Improvements in Automatic or Mechanical Musical Instruments.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Nov., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 31st July, 1894-Accepted, 1st Sept., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Automatic or Mechanical Musical Instruments.
I, PAUL EHRLICH of Gohlis near Leipsic in the Empire of Germany
Technical Director of the Company Fabrik Leipsiger Musikwerke do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to that class of automatic musical instruments in which the
sound is produced by the passage of a perforated music sheet over levers which
actuate valves controlling pipes or reeds and consists in a peculiar arrangement of
the chambers and their valves and in the method of actuating the latter by means
of the levers as hereinafter described.
The object of the invention is to enable the holes or their equivalents in the
music sheet to be set closer together that is to say to effect a saving of space with'
regard to its width and also to obtain a better utilisation of its length that is to say
to provide the greatest possible number of perforations or the like corresponding
with the notes within a given area of surface.
The valves of a musical instrument of this description are preferably in the form
of sliding valves but hinged valves may be employed if preferred. The sliding
valve is connected by a wire with the corresponding actuating lever or the latter
may be arranged to act upon the valve by the aid of a disconnected wire or rod
capable of transmitting to it the requisite movements. When the lever drops into.
an opening or hole in the music sheet the valve is moved by the action of suitable
intermediate parts or mechanism in such a manner as to open the passages through
which the air from the bellows or other source has to pass in order to cause the
instrument to produce the required sound.
The wire may act upon the valve at a point so near the centre upon which it
rotates or is hinged that a very small movement of the lever is sufficient to open
the passage that is to say to produce the sound. Consequently the holes or the
like in the interchangeable sheets are enabled to be correspondingly diminished in
size so that a larger number of them can be arranged within the limited length of
the circular lines of a disc shaped music sheet for example.
The chambers or tubes upon which the valves are placed or have their seats are
likewise arranged in an improved manner. They are constructed one above the
other in steps so as to enable the valves to be placed near together in a horizontal
direction so that less space is required between the levers. A further saving of
space is also obtained by arranging the chambers side by side in such a manner
that levers of double or unequal length for example are employed to work them.
The short levers being arranged to act upon the valves on one side and long levers
to act upon the valves on the other side.
By means of this improved arrangement the divisions or lines in the music sheet
are enabled to be placed very near together and moreover a much larger number
of successive holes or the like are enabled to be placed within a given surface than
has heretofore been possible with a surface of the same area. Consequently the
instrument is enabled to continue playing for a longer time and to play a greater
variety of airs. The advantages of this invention are especially conspicuous in the
case of instruments with circular music sheets.
Dated this 3rd day of November 1893.
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.

page_text: Improvements in Automatic or Mechanical Musical Instruments.
I, PAUL EHRLICH of Gohlis near Leipsic in the Empire of Germany Technical
Director of the Company Fabrik Leipsiger Musikwerke, 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 relates to that class of automatic musical instruments in which
the sound is produced by the passage of a perforated music sheet over levers
which actuate valves controlling pipes or reeds and consists in a peculiar arrange-
ment of the chambers and their valves and in the method of actuating the
latter by means of the levers as hereinafter described.
The object of the invention is to enable the holes or their equivalents in the
music sheet to be set closer together that is to say to effect a saving of space
with regard to its width and also to obtain a better utilisation of its length that
is to say to provide the greatest possible number of perforations or the like
corresponding with the notes within a given area of surface.
The valves of a musical instrument of this description are preferably in the
form of sliding pivotted valves but hinged or flap valves may be employed if
preferred. The sliding valve is connected by a wire with the corresponding
actuating lever or the latter may be arranged to act upon the valve by the aid
of a disconnected wire or rod capable of transmitting to it the requisite movements.
When the lever enters an opening or hole in the music sheet the valve is moved
by the action of suitable intermediate parts or mechanism in such a manner as to
open the passages through which the air from the bellows or other source has to
pass in order to cause the instrument to produce the required sound.
The connecting wire may act upon the valve at a point so near the centre upon
which it rotates or is hinged that a very small movement of the lever is sufficient
to open the passage to produce the sound. Consequently the holes or the like in
the interchangeable sheets are enabled to be correspondingly diminished in size
so that a larger number of them can be arranged within the limited length of the
circular lines of a disc shaped music sheet for example.
The chambers or tubes upon which the valves are placed or have their seats are
arranged step like or one above another so as to enable the valves to be placed
near together in a horizontal direction whereby less space is required between the
levers. A further saving of space is also obtained by arranging the chambers
side by side in such a manner that levers of double or unequal length for example
may be employed to work them, short levers being arranged to act upon the valves
on one side and-long levers to act upon the valves on the other side.
And in order that my said invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to the several
figures on the annexed sheet of drawings the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 shews in elevation an arrangement according to this invention for
operating the sliding valves of automatic or mechanical musical instruments.
Figure 2 shews a modified arrangement of the valve operating wires and
Figure 3 shews a modification in the arrangement of the valve operating levers
and of the valves so as to economise space.
Figure 4 shews in elevation the step like arrangement of the reed boxes or tubes.
Figure 5 is a perspective view of one end of a reed box.

page_text: Figures 6, 7 and 8 represents parts of a mechanical musical instrument constructed
according to my invention to be operated by means of circular music or tune
sheets and
Figure 9 shews an arrangement for operating lifting valves.
C
Referring to Figure 1 a represents one of the valves of a mechanical musical
instrument which valve in its normal position covers the three openings e e e in the
wind chamber of the instrument. This valve is pivotted at a' and at as short
distance as practicable from this pivot it is connected, by a rod c, to the valve
operating lever d the point d² of which is shewn as having entered a hole in the
music sheet 6 and consequently under the action of a spring c² the valve a has been
turned on its pivot a' so as to uncover the openings e and admit of air passing
therethrough and so produce the required sound or note or notes governed by the
said valve. By connecting the rod or wire e close to the pivot a¹ the valve is fully
opened by a very slight movement of the lever d and consequently the fullest
possible advantage is obtained from the rows of perforations in the music
sheet. The currents of air to produce the sounds on the reeds may be obtained
either by pressure or suction by any known or convenient mechanism. When
the air-currents are obtained by suction the connecting wire e of each valve is
preferably arranged, as shewn in Figure 2, to slide in guides h and i the said
rod or wire being connected by a knob or button k to a rod or wire / sliding
in a guide m and connected to the operating lever d. On the wire c is a
stud or projection o which enters a slot n in the valve a so that when the end d² of
the lever enters a hole in the music sheet the wires or rods c and will slide in
their guides and the stud o by engaging with the slot in the valve will cause the
said valve to turn on its pivot a' so as to open the passage e for the air. When
the end d² of the lever is depressed by the unperforated portion of the music sheet
the valve a will be moved in the reverse direction so as to close the passage e. The
wires c are connected to the valves a so close to the pivots a' on which they turn
that the slightest movement of any one of the operating levers dis sufficient to
cause the corresponding valve to uncover its air passage e to produce a sound
consequently the perforations in the music sheet may be correspondingly reduced
in size whereby a greater number of notes than heretofore may be comprised in a
sheet of a given size. A further reduction of space is obtained by arranging the
reeds in juxta position as indicated by the position of the valves a in Figure 3. Ln
this arrangement two sets of operating levers of different length are employed the
set of short levers d being connected to the valves a on one side and the set of
longer levers d' being connected to the valves on the other side. By thus employing
levers of different lengths the said levers may be arranged closer together, than is
the case when the said levers are all the same length and the connecting wires are
situated between the levers.
C
As a further means of economising space I arrange the reed boxes one above
another or step like as shewn in Figures 4, 5 and 7 whereby the operating levers d
may be set very close together the notes in the music sheets being placed corre-
spondingly close, and where pipes are employed for producing the notes or sounds.
they are placed over the apertures p Figure 4 the space g being tightly closed and
receiving air under pressure so that when the valves a are opened sounds are
produced in the pipes.
Figures 6, 7 and 8 represent a musical instrument constructed for use with
circular music sheets and in which the valves a although operated by the levers d
are not connected thereto. The wires or rods / interposed between the valve and
the levers are each provided with a heads on which the levers d rest see Figure 6
whilst the valves are pressed against the opposite ends of the said rods or wires
by springs r. These wires or rods are guided in their movements in guides m m'.
Instead of employing sliding pivotted valves as described hinged or flap valves
may be employed as shewn for example in Figure 9 in which arrangement the rod
or wire ou which the lever d rests acts at its opposite end on one arm w¹ of a

page_text: bell crank lever w the other arm w² of the said bell crank being connected to a
link or lever v provided at its outer end with a pin or projection at q' engaging in
a slotted pieces on the hinged flap valve a. The valve a which is hinged at n is
held in its closed position by a spring n' but when the end d² of the lever d enters
a perforation in the music sheet, a spring acting on the arm w' of the bell crank
lever w causes the said bell crank to turn on its pivot and through the link and
pin and slot connection 91 s open the valve a.
อ
By reason of the pin and slotted connection of the link with the valve a any
inequality in the size of the note perforations in the music sheet cannot interfere
with or injuriously affect the proper operation of the instrument.
As shewn in Figure 8 the bellows & for producing the necessary air currents for
playing and also a reservoir u for air are enclosed in the casing of the instrument,
and motion is imparted to the mechanism from the main spindle w³ by a crank w
and worm and worm wheel w¹ in the usual manner.
By means of the improved arrangements herein before described the divisions or
lines in the music sheet are enabled to be placed very near together and a much
larger number of successive holes or the like are enabled to be placed within a
given surface than has heretofore been possible. Consequently the instrument is
enabled to continue playing for a longer time and to play a greater variety of airs.
The advantages of this invention are especially conspicuous in the case of
instruments with circular music sheets.
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 automatic or mechanical musical instruments in which sounds are produced
by the passage of a perforated music sheet over levers which actuate valves
governing the passage of air through pipes or reeds, arranging the pipes or reed
boxes with the governing valves step like or one in advance of another so that the
levers and rods or wires which operate the valves for controlling the passage of
air to the pipes or reeds can be placed close together and permit of the perforations
in the music sheets being closer together than hitherto whereby a greater number
of perforations or notes in a given area inay be provided substantially as herein-
before described with reference to Figures 4, 5 and 7 of the accompanying
drawings.
2. In mechanical musical instruments of the kind hereinbefore referred to
connecting the operating levers d to the valves a as near as practicable to the
pivots on which the said valves turn so that a very slight movement of the levers
will effect the opening of the valves substantially as and for the purpose herein-
before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
3. In mechanical musical instruments of the kind herein before referred to, the
employment of operating levers d d of different lengths in combination with two
sets of valves arranged in juxta position the short levers d being connected to one
set of valves and the longer levers d' being connected to the other set of valves
substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore described with reference to
Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.
4. In mechanical musical instruments of the kind hereinbefore referred to the
combination with the operating levers d and valves a of rods or wires interposed
between the operating ends of the levers d and the valves a near the pivots on
which the said valves turn, so that by a slight movement of the levers the valves
will be fully opened substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by
Figure 6 of the accompanying drawings.
5. In mechanical musical instruments of the kind herein before referred to the
combination with the operating levers d and hinged valves a of rods or wires
operated by the said levers each rod or wire being caused to act on one arm of a
bell crank the other arm of which is connected by a yielding connection to a

page_text: valve a so as to open and close the valve substantially in the manner and for the
purpose herein before described with reference to Figure 9 of the accompanying
drawings.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
Agents.