IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR TURNING OVER LEAVES OR SHEETS OF MUSIC AND OTHER LIKE SHEETS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUSES FOR TURNING OVER LEAVES OR SHEETS OF MUSIC AND OTHER
LIKE SHEETS." A communication from abroad by Louis Etienne Stanis-
las Petit, of Orleans, France.
Sealed the 3rd October 1861, and dated the 8th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th April 1861.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR TURNING OVER LEAVES OR SHEETS OF
MUSIC AND OTHER LIKE SHEETS," (communicated to me from abroad by Louis
Etienne Stanislas Petit, of Orleans, France,) to be as follows:-
This Invention is for apparatuses to be fixed to music and other stands for
holding books and sheets, whereby leaves may be turned over by acting upon a
pedal with the foot.
The pedal is fixed on the ground, and communicates through a cord with a
spring sliding bar on the lower end of the apparatus, on which the sheets,
bound or loose, are placed and fixed. On the sliding bar is a spring catch,
which engages in grooves in a bar which acts as a sliding rack; on the side

page_text: opposite to the grooves are a series of steps which come in contact with one of
several pivoted blades, one of which is inserted between every two sheets or
leaves. Upon acting on the pedal the cord draws the spring sliding bar, and
the spring catch engaged in one of the grooves in the bar or sliding rack,
draws it back at the same time, the first step in the bar coming against
the foot of the first of the pivoted blades causes the latter to fall; and in falling
to turn over a leaf. The operation is repeated for the second blade and second
leaf, and so on.
A spring on the opposite end of the sliding bar restores the bar to its position
as soon as the foot is withdrawn from the pedal, when the spring catch engages
in the next groove in the sliding rack or bar, ready to act on the pedal being
again depressed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting. -
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agrec with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR TURNING OVER LEAVES OR SHEETS OF MUSIC
AND OTHER LIKE SHEETS," (a communication from abroad by Louis Etienne
Stanislaus Petit, of Orleans, France,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that 1, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the

page_text: same to. be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had. to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatuses to be fixed to music.
and other stands for holling books and sheets, whereby leaves may be turned.
over by acting upon a pedal with the foot.
The pedal is fixed in the ground and communicates through a cord with a
sliding bar on the lower end of the apparatus, on which the sheets, bound or
loose, are placed and fixed. On the sliding bar is a catch lever bar, which.
comes in contact successively with pivoted blades, one of which is inserted.
between every two sheets or leaves. Upon acting on the pedal the cord draws.
the sliding bar, which, is afterwards returned to its place by a spring, and the.
catch on the lever bar coming against the foot of the first of the pivoted blades
causes the latter to turn on its pivot and thus turn over a leaf. The operation.
is repeated for the second blade and second leaf, and so on.
A spring on the opposite end of the sliding bar restores the bar to its position.
as soon as the foot is withdrawn from the pedal, when the spring catch engages
in the next groove in the sliding rack or bar, ready to act on the pedal being.
again depressed.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a view of the case containing
the mechanism for turning over leaves or sheets of music and other like sheets
according to this Invention. Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, are views of a holder in
which the leaves are placed, showing it open and closed; Figure 6, is a
longitudinal section, and Figure 7 is a plan of the leaf turner when ready for
operation; Figure 8 is an end view of the case, and Figure 9 is a transverse.
section of the apparatus as it appears when closed up; and Figure 10, is a.
transverse section of the apparatus ready for operation.
a, Figure 1, is a back carrying at each end a gudgeon b, Figure 7, at one:
end of which there is a hooked stop c, Figure 7.
Beneath the box there is a.
At
hook or bracket.e, with a pressure screw d. the back of the apparatus is.
the holder for detached leaves (Figures 4, 5, and 10. It is formed in two
parts ff, and is held to the back a by the axis g in such. manner as
to allow it to stand perpendicular or to be laid when required in a groove
at the back a, as shewn at Figure 7. The two parts f, f', are united at top,
and bottom by links h, to enable them to be brought nearer to or farther from

page_text: one another in a parallel position. On one of the connecting links h, there is
a moveable staple i, (provided with a wedge j,) for regulating the distance
apart of the two pieces f, f', as shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5. To use the
holder first raise it, then separate the two pieces f, f', introduce the leaves or
sheets between them, secure them and insert and press the wedge in the
staple. When a music book is used the pieces f, f', act as a back and
determine the extent of its opening. The two gudgeons 6, Figures 7 and 10,
hold the case containing the mechanism, serving at the same time as a support
or table for the book. These gudgeons enter the holes 6', Figure 6, allowing
the table to be moved and its distance from the back increased when the space
existing between the binding pieces f, f', and the piece k, (which holds the
volume) is not sufficient for the thickness of the sheets used. The two screws 7,
Figure 7, enter a horizontal groove formed at each end of the box, Figure 6,
and are fixed in these gudgeons, so as to prevent the complete separation of
the box from the support a, when it is required to separate the latter. By
the hook d, e, Figure 8, the apparatus is attached to the table of the desk.
The stop c, Figures 6 and 7, is pivoted and is intended to act as a support
to the upright at the left hand side of the stand as in use in upright piano-
fortes. Without this stop the music stand of the piano would close under the
action of the pedal necessary for effecting the turning over of the leaves.
The pieces, Figures 6, 7, and 10, pivoted at the back of the box
containing the mechanism, are placed between the unused leaves and the
sheets to be turned in order to hold the book well open and sustain it on
the support as well as to maintain it and the blades m (Figure 10) a
space sufficient for the play of the latter. The case containing the apparatus
for turning the leaves is closed by a cover n, (Figure 1,) half of which is
movable, being united by a hinge to the fixed part so as to fold over in order
to allow the blades m to be raised when it is required to use the leaf turners.
A small bar o, Figures 6 and 9, pivoted and inserted in the cover, may be
then raised. It is intended to be placed in front of the leaves to be turned
after the blades are introduced between them to prevent the sheets or leaves
from closing half way. When one sheet is turned by one of the blades the
sheet slides or passes to the rear of the bar o, and does not fully. open until
after having overcome this obstacle, which in no way affects the rapidity of the
operation. The blades m, Figures 6, 7, 9 and 10, are made of wood, ivory,
bone, metal or any other suitable material, and their number may vary. They
are placed side by side in a case p, on an axis p¹, Figures 7, 9, and 10, which
allows them to move by means of a spring catch q. Figure 7, in which their
lower parts are engaged when they are raised (Figures 6 and 7) The

page_text: blades m, when not in use, are laid in the box (as shown at Figure 6
where one of the blades is shewn down). To use the leaf turner after the
book is placed open on the desk and the pieces arranged leaving the leaves
free to be turned, first raise to a perpendicular position the blade m, nearest
a, which is placed at the back of, the last sheet of the piece to be played.
The first blade is thicker than the others and it is intended to cause the
leaves near the binding to swell out to prepare them to turn easily under the
impulsion of the other blades. The second blade is raised immediately after
the first, and both are covered by the last sheet. The third blade is next
raised and covered with the following sheet; it is the same for the fourth,
and so on for all the others. When the blades are raised they are stopped by
the piece r (Figures 6 and 7.) placed at the back of them through the case in
which they are mounted. This piece 1, being placed obliquely, prevents the
raising fully of the blade nearest the back a, the height of which acts as a
guide for placing the middle of the music book, and arranging the other
blades successively at the back of each other, in such manner as to have the
appearance of a fan at the upper part, as seen in Figure 6. Having the
blades arranged in this fan-like manner, their thickness, which would other-
wise produce a disagreable appearance of the book or sheets, is not visible to
any great extent. 8 is a carrier free to slide in grooves formed in the sides of
the box, and attached at one end to a spring t, Figures 6, 7, and 10, acts as.
a frame to the hooked bar q, mounted on an axis, and intended to act
successively on the lower part of the blades to make them describe a quarter
of a circle. The thickness of the shank or catch of this bar is less than that of
its head, to allow it to work freely through the box under the blades when they
are laid, as shown in Figures 6 and 9. The head of this lever bar is hooked,
as shewn at Figure 7, so that it may seize the blades, while its upper part
forms an inclined plane, as shown at Figure 6, which receives the blade at the
moment it falls, and is intended to raise sufficiently the tail-piece m! to prevent
the blade from being impeded in its motion following the lever bar. An even
surface at the side of the inclined plane engages under the first blade, and
throws it completely on the small bar u. A slight sloping or inclined plane,
to be hereafter more particularly referred to, comes after the head of the bar
(Figure 7). On the shank of the bar q a cord is fixed, passing over the
pulley, intended to produce on the said bar an oblique traction, to cause it
to abut against the side of the blades, on which it then seizes, this cord x
afterwards passing round the pulley A, which leads it to outside the box,
terminating in a ring B, Figures 6 and 7.
Figure 11 is a section of a pedal, which is employed for operating, the leaf

page_text: turner; it is taken under the cross bar at the bottom of an upright pianoforte.
Figure 12 shows the apparatus for turning the leaves placed on a desk;
Figure 13 is a plan, Figure 14, a transverse section, and Figure 15, a longi-
tudinal section of the pedal. C' is a square bracket to which the pedal is
hinged, one branch being placed under the foot of the desk or under the cross
piece of the lower part of an upright piano, or under the lyre of a square or
grand pianoforte, is provided with two points D (Figures 18, 14, and 15,)
which under the pressure of a sliding wedge E, acting between the flooring of
the apartment, and the square C comes under the foot of the desk or under
the cross piece of the piano, by which means the pedal is. kept firmly in
position, as shown in Figure 11. The square is united to the wedge by a
bolt F working in a groove, Figures 14 and 15. The part G of the pedal
being the only part movable, is put in communication with the cord issuing
from the leaf turner by means of a second cord, terminating at each end in a
hook or catch for taking into the ring at the end of the cord a (Figuro 7),
and in the catch in the pedal, Figure 13. This cord, which extends outside
the piano, in no way interferes with the performance of the player. The
leaf turner being held by the hook on the table of the desk, as shown in the
Drawing, where the letter P indicates the cross bar of the piano, and the pedal
being held as before explained, and put in communication with: the leaf turner
by the cord, the pressure exercised by the foot on the pedal first causes the
bar g to act on the first blade by means of the oblique traction given by the
pulley (Figure 7), then afterwards draws the carrier s the distance between.
it and the stop H (Figure 7); the result of this motion is, that the bar g acts
on the point of the blade, depresses it, drawing over the sheet at the back of
which the blade was. When the pedal is relieved from the pressure of the
foot, the helical spring t, which has become extended under the tension.
excrcised, now contracts, raises the pedal, and brings to position the carrier
and the bar. The thickness of the rod of this bar allows it to work freely
under the folded blades. After the first blade is turned over there is nothing
but the oblique traction resulting from the pressure to oppose the second
blade, which is turned over in its turn; it is the same for the following blades.
To raise the blades, each successive point takes into a notch formed in the
head of the bar 2, Figure 7, and brings it ready for operation according to
the number of leaves or sheets to be turned. A copper roller I, Figures 13
and 15, preserves the position of the pedal on which the foot is placed. It
will be understood that the apparatus or leaf turner before described is appli-
cable with equal facility for turning the leaves of a book on a desk without
any alteration being required either in the apparatus or the pedal. In a

page_text: similar manner pianos or desks may themselves be manufactured by fitting to
them a leaf turner in place of a desk, enclosing the cord in the piano case, or
in the foot of the desk.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that the parts and mechanism
herein-before described as comprising the apparatus may be modified without
departing from the Invention, as, for example, the position of the blades, pro-
vided the same effect is produced, may be altered, as they may be all mounted
on a single pivot, or one blade may be placed at the back of another; but I
claim as the improvements in apparatuses for holding and turning over leaves
or sheets of music and other like sheets, the employment of blades or leaves
pivoted and acted on by a sliding bar of suitable shape, or their equivalents,
through the agency of a pedal, in such manner as to turn over leaves and
sheets substantially in manner herein-before described with reference to the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.