Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Oct., 1867
Complete Specification Left, 16th July, 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 31st Aug., 1888
I, WILLIAM MACDONALD SMITH of Oporto, Portugal, and at present of 48 Myddelton
Square, Pentonville, in the County of Middlesex, Mining Engineer do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to finger exercising apparatus more especially designed for the
use of pianists, the object of the invention being to enable pianists and others to acquire
the rapidity of movement so necessary in the playing of keyboard and other musical
instruments. The invention consists of two separate apparatus which may be mounted
on the same support but are used independently, the one designed to enable the
performer by constant practice to train the muscles of the fingers so that the note may
be struck and the fingers raised from the keys with the necessary precision and speed,
while the other is designed to enable the performer to separate the fingers with
rapidity.
An essential feature of the invention consists in the employment of means for indi-
cating when the desired rapidity of movement has been attained.
The one apparatus consists of a flat or curved spring arm or finger key and a bell
or its equivalent, both mounted in a flat box or frame which may be placed on a table
or other convenient support, the free end of the key projecting through an opening in
the upper surface of the box in position to be struck by the finger, while at or near
its other extremity the key carries a loosely connected hammer which, when the
desired rapidity of movement has been attained, will sound the bell. An adjustable
stop serves to enable the movement of the hammer to be regulated as required. In
order to enable the thumb to be exercised, the front edge of the box is made
removable.
The other apparatus consists of a pair of crossed levers pivoted to a vertical support
and provided with a small weight or hammer which, when the levers are separated

page_text: with sufficient rapidity, will be caused to strike a bell mounted on the upper end of the
support. These levers are forked at their lower ends so as to form pieces for the
reception of the fingers, and they are connected together at their upper ends and inter-
mediately by flexible connections which determine the distance to which the levers
may be separated. In using this apparatus the fingers are placed in the pieces and
the fingers are then separated suddenly so as to cause the ball or hammer which is
attached to the connection at the upper ends of the levers to be jerked up and strike
the bell.
W MACDONALD SMITH.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agents.

page_text: I, WILLIAM MACDONALD SMITH, of 7, Rua Alfandega Velha, Oporto, in the
Kingdom of Portugal, Mining 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 :-
My Invention relates to "Digitoria" or finger exercising apparatus by means
whereof pianists and others may train the muscles to acquire the power of moving the
fingers with the rapidity and precision necessary for playing key-board and other
musical instruments.
The Invention consists of two separate apparatus which may be mounted on the
same support but are used independently, the one designed to enable the performer by
constant practice to train the muscles of the fingers so that the note may be struck
and the fingers raised from the keys with the necessary precision and speed, while the
other is designed to enable the performer to separate the fingers with rapidity.
The essential feature of the invention, which distinguishes my apparatus from others
of the kind, consists in the employment of means for indicating by an audible signal
when the desired rapidity of movement has been obtained, the said means being
dependent for its action upon the inertia of a movable part or parts and being
adjustable so that the difficulty of the exercise may be graduated according to the
proficiency of the student.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specifi-
cation, wherein figure 1 is a longitudinal section, figure 2 a cross-section, and figure 3
a plan (partly broken away) of the first apparatus. Figure 4 is a front elevation, and
figure 5 a part sectional side elevation, of the second apparatus. Similar letters of
reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.
Referring to figures 1, 2, 3, the apparatus comprises a finger key A and a bell B or
its equivalent, both mounted in a flat box or casing C (which may be placed on a table
or other convenient support) the key projecting through an opening in the top of the
box in position to be struck by the finger. The key is carried by a spring arm E
whereby it is held up against the pressure of the finger and it carries a spring arm F
which abuts upon the tail end of a lever G loosely pivoted at 9 and terminating in a
weighted head g¹ in position to strike the bell when oscillated by the depression of the
key A. The spring arm F also terminates in a hammer f in position to strike the
bell when the key A after being depressed is suddenly released. The arm E which
may be made of wire, is forked to pass clear of the bell and the two limbs are coiled
at e around a pin e¹ mounted in brackets, the extremities of the forked portion abutting
against the back end of the casing the coils e constituting a pivotal spring support
for the key. Or, the arm may be otherwise pivoted and spring supported. The bell B
is carried by a spring bracket 6 fixed to the casing at one end and resting at the other
on an adjustable support, for example an inclined surface on a sliding pin H whereby
the bell may be adjusted nearer to, or farther from, the hammers. The casing is

page_text: !
provided with suitable cushions to limit the movement of the key. When the key A
is depressed, the arm F pressing on the lever G oscillates it and causes the weighted
head g¹ to strike the bell and when the key after being depressed is suddenly released,
the spring hammer falso strikes the bell, both these actions being however conditional
on the parts having the necessary velocity of motion. In order to enable the thumb
to be exercised, a portion c of the box may be hinged or made removable.
The apparatus shewn in figures 4 and 5, consists of a pair of crossed levers K
pivoted at k upon an arm carried by a pillar L and having a small weight or hammer M
suspended by a chain or other flexible connection m attached to their upper ends which
hammer when the levers are separated with sufficient rapidity will be caused to strike
a bell B mounted on the upper end of the pillar. These levers have bows or loops
at their lower ends for the reception of the fingers, and the chain m by which their
upper ends are connected determines the distance to which the levers may be separated.
In using this apparatus, the two fingers are placed in the bows, and then separated
quickly so as to suddenly tighten the chain m and cause the ball or hammer M which
is attached thereto to be jerked up and by its momentum to deflect the chain suffi-
ciently from a right line to permit of the hammer striking the bell. The bell is
adjustably mounted to enable the exercise to be graduated, and for this purpose it is
supported by a spring band is adjusted higher or lower by a screw knob b¹.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described "digitorium" or finger exercising apparatus consisting in
the combination with a key, of a bell or its equivalent and of one or two hammers
each so arranged in relation to the bell and so operated by the up or down motion of
the key (as the case may be) as to strike the bell by the effect of its inertia after the
movement of the key which set it in motion has ceased, substantially as specified.
2. The herein described apparatus for exercising the lateral or spreading motion of
the fingers, consisting of a pair of scissors-like levers in combination with a hammer
loosely suspended between the levers and so arranged in relation to a bell or its equiva-
lent as to strike the same by the effect of its own inertia when the levers are operated,
as specified.
Dated this 16th day of July 1888