Year: 1899

page_text: I, FRANZ PALIWETZ of Dolgorukowskaja, 58, Moscow, Russian Empire, Maker
of String Instruments, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to a device for the rapid tuning of stringed instruments
such as violins.
"
The difficulty in tuning stringed instruments is the length of time it takes
to get an accurate tone, the liability of the string to give and thus alter the tone
and the impossibility of correcting the tone whilst playing.
The object of the present invention is to do away with these disadvantages.
I carry out my object essentially as follows:
I first affix two elliptical plates to the side of the neck of the violin and secure
same in position by screws. The said plates are provided with holes for the
insertion of the ordinary screw-peg.
Before the ordinary screw-peg is inserted in the holes above mentioned, I insert
in same a small collar-piece consisting of a tube with a ring round its centre,
the two being so arranged as to be of one piece. When this collar-piece is
pushed in the hole in the plate, the centre part and one end remain outside the
hole.
The centre ring portion of the collar-piece is provided with small indentations
or slots on its periphery and the outside end of the tube is provided with notches
the purpose of which will shortly be made clear.
The screw-peg passes through the collar-piece and the hole in the plate pre-
viously mentioned and the string is attached to the peg in the usual way.
I further attach to the elliptical plates previously mentioned a small shaft
carrying a worm which is so mounted as to engage with the slots or indentations
on the periphery of the centre ring portion of the collar-piece. When the worm
is turned, the collar-piece is rotated in proportion.
When the screw-peg is pushed into position through the collar-piece and ellip-
tical plate into the neck of the violin, pins with which the screw-peg is provided
engage with the notches at the outer end of the tube previously mentioned so
that when the combined collar-piece and tube are turned by means of the worm,
the screw-peg is turned along with them. At the same time, if required, the
screw-peg can be turned forward independently of the collar-piece but it cannot
turn backward as the pins on the peg engage with the notches on the end of the
tube.
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page_text: I, FRANZ PALIWETZ, of Moscow, Maker of String Instruments, 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:-
-
The object of my invention is to remove some disadvantages which exist with
respect to the tuning of string instruments and keeping same at the proper pitch
whilst playing, and which disadvantages may be said, generally speaking, to be
as follows:
In the first place, it is difficult to get the exact pitch by means of an ordinary
tuning-peg owing to this being turned either too far or not far enough, and this
difficulty is increased when the time allowed for tuning is short. In the second
place the string generally gives when playing has commenced and the player
has to stop to screw it up again. A third difficulty is that the tuning-pegs
themselves are apt to give, and, when, as is sometimes done, they are driven too
tightly into the violin-head or neck, they are apt to split the same.
In the present invention, these difficulties are removed by the application of
a simple and durable worm gear whereby the tuning-peg can be turned forward
or backward with any degree of fineness and without noise and this, moreover,
whilst the instrument is being played. At the same time the tuning-peg is left
free to be screwed forward by hand as heretofore.
I will explain my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which:
Fig. 1 is an elevation of a violin head or neck showing the invention attached.
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the worm gear forming the principal feature of
the invention.
Fig. 3 is an elevation of the worm device looking from the rear of the same.
Fig. 4 is a longitudinal elevation of a tuning-peg and part of the worm gear,
the latter being in section.
2 are elliptical plates which are attached to the head or neck of the violin by
means of wooden screws 3. These elliptical plates are perforated to correspond
to the ordinary holes in the head or neck of the violin for the insertion of the
ordinary tuning-peg to which the string is attached.
Into the hole of the plate 2 and that of the head or neck of the violin is inserted
a small tube-piece 4 having its one end provided with notches 9. Round the
centre of this tube-piece is a collar I which is indented or slotted on its peri-
phery, collar and tube-piece forming one piece.
When the end 4 of the tube-piece is inserted into the hole in the neck of the
violin through the hole in the plate 2, the ring part or collar I acts as a stop, so
that this collar and the notched end 9 of the tube-piece project from the plate
outwards. The ordinary tuning-peg can then be pushed through the tube-piece
and hole in the neck of the violin.
The tuning-peg 8 is provided near its head with catch-pins 10 and when the
former is pushed home, these pins engage with the notches 9 so that any forward
turning of the tube-piece takes the tuning-peg round with it. But the tuning-
peg, as will be evident from the drawing, can also be turned forward indepen-
dently of the tube-piece and, when there is any tension on said tuning-peg, it
will be prevented from turning backward by the notches in the end of said tube-
piece 9.
Attached in a suitable way to the plate 2 previously mentioned is a small
shaft 7 provided with a worm and with a small knob on its free end. This worm

page_text: stands vertical to the indented or slotted collar I and engages with same, so that
when the worm is turned the tube-piece turns also.
The indentations or slots on the collar I can be distributed as finely as desired;
the finer they are, the slower the rotation of the tube-piece.
In carrying my invention into practice, the operation is the following:
The player screws up the strings to about the normal pitch by means of the
tuning-peg. There is then tension on the said peg and when the handle is
released the pins 10 at once engage with notches 9. The worm gear is then
brought into operation, and, by the turning forward or backward of the knob
of the shaft 7 the pitch can be got accurately. So long as there is tension on
the tuning-peg 8 it will follow the backward turning of the tube-piece, and, in
the forward movement of this latter, the pins 10, and, consequently, the tuning-
peg 8 must turn with it.
When the present invention is fixed to a violin it forms the device for fine
tuning, and the ordinary tuning-peg which is used with the invention forms the
device for rough tuning.
The worm-shaft is so easy to turn, that a player can give it a revolution with-
out any difficulty whilst playing, and, in this way, he can keep the strings con-
stantly at proper pitch.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
The combination with a violin and with plates perforated to correspond to
perforations in the neck of the said violin, of a tube-piece carrying a slotted
collar in or on its centre and having a notched end, of a tuning peg loose in said
collar and of a worm shaft engaging with the said slotted collar as and for the
purpose described and illustrated.
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