Im- PROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL WIND INSTRUMENTS AND IN THE MUSIC HOLDERS ATTACHED THERETO.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Baptiste Victor Eugene Dupont, of Man-
chester, in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL WIND INSTRUMENTS AND IN THE MUSIC HOLDERS
ATTACHED THERETO.'
دو
Sealed the 13th September 1872, and dated the 28th March 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Baptiste Victor
Eugene Dupont at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 28th March 1872.
I, JEAN BAPTISTE VICTOR EUGENE DUPONT, of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of my said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL WIND INSTRUMENTS AND IN THE
MUSIC HOLDERS ATTACHED THERETO," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates in the first place to such musical wind instru-
ments as are fitted with removable or adjustable bends or tuning slides, and
with "pistons,'
3966 registers," or valves, as in the case of cornet-a-pistons,
basses, and other similar instruments. In such instruments each of the

page_text: said slides previously to my said Invention has been formed throughout
with a bore of equal diameter, the bore of the air passage in the
remainder of the instrument or of the greater part of the instrument
tapering from the mouth piece to the "bell." Supposing the air passage
in such an instrument to be extended in a straight line or developed
into a straight form, a portion or portions of such passage would be
cylindrical, the remaining portion or portions being of a conical or
tapering form.
The object of my Invention is to improve the quality of tone of such
instruments by substituting tapering portions for the said cylindrical
portions, in order that the air passage may in each case taper all the way
from the mouth piece to the bell. To this end I form each of the said
slides with a tapering bore, and in order that it may slide in and out I
make the parts or portions of the parts which have to slide within other
parts of the instrument cylindrical in form on their outer surfaces.
The music holder, which constitutes the second part of my Invention,
consists of a couple of plates, which are hinged together and are or may
be mounted on a bracket attached to the instrument. On the hinge pin
is mounted a spiral spring, and the ends of the said spring are caused to
act on the backs of the said plates so as to force the one plate towards
the other, the sheet or sheets of music being inserted between the two
plates. An important advantage possessed by my improved holder is
that it does not cover any of the "notes."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jean Baptiste Victor Eugene Dupont in the Great 2
Seal Patent Office on the 27th September 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
BAPTISTE VICTOR EUGENE DUPONT, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 3
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,

page_text: give and grant unto me, the said Jean Baptiste Victor Eugene Dupont,
Her special license that I, the said Jean Baptiste Victor Eugene
Dupont, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Jean Baptiste Victor Eugene Dupont, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL
WIND INSTRUMENTS AND IN THE MUSIC HOLDERS ATTACHED THERETO," upon
the condition, amongst others, that I, the said Jean Baptiste Victor
Eugene Dupont, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters

page_text: tapering from the mouth piece to the "bell." Supposing the air passage
in such an instrument to be extended in a straight line or developed into
a straight form, a portion or portions of such passage would be cylin-
drical, the remaining portion or portions being of a conical or tapering
form, the cylindrical portion or portions forming a break in the con-
tinuity of the correct form of the air
passage.
The object of my Invention is to improve the quality of tone of such
instruments by substituting tapering portions for the said cylindrical
portions, in order that the air passage may in each case taper all the way
from the mouth piece to the bell. To this end I form each of the said
slides and each of the air passages in the pistons with a tapering bore,
and in order that each slide may slide in and out I make the parts or
portions of the parts which have to slide within other parts of the
instrument cylindrical in form on their outer surfaces.
The music holder, which constitutes the second part of my Invention,
consists of a couple of plates which are hinged together and are or may
be mounted on a bracket attached to the instrument. On the hinge pin
is mounted a spiral spring, and the ends of the said spring are caused to
act on the backs of the said plates so as to force the one plate toward
the other, the sheet or sheets of music being inserted between the two
plates.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I will in
this place refer to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, wherein Fig. 1
represents a cornet-à-piston constructed in accordance with my said
Invention. In the said Figure a is the, mouth piece; b is the "bell;"
c; c, are the tuning slides and removable bends; and d, d, are the piston
barrels, the pistons being represented by dotted lines within the said
barrels. In such an instrument, as previously constructed, the air
passages within the slides and bends c, c, and the air passages through the
piston, shewn by dotted lines, have been made of the same diameter
throughout, the remaining portions of the air passage being formed with
a tapering bore, as aforesaid.
Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrative of the form of the air passages in such
an instrument. In this Figure the portions from e to ƒ and from g to h
represent the portions correspondingly marked in Fig. 1, the portion from
f to g representing the air passages in the parts marked c in Fig. 1, and

page_text: in the pistons, the said portion forming a break in the continuity of the
tapering form of the passage and injuring the quality of the tone. Fig. 2
is a diagram illustrative of the form of the air passages in the instru-
ment constructed in accordance with my Invention, wherein it will be
seen that the air passage tapers throughout the whole of its length. It
will be understood that the air passages are bent into the S form in the
said diagram merely for convenience of representation.
In Fig. 4, which represents a section of a tuning slide, the parts
marked are made cylindrical, the parts within which they slide being
also made cylindrical. I prefer to make the cylindrical part k com-
paratively short in order that the weight of the instrument may not be
increased to any great extent. All the parts marked c in Fig. 1 are or
may be formed in this manner.
It is of importance that the air passages shall be arranged in such a
manner as that the passage through the instrument, whether it be
lengthened or shortened by the action of the pistons, shall continue to
increase in diameter from the mouth piece to the said bell. This would
not be the case in Fig. 1, in which the air passages are arranged in the
ordinary manner, but a method by which the desired object may be
effected without altering the "fingering" is shewn at Fig. 5. In this
example the air is first admitted to the piston d² which gives the "half
tone," from whence the air passes to the piston d which gives the
"full tone," the air passing thence through the bend to the piston d³
which furnishes the "tone and a half."
Figs. 6 and 7 represents the improved music holder. In the said Figs.
m and n are two L shaped metal plates, which are hinged together by
the pin o.
The upper fingers marked * are pressed together by the
action of the spiral spring p which is mounted on the pin o, the one end
of the said spring being attached to the plate m and the other end to the
plate n; when a card is placed between the fingers * the side edge of the
said card is held by the said fingers, and the lower edge thereof by the
upper edges of the plates, the card being firmly held, and at the same
time the printed musical notes are not covered.
Having now fully described and indicated the nature of my said
Invention, I would in conclusion have it to be understood that I

page_text: First. Making the whole of the air passage or all the air passages in
instruments of the description herein-before indicated conical or tapering
in form, substantially as herein-before set forth.
And, lastly. The music holder, substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before described and indicated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Baptiste Victor Eugene
Dupont, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth
day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-two.
JEAN BAPTISTE VICTOR EUGENE DUPONT. (L.S.)