Improvements in Coin-freed Musical Instruments.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Apr., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 10th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 8th Apr., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin-freed Musical Instruments.
I, ERNST MAHLKE, of 62 Ringbahnstrasse, Tempelhof, near Berlin, in the
Empire of Germany, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
In musical boxes and the like, in which the notes are produced by a barrel
provided with pins working in conjunction with a steel-comb, the barrel is generally
arranged to play several tunes or musical pieces (hereinafter referred to as tunes).
and is, after a tune has been finished, automatically displaced by means of its clock-
work in order that on the next actuation of the instrument another tune shall be
played. This succession of the various tunes is definitely fixed; so that the person
dropping a coin into the apparatus is compelled to put up with the tune about to be
played, whatever it may be, there being no possibility of selection.
Now the object of my invention, is to construct a coin-freed musical instrument
in such a manner that a person shall, be able to cause the instrument to play any
desired tune or musical piece of those for which it is arranged, thereby obviating
the above mentioned inconveniences.
For this purpose I provide the instrument with as many coin-slots as the tunes
that each barrel is adapted to play and I arrange that the barrel shall be displaced
axially by the wheel-work not through a fixed succession of equally long spaces,
but through spaces of different lengths, the arrangement being such that the drum
can from its position of rest be displaced on the insertion of a coin, so as to play
the second, third, fourth, or any other desired tune without playing the intermediate
tunes, and so that after the tune selected by the hearer has been played, the barrel
will move back into its position of rest, to be again displaced only when another
coin has been inserted. If another slot be chosen this time for the insertion of the
coin, the degree of displacement of the barrel will of course, be different, and
another tune will be played. The names of the tunes may conveniently be affixed
to the slots corresponding thereto.
The degree of displacement of the barrel is thus dependent on the coin-slot
selected by the intending hearer; the mechanical means for displacing the barrel,
which are arranged between the various coin-slots and the barrel and are operated
by the clock-work, must therefore act either in different manners or for different
periods of time. These means may vary to a considerable extent.
This arrangement is applicable also to wind or pueumatic instruments
e.g., orchestrions or large musical instruments each arranged to represent the
playing of an orchestra-which are played by means of drums or barrels provided
with projections for operating the valves of the instrument.
As the intending hearer by selecting a special tune out of those that the instru-
ment is able to play, proves that he, or she, prefers that special tune to the other
ones, I may construct the apparatus in such a way, that the tune selected shall be
played not only once, but two or more times in succession.
It is obvious that in lieu of moving the barrel, the comb may be moved in such
a manner as to produce the proper relative motion between it and the barrel.
In a construction of pin-barrel musical instrument according to this invention,
arrange the barrel to be displaced axially on its shaft, with which it is in feather-
and-groove or like connection, by means of a frame which is provided with a scries.
I Prine Rd

page_text: of projections equal in number to the tunes that the barrel is adapted to play. One
side of each of these projections is inclined, the degree of inclination of the several
projections being successively greater from one end of the series to the other.
Each of the projections is arranged to be acted upon on its inclined side by one
of a number of levers loosely mounted on a common shaft and kept in their normal
positions by springs. Loosely mounted on a common shaft arranged to be rotated
by the clock-work, are a number of cams adapted to act upon the said levers and
so constructed and arranged that when a coin is put into one of the slots, of which
there is one for each cam, the corresponding cam will be coupled to its shaft, the
coin, for this purpose partly passing through a hopper-like receiver on the cam and
entering a slot in the shaft. On account of the various degrees of inclination of
the sides of the aforesaid projections, the barrel will be displaced by coins passed
through different slots to different degrees; so that on putting a coin through a
slot only that tune will be caused to be played that corresponds to the particular
slot selected. In the track of a coin from each slot to the corresponding cam,
there is arranged a lever carrying a detent which normally keeps the clock-work
at rest, the arrangement being that on the passage of the coin the lever will be
depressed so as to release the clock-work, whereupon the shaft carrying the cams
will be rotated, and after being coupled by the coin with the corresponding cam,
will depress by means thereof the corresponding lever and thereby displace the
barrel to such an extent as to cause the proper tune to be played. A pawl is-
provided adapted to hold the drum in its displaced position and means are provided
for releasing the pawl when the selected tune has been played. The reaction
occurring when the cam clears the lever causes the coin to be liberated; and a
spring on the barrel shaft serves to return the barrel to its normal position at the
required times.
..
f
A 1905
Improvements in Coin-freed Musical Instruments.
1, ERNST MAHLKE, of 62 Ringbahnstrasse, Templehof, near Berlin, in the
Empire of Germany, 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 :-
In musical-boxes and the like, in which the notes are produced by a barrel
provided with pins working in conjunction with a steel-comb, the barrel is generally
arranged to play several tunes or musical pieces (hereinafter referred to as tunes)
and is, after a tune has been finished, automatically displaced by means of its
clockwork in order that on the next actuation of the instrument another tune shall
be played. This succession of the various tunes is definitely fixed; so that the
person dropping a coin into the apparatus is compelled to put up with the tune
about to be played, whatever it may be, there being no possibility of selection.
Now the object of my invention, is to construct a coin-freed musical instrument
in such a manner that a person shall be able to cause the instrument to play any
desired tune or musical piece of those for which it is arranged, thereby obviating
the above mentioned inconvenience.
For this purpose, I provide the instrument with as many coin-slots as there are
tunes that each barrel is adapted to play, and I arrange that the barrel shall be
displaced axially by the wheel-work not through a fixed succession of equally long

page_text: spaces, but through spaces of different lengths, the arrangement being such that
the barrel can from its position of rest be displaced on the insertion of a coin so as
to play the second, third, fourth, or any other desired tune without playing the
intermediate tunes, and so that after the tune selected by the hearer has been
played, the barrel will move back into its position of rest, to be again displaced
only when another coin has been inserted. If another slot be chosen this time for
the insertion of the coin, the degree of displacement of the barrel will, of course,
he different, and another tune will be played. The names of the tunes may
conveniently be affixed to the slots corresponding thereto.
The degree of displacement of the barrel is thus dependent on the coin-slot
selected by the intending hearer; the mechanical means for displacing the barrel,
which are arranged between the various coin-slots and the barrel and are operated
by the clock-work, must therefore act either in different manners or for different
periods of time. These means may vary to a considerable extent.
This arrangement is applicable also to wind or pneumatic instruments (e.g.,
orchestrions or large musical instruments each arranged to represent the playing of
an orchestra) which are played by means of drums or barrels provided with
projections for operating the valves of the instrument.
As the intending hearer by selecting a special tune out of those that the
instrument is able to play, proves that he, or she, prefers that special tune to the
other ones, I may construct the apparatus in such a way, that the tune selected
shall be played not only once, but two or more times in succession.
It is obvious that in lieu of moving the barrel the comb may be moved in such
a manner as to produce the proper relative motion between it and the barrel.
One construction of pin-barrel musical instrument according to this invention is
represented partly in end view and partly in cross section in Fig. 1, and in plan in
Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings.
The barrel a is arranged to be displaced axially on its shaft b, with which it is
in feather-and-groove or like connection, by means of a frame c, which is provided
with a series of projections el c² c 3 and c equal in number to the tunes that the
barrel is adapted to play. One side of each of these projections-viz., the side
represented in Fig. 1 as turned towards the observer-is inclined, the degree of
inclination of the several projections being successively greater from one end of
the series to the other. Each of the projections c1, c2, c 3 and c 4 is arranged to be
acted upon, on its inclined side by one of a number of levers d 1 d d³, and d loosely
mounted on a common shaft e and kept in their normal positions by springs f
Loosely mounted on a common shaft g arranged to be rotated by the clockwork h,
are a number of cams i¹,,, and adapted to act upon the said levers and so
constructed and arranged that when a coin is put into one of the slots in the box A,
of which there is one for each cam, the corresponding cam 1, 2, or will be
coupled to its shaft g, the coin for this purpose partly passing through a hopper-
like receiver k on the cam and entering a slot in the shaft g.
On account of the various degrees of inclination of the sides of the projections c¹,
,, and the barrel a will be displaced to different degrees by coins passed
through different slots so that on putting a coin through a slot, only that tune will
be caused to be played that corresponds to the particular slot selected.
In the tracks of the coin from the slots to the corresponding cams i,,, and it
there are arranged levers 1, P, P, and fixed on a common shaft me on one end of
which there is a lever / carrying a detent n which normally keeps the clock-work /
at rest, the arrangement being such that on the passage of the coin, the respective
lever 1, 1; and will be depressed so as to release the clock-work-h, whereupon
the shaft g carrying the cams ¹, i, i³, and i will be rotated, and after being coupled
by the coin with the corresponding cam, will depress by means thereof, the corre
sponding lever d, d, d³, or d and thereby displace the barrel a to such an extent
as to cause the proper tune to be played.
o is a pawl adapted to hold the drum a in its displaced position by engaging in a
rack p on the guide-bar r of the frame c. For the purpose of releasing the pawl o

page_text: when the selected tune has been played there may be provided a levert pivoted on
the frame c and so bent and arranged that a pins fixed to the barrel a will, when
the barrel is about to complete a revolution, press from below against the free end
of the levert and thereby cause the other end of that lever to raise the pawl o from
the ratchet-bar p, whereupon the frame c and the barrel a will be brought back
to their position of rest by the action of the spring w. The reaction occurring
when the cam i,,, or clears the lever 1, 1, 1, or . causes the coin to be
liberated.
A modified construction of pin-barrel musical instrument according to this
invention is represented in Figs. 3 to 8 inclusive, Fig. 3 being a plan, Fig. 4 an
end view, and Figs. 5 to 8 detail views, of which Fig. 8 is partly diagrammatical.
In this case there are provided two sets of clock-work, one, h, for rotating the
barrel a and the other, ' for effecting the displacement of the said barrel. The
cams, 3, and are, as in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, adapted to
receive the coins and to be coupled by them to their shaft g'. The levers for
releasing the clock-work ', being constructed and arranged similarly to the
levers, and 14 described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 and operating in
the same way have been omitted from the drawings for the sake of clearness. The
cams 1, 2, 3 and 4, which are. normally held, in the position shown by blade
springs f1, are in this case, of different sizes (see Fig. 5) so as to displace the
frame c to different extents when rotating and acting on the end thereof. Each
cam is of the double-throw type and the coin slot is made longtiudinally therein.
Either end of the slot may be uppermost i.e. in the position for receiving a coin;
and to prevent the coin from simply passing through the cam without effecting a
coupling with the shaft 9 1, each of the several slots of the shaft g 1 is obstructed
in the middle for instance, by a pin passed through the shaft perpendicularly to
the slot.
The cam shaft g¹ and the shaft g 2 of the clock-work h 1, carry loosely on their
adjacent ends a ring z, which surrounds two bevel wheels y and y 1 fixed on the
shafts g2 and g¹ respectively. In the ring & there is rotatably mounted a shaft y*
on which is fixed a third bevel wheel y 2 that is constantly in gear with the
wheels y and y 1.
As will be obvious, if the shaft yx be prevented from rotating and the ring a be
allowed to revolve freely, the shaft g 1 will be rotated by the shaft 9 2 in the same
direction as the latter; but that if, on the contrary, the wheel y 2 be allowed to
rotate and the ring a be held fast by any means, then the shaft g 1 will be rotated
by the shaft g2 in the opposite direction to the latter. The object of this arrange-
ment is to effect the liberation of the coin or coins. The means for coupling
shaft y* and wheel y 2 to the ring and uncoupling it therefrom and for holding
and releasing the ring a, will be hereinafter fully described; but for the present it
will suffice to say that the change of direction of rotation of the shaft g 1 occurs
when this shaft has made half a rotation-i.e., when the portion of a coin slot
containing a coin coupling the respective cam to the shaft 91, has come to be in
the lower portion of the cam-so that the coin will drop out of the cam and the
shaft g 1 immediately the said shaft begins to move in the new direction. As soon
as the shaft g1 bas regained its initial position, the clockwork h 1 is stopped by
any of the many means known in the art of clockwork making-for instance, by a
pawl that falls into a suitable recess. This pawl may be connected with the levers
that release the clockwork h1 in the mauner represented in Fig. 1 with regard to
the pawl and the levers l'.
2
For the purpose of causing the ring x and the wheel y² to act in the manner
described, there are arranged on opposite sides of the shaft g 2, two vertical plates a
and 2 (Fig. 7) that are hinged or jointed to the base-plate of the instrument in
such a manner that they can oscillate about horizontal axes at A B & C D
perpendicular to the shafts g1 and g 2. The plates are pivotally connected to a
lever 2 pivoted at 23, in such a manner that when one of the said plates is moved
to the left by the lever z 2 the other will be moved to the right, and vice versa.
On

page_text: the longer arm of the lever z 2. there is mounted a roller z 4 that is constantly pressed
by a spring f against a. cam a¹ which is secured on the shaft 2 of the clock work.h
and consists of two parts or halves comprising co-axial portions having radii of..
different lengths. If the part having the portion of longer radius act upon the
roller ', the lever will be brought into the position shown in Fig. 7, but, if the-
other part come into contact with said. roller, the lever' 2 will be turned so as to
change the position of the plates and ¹.
The ring is provided, with an eudways movable wire b1 the hook-like end 2 of
which is located in a hole within the bearing of the shaft y*. The shaft just.
mentioned is itself also provided with a hole arranged to come into line with the
hole in its bearing and a spring f3 wound around the wire b' is so arranged as to
have a constant tendency to couple the shaft y* to the ring by means of the-
hook b 2.
The plates and are at their upper ends furnished with curved guide-pieces:
that are bent in a two-fold way-viz., first so as to correspond to the circular path
described by the projecting left-hand end of the wire when it is carried round.
by the ring, and secondly so as, whilst allowing the wire to be carried round
by the ring a, to displace the said wire longitudinally. The ends of the said
guide-pieces are bent so as to form catches (as indicated at E F & G H in Figs. 7
8) adapted to engage with the projecting end of the wire band to hold it fast..
(together with the ring ) as soon as the coupling between the ring a and the bevel-...
wheel y 2 is broken. This occurs at the instant at which the shafts g 1, g 2 complete
half a rotation, so that the direction of rotation of the shaft gl is then reversed, as..
and for the purpose hereinbefore described. When the shaft 9' has rotated.
backwards until its slots are again vertical, the clockwork h' is stopped, and instantly
thereafter the position of the plates z and ¹ is changed by the disc a³, so that on
the next actuation, the ring will be stopped, and the wire b¹ will be displaced by
the plate z orz opposite to the one that previously arrested the wire.
As soon as the frame c, within the barrel a, has been displaced by one of the
cams, i 1, 2, 3 or 4, the clockwork is released by means of a cam 93 (Fig. 3) acting
through a lever g the frame c being held in its displaced position by pawls c¹ and
secured on a shaft which is supported in suitable bearings.
When the wheel h* of the clock-work has completed its rotation, the clock-
work h is stopped by the pawll but shortly before this is effected the pawls c¹ and c³
are raised by means of a pin h which is secured on the shaft h' and acts upon a
short arm provided on one end of the shaft o*.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a coin freed musical instrument having a pin-barrel adapted to play two or
more tunes, the combination with the said barrel, of a casing or box having two..
or more coin-slots corresponding to different tunes, and means whereby on the
insertion of a coin the barrel will be automatically displaced through one or other
of two or more spaces of different lengths according to the slot chosen for the coin.
substantially as described for the purpose specified.
2. A coin freed musical instrument of the kind specified in the preceding claim.
in which the displacement of the barrel is effected through a frame by one or other
of two or more cams each of which is adapted on the insertion of a coin in the
corresponding coin slot to be coupled to the driving mechanism of the instrument,.
substantially as described.
3. A coin freed musical instrument of the kind specified in Claim 1 in which the
variable displacement of the barrel is effected by cams each of which is adapted to
be coupled to actuating mechanism in the instrument through the intervention of a
coin which on being passed through the corresponding coin slot serves to lock the
cam to a part in connection with said actuating mechanism, substantially as herein.
described.

page_text: 4. Coin freed musical instruments constructed, arranged and operating sub-
stantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and shown in Figs. 1 and 2;.
and in Figs. 3 to 8 inclusive of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 10th day of February 1896.
For the App
W. LLOYD WISE,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.