IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NAMED THE PYROPHONE
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Garrett Tongue, of the Firm of Tongue
& Birkbeck, Patent Agents & Engineers, of 34, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NAMED THE
PYROPHONE."-A communication from abroad by George Eugène
Fréderic Kastner, Member of the Committee for Inventions, Paris,
France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Garrett Tongue
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th March 1873.
I, JOHN GARRETT TONGUE, of the Firm of Tongue & Birkbeck,
Patent Agents & Engineers, of 34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NAMED THE
PYROPHONE," to be as follows:-
The construction of this new or improved musical instrument, named
the pyrophone, is based upon the musical instrument known as the
chemical harmonica.

page_text: b, b, as before stated, are two cocks employed for regulating the jets
of the gas burners which issue from the branches or arms h, h, as shown,
and which can be replaced by the arrangement shown at Figure 6.
h, h, branches of the tube or burner f; w is a glass or china tube or other
suitable vibrating material for producing the musical sound or tone
required; i, i, are india-rubber tubes connecting the branches h, h, to
the gas cocks b, b; j, rod or support of iron, brass, or other material,
of about the same diameter as the branches h, and used as supports at
their points of junction k. This rod also supports or carries the
apparatus shown at Figure 6 (when the cocks b, b, are dispensed with)
and also the rectangular frame 1, shown at Figure 3. The rod j is
screwed to m, which carries or supports the cocks. The frame / encloses
two springs n, n, which bearing on the rod j constantly act to force away
the two jets or burners h, h, so as to keep them apart one from the
other at the lower part and to draw them together at the upper part, the
point / serving as the centre of oscillation, as shown in Figure 1. It is
in the frame that the branches h, h, slide when separated or drawn
together from the central shaft j, according to the action upon the key
corresponding to these branches, which is effected by means of the
mechanism shown at Figure 2. The branches h, h, are not governed in
the same manner as in the pyraphone as at present constructed. The
central shaft or rod j (Figure 4) raises the branches, and it is at each
side of this shaft that the sliding plates o, o, are applied, carrying the
branches, the whole being bound together by a central screw, forming
the point of junction k.
APPARATUS FOR TRANSMISSION OF MOTION, FIG. 2.
The two branches h, h, Figure 2, are united together by a cord or
gut 8, or other material, each end or extremity being jointed to a small
ring p fixed at the lower part of the branches h, h. q is a rod of metal
or other suitable material which slides in a ring, (Figure 1), and is used
when raised to press on the centre of the cord or gut s. When this rod q
rises the branches h, h, recede one from the other at their upper part,
their flames separate, and the vibration of the tube wis thus caused to
produce the sound required. When the rod q is lowered the springs n, n,

page_text: acting on the branches h, h, draw them together at their upper part, and
cause them to recede at their lower part. The rod q is attached at its
lower part to a triangular piece t moving upon a joint u on the base of
the apparatus, the length of the rod q being regulated by a screw v.
x is a horizontal rod connecting the triangular piece t to the triangular 5
piece y moving on the joint z on the base of the apparatus. The length
of the rod x is likewise regulated by screws 1, 2. 3 is a vertical rod,
the lower part of which is connected to the triangular piece y by means of
a screw nut 4 which is used in order to regulate the length of the rod 3.
The upper part of this rod 3 is connected to the key 5 moving on a pin 6. 1
By this arrangement it will be found that by pressing upon the
point 7 of the key it will raise the rod 3, the triangular pieces y, t, will
be actuated so as to raise the rod q to press on the cord or gut s, and
thus separate the upper ends of the branches h, h.
In cases where the movement has to be transmitted to a distance from 1
the key, it is necessary to employ three, four, or more triangular parts,
connected together by rods, as previously described.
Figure 5 shows an arrangement of this character in which 12 is a
transverse horizontal rod 13, 14, moving on axes connected by a rod 15
and lever 16 fixed on the axis at 14.
Another lever 17 fixed on the axis at 13 at right angles with the
lever 16 controls the vertical rod q which presses on the cord or
gut s.
When the key is pressed upon all the various parts assume the
positions indicated to raise the rod q.
2
2
The apparatus employed in order to dispense with the cocks b, b,
employed for regulating the inlet of gas to the branches h, h, consists
simply, as shown at Figure 6, of two small flexible bands 18, 18, of steel
or other suitable material fixed on the central rod j by means of a pin 19.
Between these two bands the india-rubber tubes i, i, pass. By bringing 3
these bands together by means of the screw 20, 20, the india-rubber
tubes are more or less pressed, and by these means the introduction of
gas to the branches h, h, is regulated. The number of the vibrating
tubes w and burners h, h, employed may be varied.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said John Garrett Tongue in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
GARRETT TONGUE, of the Firm of Tongue & Birkbeck, Patent Agents
and Engineers, of 34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Garrett Tongue,
Her special license that I, the said John Garrett Tongue, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Garrett Tongue, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree 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 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NAMED THE PYROPHONE,"
a communication to me from abroad by George Eugène Fréderic
Kastner, Member of the Committee for Inventions, Paris, France, upon
the condition (amongst others), that I, the said John Garrett Tongue,
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 Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the 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 John Garrett Tongue, 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, that is to say:—
The pyrophone is an improved musical instrument based upon the
musical instrument of the description known as the chemical harmonica.

page_text: e, g, is a tube to supply gas to a great number of jets of the apparatus
being mounted on the beam c, d, on the base of the apparatus. To this
tube e, g, the jets shown at Figure 1 are soldered or otherwise fixed.
b, b, as before stated are two cocks employed for regulating the jets of
the gas burners which issue from the branches or arms h, h, as shown,
and which can be replaced by the arrangement shown at Figure 6.
h, h, branches of the tube or burner f. w is a glass or china tube, or
other suitable vibrating material for producing the musical sound or
tone required; i, i, india-rubber tubes connecting the branches h, h, to
the gas cocks b, b; j, rod or support of iron, brass, or other material of
about the same diameter as the branches h, and used as supports at their
points of junction k. This rod also supports or carries the apparatus
shown at Figure 6 (when the cocks b, b, are dispensed with), and also
the rectangular frame 7 shown at Figure 3. The rod j is screwed to m
which carries or supports the cocks. The frame encloses two
springs n, n, which bearing on the rod j constantly act to force away
the two jets or burners h, h, so as to keep them apart one from the other
at the lower part, and to draw them together at the upper part, the
point k serving as the centre of oscillation as shown in Figure 1. It [is
in the frame that the branches h, h, slide when separated or drawn
together from the central shaft j according to the action upon the key
corresponding to these branches which is effected by means of the
mechanism shown at Figure 2. The branches h, h, are not governed in
the same manner as in the pyrophone as at present constructed. The
central shaft or rod ; (Figure 4) raises the branches, and it is at each
side of this shaft that the sliding plates o, o, are applied carrying the
branches, the whole being bound together by a central screw forming
the point of junction k.
In order that the branches h, h, may be kept in the same relative.
11

page_text: fixed at the lower part of the branches h, h. q is a rod of metal or other
suitable material which slides in a ring r (Figure 1), and is used when
raised to press on the centre of the cord or gut 8. When this rod q
rises the branches h, h, recede one from the other at their upper part,
their flames separate, and the vibration of the tube wis thus caused to
produce the sound required. When the rod q is lowered the springs n, n,
acting on the branches h, h, draw them together at their upper part and
cause them to recede at their lower part. The rod q is attached at its
lower part to a triangular picce t moving upon a joint u on the base of
the apparatus, the length of the rod q being regulated by a screw v.
x is a horizontal rod connecting the triangular piece t to the triangular
piece y moving on the joint z on the base of the apparatus. The length
of the rod x is likewise regulated by screws 1, 2. 3 is a vertical rod, the
lower part of which is connected to the triangular piece y by means of
a screw nut 4 which is employed to regulate the length of the rod 3.
The upper part of this rod 3 is connected to the key 5 moving on a pin
at 6. By this arrangement it will be found that by pressing upon the
point 7 of the key it will raise the rod 3, the triangular pieces y, t, will
be actuated so as to raise the rod q to press on the cord or gut s, and
thus actuate the upper ends of the branches h, h.
In cases where the movement has to be transmitted to a distance
from the key it is necessary to employ three, four, or more triangular
parts connected together by rods as previously described.
Figure 5 shows an arrangement of this character in which 12 is a
transverse horizontal rod moving on axes 13, 14, connected by a rod 15
and lever arm 16 fixed on the axis at 14.
Another lever 17 fixed on the axis at 13 at right angles with the
lever 16, controls the vertical rod q which presses on the cord or gut s.
When the key is pressed upon, all the various parts assume the
positions indicated to raise the rod q.
The apparatus employed in order to dispense with the cocks b, b,
employed for regulating the inlet of gas to the branches h, h, consists
simply as shown at Figure 6 of two small flexible bands 18, 18, of steel
or other suitable material fixed on the central rod j by means of a pin 19.
Between these two bands the india-rubber tubes i, i, pass. By bringing
these bands together by means of the screws 20, 20, the india-rubber

page_text: tubes are more or less pressed, and by these means the introduction of
gas to the branches h, h, is regulated. The number of the vibrating
tubes w and burners h, h, employed may be varied.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing or carrying the same into practice, what I claim under the
above in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The improved construction and general combination of parts
constituting the musical instrument named the "pyrophone,” sub-
stantially as herein-before described and shown in the Drawing hereunto
annexed.
Second. The use and application of two flexible bands 18, 18, which
by means of two screws 20 can more or less press or flatten the two
india-rubber tubes which convey the gas to the two gas burners in order
to regulate in these two latter the gas consumed, and thereby dispenso
with the use of stop-cocks, substantially as herein-before described and
shown in reference to Figure 6 of the Drawing hereunto annexed.
Third. The arrangement and combination of two springs n, n, in order
to draw the two branches or gas burners h, h, close together; and of a
cord or gut s or its equivalent, which being lifted by means of a rod is
employed to withdraw or separate one from the other the said branches
or gas burners, this rod q being put in motion when transmitted from
the key, substantially as herein-before described and shewn in reference
to Figures 1, 2, and 3 of the Drawing hereunto annexed.
Fourth. The arrangement and combination of the rods q, x, 3, and of
the levers t, y, for transmitting motion by means of the touch on the
key to the gas burners, as herein-before described and shown in reference
to Figure 2, and also in the manner described and shown in reference to
Figure 5 of the Drawing hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Garrett Tongue, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
JOHN GARRETT TONGUE. (L.S.)