Improvements in Starting and Stopping Automatic Cylinder Pianos and other Pin Barrel Musical Instruments by Means of a Coin or Coins.
Year: 1888

page_text: Improvements in Starting and Stopping Automatic Cylinder Pianos
and other Pin Barrel Musical Instruments by Means of a Coin
or Coins.
I ALESSANDRO CAPRA of 14 and 20 Warner Street Clerkenwell in the County of
Middlesex Mechanical Piano Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object the starting and stopping of automatic cylinder
pianos and other pin barrel musical instruments by means of a coin or coins dropped
or pushed through a slot in the case of the instrument.
The weight of the coin or coins acts upon one end of a lever the other end of
which acts to prevent the fly of the spring barrel or actuating mechanism from rotating
until a pin near the end of the pin barrel acts upon an arm or finger to depress a
slide which acts upon the end of the lever on which the coin or coins rest causing the
same to fall and thus allow the other end of the lever to descend and arrest the
rotation of the fly and spring barrel until another coin (or coins) is passed into
the instrument. The coins in falling strike a bell or bells.
The pin barrel and starting apparatus may be arranged to stop at a quarter
half or other part of a revolution by additional pins on the barrel for stopping
the actuating mechanism. When the spring barrel has run down a slide or cover
comes into position to close the slit through which the coins are passed.
The starting and stopping mechanism may be considerably varied without
departing from the nature of my invention.
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
84, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Starting and Stopping Automatic Cylinder Pianos
and other Pin Barrel Musical Instruments by Means of a Coin
or Coins.
I ALESSANDRO CAPRA formerly of 14 and 20 Warner Street now of Hatton Yard
Hatton Wall Clerkenwell in the County of Middlesex Mechanical Piano Manufacturer
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 has for its object the starting and stopping of automatic (i.e. actuated
by a spring or other suitable motor) cylinder pianos and other pin barrel musical
instruments by means of a coin or coins dropped or pushed through a slot in the case
of the instrument.
•
According to one method of carrying my present invention into practice the
weight of the coin or coins acts upon one end of a lever the other end of which
serves to allow the fly of the spring barrel (or other suitable actuating mechanism)
to rotate until a pin near the end of the pin barrel acts upon an arm or finger to
depress a slide which acts upon the end of the lever on which the coin or coins
rest causing the same to fall and thus allow the other end of the lever to descend
and arrest the rotation of the fly and spring barrel until another coin (or coins) is
passed into the instrument. The coins in falling may if desired strike a bell or
bells.
The pin barrel and starting apparatus may be arranged to stop at a quarter half
or other part of a revolution or after several revolutions by additional pins on the
barrel for stopping the actuating mechanism. When the spring barrel has run down
a slide or cover comes into position to close the slit through which the coins are
passed.
The arrangement and construction of this starting and stopping mechanism may
be considerably varied without departing from the nature of my invention.
And in order that my said invention may be the more easily understood and readily
carried into practice I will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 of which shows a front view of the apparatus-the front of the piano
being removed.
Figures 2 and 3 are detail views of separate parts of the mechanism.
The pin barrel a of the musical instrument is rotated by suitable mechanism in
the box b (such motor for instance being of the character for which Letters Patent
dated 4th February 1884 No. 2702 were granted to me jointly with Giovanni Battista
Rissone) and the fly.c thereon is prevented from rotating by the lever armd until the
coin (or coins) placed in the slot e falls down the tube or passage e on to the other
end d of such lever disengages the lever d from the fly c and so allows the piano
to be played until a pin near the end of the pin barrel a acts upon an arm or finger gl
to depress the spring slide 9 which at its lowest slanting end h acts as a cam upon the

page_text: roller to push it back. This roller i is attached to a spring slide j which moves in
the forked ends m n of the end of the lever d see Figure 3-so that the coin rests
edgewise between the forked ends m n until the spring slide j is pushed back by the
action of the cam surface when the coin drops through the lever d is released and
then drops and arrests the fly c and so stops the playing until another coin or coins
are put in the slot e,-a spiral spring being connected to each slide 9 & j respectively
to restore same to their normal position.
g
The motor for actuating the pin barrel a may be arranged in any other suitable or
convenient manner for instance it may advantageously be placed at the end of the pin
barrel instead of beneath same-but neither the motor or its position form any part of
my present invention which on the other hand relates solely to the application of coin
freeing apparatus to pin barrel musical instruments.
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 piano organs and other pin barrel musical instruments the starting
of same by the action or weight of a coin or coins substantially in the manner and for
the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
2. I claim the arrangement construction and combination of mechanism for starting
and stopping automatic piano organs and other pin barrel musical instruments by
means of a coin or coins put through a slot or slots substantially in the manner and for
the purposes hereinbefore set forth.
3. The improved arrangement construction and combination of mechanism for
starting and stopping automatic cylinder piano organs and other pin barel musical
instruments by means of a coin or coins substantially as herein before described and
represented in the drawings hereunto annexed.
Dated this 7th day of January 1889
TONGUE & BIRKBECK,
34, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Patentee.