Improvements in Musical Boxes.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Aug., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 8th Oct., 1890-Accepted, 20th Dec., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by LA SOCIÉTÉ ALFRED JUNOD & Co., of St. Croix,
in the Republic of Switzerland, Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Musical Boxes.
I HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a musical box with interchangeable cylinders which can
be manufactured cheaply and enables the said cylinders to be easily exchanged even
during its action without any risk either to the cylinders themselves or to the
comb.
.
The improved musical box constructed according to the aforesaid invention has a
plate carrying two brackets which are open above and adapted to receive the two
journals of the interchangeable cylinders above mentioned. One of these journals
terminates in a knob and the other journal has at its end a crank so arranged that
when the cylinder is held by the said knob and crank it will by reason of its own
weight assume the desired position for presenting the part of its surface which is
not provided with pins in front of the comb when the two journals are placed in
their brackets. The latter are provided with covers the tail pieces of which are
under the action of springs to prevent the two journals leaving the said brackets
untimely.
The spring barrel is placed below the above-mentioned plate in such a manner
that the toothed wheel mounted on the axis of the cylinder will engage directly
with the wheel mounted on the axis of the said barrel when the cylinder is put in
its place in the brackets. The tangential pressure produced by the teeth of the
wheel mounted on the axis of the spring barrel upon the teeth of the wheel mounted
on the axis of the cylinder being horizontal, it will not have any tendency to raise
this cylinder, and the latter will remain in its place even if the covers for
the brackets are not let down, provided that the musical box has been placed in its
normal position.
The wheels of the regulator which are also placed below the above-mentioned
plate, are actuated directly by the wheel on the axis of the spring barrel.
The stoppage of the cylinder on the one hand and of the fly on the other hand is
effected by means of a double armed lever pivoted to the case for the wheels of the
regulator. One arm of this lever is under the action of a spring and its extremity
serves to stop the arm of the fly used. The other arm of the said lever is provided
with a tooth which bears against the flange of the cylinder and engages with the
recess in the flange when the time is finished. For setting the box in operation the
second arm of the said lever is withdrawn by means of its knob thereby disengaging
at the same time its tooth from the said recess and the first arm of the said lever
from the arm of the fly. When the box is to play in a continuous manner, the
second arm of the lever can be kept raised in any suitable manner for instance
simply by the friction it produces in the hole of the plate which it traverses.
The arrangement above described enables the cylinder to be changed even during
the operation of the musical box.
1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Musical Boxes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex 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 invention relates to musical boxes with interchangeable cylinders, which can
be cheaply manufactured and enables the said cylinders to be easily exchanged one
for another, even during its action, without risk”either to the cylinders themselves
or to the comb.
The improved musical box constructed according to the aforesaid invention has
a plate carrying two brackets which are open above and adapted to receive the two
journals of the interchangeable cylinder above mentioned. One of these journals
terminates in a knob and the other journal has at its end a crank so arranged that
when the cylinder is held by the said knob and crank it will by reason of its own
weight assume the desired position for presenting the part of its surface which is not
provided with pins, in front of the comb when the two journals are placed in their
brackets. The latter are provided with covers, the tail pieces of which are held
under the action of springs to prevent the two journals leaving the said brackets.
The spring barrel is placed below the above-mentioned plate in such a manner
that the toothed wheel mounted on the axis of the cylinder will engage directly with
the wheel mounted on the axis of the said barrel when the cylinder is put in its
place in the brackets.
The tangential pressure produced by the teeth of the wheel mounted on the
axis of the spring barrel, upon the teeth of the wheel mounted on the axis of
the cylinder being horizontal it will not have any tendency to raise this cylinder,
and the latter will remain in its place even if the covers for the brackets are not
let down, provided that the musical box has been placed in its normal position.
The wheels of the regulator, which are also placed below the above-mentioned
plate, are actuated directly by the wheel on the axis of the spring, barrel.
The stoppage of the cylinder on the one hand and of the fly on the other hand is
effected by means of a double armed lever pivoted to the case for the wheels of the
regulator. One arm of this lever is under the action of a spring and its extremity
serves to stop the arm of the fly when desired. The other arm of the said lever is
provided with a tooth which bears against the flange of the cylinder and engages
with the recess in the flange when the time is finished. For setting the box in
operation the second arm of the said lever is withdrawn by means of its knob,
thereby disengaging at the same time its tooth from the said recess and the first
arm of the said lever from the arm of the fly. When the box is to play in a con-
tinuous manner the second arm of the lever can be kept raised in any suitable manner
for instance simply by the friction it produces in the hole of the plate through which
it passes.
The arrangement above described enables the cylinder to be changed even during
the operation of the musical box.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a plan view of a musical box constructed according to this invention.
Figure 2 represents one of the interchangeable cylinders of the same.
Figure 3 is a side elevation when looking from right to left in Figure 1, and
Figure 4 is a section through X Y looking from left to right in Figure 1.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.
A is the base-plate carrying the brackets B and C which receive the journals D
and E of the cylinder F. The journal E has a knob e and the journal 1 a crank d
for the purpose above specified. b and c are the catches for holding the journals D
and E in their bearings, the said catches are acted upon by springs and c¹. Gis
the spring barrel having a toothed wheel G¹ which engages with a toothed wheel H

page_text: of the cylinder F. J, J is a double-armed lever having its fulcrum at i. The
arm Jis acted upon by a spring K and serves to catch the arm of the fly L.
A projection on the arm Ji bears upon the flange of the cylinder F and
engages the notch when the tune is finished.
To cause the musical box to play the button of the arm is raised and this
causes at the same time the projection on the arm J" to release the notch f' and
the arm to release the arm of the fly L.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is :-
First. In a musical box the combination of a cylinder having its journals turning
in open brackets, with a spring barrel arranged below the cylinder so that the said
cylinder may be driven by the toothed wheel on the spring barrel without lifting
the said cylinder out of its brackets, the latter being provided or not with safety-
catches, substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Second. In a musical box a spring barrel the toothed wheel of which acts directly
upon the movers of the fly-regulator, substantially as shown.
C
Third. In a musical box, the combination of the brackets B and C, with the
catches and having springs b and c acting upon the tail-pieces of said catches.
Fourth. In a musical box the combination of the cylinder F with a stop-lever .J²
having a projection f3 bearing upon the edge of the flange, and falling into a
notch of said flange when the tune is finished, substantially as shown and
described.
Dated this 8th day of October 1890.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.