Improvements in Harps.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in Harps.
I, GUSTAVE FRANTZ LYON, of 22, Rue Rochechouart, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be
as follows:-
My present invention relates to improvements in harps of the kind described
in the Specification of Letters Patent No. 6721 bearing date the 15th March A.D.
1897 and it has for its object to provide improved means for attaching the
strings of a harp to its frame.
In an ordinary harp the strings are attached at their upper ends to pegs
in the hollow head and at their lower ends they pass through holes in the sounding
board and are secured to hooks on the back frame of the harp as described in
the Specification of my aforesaid Patent. The portion of the string between
the sounding board and the hooks is very short, the strings are but slightly
extensible and the sounding board too rigid. My present invention has for
its object to impart greater extensibility to the strings and more elasticity to
the sounding board whereby the sound yielding properties of the instrument
are much increased. To effect this, instead of attaching the strings directly to
the hooks,, I interpose a spiral spring, attaching one end thereof to the hook
and the other end thereof to the string. By this means the string is rendered
more extensible and, by reason of its friction in the hole in the sounding board,
it exerts, when it is vibrated, a certain tractive power on the sounding board
causing it to become more elastic, and the string acts as though attached directly
to the sounding board.
The
I can make the tension or tractive power of the string on the sounding board
capable of being regulated by attaching to the upper end of the spring an
abutment piece, or head, the upper surface of which may be hemispherical. It
is provided with a hole through which the end of the string is passed.
dimensions of the spring are made such that when it is placed in position the
said abutment piece or head abuts against the sounding board opposite to the
opening therein through which the string passes. Or I may lessen the number
of springs by employing an arrangement in which the strings are fastened
directly to the sounding board by any suitable means as for example by pegs
inserted in holes in the sounding board through which the strings also pass.
The springs are fixed in this case between the sounding board and the back frame
of the harp thus connecting these two parts, being attached at their lower ends
for example to hooks on the said frame, and at their upper ends to the sounding
board by passing through holes formed therein parallel to the direction of the
strings, each spring being held by a milled nut screwing onto the upper end
thereof which is provided with a thread for that purpose, the said nut bearing
on a block by means of which the tension of the spring can be regulated. Or
the connections may be reversed the screw nut being mounted under the frame
and the hook on the table, or the springs may be fixed at each end to the table

page_text: and frame respectively the tension regulating device being placed between the
two,
Dated this 28th dox of March 1899
Improvements in Harps.
I, GUSTAVE FRANTZ LYON, of 22, Rue Rochechouart, Paris, in the Republic of
France, 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:-
My present invention relates to improvements in harps of the kind described
in the Specification of Letters Patent No. 6721 bearing date the 15th March A.D.
1897 and it has for its object to provide improved means for attaching the
strings of a harp to its frame.
I will describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings
in which Figure 1 shews at a db the old method of attachment of a string
to the sound box and at a d b the method of attachment of a string to the
sound box according to my present invention and Figure 2 shews a modification
of the attachment according to my said invention. Figure 3 shews a further
modified arrangement hereinafter described.
In an ordinary harp the strings are attached at their upper ends to pegs
in the head and at their lower ends they pass through holes in the sounding
board and are secured to hooks on the back frame of the harp as described in
the Specification of my aforesaid Patent, each string passing through a hole
made through the sounding board e and strengthening bars f. This is shewn
at a in Figure 1. The portion of the string between the sounding
board e and the hooks (6) is very short, the strings are but slightly extensible
and the sounding board too rigid. My present invention has for its object to
impart greater extensibility to the strings and more elasticity to the sounding
board whereby the sound yielding properties of the instrument are much increased.
To effect this instead of attaching the strings directly to the hooks as shewn at b
Figure 1 I interpose a spiral spring g attaching one end thereof to the hook b
and the other end thereof to the string a. By this means the string is rendered
more extensible and by reason of its friction in the hole d it exerts when it
is vibrated a certain tractive power on the sounding board causing it to become
more elastic, and the string acts as though attached directly to the sounding
board.
I can make the tension or tractive power of the string on the sounding board
capable of being regulated by using the modification shewn in Figure 2. In
this arrangement I attach to the upper end of the spring an abutment piece
or head the upper surface of which may be hemispherical. It is provided with
a hole through which the end of the string is passed. The dimensions of the
spring are made such that when it is placed in position the said abutment piece
or head at the end thereof, which is opposite to the opening in the sounding
board through which the string passes, should be at a distance from the said
opening less than that which can be produced by the elongation of the spring
under the action of the string: the said head will consequently bear against
the underside of the sounding board with a force proportional to the available
fraction of elongation of the spring.

page_text: In this manner the strain of each string on the sounding board can be regulated
to any fraction of its tension while still possessing the same elasticity as is
obtained by the arrangement described with reference to Figure 1. Or I may
lessen the number of springs by employing the arrangement shewn in Figure 3
in which the strings a are fastened directly to the sounding board e by any
suitable means as for example by pegs 1 inserted in holes d in the said sounding
board through which the strings also pass.
The springs 9 are fastened in this case between the sounding board and the
back frame of the harp thus connecting these two parts together being attached
at their lower, ends for example to hooks b on the said frame e and at their
upper ends to the sounding board e by passing through holes formed therein
parallel to the direction of the strings, each spring being held by a milled nut m
screwing onto the upper end of the said spring which is provided with a
thread for that purpose the said nut bearing on a block n by means of
which the tension of the spring can be regulated. Or the connections may
be reversed the screw nut being mounted under the frame and the hook on
the sounding board. or the springs may be fixed at each end to the sounding board
and frame respectively the tension regulating device being placed between the
two.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. An improved means for attaching the strings of a harp to its frame con-
sisting in interposing between the sounding board and the part carrying the
hooks spiral springs secured at their outer ends to the said hooks and at their
inner ends to the lower ends of the corresponding strings substantially as and
for the purpose described and shewn in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings,
2. In harps having their strings attached with interposed springs the modified
arrangement regulating the strain exerted by the strings on the sounding
board consisting in an abutment piece or head the upper surface of which may
be hemispherical placed between the end of each string and its corresponding
spring, the said piece abutting against the sounding board substantially as
hereinbefore described and shewn in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings.
3. In harps with strings attached in the manner claimed in the First Claim
the modified arrangement consisting in attaching the strings directly to the said
sounding board and connecting the latter to the frame by means of springs and
means for regulating the tension of the said springs substantially as and for
the purpose herein before described and shewn by way of example in Figure 3
of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 11th day of December 1899.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.