pivoted on the centre line of the sticker
pins in combination with mechanism by which the said flexible frame may be
adjusted so as to bring a higher or lower toned note in connection with the
key in which the piece is written; substantially as and for the purpose
specified.
3. In an organ a series of levers arranged between the sticker pins and key-
board and connected to a flexible frame pivoted on a centre line of the sticker
pins and supported on a tilting frame in combination with mechanism arranged

page_text: to first tilt the levers clear of the buttons on the keys and then adjust them
so as to bring a higher or lower toned note in connection with the key in which
the piece is written; substantially as and for the purpose specified.
4. In an organ, a series of levers arranged between the sticker pins and key-
board and connected to a flexible frame in combination with a series of levers
one resting on each coupler wire and arranged in connection with the adjusting
levers so that the octave will remain correct, notwithstanding the adjustment of
the said levers, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Dated this 19th day of October 1891.
FELL & WILDING,
1, Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Agents for the Applicant.