provements in Violins and other Stringed Instruments.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Violins and other Stringed Instruments.
I, JOHN MATTHIAS AUGUSTUS STROH, Electrical Engineer, of 98, Haverstock
Hill, in the County of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
:
In the new instrument the body of the violin with its sounding boards is ⚫
omitted, and the head, neck and bridge, tail-piece and strings of the violin are
mounted on a suitable frame made of aluminium, wood or other suitable material.
The bridge is not directly attached to the said supporting frame, but rests
on a rocking lever adapted to turn on knife edges, the bearings of which are
rigidly fixed to the supporting frame, which has preferably the shape of a tube
parallel with the strings of the violin.
On the underside of this supporting frame and rigidly attached thereto is a
circular frame or drum-head containing a diaphragm of wood, glass; metal or
other rigid. material, or a stretched membrane of parchment or other flexible
material. The centre of the diaphragm or membrane is mechanically con-
nected with one end of the said rocking lever by means of a rod or link, so that.
the vibrations of the violin strings, when bowed, will be finally transmitted to
the diaphragm. The latter is open to view on one (the upper) side, while the
other (the lower) side is enclosed by a cover having in the. centre an opening,
against which is attached a trumpet-shaped resonator or tube, to augment or
distribute the sounds emitted by the diaphragm.
The connection between the long arm of the rocking lever and the centre of
the diaphragm may be made as follows;-
The extremity of the rocking lever is placed axially above the centre of the
diaphragm, and a tubular stay having rounded ends is interposed between the
two, so as to abut with one end perpendicularly against the centre of the
diaphragm and with the other end perpendicularly against the rocking lever. A
piece of gut or other suitable cord passes through the centre of the diaphragm,
through the stay, and through the end of the lever, and is attached at one end
to the said lever through the intermediary of an adjustable helical spring, while
the other end is secured to the diaphragm by means of a knot and a washer.
The said spring is so adjusted, as to keep the cord always at the required tensión,
and prevent any slackness between the rocking lever and the diaphragm.
In some cases it may be advantageous, to transmit and distribute the vibrations
from the connecting rod or stay to the diaphragm through the intermediary of
a conical base resting with its edges on the said diaphragm, instead of trans-
mitting them directly to the diaphragm, in which case the said stay is made
shorter and rests with the lower end upon the apex of the cone, while the cord
passes through the apex of the cone and through the diaphragm.
With this modification the vibrations pass through the apex of the cone to the
base or edge of the same, and thence into the diaphragm,

page_text: The circular frame or drum-head which the holds the edges of the circular
diaphragm, and the distributing cone, are preferably made of aluminium.
Doted this 2nd day of Anuil 1900
.
Improvements in Violins and other Stringed Instruments.
I, JOHN MATTHIAS AUGUSTUS STROH, Electrical Engineer, of 98, Haverstock
Hill, in the County of London, 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 primarily to a violin, which has a diaphragm or mem-
brane and a resonator, instead of the ordinary violin body or sounding board, but
is applicable also to other stringed instruments.
In the accompanying drawings:
Fig. 1 is a front view of a violin embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a side view
of the same: Fig. 3 is a sectional plan along line AB of Fig. 1: Fig 4 and 5
represent details of construction on a larger scale. Fig. 4 being a sectional plan
along broken line CDE of Fig. 1; and Figs. 6 and 7 are horizontal sections
representing modifications.
The strings, together with the bridge, finger board, head, neck, and tail piece
of the violin are mounted on a suitable tubular body portion a. made' of aluminium
wood or other suitable material, preferably in the shape of a tube of circular or
square section.
The bridge is not directly attached to the said tubular body portion, but
rests on a transverse rocking lever c adapted to turn on knife edges c¹, the bearings
d of which are rigidly fixed to the tubular body portion a, or the bridge and the
rocking lever may be made of one piece.
Underneath the frame a and rigidly attached thereto is a circular frame or
drumhead containing a diaphragm of wood, glass or other rigid material, or a
stretched membrane of parchment or other flexible material."
Fig. 4 shows an example of a drumhead e with wooden diaphragm f. Fig. 6
another example, and Fig. 7 shows an example of a drumhead with a mem-
brane of parchment. Fig. 5 is an end view of one of the knife edge bearings
belonging to Fig. 4.
The centre of the diaphragm or membrane is mechanically connected with one
end of the rocking lever by means of a link or other suitable transmitting
device. so that the vibration of the violin strings, when bowed, will be finally
transmitted to the diaphragm f. The latter may be open to view on one side.
while the other is enclosed by a cover or drumheade having in the centre an
opening, against which is attached a resonator or tube h, to augment and dis-
tribute the sounds emitted by the diaphragm, in other words to receive and
distribute the waves of air caused by the mechanical vibrations of the diaphragm.
The said resonator has preferably the shape of a trumpet as shown, but other
suitable forms of resonators may be adopted.
The connection between the long arm of the rocking lever c and the diaphragm
may be made in various ways, but I prefer to adopt the arrangement represented
by Fig. 4 of the drawings; that. is to say, the extremity of the rocking lever e
is placed axially above the centre of the diaphragm f, and the transmitting

page_text: at
device' mentioned above has the shape of a tubular rod or link 9 rounded at the
ends, one end abutting against the centre of the diaphragm and the other end
against the rocking lever C. A piece of gut or other suitable
cord passes through the centre of the diaphragm, through the link
and perforated extremity of the rocking lever, and is attached
one end to the said lever, through the intermediary of a helical spring_k,
while the other end is secured to the diaphragm by means of a knot. The
spring is so adjusted, as to keep the cord always at the required tension, and
to prevent any slackness between the rocking lever and the diaphragm.
In the construction represented by Figs. 3 and 4, the drumhead e is mounted
on three screw studs / distributed "over its circumference; two of these studs
being attached directly to the tubular body portion a, while the third is attached
to a long arm or open frame m forming at one end a clamping ring m¹ which
encircles the frame a and is fixed to the same by a screw . As shown by
Figs. 1 and 4. the open frame m extends above the rocking lever c and has a
flange m, which covers and protects the said lever, together with spring & and
the upper end of the cord i. The edge of the diaphragm f is enclosed by. a
flanged ring or lid o attached to the drumhead e and rendered adjustable by
means of screws p. The edge of the drumhead or disc e which faces the
diaphragm has a projecting rim adapted to support the edge of the diaphragm,
which is held between the said rim and an india-rubber packing ring resting
on the flange of the lid o. The wooden diaphragm is preferably reduced in
thickness at the edge, as shown.
The tubular body portion a (Figs. 1 and 2) is provided at one end with a hand
rest and connected with the neck of the violin, which extends into the tube
or frame a and is fixed by screws s, while the other end of the frame is closed by
a cap connected with the tail piece in the usual way and provided on one
side with a chin rest is an ordinary finger board.
:
In the modification represented by Fig. 6, the flanged cover or ring o¹ is con-
nected with the drumhead e¹ by a screw joint, instead of having screw studs
distributed on its circumference.
In the modification represented by Fig. 7, the vibrations are transmitted from
the tubular link to a flexible membrane f2 through the intermediary of a
distributing cone, instead of passing directly into the membrane, the said
stay being made shorter and resting with its lower end upon the apex of the
cone while the cord passes through the apex of the cone and through the
membrane.
.
The rocking lever. as well as the body portion a, the drumhead é, cover o,
distributing cone and supporting arm m are preferably made of aluminium or of
any other suitable material.
If a bow be drawn across the strings, the vibrations of the latter will cause the
bridge, together with the rocking lever, to oscillate on the knife edges, and the
oscillations of the lever will be transmitted through the link to the diaphragm.
The top of the bridge is therefore an arc of a circle having its centre in the
axis of oscillation formed by the knife edges, and the bridge is either made of
one piece with the rocking lever, or so connected with same, that all vibrations
transverse to the strings will be transmitted to the lever.
The construction represented by Figs. 8 and 9 differs from that represented by
Figs. 1 and 2 principally by the shape of the rocking lever and the arrange-
ment of the diaphragmi and resonator.
The rocking lever, instead of being mounted on a pair of knife edge bearings,
has a pair of pins fixed by the hub 3 (Fig. 11) and passing radially through a
pair of perforations in the tubular body a, as shown by Fig. 9.
The lever is curved, so as to follow the curvature of the body a and to bring.
the link or stay nearer to the circumference of the body a.
One end of the transmitting cord
tubular stay is attached to the lever
(Figs. 9 and 10) passing through the
through the intermediary of a helical

page_text: spring, while on the other end are mounted a pair of washers y'.and ye holding
the diaphragm f between them (Fig. 10).
The edge of the diaphragm is held between the drum-head el and the screw-
threaded ring o' The drum-head is attached to a pair of brackets m³ mounted
on the tubular body a. The resonator is not shown in the drawing. -
The rocking lever is held against the body a by the pressure of the violin
strings acting on the bridge b, and the orifices for the pins et are sufficiently
large to allow the necessary rocking motion of the lever ².
In the modification represented by Fig. 12, the rocking lever is connected
with the diaphragm f* by means of a pin provided at one end- with a bolt-
head and at the other with a screw-nut resting on a bent leaf-springz (Figs. 12
and 13) which abuts against the diaphragm.
It will be understood, that the examples shown by the drawings represent
special forms only of my invention, that the shape and arrangement of parts
may be modified, without departing from my invention. My improvements are
applicable also to violoncellos, mandolins, guitars and other stringed instru-
ments.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed. I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. A stringed musical instrument, comprising in its construction a bridge sup-
porting the strings, a rocking lever connected with the said bridge and support-
ing the same, a diaphragm held and supported at the edges and adapted to
oscillate in the centre, a transmitting device situated between the extremity of
the rocking lever and the diaphragm and adapted to transmit oscillations from
the said lever to the diaphragm, a resonator situated in proximity to the diaphragm
and adapted to receive and distribute the waves of air caused by the vibrations
of the diaphragm, and a body portion adapted to support the rocking lever,
diaphragm and resonator, and to connect these parts with the parts holding the
ends of the strings, substantially as described.
2. In a stringed musical instrument, in which the bridge supporting the
strings is mounted on a rocking lever and the vibrations of the latter are trans-
mitted to a diaphragm, the combination of the rocking lever and the diaphragm,
with a link interposed between the extremity of the rocking lever and the
diaphragm, and a flexible cord or a wire attached at one end to the said rocking
lever and at the other end to the diaphragm, substantially as described.
3. In å stringed musical instrument, in which the bridge supporting the
strings is mounted on a rocking lever and the vibrations of the latter are trans-
mitted to a diaphragm, the combination of the rocking lever and
the diaphragm, with a tubular link interposed between the extremity of
the rocking lever and the diaphragm, and a flexible cord or wire passing through
the said tube, one end of the said cord or wire being attached to the rocking
lever and the other to the diaphragm, substantially as described.
4. In a stringed musical instrument, in which the bridge supporting the
strings is mounted on a rocking lever and the vibrations of the latter are trans-
mitted to the diaphragm, the combination of the rocking lever and the diaphragm,
with a stay interposed between the same, so as to transmit vibrations, a con-
necting link or cord connected at one end with the centre of the diaphragm, and
at the other end with the rocking lever, and a spring interposed between the
rocking lever and the connecting link, or between the latter and the diaphragm,
substantially as described.
5. In a stringed musical instrument in which the bridge supporting the strings
is mounted on a rocking lever and the vibrations of the latter are transmitted to
a diaphragm, a rocking lever turning on knife edges, substantially as described.
6. In a stringed musical instrument, in which the bridge supporting the
strings is mounted on a rocking lever and the vibrations of the same are trans-

page_text: mitted to a diaphragm, a circular diaphragm held and supported at the edge
and connected in the centre with the said rocking lever, substantially as de-
scribed.
7. In a stringed musical instrument in which the bridge supporting the strings
is mounted on a rocking lever and the vibrations of the latter are transmitted to
a diaphragm, the combination of the said diaphragm with a trumpet-shaped
resonator adapted to receive and distribute the sound waves produced by the
vibrations of the diaphragm, substantially as described.
8. A stringed musical instrument constructed and adapted to operate sub-
stantially as described and illustrated by the drawings, Figs. 1 to 13.
Dated this 31st dow of January 1900
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
Agents, 37 and 39, Essex Street, Strand, London.
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
Agents, 37 and 39, Essex Street, Strand, London.