CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON "MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1829

page_text: "TO ALL TO WHOM THESE ‘PRESENTS SHALL COME, 'we, FRANCIS
DAY, of the Poultry, in the City of London, Optician, and'AudusT MÜNCH,
Mechanic, of the same place, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing' date
at Westminster," the Nineteenth day of June, in the tenth year of His
reign, did; for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Francis Day and August Munch, His special licence that we; the sail'
Francis Day: and August Münch our exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as we the said Francis Day and August Münch, our exors,
admors, or assigns; should at any time and at agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed
should and lawfully "might 'make, use, 'exercise, and "vend; within England,
Wales; and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, our Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS ON "MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS," partly communicated to us by 'a'
certain Foreigner residing abroad, and partly invented by us); in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging us; the said Francis Day
and August Münch, by an'instrument in writing 'under our hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal' of one of us; particularly to describe and' ascertain
the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, and to cause the same 'to be enrolled in' His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar mouths next and immediately
after the date of the said recited' Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had,' will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW' YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the "said"
Francis Day and August Münch, do hereby declare that the nature of-our

page_text: said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
particularly described and ascertained in and. by the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and the following description thereof (that is to say) :-
Our said Invention of Certain Improvements on Musical Instruments may
either consist in the adaptation of a new stop of set of substitutes for pipes to
the organ, or the new stop or substitutes for organ pipes may be applied to
other instruments, such, for instance, as the organised pianoforte, when
constructed purposely to receive it, or the barrel organ. We shall first
describe our new stop or substitutes for pipes as being applied to an organ by
a reference to Figure 1 of the Drawing, which is an end section of the
instrument taken at the dotted line A, A, of Figure 2, which is a plan of a
portion of the said instrument. B, in Figure 1; is part of the trunk which
conveys the wind from the bellows (not shewn) into the windchest C, which is
provided with pallets, puffs, or valves in the usual manner of organ building,
and one of which is shewn at D, fitted with its wire spring E, whereby it is
kept closed when not opened by the action of the wire F, which is connected
with one of the finger keys G of the organ by the wire H, which unites it
with the back fall or lever I, to the other end of which back-fall lever the
wire F is fitted, by which the pallet or valve D is opened when the finger key
G is depressed by the finger of the performer. On the organ J is one of the
ribs or partitions which form passages conducting the wind from the chest to
the several substitutes for pipes, one of which is shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, 20,
21, and 23, at K, in its place, and the construction of which said substitutes
for organ pipes will be described hereafter.. L is the 'swell by which the
substitutes for the organ pipes are surrounded, and which has a flap or leaf
M turning upon centres (one of which is shewn at N), and can be opened to
produce the effect of the swell by means of the line O, O, which is affixed to
a pedal in the usual manner. As, however, these parts are common to organs,
so we need not more particularly describe them.
.
Figure 4 is a side view or elevation, Figure 5- an end view, and Figure 6
an under view of one form or construction of our said substitutes for the.
pipes in organs. K is the wooden box or body of it, to the lower part of
which a metal plate P is affixed by screws or in any other fit and proper
manner. In or through this metal plate P a longitudinal aperture. or
opening is made, into which a metal spring or tongue 2 is nicely fitted and
adjusted, so as to vibrate or play freely within the said aperture. This tongue
Qis held firmly at one end of it by being secured under a metal cross bar or
plato R, which is bound fast to the plate P by means of screws, its other end
being at liberty to vibrate or play between the sides and end of the aperture

page_text: in.the plate P. In a tongue of the size here shewn, and which is calculated
to. produce ono of the lower tones of the instrument, we find it necessary to
increase the thickness and weight of the tongue towards its loose end, whilst
its fixed end is thinned' away towards its root, in order to afford the necessary
elasticity, and to obtain the required tone. The size of the box K must be
proportionate to the tone to be produced, it requiring to be encreased in size
as the tones become graver, whilst it must be reduced for those of an acuter
or higher tone. S, in Figures 4 and 5, is a regulator intended to moderate
the quality of the tone, as well as to encrease or decrease its strength in
proportion as it is more or less opened or closed. In this instance its consists
of a wooden flap turning at one end upon a rod or wire passed through the
side of the box, and capable of being bound and secured in any required
position by the screw and nut T. Other modes of constructing the regulator
will be, described hereafter. Upon each side of the box K a ledge U, U, is
fitted, whereby its situation in the channel J leading from the windchest is.
regulated, it resting upon these, ledges, and as. shewn in Figures 1 and 3.
Figure 7 is a section or side elevation of another of our said boxes or
substitutes for the pipes of organs. Here the lower end of it is made. with
parallel sides and ends, so as to fit within the channel J from the windchest
without requiring any side ledges to support it, as in the former instance.
The tongue, Figure 10, being, calculated to produce an acuter tone than in
the last-mentioned example, is not thickened towards its loose end, but, on
the contrary, is made thinner than at its roots, or fixed end, in order to cause
it to vibrate quicker. This tongue Q is also affixed upon the metal plate P
by means of a screw being passed through a hole formed in its root end, and
screwing into the plate P. The regulator or modulator of the. tone at the
upper part of the box K, Figure 7, consists, of a wooden slider V fitted into
grooves formed in the sides of the top of the box, and can be opened or closed
more or less as may be found necessary to produce the intended effect.
.
Figure 9 is a top view of the slider, the aperture and the guides or grooves
between. which it slides. .
Figure 11 is a section or side elevation of another of our said boxes or
substitutes for organ pipes, intended, to produce one of the higher or acuter
tones of the instrument. The tongue Q is here affixed at one end to the
metal plate. P by a screw, as in the last-mentioned example; but its loose end
is not only thinned, but likewise bent or turned outwards a little without the
aperture in the plate P,. in order to admit the wind, more readily into the said
aperture, and enable it to act upon the tongue.
Figure 12 represents the tongue Q separately, and Figure 18 is an under
view of the box and other parts connected with it.
:

page_text: Figure 11 also exhibits another form of the regulator or modulator of the
töne, it being a metal flap W moving upon a cord or wire passed through-holes
in the sides of the box K; but it being so small; and light enough, friction
may be produced at the joint to retain it in any required position, in order to
extend the play of vibration of the tongue Q; and not to confine it to the
thinned part of it next to its root, and whereby it may be liable to fail or
break, and especially in very cold weather: "We can increase the vibrating
part of it by bending or curving the tongue, and thinning away the. curved
part equally, as shewn in the Figure 14 at X, X. In this case, however,
another manner of affixing it to the plate P must be adopted, as shewn in
section in Figure :15, where Yis a metal bridge extended across the aperture
or opening in the plate P, but forming a solid part with that plate... Upon tlie
iniddle of this bridge Y the root or fixed end of the tongue Q is firmly
secured by being placed between the bridge and a metal cross bar. R, simülar
to that 'described in the references to Figures 4, 5, and 6, and firmly bound
by screws, as shewn in Figures 15, 16, and 17: We can also, affix the
curved tongue Q to the plate P in another manner, and as shewn in Figure
18, where it is affixed at one end of the plate P, which is bent at a right
angle for the purpose of receiving it, and where it is firmly bound at its root;
and by means of 'screw's passing through holes made in a metal cross bar:R,
and entering into screwed holes made in the bent end of the plate P to receive
them. Figure 19 is a separate figure or edge-view of a tongue shaped so as
to be applied* in this manner. Instead of the pallets or valves D, D; &c.
being placed within the windchest, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3, we can
mount them upon the tops of the boxes 'K, K, &c., as shewn in Figuro 20;-
which is a side view of the box K; furnished with its pallet or waive D and
spring E, mounted upon its top, and placed in an aperture or opening
formed for it in the upper part of the windchest, C, Figure 21; being an end
view of it. The pallet spring E is' shewn in this latter Figure as being
affixed at one end of it to a wire staple secured into the top. of the box.K.
This pallet or valve can, be opened in order to suffer the wind to escape and
pass through the box K, and thereby to cause the tougue R to vibrate and to
produce the required tone; the sound ceasing upon; the pallett or valve "D
shutting by the action of its spring E upon it when the pallett is permitted to
fall. We can either open these palletts by means of connecting rods or
strikers united with the 'back ends of the finger keys, as shewn in Figures 20
and 21 at Z, or, in case of applying our said stop on substitutes for pipes to
a barrel organ, by applying the said connecting rods or strikers Zto the
levers, which are raised up by 'the action of the pins or staples in the barrel of
"the organ, and as shown in Figure 22: .
....

page_text: Figure 23 represents another of our boxes K, fitted up with its pallet or
valve D and spring E in the manner last described, but also furnished with a
border around its lower part whereby it may be affixed upon the top of the
windchest C by means of screws. By thus placing the pallets or valves D
upon the tops of the boxes K, in the manner above described, we obtain the
power of being enabled to increase or decrease the sound or tone of each
individual box at pleasure, by pressing down the finger keys, more or less,
instead of governing them by the general swell, as before described in the
references to Figure. ; and in order to aid this effect we place a helical or
other spring underneath the front end of each finger key, and which spring.
can be depressed when the. performer pleases to increase or vary the tones
more than usual by exerting a force. Accordingly we do not mean or
intend hereby to claim as our Invention any of the various parts herein
described which may already have been known or in use; but we do hereby
claim the formation of a new stop or substitutes for the pipes of organs by
combining metallic tongues or springs with wooden boxes fitted with regu-
lators or modulators of the tones; also the application of pallets or valves to
the tops of the said wooden boxes, and the removal thereof from the insides of
the windchests of the organs, to which this latter form of our said new stop
may be applied; and also the manner of raising or lifting the said regulating
or modulating pallets or valves, as herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Day, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord