Improvements in and relating to Automatic or Mechanical Musical Instruments.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Oct., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 6th Nov., 1889-Accepted, 22nd Feb., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by ROBERT WILLIARD PAIN, of the City and State of
New York, United States of America, Inventor.]
Improvements in and relating to Automatic or Mechanical Musical
Instruments.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co. Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
This improvement relates to musical instruments of the kind commonly known as
mechanical or automatic musical instruments and in which the sound producing
devices are controlled by a travelling music sheet, card or tablet, which commonly
acts as a valve or operates valves through which air is admitted to or excluded from
devices causing the speaking of the sound producers.
This improvement is specially applicable to a pianoforte.
In an instrument embodying my improvement electro magnets are employed to
effect the speaking of the sound producers, a number of electric circuits corre-
sponding to the number of electro magnets terminate in electrodes or contacts
located adjacent to a number of pneumatic motors corresponding to the number of
electro magnets and electric circuits, ducts extend from the pneumatic motors to a
rest or tracker and over the rest or tracker passes a music sheet, card or tablet,
which at the proper times admits the passage through the ducts, of air for operating
the pneumatic motors so that they will close the electrodes or contacts of the circuits
and energize the electro magnets.
Preferably the pneumatic motors will be arranged in a chambor, or wind-chest as
it is ordinarily called, communicating with suction bellows and pins will extend
through the bottom of such chamber from the pneumatic motors to the contact pieces
or electrodes. When this construction is adopted, the motors will be expanded upon
the passage of air through the perforations of the music sheet and through the ducts
to the motors and when the imperforate portions of the music sheet preclude the
passage of air through the ducts, springs will collapse the motors and allow of the
separation of the contacts or electrodes. The pins just mentioned may be uncon-
nected either with the pneumatic motors or the adjacent contacts. Commonly the
adjacent contacts will be made in the form of springs which will separate from the
opposite contacts and when so made of springs, they may serve to support the pins
and to collapse the motors when the air is cut off from them.
It will be advantageous to provide manual keys in order that the instrument can
be played manually and when manual keys are employed, there will preferably be
arranged beneath them, levers having the armatures of the electro-magnets attached
to them. Then provision will be afforded in a very simple way for playing the
instrument either manually or mechanically or automatically.
Preferably a musical instrument fitted with my improvement, will also have an
electro-magnetic motor for operating the bellows and this motor will be provided
with a regulator.
The music sheet, card or tablet, may advantageously be propelled by a wind motor
operated through the bellows.
1000

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Automatic or Mechanical Musical
Instruments.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
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 improvement relates to musical instruments of the kind commonly known as
mechanical or automatic musical instruments and in which the sound producing
devices are controlled by a travelling music sheet, card or tablet, which commonly
acts as a valve or operates valves through which air is admitted to or excluded from
devices causing the speaking of the sound producers.
This improvement is specially applicable to a pianoforte.
In an instrument embodying my improvement electro-magnets are employed to
effect the speaking of the sound producers, a number of electric circuits corresponding
to the number of electro-magnets terminate in electrodes or contacts located adjacent
to a number of pneumatic motors corresponding to the number of electro-magnets
and electric circuits, ducts extend from the pneumatic motors to a rest or tracker and
over the rest or tracker passes a music sheet, card or tablet, which at the proper
time admits the passage through the ducts, of air for operating the pneumatic motors
so that they will close the electrodes or contacts of the circuits and energize the
electro-magnets.
Preferably the pneumatic motors will be arranged in a chamber, or wind-chest as
it is ordinarily called, communicating with suction bellows and pins will extend
through the bottom of such chamber from the pneumatic motors to the contact pieces
or electrodes. When this construction is adopted, the motors will be expanded upon
the passage of air through the perforations of the music sheet and through the ducts
to the motors and when the imperforate portions of the music sheet preclude the
passage of air through the ducts, springs will collapse the motors. and allow of the
separation of the contacts or electrodes. The pins just mentioned may be unconnected
either with the pneumatic motors or the adjacent contacts. Commonly tlie adjacent
contacts will be made in the form of springs which will separate from the opposite
contacts and when so made of springs, they may serve to support the pins and to
collapse the motors when the air is cut off from them.
It will be advantageous to provide manual keys in order that the instrument can
be played manually and when manual keys are employed, there will preferably be
arranged beneath them, levers having the armatures of the electro-magnets attached
to them. Then provision will be afforded in a very simple way for playing the
instrument either manually or mechanically or automatically.
Preferably a musical instrument fitted with my improvement, will also have an
electro-magnetic motor for operating the bellows and this motor will be provided with
a regulator.
The music sheet, card or tablet, may advantageously be propelled by a wind motor
operated through the bellows.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of a musical instrument
embodying my improvement, the front of the case being removed, and certain of the
parts being omitted. Figure 2 is a vertical section of a portion of this musical
instrument upon a larger scale, the plane of the section being transversely to the
length of the instrument. Figure 3 is an enlarged back view of a wind motor
comprised in said instrument, the back of said wind motor being removed. Figure 4
is a vertical section of the wind motor taken on the plane of the dotted line ax
Figure 3.
A designates the strings of a pianoforte. B designates one of the hammers. The
hammers may form part of any suitable pianoforte action. For this reason, I have
not deemed it necessary to illustrate the action. It will be sufficient to add that the

page_text: hammers are actuated through rods C, which are here shown as capable of being
moved upwardly by keys D. The keys D may be of the kind usually employed in
pianofortes. They are fulcrumed between their ends upon a rail D₁ and held in
position thereon by pins D: The forward ends of these keys are normally raised as
usual.
What I have thus far said applies only to the operation of the instrument
manually. The instrument can also be operated automatically. In the present
instance, the automatic operation is effected through the keys D; rods E being
arranged under the rear ends of the keys and being adapted when moved upwardly
to raise the rear ends of the keys and in that manner force upwardly the rods C,
just as these rods C would be forced up under the action of the keys D if the latter
were operated manually.
The rods E are impelled upwardly by levers F arranged beneath the key block,
and extending in the same or substantially the same direction as the keys. These
levers F are fulcrumed between their ends. At the rear end they extend under the
rods E. At the forward end they have attached to them armatures G₁ of electro-
magnets, G.
There will be one of these electro-magnets, G, a corresponding
armature G¹, a lever F and a rod E for each of tho keys D. It will be readily seen
that when any electro-magnet G attracts its armature G³, the forward end of the
corresponding lever F will be depressed and the rear end of such lever raised, and
that through this action of this lever, the corresponding rod E will be moved upwardly
and will cause the elevation of the corresponding rod C, and, consequently,, the
operation of a hammer B.
I will hereafter describe the manner in which an electric current is supplied to
the magnets G. I will first make clear how any one of the bammers may be operated
mechanically or automatically. In Figure 2, I have represented a battery in circuit
with the electro-magnet, and electric circuit wires WW2, extending to metallic
contact pieces P¹ P. Of course there need not be a separate battery for each circuit
which includes a magnet. The contact pieces P' P2, are shown as arranged in a
chamber H. From the chamber H, pins P³ extend upwardly into a wind chest I.
In this wind chest I are a number of pneumatic motors J. Ducts a in the top of the
wind chest communicate with the interior of these motors, and pipes al extend from
the ducts a to ducts a² in a tracker board K. It must be understood that there
will be a pneumatic motor for each magnet G, and hence for each hammer B, and
that each pneumatic motor operates in conjunction with one duct a, pipe a', and
duct a², of the tracker board. K.
Over the tracker board, K, a music sheet, L, passes. This is provided with per-
forations representing a musical composition. When a perforation passes over one
of the ducts a in the tracker board'air is admitted through such duct of the tracker
board, the corresponding pipe a¹ and communicating duct a to the corresponding
pneumatic motor J. On the admission of air in this manner to such pneumatic
motor the latter will expand and move the corresponding pin P³ downwardly so
that it will force the adjacent contact piece P¹ against the opposite contact piece P².
The electric circuit wires WW2 connecting with these contact pieces will thus be
.put into electrical communication. The electric current will then flow through the
coils of the magnet G. with which such circuit wires are in communication. The
magnet being energized attracts its armature, oscillating the corresponding lever F,
moving its rod E and the corresponding key I) so as to actuate one of the hammers B.
The air is exhausted from the pneumatic motors by leaking out of the same in a
manner common to such pneumatic motors.
A small hole will be provided for this purpose through the movable board and will
allow the air to leak out as soon as the music sheet cuts off the supply of air because
the spring pressure collapsing the motor will force the air out.
The music sheet before playing is wound upon what is called a music roller and is
attached to what is termed a take up roller. During the playing it is unwound from
the music roller and wound upon the take up roller, after it is unwound from the
music roller.

page_text: Motion is imparted to the music sheet by a wind motor M. consisting of a number
of bellows like chambers connected to a crank shaft N. From this crank shaft
motion is transmitted by a belt N' to a shaft N which is connected with the rollers
of the music sheet in any suitable manner so that motion will be imparted by it to
them in reverse directions. The mechanism for transmitting motion from the
shaft N2 to the music sheet rollers is of ordinary kind and hence I will not further
describe it. I will defer a detailed description of the wind motor for the present as
it is my aim now to give a general understanding of the instrument as a whole. I
will merely add at the present time that the chambers of the motor are collapsed by
establishing communication through a pipe O with an equalizer O'. This equalizer
has combined with it a number of suction bellows 0%
These suction bellows are operated by a shaft O3 which is provided with cranks
that are connected by Pitman rods O with the movable boards of the said
bellows 02.
The equalizer O' communicates through a pipe O' with a chamber I which is in
communication with the wind chest 1. I designates a valve which may be operated
to control communication between the chamber 1 and the wind chest I. This valve
is intended to cut off communication between the equalizer O' and the wind chest I
while the music sheet is being rewound upon the music roller so that the sound
producing devices will be prevented from speaking during this time. The rod 1³
which is connected with this valve is also connected with the mechanisn which
changes the driving of the rollers so as to reverse the travelling of the music sheet.
The shaft 03 which operates the bellows is driven by an electro-magnetic
motor, a belt R being employed to connect the shaft of this motor with said
shaft O
It will be seen by reference to Figure 1 that the electro-magnets G are connected
in multiple arc and that the wires W W are branches from main wires W³ W,
. which connect them with a battery W or other source of electricity.
It may be found most convenient to employ a primary charging or secondary
storage battery. It will also be seen that the electric motor Q is in communication
with the source of electricity W by means of two wires W6 W7 and that these wires
are so arranged with relation to the wires which are in communication with the
magnets as to be connected in multiple arc therewith.
S designates resistances. I have shown four of them. The first is connected at
one end with a contact piece s' and at the other end with a contact pieces. The
second is connected at one end with the contact pieces and at the other end with
a contact piece s³. The third is connected at one end with the contact piece³
and at the other end with a contact pieces. The fourth is connected at one end
with the contact pieces and at the other end with a contact piece s. The wire W
is interrupted, one end being connected to the contact piece 8 and the other end
to a metallic switch lever WB; therefore, by shifting the switch on to the different
contact pieces ¹², the resistance in the circuit extending to the electric
motor may be varied. For instance, if the switch lever contacts with the piece s
none of the resistances S will be in circuit, if the switch lever be shifted into
contact with the piece s, all the resistances will be in circuit and if the switch lever
be shifted onto any of the intermediate contact pieces more or less of the whole
number of resistances may be introduced into the circuit of the electric motor. In
this way the operation of the electric motor may be regulated.
The wind motor may be regulated by any suitable valve as for instance by a
valve combined with the pipe O and serving to enlarge or diminish the
communication of the wind motor with the equalizer.
The switch lever Ws and the valve 06 may be operated by the application of the
hand directly to them or they may be connected with suitable pull pieces arranged
in the position of the stops of an organ if this be deemed more convenient.
The combination of the electric motor and the wind motor is very advantageous
in an instrument of this kind. As the electric motor will supply abundant power
for the proper operation of the hammers and will also effect the operation of the

page_text: hammers with that alacrity which is desirable, and the wind motor will operate the
music sheet with such facility for regulation as will afford abundant opportunity for
giving expression to the playing.
I will now add to the description of the wind motor H. It is composed as here.
shown (see particularly Figs. 3 and 4) of the four collapsible and expansible bellows.
like chambers m² m² m³ m². These chambers have no valves but in other respects.
are like an ordinary bellows. The chamber m² is below and in line with the
chamber m', and the movable appurtenances of these two chambers are integral, hence
when one is rocked by the collapsing of the bellows the other will be rocked in the
reverse direction. The chambers m³ m' bear the same relation to each other as do.
the chambers m¹ m².
The chambers m² m² m² m² communicate severally through a port M with a.
chamber m which is connected with a port m that is in communication with the.
pipe O.
Valves n' n² n³ n' control the communication of the chambers m² m² m³ m², with
the chamber m. The valves ¹n are connected together by a piece n³ and the
valves n³ n' are connected together by a piece n°.
The movable boards of the chambers m¹ m³ are connected by Pitman rods of o³ with.
the cranks of the shaft N. These cranks are reversely set. The Pitman rod o¹ is
connected by a link pl with the valve n¹. The Pitman rod o³ is connected by a.
link på with the valve n³. A glance at the ducts m, the chamber m³, the chambers m
m2 mm, the valves n¹n n³n, the cranks of the shaft N and the connections between
the cranks and said valves will show that communication will be established suc-
cessively between the different chambers m¹ m² m³ m². Thus successive impulses will.
be imparted to the crank shaft M.
It will be observed that the metallic contact pieces P¹ support pins P³ which extend.
between them and the bellows. These contact pieces P' are made of springs.
It will be understood that the resistance coils and switch which I have described.
constitute a regulator for the electro-magnetic motor Q.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is :
1. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of electrio:
circuits, electro-magnets serving to produce the notes, opposite contacts for said.
electric circuits, pneumatic motors coacting with certain of the contacts, a tracker
communicating with said motors, and a music sheet, card or tablet, substantially as.
specified.
2. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of electric
circuits, electro-magnets serving to produce the notes, opposite contacts comprised in
such electric circuits, pneumatic motors, pins extending between the pneumatic
motors, and certain of the contacts, the last named contacts serving to support the
motors, a tracker communicating with said motors and a music sheet, card or tablet,
substantially as specified.
3. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of electric
circuits, electro-magnets serving to produce the notes, pairs of contact pieces
comprised in such electric circuits, pneumatic motors, pins extending between the
pneumatic motors and certain contact pieces of the pairs, such contact pieces serving
to support the motor, a tracker communicating with said motor and a music sheet,
card or tablet, substantially as specified.
4. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of electric
circuits, electro-magnets serving to produce the notes, pairs of contact pieces.
comprised in such electric circuits, pneumatic motors, a wind chest in which such
pneumatic motors are arranged, pins extending between and supported by the contact
pieces of the pairs, pneumatic motors contacting with said pins, a tracker com-
municating with said motors and a music sheet, card or tablet, substantially as
specified.

page_text: 5. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of electric
circuits, electro-magnets serving to produce the notes, pairs of contact pieces com-
prised in such electric circuits, pneumatic motors, pins extending between the
pneumatic motors and certain contact pieces of the pairs, such contact pieces serving
to support the pins and collapse the motors when these are not otherwise actuated,
a tracker communicating with said motors and a music sheet, card or tablet,
substantially as specified.
6. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of a tracker
board, a music sheet, card or tablet, pneumatic motors communicating with the
tracker board, a wind chest in which such motors are arranged, exhaust bellows com-
municating with such wind chest, electric circuits, pairs of contact pieces for the
several electric circuits, pins extending from the motors to certain contact pieces of
the several pairs and electro-magnets in the circuits and serving to produce the notes,
the said pins being moved in one direction in the extension of the motors through the
admission of atmospheric air to them and moved in the other direction by the contact
pieces upon which they rest, substantially as specified.
7. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of sound
producing devices, manual keys for operating the same, electro-magnets, levers
carrying the armatures of said magnets and arranged beneath the keys, pins extend-
ing between the levers and the keys, electric circuits connected to the magnets, pairs
of contact pieces for the several circuits, pneumatic motors arranged above the keys,
a tracker board and a music sheet, card or tablet also arranged above the keys, the
said motors operating the said contact pieces, substantially as specified.
8. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of sound
producing devices, electro-magnets for operating the same, electric circuits con-
nected with the magnets, contact pieces connected with the circuits, pneumatic
motors for operating the contact pieces, bellows for effecting the operation of the
pneumatic motors, an electro-magnetic motor for operating the bellows, a tracker
communicating with the pneumatic motors, a music sheet, card or tablet for con-
trolling the pneumatic motors and a wind motor operated by the bellows and
effecting the travel of the music sheet, substantially as specified.
9. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of sound
producing devices, electro-magnets for operating the same, electric circuits con-
nected with the magnets, contact pieces connected with the circuits, pneumatic
motors for operating the contact pieces, bellows for effecting the operation of the
pneumatic motors, an electro-magnetic motor for operating the bellows, a regulator
for the electro-magnetic motor, a tracker communicating with the pneumatic
motors, a music sheet, card or tablet for controlling the pneumatic motors and a
wind motor operated by the bellows and effecting the travel of the music sheet,
substantially as specified.
10. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of sound
producing. devices, electro-magnets for operating the same, electric circuits connected
with the magnets, contact pieces connected with the circuits, pneumatic motors for
operating the contact pieces, bellows for effecting the operation of the pneumatic
motors, an electric motor for operating the bellows, a tracker communicating with
the pneumatic motors, a music sheet, card or tablet for controlling the pneumatic
motors, a wind motor operated by the bellows and effecting the travel of the music
sheet and a regulating valve for controlling the wind motor, substantially as specified.
11. In an automatic or mechanical musical instrument, the combination of the
collapsible and expansible chambers comprised in a wind motor and arranged in pairs
having integral movable boards forming levers, bellows, and valves controlling the
communication of the said collapsible and expansible chambers with the said bellows,
substantially as specified.
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.