An Improvement in Musical Instruments of Banjo Kind.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 30th May, 1896
[Communicated from abroad by NEIL MERRILL of Oshkosh, County. Winnebego,
State of Wisconsin, and ARTHUR WILLIAM JONES, of Pittsburg, Pennsyl-
vania, United States of America, Merchants.]
An Improvement in Musical Instruments of Banjo Kind.
I, OLIVER IMRAY, of No. 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of London, Chartered Patent Agent, 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 the construction of musical instruments of banjo kind.
as will be described referring to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 is a plan of a banjo according to this invention.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section.
Fig. 3 is a side elevation, partly broken away, of the rim.
Fig. 4 is a plan of the detachable head.
Fig. 5 represents a side elevation of the head, and
Fig. 6 is a section of the head rim with the wooden or like ring applied
therein.
A is the rim of the banjo, B is the neck, and C is the removeable head.
The rim proper A is made preferably of aluminium or its alloys, and is formed.
about its middle with a shoulder a and about its upper edge with an inwardly
projecting lip a¹ having its edge bevelled as shewn.
In the shoulder a are screw holes for receiving screws to secure the detachable.
head.
The neck B is of the usual construction but does not pass through the rim, being.
secured to it by a screw b which passes through the rim.
For more firmly securing it on the rin there is provided a head bolt b¹ which
passes through part of the neck and the rim, and inside the rim has a nut 62. The
removeable bead C comprises a rim e having at its lower edge an annular
outwardly projecting flange c¹ and hoop of wood or similar material let into a
groove in the top of the rim, a skin being stretched over the hoop and
provided with the usual hoops c and c and tightening bolts c which have at their
upper ends hooks adapted to engage notches c cut in the strainer hoop c. The
screw threaded ends of the bolts c pass through holes o cut in the flange c' and
have tightening nuts c that bear against the flange. The flange c has also
holes through which screws are passed to secure the head to the shoulder a of
the rim.
When said head is so fixed to the rim the stretched skin is level with the upper
surface of the flange a¹. The tail piece g is screwed to the flange a¹.
The wooden hoop saves the skin from being cut by direct contact with the
metal of the rim of the head, and causes a clearer and fuller tone to be given than
when the skin is in contact with the metal.
The head carrying the skin can be rapidly removed from or applied to the rim
by removing or inserting the few screws that hold it in place without disturbing
the strings.
A banjo according to this invention is especially adapted for use by travelling
professionals as they can carry several removable heads and when one breaks, it
takes only a few minutes to insert another; with banjos of the old construction a

page_text: long time, perhaps a week, is required to apply a new head, as it cannot be used
until the bead dries and the strainer hoop which is above the level of the skin can
be pulled down to a level so that the strings will not strike it. Also the skin in
the banjo described is always on a level with the flange a¹ however much it is
tightened.
It will be seen that all the bolts and other fixings are hidden from view so that
the rim of the banjo presents a neat appearance.
It is preferable to construct both the rims and the strainer hoop of aluminium
or its alloys.
When the rim proper is of aluminium in one piece a much finer and fuller tone
is produced, as the rim acts as a bell and prolongs and improves the vibrations
imparted to it by the vibrating skin. On removing the fixing screws, the banjo
can be packed in very small compass not including the length of the neck.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
banjo or like musical instrument, the combination of a rim and an
independent head comprising a skin and its mounting and tightening devices, this
head being capable of being applied to or removed from the rim without
disturbing the skin, substantially as described.
2. The combination of a rim having an internal shoulder and an independent
removeable head, this head comprising a rim with projecting flange to engage the
shoulder above mentioned, a skin, and means for tightening the skin, substantially
as described.
Dated this 28th day of April 1896.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.