Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 15th May, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 14th Feb., 1895-Accepted, 16th Mar., 1895.
Leaf Turner.
I, COLOMBO RICCI of 25 Tennison Street, Lambeth, London, in the County of
Surrey, Mechanical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
°
My invention relates to apparatuses and mechanisms for turning the leaves of
music or other books, but whereas the generality of these mechanisms are
constructed with a series of levers and with an equal number of springs and catches
for turning as many pages; my object is to construct a mechanism with a single
lever and a single spring with the addition of two little cams, and the whole so
arranged as to be able to turn an unlimited number of pages.
In putting my invention into practice I employ a vertical spindle mounted on a
suitable bracket, and capable to revolve freely for half a turn or so; about the
middle of this vertical spindle, a metallic or other string is coiled up two or three
times; to one end of this string is attached a coil spring that continually tends to
revolve the spindle in one direction.
The other end of the string, passes first through a little pulley, and is afterwards
attached to a hand lever or pedal, for the purpose of turning the spindle. of half a
turn or so, whenever required.
It is evident that by pressing on the pedal or hand lever, and thus causing the
spindle to revolve; the coil spring that is attached to the other end of the string,
will first be stretched, and as soon as the pressure on the pedal or handle is
released, it will cause the spindle to turn in an opposite direction, and bring it in
the previous position.
On one side of the head, or upper part of the spindle, is hinged a long lever with
two small arms; when this long lever, which can move up and down, is in the
horizontal position, one of the short arms is just opposite the long lever and the
other one lies in a vertical position downwards.
In the stem of the spindle, which is hollow, a coil spring is placed that pushes
the short arm of the lever continually upwards, and as the other short vertical arm
bears against a stop on the spindle, the lever is thus kept in a fixed horizontal
position.
The end of the lever engages with a suitable clip, which is attached to the lower
end of each page of the book; and whenever the pedal is pressed down and the
spindle caused to rotate on its axis, the lever is forced to partake of this rotary
movement and thus turns the page to which it is connected by means of
the clip.
I have already said that the lever with the two short arms is hinged on one side
of the spindle's head, and capable of an up and down motion for the purpose of
engaging with the clips, and freeing itself automatically from the same clips at
every page turned.
This up and down movement takes place in the following manner:
On the stem of the vertical spindle, and just above the metallic string, are
mounted two little cams that are continually in gear with the short vertical arm of
the lever.
One of these cams is double snail shaped, and the other of a somewhat different
shape, but both are of such a form as to cause the required up and down movement
of the lever.

page_text: The working of this mechanism is as follows:
By the pressure of the hand or of the pedal, the metallic string, which is coiled
round the stem of the vertical spindle, causes this spindle to rotate from right to
left, and as the end of the lever, is connected to one of the pages by means of a
metallic clip as previously stated, one page is thus turned from right to left.
During the greater part of this half revolution, the lever is kept horizontal by
the contact of its short vertical arm with one of the two cams; but at the end of
the half revolution, this cam suddenly diminishes in diameter; the shorter vertical
arm, forced by the small coil spring, that is in the centre of the vertical spindle,
follows the shape of the cam, the lever descends under the horizontal position and
frees itself from the clip that connected it to the leaf of the book..
As soon as the pressure from the pedal is released, the coil spring that had been
stretched, causes the spindle to rotate in an opposite direction; and the lever is
thus forced to turn back from left to right.
During this backward rotation, the vertical arm of the lever, comes in gear. with
the snail shaped cam, and as the diameter of this.cam increases rapidly, the lever is
forced to rise above the horizontal position, and at the end of the half rotation,
strikes the page above the clip.
When is this position the short vertical arm is in front of a notch cut in the cam,
and the small coil spring in the centre of the spindle, forces the lever to descend and
engage with the clip attached to the page.
By applying the pressure on the pedal again, the same operations are..repeated,
and a new page turned.
The clips are made of thin brass.or steel sheet, or other suitable, material
doubled up, so as to keep the leaf tight, and be easily put on or slipped off.
The front left hand part of these clips is bent up slightly, so as to leave room
for the lever to pass between the page. & the clip itself.
Dated this 15th day of May, 1894.
COLOMBO RICCI of 25 Tenison Street, Lambeth London, in the County of
Surrey, Mechanical Engineer, 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 machine, which is chiefly constructed for the purpose of turning the leaves
of music on the piano: & other stands, is composed of two principal. parts; of
mechanism.
The leaf turner & the leaf holder.
The whole machine is clearly shown in the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1. is the elevation. Fig. 2. the plan Fig. 3. 4 & 5. are sections on, the
lines a. b. ed. e f..
Fig. 6. 7. 8. 9. & 11 are detail pieces & Fig. 10 represents the clips.
In putting my invention into practice. I employ a vertical spindle A. Fig. 1 & 6
capable to revolve freely, between two lugs BI BI of a bracket B., which bracket is
mounted on a suitable base.C.
The right band side of the head. A' of the spindle A. is slotted, & in this slot is
hinged a long, lever. D. by means of a pin D'. On the other side, of the head-A
opposite the slot, a hole A² is drilled & in this hole A² a suitable spring E is placed
for the purpose of keeping the lever D. continually pressed downwards.
Two cams F & G. shown in detail by Fig. 8. & 9 are mounted on the spindle A
between two lugs B' of the bracket B. for the purpose of regulating the vertical.
:

page_text: motion of the lever D. The top cam F. is fixed & the lower one G is free to turn
with the spindle A.
At the lowest part of the spindle A is fixed a sleeve H Fig. 6. by means of a
pin H
This sleeve H is provided with a stud H to which is attached a metallio
(or other kind) string, or a chain. One end of this string, after having been coiled
up once or twice round the sleeve H passes round the pulleys I & J. & is connected
or tied to the handle K which is hinged at K' to the base C. The other end of the
string, after passing round the sleeve H is connected to one end of the coil
spring L. To the other end of this coil spring L is attached another string which,
after passing round the little pulley M goes direct & is attached to the bell
crank N.
The leaf holder consists of a rod O capable to revolve between two hinges O² 0²
screwed on the base C.
To the left of this rod is soldered a wing P. for the purpose of holding the pages
turned by the lever D.
At the right end of this rod O is a little crank handle R which transfers to it
the oscillating motion that it receives from the bell crank N through the link Q.
This bell crank N is pivoted at B on the bracket B. & free to move horizontally
according to the shape of the cam Gas the head N¹ is continually in contact with
it being held against it by the coil spring L.
The other arm N2 of the bell crank N carries a vertical pin on which is jointed
the link Q above mentioned.
The spring S, which serves for the purpose to prevent the lever D to turn more
than one page at a time; is attached to a small bracket T. by means of the
handle T & the whole mounted on the sliding piece U.
This sliding piece U can be regulated to & fro according to the size of the pages
& kept in place by the nut U'.
The small bracket T is made with two trunnions T2 T2 to enable the spring S to
swing round every time the book is placed on the stand; & its square shape
allows it to be kept in the two different positions by means of the spring V.
X is another spring, which is employed for the purpose of pushing forward the
last pages & thus euables the machine to turn a greater number than it would be
capable of turning without it.
CC are two small supports fixed to the base C. for the purpose of holding the
book in its proper position.
Fig. 10 represents the clips which have to be attached to all the pages that one
intends to turn with the machine.
They can be made of steel, iron brass or other suitable material.
On the right hand side these clips (which are doubled up) are completely closed
& so shaped as to be easily slipped over each page to be turned; & at the same
time not so easily shifted by the working of the machine. On the left hand side,
the front part is bent forward & detached from the paper so as to leave sufficient
room for the lever D to slide downward between the clip & the leaf, every time
that a page is turned.
Fig. 11. represents a small eyelet Y. which is mounted to the back of the book
of music for the purpose of attaching it to the stand by means of the hook Z. &
enabling thus the book to be kept in the proper position when the pages are
turned.
The machine so constructed works in the following manner. Supposing that the
book is placed on the two brackets C1 C2 & connected to the staud by means of
the hook Z & that a clip is attached to every page that one intends to turn;
the spring S. is shifted from right to left until it presses slightly on the
front page.
I also suppose that the lever D. is engaged with the clip of the front page on the
right. By simply pressing downwards with a finger the handle K³, the string that
passes round the pulleys I. J. & the sleeve H causes the spindle A as well as the

page_text: lever D. & the foremost page to revolve from right to left. During this rotary
movement from right to left, the lever D. pushed by the spring E. gradually
descends from the position shown on the right in Fig. 1. according to the shape of
the cam F with which it is kept in contact by means of the shoulder D³ until it
reaches the position shown in dotted lines on the left of Fig. 1 & is thus disengaged
from the clip of the page just turned.
The
During this same rotary movement from right to left, the shoulder D* of the
lever D. forces the cam G to rotate of half a turn in the same direction.
head N¹ of the bell crank N. which is kept in contact with this cam G by the coil-
spring L. causes the same bell crank to swing on its pivot B³. The link Q which
is jointed on this hell crank, pulls on the crank pin of the little crank R & forces
the wing P to swing from the vertical into the horizontal position shown at Fig. 3.
allowing thus a free passage for the turning page. As soon as this page is
completely turned the head N' of the bell crank N falls suddenly to the bottom of
the shoulder G¹ of the cam G, Fig. 8. (being pulled by the coil spring L.) & the
link through the crank R causes the wing P to turn up suddenly in its vertical
position & hold thus the turned page in its proper place before the lever D. starts
in its backward movement from left to right.
Now if the hand is taken away, or the pressure released from the handle K³ the
coil spring L. (which has been stretched during the rotary movement of the
spindle A from right to left) will cause this spindle A. & lever D. to turn from left
to right. During this second movement, the shoulder D of the lever D. slides round
the cam G which is prevented from turning by the head N¹ of the bell crank N. Fig. 2
& forces the lever D to rise from the position in dotted lines on the left to the
position in dotted lines on the right of Fig. 1. striking the page just above the clip.
In this position, the lever D being free from the shoulder of the cam G. is forced
to descend by the spring E (& to engage with the clip of the page to be turned
first) until it is arrested by the fixed cam F. By pressing with the finger again
on the handle K2 all the movements described above will be performed, & a fresh
page turned.
Instead of using the spindle A. as shown in Fig. 1. & 6. I sometimes prefer to use
a spindle as shown in Fig. 7 with a coil spring A³ in its centre for the same purpose
as the spring E. in Fig. 1.
In those cases where one cannot work the machine by hand, as for instance when
one plays the piano or the violin I provide suitable means for working it either
with the foot or the knee. For this purpose I employ an ordinary pedal which I
hinge at the bottom of the piano or other stauds. This pedal carries a vertical rod
or other connection which can be directly attached to the hooked part of the
handle K Fig. 2 & 4.
In order to avoid all possible complications or alterations in the existing pianos,
I reduce the thickness of that part of the vertical rod that passes through two keys
of the keyboard or I sometimes employ a piece of clock spring or very thin steel
strip (in place of the rod or part of the rod) which presents a very high resistance
& is free to slide easily between two keys without any cutting or touching
whatever.
It is obvious that with such an arrangement, all that is necessary to do, is to press
with one foot the above mentioned pedal every time one requires to turn a page &
to release the pressure from the same in order to enable the machine to work in the
above mentioned manner.
The same mechanism of pedal & rod, besides the piano may be applied to any
other sort of music stand without parting from the principle of the invention
itself.
I sometimes prefer to make the clips perforated & also nickeled or silvered, so as
to render them much lighter & give them a better appearance.
C' is a strip of brass or other material screwed on the base C. for the purpose of
enclosing the coilspring L & the other parts of the mechanism.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion & in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1st. A leaf turner composed of a vertical spindle A mounted on a suitable
bracket B carrying a lever D. hinged on a pin D' capable to oscillate up & down
so as to engage & disengage automatically from suitable clips, & the whole so
arranged to be rotated by hand or foot every time a page is to be turned.
2nd. In a leaf turner the arrangement of a suitable string coiled up ou the
sleeve H one end of which is attached to the lever or handle K & the other end is
connected to the coil spring L for the purpose above specified.
3rd. In a leaf turner two cams F. & G for the purpose of impag to the
lever D. the necessary motion so as to engage & disengage automatic
clips every time a page is turned.
4th. In a leaf turner a spring Fig. 1. or A Fig. 7 for the purpo
to the lever D. the counter motion received by the same from t
during the rotation of the spindle A. & other parts attached there
5th. In a leaf turner a wing P. capable to oscillate on a rod
crank R& link Q the whole receiving the motion from the rota
through a bell crank N. for the purpose above specified.
6th. In a leaf turner a coil spring L so arranged that one en
backward motion of the spindle A. & other rotating parts thre
up on the sleeve H. & the other end will cause the backward
through the string that passes over the pulley M. & is attac)
which is connected to the link Q for the purpose specified.
from the
parting
F & G.
means of a
the cam G
it will cause the
h the string coiled
tion of the wing P.
to the bell crank N
7th. In a leaf turner a spring S mounted on a sliding bracket U by means of
the little support T & handle T¹ the whole as desc!ibed & for the purpose
specified.
8th. In a leaf turner a spring X as shown in the accompanying drawings & for
the purpose above specified.
9th. The means described in this Specification for working the above machine by
foot, passing through the keyboard of the piano without any cutting or alteration
whatever.
10th. The clips as described in the above Specification & shown in the accom-
panying drawings.
TR
C. RICCI.