Improvements relating to Note Plates or Music Sheets for Mechanical Musical Instruments.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 6th May, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to Note Plates or Music Sheets for
Mechanical Musical Instruments.
1, JASPER WETTER, Patent Agent, of 433 Strand, London, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same may be performed, a
communication to me from abroad from Bruno Rückert, Manufacturer of Musical
Instruments, of Leipzig, in the Kingdom of Saxony, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The novel feature of the improved note plate for mechanical musical instruments
is the specially shaped note mark, which serves to drive a star wheel or analogous
sound producer, said note mark being formed in the material of the note plate as a
grooved depression open towards the side which acts on the teeth of the said wheel.
This grooved depression may be combined with a hole or slot punched out of the
note plate, in which case the said hole, together with the grooved depression, sets
in motion the star wheel or analogous sound producing device.
The accompanying drawings represent by way of example various forms of the
new note plate, its method of manufacture, and its use in connection with a reed
instrument, the reeds or vibrating tongues of which are actuated by small wheels
having teeth of uniform length.
Figs. 1 and 3 are partial sections and Fig. 2 a partial plan of a note plate in
which the note marks are simply formed by grooved depressions. Figs. 4 and 6
are partial sections and Fig. 5 is a partial plan of a note plate, in which each note
is represented by a grooved depression and a short slot.
Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate suitable means for producing the note marks shown in
Fig. 1, Fig. 7 showing two elevations (at right angles to each other) of a punch
moving towards the note plate, which is placed on a die while Fig. 8 shows the
same after it has formed the note mark.
Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate the means for producing the note marks shown in Fig. 5,
Fig. 9 showing two elevations (at right angles to each other) of a punch moving
towards the note plate, while Fig. 10 shows the same, after it has formed the note
marks.
Figs. 11 to 14 illustrate the application of the note sheet shown by Fig. 1.
Figs. 15 to 18 illustrate the application of the note sheet shown by Fig. 5.
In these figures P indicates the note plate, N the grooved depressions in the
same, and L the slots which in Fig. 5 are situated in front of the said depressions.
For producing the note marks, the blank sheet is placed on a small bed plate or
die M which has a recess corresponding to the groove to be produced in the note
plate, and a punch S is applied by means of a hammer or other suitable instrument,
the working extremity of the punch shown in Figs. 7 and 8 being bevelled off in a
backward direction and also rounded, so as to form in front a cutting edge S¹ and
at the back an obtuse angle S corresponding to that of the recessed groove N.
As the punch descends, the cutting edge S' pierces the material of the plate only
in front, while the sides remain intact, and the inclined part S' of the punch forces
the material into the recess of the die M. The result is a note mark N, having the
shape of a grooved recess, which is separated from the material of the plate on one
side only, while the other sides remain united.
In the case represented by Figs. 9 and 10 the working part S' of the punch is so
shaped as to act first by cutting a slot L out of the plate P and subsequently
forming a grooved depression N adjoining one side of the slot. The result is a note
mark consisting of the said groove shaped depression and a hole or slot adjoining
the front of the same.
Of the two kinds of note marks described above, either the one or the other may

page_text: be adopted, according to circumstances. The essential feature of both is a groove
shaped depression working with its front edge.
If the mechanical musical instrument to be played by means of the improved
music sheet or note plate contains vibrating tongues or reeds Z and intermediate
star wheels R of large diameter, as represented by Figs. 11 to 14, I prefer to
employ the first type of note marks (shown in Figs. 1 to.3) and if star wheels of
smaller diameter are employed, as shown by Figs. 15 to 18, I prefer to use the
second type of note plates, because in the first case the angular travel of each
tooth corresponding to one note mark is shorter and the height of the corresponding
arc of circle is less than in the second case.
A similar distinction between the two forms of note plates is made in the case of
instruments which have other sound producing organs.
If.in the example shown by Figs. 11 to 14, the note plate travels in the direction
of the arrow, the front edge of a note mark N approaches the tooth 1 of the star
wheel, (Fig. 11) and meets the latter, as shown by Fig. 12, thereby turning the
wheel on its axis, as indicated by 13 and causing it to act on the reed Z, which now
begins to vibrate freely. The wheel continues to turn, until the front edge of the
note mark N has left the point of the tooth 1, and the wheel has therefore again
arrived in its position of rest (Fig. 14), which it retains until a fresh note mark
meets the following tooth of the wheel.
In the second example, (Figs. 15 to 18) Fig. 15 represents the wheel R in
a position of rest, while the note plate P moves in the direction of the arrow.
Fig. 16 represents the moment, when the edge of the note mark N has reached
the tooth and the wheel R has therefore commenced to turn. In turning, the
point of the tooth 1 enters the slot L formed in the plate N, and does not leave
the same before the tooth (2) has acted on the reed Z and caused it to vibrate
(Fig. 17). The wheel R continues to turn until the edge of the note mark N
has passed the tooth 1 and the wheel is therefore again in a position of rest
(Fig. 18), as in its starting position, Fig. 15.
Such note plates may be made of thin sheet metal or other material suitable for
the treatment described above.
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. A-nute plate or music sheet for mechanical musical instruments, having note
marks formed by longitudinal depressions or grooves pressed out of the material
of the note plate, the said material being cut through at one place to form an
edge serving to act on the sound producer, and the grooved shaped depression
being formed at the rear of the said cut, substantially as described.
2. A note plate or music sheet for mechanical musical instruments, having note
..marks formed by a slot punched out the said material, and a grooved shaped
depression adjoining the rear of the said slot, the latter being adapted to receive
the point of the sound producer, when actuated by the plate, substantially as
described.
Dated this 4th day of April 1893.