Improvements in or applicable to Pianofortes and other Keyboard Musical Instruments for Recording Musical Composition.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Nov., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 12th Aug., 1892-Accepted, 17th Sept., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or applicable to Pianofortes and other Keyboard
Musical Instruments for Recording Musical Composition.
I FREDERICK WILLIAM COLLINS of 51 Honeywell Road Wandsworth
Common in the County of Surrey Teacher of Music do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to means adapted to be applied to pianofortes and other
keyboard musical instruments and has for its object to enable a composer to execute
any piece or passage formulated in his mind and at the same time correctly record
in an indelible manner upon a surface of paper or the like the notes played by him
and their time or value.
For this purpose I flexibly mount upon the upper side of each key lever within
the case a pin or pricker so that upon a key being depressed the pricker will
receive an upward impulse and above this row of prickers 1 arrange a travelling
band or sheet of paper or the like divided in the manner hereinafter described in
order to form a register.
This band or sheet of paper is distended between two rollers, around one of
which the bulk of it is first wound, and upon the other of which it is gradually
wound off from the first at a regular speed and thus each time a pricker rises the
band will be marked with a perforation.
In order to prevent a pricker tearing the band or sheet in consequence of being
held in contact therewith by a sustained note I mount each pricker in a bed of
india rubber upon the key lever or I otherwise flexibly mount it in such manuer
that after perforating the paper it will be depressed or inclined by the continued
movement of the band or sheet and thus avoid injuring it.
The motive power is obtained from a suitable arrangement of clockwork
connected with one or both of the rollers and one of the rollers is mounted in such
manner that it may by moving a lever exteriorally placed, be raised and held and
thus retain the paper band or sheet out of position to be acted upon by the prickers
when it is desired to throw the register out of action.
The clockwork apparatus may be of any suitable kind and countersunk in the
side of the instrument or it may be fixed to the outside thereof in the form of a box
and it is provided with means by which the spring which constitutes the motive
power may be wound up and it is furnished with a suitable escapement and regulated
by means of a "fly" or other regulating device in order to give an even speed of
travel to the paper band or sheet.
Upon the exterior of the case or box of the clockwork apparatus or in other
suitable position I arrange a hand or pointer which is capable of being traversed
over a divided scale and acts upon the clockwork mechanism so as to regulate the
speed thereof the scale indicating the time at which the mechanism is set.
The rollers carrying the sheet or band may be removeably mounted within the
piano so that by taking off the front, access may be readily had thereto or an
opening may be formed at the end of the piano and the rollers may be mounted
upon a frame which may be slidden into position, but in any case I so mount the
rollers and co-acting parts that they may be readily removed from the instrument
and placed in position when desired.
The travelling sheet or band I divide longitudinally that is to say in the direction
of its travel, into spaces corresponding with the keys of the instrument and each of
these spaces I name to agree with its corresponding note and I again divide the
sheet transversely with other lines of a similar distance apart to the first so as to

page_text: +
cover the surface of the sheet or band with small squares each to represent a
crotchet whilst I employ other transverse lines which might be thick lines or
differently coloured from those above referred to and I space these lines so as to
mark off every four squares into common time that is to say four crotchets to a semi-
breve, and I also preferably colour or tint the sheet or otherwise mark it so as to
indicate each octave and facilitate the reading of the register.
It will thus be seen that inasmuch as the rate of travel of the band or sheet is
constant each pricker will be caused to mark the paper with perforations at various
distances apart according to the value of the corresponding note struck, and I so
arrange the rate of travel of the band with regard to musical time that one prick
within one square will indicate a crotchet two pricks within one square a quaver four
pricks within one square a semi-quaver and eight pricks within one square a demi-
semi-quaver, whilst a single prick between two widely spaced double or red
transverse lines will indicate a semi-breve whilst two pricks within such space will
indicate a minim.
By these means a composer will be enabled to give expression to his thoughts
upon the instrument and have such thoughts correctly recorded whilst he can
afterwards remove the band or sheet from the instrument and readily translate the
indications upon the register and convert them into ordinary manuscript.
Dated this 13th day of November 1891.
WHITE & WOODINGTON,
27, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or applicable to Pianofortes and other Keyboard
Musical Instruments for Recording Musical Composition.
I, FREDERICK WILLIAM COLLINS of 51 Honeywell Road, Wandsworth
Common in the County of Surrey Teacher of Music, 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 :-
My invention relates to means adapted to be applied to pianofortes and other
keyboard musical instruments, and has for its object to enable a composer to execute
any piece or passage formulated in his mind, and at the same time correctly record
in an indelible manner upon a surface of paper or the like, the notes played by him
and their time or value.
For this purpose I flexibly mount upon the upper side of each key lever within
the case, a pin or pricker, so that upon a key being depressed, the pricker will
receive an upward impulse, and above the row of prickers I arrange a travelling
band or sheet of paper or the like in order to form a register.
This band or sheet of paper is distended between two rollers, around one of
which the bulk of it is first wound, and upon the other of which it is gradually
wound off from the first at a regular speed, and thus each time a pricker rises, the
band will be marked with a perforation.
In order to prevent a pricker tearing the band or sheet in consequence of being
held in contact therewith by a sustained note, I mount each pricker in a bed of
indiarubber upon the key lever, or I otherwise mount it in such manner that after
perforating the paper it will be depressed or inclined by the continued movement of
the band or sheet, and thus avoid injuring it.
The motive power is obtained from a suitable arrangement of clockwork
connected with one or both of the rollers, and which may be of any suitable kind
and countersunk in the side of the instrument or it may be fixed to the outside
thereof in the form of a box, and it is provided with means by which the spring
which constitutes the motive power may be wound up, and it is furnished with a
suitable escapement and regulated by means of a "fly" or other regulating device
in order to give an even speed of travel to the paper band or sheet.

page_text: The rollers carrying the sheet or band may be removeably mounted within the
piano, so that by taking off the front, access may be readily had thereto.
It will thus be seen that inasmuch as the rate of travel of the band or sheet is
constant, each pricker will be caused to mark the paper with perforations at
various distances apart, according to the value of the corresponding note struck.
By these means a composer will be enabled to give expression to his thoughts
upon the instrument, and have such thoughts correctly recorded, whilst he can
afterwards remove the band or sheet from the instrument, and with the aid of a
ruler hereinafter described readily translate the indications upon the register, and
convert them into ordinary manuscript.
And in order that the said invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying drawings, more fully
to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is an end elevation partly in section representing a cottage pianoforte,
having my invention applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the keyboard portion of the
instrument taken on the line 1-1 of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a front elevation showing the rollers and connected parts separately.
Figure 5 is a plan thereof.
Figure 6 is an end view thereof.
Figure 7 is a side, elevation of a portion of one of the key levers showing the
method of mounting the prickers.
Figure 8 is a plan thereof.
Figure 9 is a rear elevation with the inner plate removed of the clockwork
mechanism.
Figure 10 is a side elevation of the complete clockwork mechanism.
Figure 11 is a transverse section of a portion of the keyboard of a grand piano
having my invention applied thereto, and
Figure 12 is a plan of a frame or ruler to be employed in reading off the recorded
music.
In the several figures in which like parts are indicated by similar letters of
reference, Figures 4, 5, 6, and 8 are drawn to an enlarged scale with respect to the
other figures of the drawings for the sake of clearness.
Referring to Figures 1 to 10 a represents the case of the instrument b represents
the ordinary action and c represents the key levers which are of ordinary
construction.
Upon the upper side of each key lever c near to the inner end thereof, and
within the case a is flexibly mounted a pin or pricker so that upon a key being
depressed, the pricker c will receive an upward impulse, and above this row of
prickers c' is arranged a travelling band or sheet of paper or the like d, and thus,
each time a pricker c' rises, the band d will be marked with a perforation.
This band or sheet of paper d is distended between two rollers d¹ d³, and the
bulk of the paper d is first wound around the roller d', it thence passes under a
bridge e which assists to strain it, and is attached by cementing its free edge to the
roller d² which is driven in the manner hereinafter described, and the paper dis
thus gradually wound off from the roller d' onto the roller d² at a regular speed.
In order to prevent the prickers c¹ tearing the paper band or sheet d when held
in contact therewith for a lengthened period of time consequent upon the sounding
of a sustained note, each pricker c' is flexibly mounted upon its key lever "", and
for this purpose it is formed with a head and is passed through a centrally
perforated indiarubber disc c³ which latter is cemented to the key lever
C, as wilt
be seen upon reference more particularly to Figures 7 and 8, or the prickers c¹
might be otherwise flexibly attached to the key levers c.
By these means after a pricker c¹ has perforated the band or sheet & and whilst
.

page_text: the key is still held depressed it will be depressed or inclined by the continued
movement of the sheet or band d, and thus avoid injuring the same.
The rollers d' are provided with axes of motion *d* which are received
into corresponding open topped bearings f¹ f' formed in or on plates or fittings f
attached to the case a of the instrument, whilst seats f³ are also provided upon the
plates or fittings for the bridge e, and thus these two fittings support the entire
device upon the interior of the instrument.
A pencil e is preferably mounted upon the bridge e and is held in contact with
the travelling band d with a light spring pressure, so that a line will be marked
upon the band d at right angles to the axes of the rollers d' d² the object thereof
being to ensure the reading of the perforations in lines parallel with the axes of the
rollers d¹d notwithstanding that the paper band d may not have been placed in
position with exactitude.
The motive power for driving the roller d² is obtained from any suitable arrange-
ment of clockwork such for example as that represented more particularly at
Figures 9 and 10, which consists of a frame g enclosing a spring barrel g' the spring
of which is adapted to be wound up by means of a key in the usual manner, and a
train of wheels the shaft of one of which is prolonged beyond the frame g and
is provided with a fork or clutch 92* to engage a corresponding part ** formed
upon a prolongation of the axis d* of the roller d², the parts being so arranged
that when the roller d² is placed in position in its bearings f2 in the fitting f, the
two parts d21, and 92* of the clutch will readily engage.
The clockwork 9 is provided with an ordinary fly the vanes of which are
adapted to be set at any desired angle as will be readily understood, so as to vary
the speed of rotation of the roller d², whilst a sliding stop pin * passing through
the case of the clockwork is employed to engage the fly and arrest the
movement of the clockwork when desired.
In the example hereinbefore given the clockwork mechanism is shown enclosed
in a box or case g* which is attached to the outside of the instrument, a simple
hole being bored through the case of the latter to admit of the passage of the
part of the clutch to the interior of the instrument, but if desired, the clockwork
mechanism may be countersunk in the case a of the instrument as will be readily
understood.
In the example given at Figure 11 the rollers d¹ d² and plates or fittings fare
shown arranged in the most convenient form for application to a grand piano, the
other parts of the apparatus however remaining unaltered.
In my Provisional Specification I described a method of dividing the paper band
or sheet d by means of longitudinal and vertical lines in order to enable the pricked
indications to be read off with facility, but since filing my said Provisional
Specification, I have discovered that such method does not possess the practical
value I then thought, and I have therefore devised a simpler and more practical
means for attaining this end and which consists in the employment of a perfectly
plain sheet or band of paper, and in the use of the ruler or device represented at
Figure 12 to facilitate the reading of the pricked indications.
This ruler consists of a rectangular frame h the length of which corresponds with
the width of the keyboard of the instrument, and which is marked upon the upper
part with an ascending scale of sharps, and upon the lower side with a descending
scale of flats, to correspond with the keyboard of the instrument, and this frame is
grooved upon its inner edges to receive a sheet of glass which is marked with
horizontal lines spaced like ordinary music, and this sheet of glass his adapted to
be moved laterally over the pricked sheet or register into position over the
indications required to be read off, the sheet of glass lying as near as possible to
the sheet or band d.
I would have it understood that if desired I
for the prickers c¹.
may.
y. substitute pencils or markers
By the means herein before described a composer will be enabled to give
expression to his thoughts upon the instrument, and have such thoughts correctly

page_text: recorded upon the sheet or band, whilst he can afterwards remove the band or sheet.
from the instrument, and with the aid of the ruler herein before described readily
translate the indications upon the register, and convert them into ordinary
manuscript.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In combination with a pianoforte or the like, two rollers mounted upon centres
of motion, a sheet of paper or the like wound upon one roller and attached to the
other, means for giving motion to the second roller and a series of prickers or
markers mounted upon the key levers, substantially as herein shown and described
and for the purpose stated.
2. In combination with a pianoforte or the like a series of prickers or markers
mounted upon the key levers, and a travelling paper band or the like substantially
as herein shown and described and for the purpose stated.
3. In combination with a pianoforte or the like a travelling paper band or the
like, and a series of prickers or markers flexibly mounted upon the key levers.
substantially as herein shown and described and for the purpose stated.
Dated this 12th day of August 1892.
WHITE & WOODINGTON,
27, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents.