Improvements in Engraving Music and the like.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Aug., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 11th Mar., 1892-Accepted, 14th May, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Engraving Music and the like.
I, CHARLES ALISON KER, of 87 Union Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Music
Engraver, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to certain improvements in engraving music and the like
and it has for its object to improve and simplify the apparatus and methods
heretofore used.
Music engraving has, usually, heretofore been done by punching out the music
characters on a white metal or copper plate, I however prefer to use zinc which is
much cheaper but is in its ordinary condition very hard to punch. To overcome
this difficulty I heat the zinc plate while it is being punched. The heating renders
the plate soft and easily punched. The heating may be done by means of steam,
hot water, hot air, gas jets or equivalent arranged underneath the table on which
the plate is placed.
With revolving tables, on which plates to be punched or engraved with music
are placed, I, under this invention, arrange a regulating screw and an index
whereby the lines or strokes to indicate the different notes, such as quavers semi-
quavers &c., can be drawn on the plate, with the stylus of the machine, to a nicety.
The regulating screw consists of a screwed spindle carried on a bearing on the
machine and having on it a movable slide or nut to guide the stylus. The wheel
handle of the screw has a number of holes in its periphery which are spaced at
equal distances apart from one another. Into one of these holes fits a pin or index
finger carried on a hinged or other arm secured to the machine. This index finger
is made adjustable in the arm by means of a small screw. By turning the wheel
handle of the spindle so many holes and clamping it into position by the index,
lines can be gauged any required distance apart. To enable a certain angle to be
given to be lines the revolving table which has a number of holes in it, is turned
round with the plate, and, by means of a finger, which catches in one of the holes,
is clamped in position. A suitable clamping screw may be used instead of the
finger.
When engraving music in accordance with the method set forth in the Specifi-
cation of my prior Patent No. 940789 I find it advantageous to use a pattern sheet
of paper on which the notes are written or pencilled and to use small zinc stencils
or patterns of the required form which are placed over the written notes and the
tracer or stylus is then drawn over the pattern or stencil so as to give the proper
shape to the note on the engraving plate. This method results in a great saving of
time so that no punching is required.
Dated this 11th day of August 1891.
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
Glasgow and London, Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Engraving Music and the like.
1, CHARLES ALISON KER, of 87 Union Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Music
Engraver, 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 certain improvements in engraving music and the like

page_text: and it has for its object to improve and simplify the apparatus and methods,
heretofore used.
Music engraving has, usually, heretofore been done by punching out the music
characters on a white metal or copper plate. I, however, prefer to use zinc which
is much cheaper, but, is, in its ordinary condition, very hard to punch. To over-
come this difficulty I heat the zinc plate while it is being punched. The heating
renders the plate soft and easily punched. The heating may be done by means of
steam, hot water, hot air, gas jets or equivalent arranged underneath the table on
which the plate is placed.
With revolving tables on which plates to be punched or engraved with music are
placed, I, under this invention, arrange a regulating screw and an index whereby
the lines or strokes to indicate the different notes such as quavers, semiquavers &c.,
can be drawn on the plate, with the stylus of the machine, to a nicety. The
regulating screw consists of a screwed spindle carried on a bearing on the machine
and having on it a movable slide or nut to guide the stylus. The wheel handle
of the screw has a number of holes in its periphery which are spaced at equal
distances apart from one another. Into one of these holes fits a pin or index finger
carried on a hinged or other arm secured to the machine. This index finger is
inade adjustable in the arm by means of a small screw. By turning the wheel
handle of the spindle so many holes and clamping it into position by the index,
lines can be gauged any required distance apart. To enable a certain angle to be
given to be lines the revolving table, which has a number of holes in it, is turned
round with the plate, and by means of a finger, which catches in one of the holes,
is clamped in position. A suitable clamping screw may be used instead of the
finger.
When engraving music in accordance with the method set forth in the Specifi-
cation of my prior Patent No. 94079 I find it advantageous to use a pattern sheet
of paper on which the notes are written or pencilled and to use small zinc stencils
or patterns of the required form which are placed over the written notes and the
tracer or stylus is then drawn over the pattern or stencil so as to give the proper
shape to the note on the engraving plate. This method results in a great saving of
time so that no punching is required.
And in order that my said invention may be properly understood, I have hereunto
appended an explanatory sheet of drawings, whereon:
Fig. 1 is a plan view of an engraving machine, of the construction described in
the Specification of my prior Patent No. 6835 of 1891, and having my present
improvements applied thereto.
Fig. 2 is a side view of the regulating screw.
Fig. 3 is a back view, and
Fig. 4 a side view of the index.
Fig. 5 is an enlarged back view of the index.
Fig. 6 is a part sectional view of the table of the machine, and showing the
method of heating the same.
Fig. 7 is a side view of a finger catch, for holding the revolving table in
position.
Referring to the drawings, whereon the same reference letters, wherever repeated,
indicate similar or like parts :-
6:
A is the table of an engraving machine of the construction described in the
Specification of my prior Patent No. 6835 of 1891. B is the revolving table for
holding the plate to be operated on. C is a gas tube, having burners C³, (Fig. 6),
for heating the revolving table. The flames from the gas burners, which are,
preferably, Bunsen" ones, play on the underside of the revolving table, and heat
it and the zinc plate, which is placed on the table, sufficiently to soften said plate,
so that the punching of the notes and characters can easily be performed. The
revolving table B has a number of holes E around its periphery. These holes are
spaced at equal distances apart from one another. When it is required to lock the
revolving table in any desired position, the catch F, which is hinged to a bracket G,

page_text: and has a finger F¹ in it, is brought down, so that the finger F (see Fig. 7) sinks
into one of the holes E and retains or locks the table in position. When the
catch F is lifted out of the hole, and laid back, the table can, of course, be revolved.
The revolving of the table with the zinc or other pattern plate on it, enables lines
to be drawn on the pattern plate at any desired angle, without altering the position
of the plate itself, or the line of travel of the sliding bar H and stylus or cutter H'
of the machine.
I is the regulating screw. It is carried in bearings L and L', secured to the
table A. Its outer end, from the bearing L¹, is screwed, as shown at 1¹. The
screwed part I passes through a tapped slide or bearing J. This bearing, which
is free to slide on the table A, catches against and bears on the side of the travelling
bar H. There may be two bearings J, one at each side of the bar H, if so desired.
On the drawings, I have only indicated one bearing. On the opposite end of the
regulating screw from the bearing J, is fitted a wheel handle K. The wheel K
has in its periphery a number of holes K', which are spaced at a certain distance
apart from each other. Into any one of these holes the index finger or point N,
which is carried adjustably in a hinged arm M, secured to the table, can be made
to enter. The index N can be travelled up and down in a slot O, cut out of the
arm M (see the enlarged view at Fig. 5). The back of the index finger projects
through the slot, and is secured in place by a nut N' and washer N2 P is a small
adjusting screw, which passes down through the top of the arm M and through
the back of the finger N. P1, P2, are collars, fitted on the screw P. By turning
the screw P in one or other direction, the finger N can be raised or lowered in the
slot O.
As each space between the holes K¹ represents a certain amount of travel of the
screw I, it follows that, when the wheel handle K is turned through an arc,
represented by a certain number of the holes K', the sliding bar H will be travelled
or pushed in a lateral direction, through a space, corresponding to the number of
holes K' in the arc, through which the wheel K has been turned. When the bar H
has been travelled through the desired space, by the turning of the screw I, the
index finger is pushed into one of the holes, so as to retain the screw firmly in
position. The sliding bar H can now be drawn outwards towards the end of the
table, and a perfectly straight line be cut on the pattern plate, as the bearing J
keeps the sliding bar H steady. The holes K' in the wheel K, are, when music is
being engraved, preferably so placed, that the spaces between them will correspond
to the spaces, required to be left between the lines in the stave, or between each
stroke forming the tails of the notes, so that when it is desired to draw the lines,
say, of the stave, the wheel K is turned round a hole K', then clamped in position
by the index N and a line drawn. The wheel is then again turned round another
hole, and another line drawn, and so on until the five lines of the stave are drawn
on the plate.
Instead of using a zinc or other metal pattern sheet for the process described in
my prior Patent No. 940789, I may use a pattern sheet of thick paper or cardboard,
on which the music is written or pencilled. When tracing the notes in the panto-
graph machine, small zinc stencils or patterns of the required shape, are placed
over the written notes, and the tracer or stylus of the machine is then drawn over
the pattern or stencil, so as to give the proper shape to the note on the engraving
plate. By using cardboard sheets and stencils, the necessity for punching out the
notes on a plate, is obviated.
Instead of heating the table B, and plate thereon, by means of gas jets, steam,
hot water or hot air pipes may be arranged below the table for this purpose.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of
my
said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that
what I claim is :-
1. In a machine of the class set forth, the application and use of the regulating
screw I, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

page_text: 2. The combination with the regulating screw I, of the index M, N, substantially
as described and shown on the annexed drawings.
3. In machines for engraving music and the like, a revolving table B, having
holes E around its periphery, and a finger catch (F,) which enters one of the holes
and retains the table firmly in position, substantially as hereinbefore described, with
reference to the drawings annexed.
4. In machines for engraving music and such like, heating the plate being
operated on, substantially in the manner and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth.
Dated this 10th day of March 1892.
H. D. FITZPATRICK,
London and Glasgow, Agent.