Improvements in Musical Boxes.
Year: 1899

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by BARNETT H. ABRAHAMS, of St. Croix, in the
Republic of Switzerland, Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Musical Boxes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
--
This invention refers more particularly to that class of musical boxes in
which the blades of a comb or combs are acted upon by means of suitable star-
wheels which are, in turn, acted upon by means of a rotating disc provided
either with suitable perforations or with suitable projections intended to cause
the said star-wheels to rotate at predetermined moments, and more especially
to musical boxes of the said class in which the comb or combs and also the
series of star-wheels is or are placed on the upper face of a suitable base-
plate, the movement being placed underneath this said base-plate and having
the shaft of one of its movers pivoted to and projecting through a suitable hole
of the said base-plate in proximity to the said series of star-wheels, with a view
of carrying the rotating disc bearing the perforations or projections.
In the aforesaid well-known construction of musical boxes the movement
(spring-motor and train of wheels) is generally lodged between the base-plate
and a suitable bridge or second plate fixed to the said base-plate by means of
suitable studs or bolts, the said base-plate, bridge or second plate and studs
forming together a sort of cage or frame within which the motor and movers
of the movement are suitably pivoted.
From this usual construction it follows that if for any reason it is necessary
to alter the respective position of the shaft intended to carry the disc bearing
the projections or perforations intended to act upon the star-wheels, with res-
pect to the series of star-wheels and to the blades of the comb, this can only
take place with great difficulty, either by displacing the bearings of the star-
wheels and the comb on the upper face of the base-plate, or by displacing the
studs of the bridge or second plate and also the hole of the base-plate in which
is pivoted the shaft of one of the movers, intended to bear the rotating disc.
Now as the exact setting of the position of the said shaft relatively to the
series of star-wheels and comb or combs is of very great importance as to the
precision of working of the musical box, and especially for great precision in
ihe simultaneous action of several blades intended to produce a cord, I have
improved the said construction by combining the base-plate to the upper face
of which are fixed the bearing of the star-wheels and the comb or combs, with
an independent cage or frame to which are pivoted the spring-motor and the
movers of the musical box, the said base-plate being provided with a suitable
opening, of larger size than the diameter of the shaft intended to carry the
rotating disc, and the said cage or frame being fixed to the lower face of the

page_text: base-plate by means of suitable screws passing through suitable slois of the
said cage or frame, so as to follow the same to be slightly displaced in any
direction with regard to the base-plate, the said shaft intended to carry the
rotating disc being thereby free to play in the hole or opening of the base-plate
through which it projects in reach of the star-wheels.
Thus I have realized a construction which renders it very easy to displace the
whole movement, including the shaft intended to bear the rotating disc, with
regard to the series of star-wheels and comb or combs.
The invention further consists in an improvement of the winding-up device
for musical boxes of the aforesaid class. It consists in fixing upon the shaft
of the mainspring a gear-wheel in which gears a suitable pinion, the shaft of
which projects through the base-plate with a view of being acted upon by means
of a crank or key for winding-up the said.mainspring. The respective diameters
of the said gear-wheel and pinion are made large enough to have the said pro-
jecting shaft placed on the periphery of the rotating disc, so that the winding-up
of the mainspring may take place whilst the said disc is in place. The inven-
tion involves suitable means realising the said constructions of the cage or
frame as well as of the said winding-up-device.
The invention further consists in an improved construction of the fly-wheel-
The said
regulator intended to control the speed of rotation of the movement.
improvements consists in constructing the wings of the fly-wheel-regulator of
thin blades of tempered steel, the free ends of which are suitably rolled up,
the said rolled-up ends are intended to be unrolled by the action of the centri-
fugal force and to realise a very sensitive control of the speed of working of
the musical box.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant
Improvements in Musical Boxes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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:-
This invention refers more particularly to that class of musical boxes in
which the blades of a comb or combs are acted upon by means of suitable star-
wheels which are, in turn, acted upon by means of a rotating disc provided
either with suitable perforations or with suitable projections intended to cause
the said star-wheels to rotate at predetermined moments, and more especially
to musical boxes of the said class in which the comb or combs and also the
series of star-wheels is or are placed on the upper face of a suitable base-
plate, the movement being placed underneath this said base-plate and having
the shaft of one of its movers pivoted to and projecting through a suitable hole
of the said base-plate in proximity to the said series of star-wheels with a view
of carrying the rotating disc bearing the perforations or projections.
In the aforesaid well-known construction of musical boxes the movement
(spring-motor and train of wheels) is generally lodged between the base-plate
and a suitable bridge or second plate fixed to the said base-plate by means of
suitable studs or bolts, the said base-plate bridge or second plate and studs

page_text: forming together a sort of cage or frame within which the motor and movers
of the movement are suitably pivoted.
From this usual construction it follows that if for any reason it is necessary
to alter the respective position of the shaft intended to carry the disc bearing
the projections or perforations intended to act upon the star-wheels, with res-
pect to the series of star-wheels and to the blades of the comb, this can only
take place with great difficulty, either by displacing the bearings of the star-
wheels and the comb on the upper face of the base-plate, or by displacing the
studs of the bridge or second plate and also the hole of the base-plate in which
is pivoted the shaft of one of the movers intended to bear the rotating disc.
Now as the exact setting of the position of the said shaft relatively to the
series of star-wheels and comb or combs is of very great importance as to the
precision of working of the musical box, and especially for great precision in
the simultaneous action of several blades intended to produce a chord, I have
improved the said construction in the manner hereinafter described.
The accompanying drawing given by way of example, shows one form of
carrying my improvements into effect.
In the drawing
Figure 1 represents the mechanism of the musical box seen from underneath,
and
Figure 2 shows in cross-section, the portions of Figure 1 which are necessary
for the correct understanding of the invention.
The base-plate a (to the upper face of which are fixed the bearings of the
star wheels and the comb or combs) is combined with an independent cage or
frame, the plate 6 of which is connected to the base-plate a by means of the
studs c.
To the said independent frame are pivoted the spring-motor and
the movers of the musical box, d being the barrel containing the main-spring,
the shaft of which carries the large winding-up wheel e. The said base-plate
is provided with a suitable opening, of larger size than the diameter of the
shaft intended to carry the rotating disc, the said cage or frame being fixed
to the lower face of the base-plate by means of suitable screws passing through
suitable slots of the said cage or frame so as to allow the same to be slightly
displaced in any direction with regard to the base-plate, the said shaft intended
to carry the rotating disc being thereby free to play in the hole or opening of
the base-plate through which it projects in reach of the star-wheels.
This construction renders it very easy to displace the whole movement, in-
cluding the shaft intended to bear the rotating disc, with regard to the series
of star-wheels and comb or combs.
The invention further consists in improvements in winding-up devices for
musical boxes of the aforesaid class. The said improvements consist in fixing
upon the shaft of the main-spring a gear-wheel e with which gears a suitable
pinion f, the shaft of which projects through the base-plate a with a view of
being acted upon by means of a crank or key i for winding-up the said main-
spring. The respective diameters of the said gear-wheel e and pinion of are
made large enough to have the shaft of the said pinion f placed on the peri-
phery of the rotating disc, so that the winding-up of the mainspring may take
place whilst the said disc is in place. The invention involves suitable means
realising the said construction of the cage or frame as well as of the said wind-
ing up device.
kis a pinion also gearing with the wheel e and provided with two ordinary
teeth, and with one larger tooth intended to act as a stop. A spring / acts upon
the pinion in such a manner as to cause the large tooth to abut against the
teeth of the wheel e, thereby causing the pinion to act as a stop to prevent
the wheel e from rotating backwards.
The invention also comprises an improved construction of the fly wheel regu-
lator intended to control the speed of rotation of the movement."
This said improvement consists in constructing the wings of the fly wheel

page_text: regulator of thin blades m of tempered steel, fixed to a central hub n; the free
ends of the blades m are suitably rolled up, the said rolled-up ends being
intended to be unrolled by the action of the centrifugal force and to produce
a very sensitive control of the speed of working of the musical box. The shaft
of the hub n is acted upon by a small train of gear-wheels, not shown in the
drawing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
. invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. A musical box with rotating disc, characterized by the combination with
the usual train of wheels, of a winding-up wheel, being of such size that the
shaft of the pinion, acted upon by the winding-up crank and gearing with this
wheel, should be placed relatively to the rotating shaft of the disc at a larger
distance than the ray of the latter, substantially as herein before described and
illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
2. In a musical box, as described in Claim 1, a pinion gearing with the
winding-up wheel and having a tooth larger than the others, to work as an
abutment under the action of a suitable spring substantially as herein before
described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
3. In a musical box, as described in Claim 1, a speed-controller, the winglets
of which are formed of thin steel bands suitably rolled up and fixed to a central
hub, substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the accompany-
ing drawings.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.