Year: 1886

page_text: We, GIOVANNI RACCA of Waldeck House, Warriner Gardens, Battersea (Engi-
neer) and WILLIAM SEWARD of Waldeck House, Warriner Gardens, Battersea,
(Musical Instrument Maker) in the County of Surrey do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
The Mechanical Musical Instrument, is a small Stringed Instrument, to be made
in various compasses, being worked by turning a small handle outside the case,
and so causing a continuous vibration of small hammers upon the wires stretched
over the belly or sound board at the base or bottom of the case.
The notes or sound of the music being produced by perforated paper passing
over small wire levers, by turning the above mentioned handle; and being drawn
through the head of the Instrument by two metal rollers, one at the top and
another at the bottom, (which is covered with india rubber), and so holding the
perforated paper firmly; the said rollers revolving according to the speed of turning
the handle, causing the music to pass over the said wire levers.
Upon the wire levers finding the perforations in the music, it at once sets the
hammers free, and so vibrates upon the required string or note, which produces the
Bound.
A swell is attached to the Instrument, to produce softer or louder tones at the
will of the operater.
The swell being worked with a lever, which can be turned upon the hammers
and so shortening the length of vibration, giving effect to the music when being
played.
T
A driving wheel is attached to the handle, which works upon a small fly wheel
inside the box, the above wheels revolving causes the whole hammer rail to
vibrate.
The fly wheel and hammer rail are both kept in their place by means of a small
spring.
•
The perforated paper is inserted by removing a small spring in the front of the
case, causing the head or top of the Instrument to be thrown back, which is
replaced before commencing to turn the handle, and so setting the music in motion.
Dated this 16th day of April 1886.

page_text: We, GIOVANNI RACCA, of Waldeck House, Warriner Gardens, Battersea,
Engineer, and WILLIAM SEWARD, of Waldeck House, Warriner Gardens,
Battersea, in the County of Surrey, Musical Instrument Maker, 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:
Our invention relates to automatic or mechanical stringed musical instruments of
that kind or class wherein a perforated band or music-sheet is employed for
controlling the action of the hammers upon the strings or wires.
The main object of our invention is to provide for the prolongation of the sounds
produced by the, vibration of the strings in proportion to the length of the
perforations in the music-sheet. We effect this object by the use of means,
controlled by the perforated music-sheet, whereby any of the hammers may be
caused to strike the corresponding string or strings, either a single blow or two or
more blows in rapid succession, as hereinafter set forth.
We prefer to employ, for this purpose, an oscillating bar or rail to which the
hammers are connected by means of springs so that they will vibrate or oscillate
'with the said bar or rail, but the movement or action of one or more of the said
hammers can be, prevented without affecting the movement or action of the
other hammers. We use, in combination with this oscillating bar or rail and
the hammers carried thereby; means, controlled by the perforated music-sheet,
for holding the hammers in contact with the strings so that they will serve as
dampers; or otherwise keeping the said hammers out of action, and releasing them
as required according to the tune to be played.
Our said invention, moreover, comprises various improvements hereinafter set
forth.
In the accompanying drawing.
Figure 1 is a plan of an instrument constructed' according to our invention, some
of the parts being removed:
Figure 2 is a side elevation, partly in vertical longitudinal section.
Figure 3' is a section on the line x, x, Figure 1, drawn to an enlarged scale, some
of the parts being removed.
Figure 4 shows a portion of Figure 2, drawn to a still further enlarged scale.
Figure 5 is an end elevation, partly, in section on the line ¹¹, Figure 1 drawn
to the same scale às Figure 4.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawing.
a,is,,the case or frame of the instrument, b, b are the strings or wires, c is the
perforated music-sheet., d, d¹ are the rollers for moving or feeding the said sheet
through the instrument. e is a crank-handle, which is fixed upon the axle d³ of
the roller d, and whereby the instrument is operated.
f is an oscillating bar or rail, which is supported in bearings in brackets a²
attached to the frame or case a.. g, g are the hammers, which are made of felt or

page_text: other suitable material and are carried by springs h secured to the bar or rail f.
A convenient method or manner of securing these springs to the said bar or rail is
illustrated in Figure 4, and consists in making the said bar or rail in two parts f¹, ƒ³,
placing the springs between these parts, and firmly uniting the latter by means of
screws f³
Any suitable means may be employed for imparting oscillating motion to the
bar or rail f; but we prefer to use, for this purpose, the mechanism shown in the
drawing, which is constructed as hereinafter described, that is to say:-i is a spiral
spring, which is attached, at one end, to the frame or case a and, at the other end,
to an arm or lever j fixed in the bar or rail f. This spring tends to hold the said
bar or rail in such a position that the hammers g are in contact with the strings b.
is a bracket, which is secured to the bar or rail f, and which has fixed therein a
pin or shaft l. An antifriction roller is fitted to rotate upon the said pin or
shaft and bears against an excentric m fixed or formed on a shaft m¹ carried in
bearings in the lever n, which is pivotted at n¹ to the frame or case a. A wheel o
is fixed on the axle d' and the shaft m is held in frictional contact with the said
wheel by means of a spring p, which is attached, at one end, to the frame or case a
and, at the other end, to the arm n³ of the lever n. The shaft m¹ is provided with
a fly-wheel m². The peripheries of the wheel o and roller l¹ are, by preference,
covered with india-rubber or other suitable material to increase the friction
between the same and the shaft m¹ and excentric m. When the wheel o is
rotated, by turning the crank-handle e, it imparts rotary motion at a high velocity
to the shaft m¹ and excentric m. The excentric m, acting upon the roller 11,
imparts very rapid oscillating motion to the bar or rail f, the spring i keeping the
roller in contact with the said excentric.
It is evident that all the hammers g will oscillate with the said bar. or rail f
unless their movement is prevented by any suitable means.
For this purpose, we
provide the devices hereinafter described, that is to say-q, q are bent levers or
fingers, which are pivotted at q* to a bar or rail r secured to the frame or case a.
One of these levers or fingers is arranged in combination with each hammer g.
The upper ends q¹ of the said levers or fingers extend a short distance beyond the
top of the bar or rail r. 8, 8, are springs, which are passed through blocks or
pieces q at the lower ends of the levers or fingers q and which bear against pins
or studs 1 fixed in the bar or rail r. These springs tend to hold the levers or
fingers in the position shown by full lines in Figure 4. When the music-sheet c is
so placed in the instrument that an unperforated part thereof is above the ends q¹,
of the levers or fingers q, the latter occupy the position shown in dotted lines in
Figure 4, and the springs 8, which are slightly bent or curved at their lower ends,
keep the hammers g in contact with the strings b, and thus prevent the movement
or action of the said hammers. The said hammers, when thus held, serve as
dampers to prevent the vibration of the strings. When a perforation in the music-
sheet c arrives above one or other of the levers or fingers q, the corresponding
spring 8 forces the said lever or finger upward so that it projects through the said
perforation, the said spring, at the same time, moving away from the hammer.
The said lever or finger and its spring then occupy the position shown by full lines
in Figure 4, and the corresponding hammer g is free to participate in the oscillating
movement of the bar or rail f.
By the arrangement of the parts in the manner above described, we provide for
keeping the hammers out of action by the application of a very slight pressure upon
the fingers q. Therefore there will be very little friction between the said fingers
and the music-sheet.
To provide for obtaining piano or forte effects at will, we employ a "swell"
which operates by regulating the force of the blows of the hammers upon the
strings. This "swell" comprises a bar or rail t which is connected by hinge-
joints with the bar or rail r and is provided with bent or curved fingers t, one
for each hammer g. The bar or rail t is connected, by means of a rod or link u,
with a lever-v pivotted at to the frame or case a and projecting outside of the

page_text: said frame or case into a convenient position to be operated by hand. When the
said rail is in the position shown by full lines in Figure 4, the fingers t limit
the extent of the oscillations or vibrations of the hammers g so that the said
hammers strike very feeblo blows and therefore produce a pianissimo effect. By
moving the lever in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, the
loudness of the sounds produced by the instrument can be gradually increased
until a fortissimo effect is obtained, the fingers t being inclined or curved as
shown, so that the oscillations or vibrations of the hammers are gradually
increased in extent in the said movement of the lever v. Any other suitable
"swell" may, if desired, be substituted for that above described.
The top part or lid a³ is connected with the case a by hinge-joints so that it can
be raised to permit the insertion of a perforated music-sheet into the instrument;
and can then be lowered or closed and secured by a suitable catch or fastening.
A bar or rail w pivotted at w¹ and acted upon by a spring (not shown in the
drawing) holds down the music-sheet, so that the latter depresses the fingers q and
thus keeps the hammers in contact with the strings.
The instrument is operated as follows, that is to say-The handle e is rotated
to simultaneously move or feed the music-sheet through the instrument and impart
oscillating motion to the bar or rail f. As the perforations in the music-sheet pass
over any of the fingers q, the said fingers, are raised by their springs, as above
described, and release the corresponding hammers; each hammer, immediately it is
thus released, participates in the oscillating motion of the bar or rail f and
strikes the corresponding strings. The notes represented by the perforations in
the music-sheet are thus produced in their proper order. When a very short
perforation passes over one of the fingers q, the corresponding strings only receive
one blow from the hammer; but, if a perforation of greater length passes over the
said finger, the hammer strikes the said strings two or more blows in rapid
succession according to the length of the perforation. We, therefore, obtain the
great advantage over automatic or mechanical stringed musical instruments here-
tofore constructed, that sounds of long or short duration can be produced by our
instrument.
In this manner a very pleasing effect can be obtained, and, by using the "swell"
above described, great expression may be introduced into the music played by the
instrument.
The construction of our improved instrument may be considerably varied without
departing from the nature of our invention. For instance, although we prefer to
use the oscillating bar or rail above described, other means can be employed for
operating the harumers in such a manner that they will strike the strings either a
single blow or two or more blows in rapid succession, for the purpose above
specified. Moreover, other means than those above described may be used for
holding the hammers in contact with the strings and releasing them as required.
Or, if desired, suitable devices may be employed for holding the hammers away
from the strings and releasing them as required.
. It is well known that, in the automatic or mechanical wind musical instruments
heretofore constructed, each note or sound is prolonged in proportion to the length
of the perforations in the music-sheet, the production of the sound depending upon
the operation of bellows and its duration depending upon the length of time a
valve is kept open by means of a lever or other device controlled by the music-
sheet. By our invention, we provide for obtaining a similar effect, that is to say,
a prolongation of the sounds in proportion to the length of the perforations in the
music-sheet, in an automatic or mechanical musical instrument wherein the sounds
are produced by the vibration of strings or wires.
Our improved instrument may be of any desired size and compass, and one or
more strings may be used for each note.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in. what manner the same is to be performed, we wish.it..understood

page_text: that we are aware that a device consisting of an oscillating bar or rail having
small hammers connected therewith by springs has been used for continuing or
prolonging the sounds produced by the vibration of the strings of a pianoforte,
when struck by the large hammers usually employed in such instruments, we
therefore do not claim such a device per se or independently of our improvements
as herein set forth, but we claim :-
First An automatic or mechanical stringed musical instrument wherein the
sounds are prolonged in proportion to the length of the perforations in the music-
sheet, as above specified.
Second-The employment, in an automatic or mechanical stringed musical
instrument, of means, controlled by a perforated music-sheet, for holding the
hammers in contact with the strings and releasing them as required, for the
purposes specified.
Third The combination, with an oscillating bar or rail having hammers con-
nected therewith by springs, of a perforated music-sheet and means controlled
thereby for holding the said hammers in contact with the strings, or otherwise
preventing their action, and releasing them as required, for the purposes specified.
Fourth The combination of parts comprising the bent levers or fingers and the
springs, substantially as described, whereby we provide for holding the hammers
in contact with the strings, as, and for the purpose, specified.
Fifth The combination of parts comprising the bar or rail f, the springs h and
hammers g, the levers or fingers q provided with the springs 8 and controlled by
the music-sheet, and means for imparting oscillating motion to the said bar or rail,
all substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Sixth-The combination of parts comprising the pivotted bar or rail t provided
with the bent or curved fingers and connected with a lever or other device for
adjusting it, substantially as, and for the purpose, set forth.
Seventh-The improved automatic or mechanical musical instrument consisting
of the parts constructed and combined substantially as described with reference to
the accompanying drawing and operating as above set forth.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
Agents for the Applicants.