IMPROVEMENTS IN TUNE PLAYING TOPS OR GYROPHONES."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marshall Arthur Wier, of Gracechurch Street, in the City
of London, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TUNE PLAYING TOPS OR
GYROPHONES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marshall Arthur Wier at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th November 1881.
MARSHALL ARTHUR WIER, of Gracechurch Street, in the City of London.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TUNE PLAYING TOPS OR GYROPHONES."
One part of this Invention relates to improved and simplified means whereby a
revolving top or gyrophone may be caused to produce a succession of musical notes
or to play tunes automatically or otherwise. For this purpose I employ a tune plate
fitted with reeds or other sound producing devices, a slotte ddisc, and guide vanes,
all somewhat similar to those described in the Specification of a Patent granted to
me bearing date the Sixth day of September, A.D. 1878, and numbered 3533; but
instead of the requisite change of position of the slotted disc with reference to the
tune plate being produced or regulated by the centrifugal or centripetal action of
weights in conjunction with springs, I effect such change in the relative positions
of the tune plate and slotted disc by the following arrangements:-
On a metallic stem or spindle, pointed more or less at one end so as to form a
pivot, on which the top or gyrophone is made to spin, is fixed a disc in which is
formed one or more radial slots adapted to coincide as required successively with
the slots in the tune plate; beneath each of the said slots in the disc is fixed a
guide vane, fan, or air conduit, for the purpose of throwing the air away from the
centre by centrifugal force after it has passed through the aforesaid slot or slots
so as to produce a partial vacuum above the same. I prefer to make the aforesaid
slotted disc and guide vane, fan, or air conduit, of comparatively light material,
such as cardboard, for example. The tune plate is by preference made of a
comparatively heavy metallic or other suitable disc fitted with a tube in its centre,
the bore of which is such that the aforesaid metallic stem or spindle fits and turns
easily therein. The reeds or other sound producing devices are fitted into this
Prins di

page_text: tune plate or disc at suitable distances apart according to the tune to be played,
and the said tune plate is placed over the said stem or spindle and rests by its
weight on the slotted disc below it.
The top is spun in the following manner:-A string is wound round the tube in
the centre of the tune plate, and a handle with a hole in it adapted to receive the
upper end of the aforesaid stem or spindle is placed and held thereon while the
string is pulled sharply, so as to cause the top to spin in the ordinary way.
The top should be spun upon a piece of card-board, felt, soft wood, or other
material, into which the lower point of the stem or spindle enters somewhat, so as
to produce friction thereon, tending to retard more or less the rotation of the same
with the slotted disc and guide vanes connected therewith. The tune plate being
much heavier than the slotted disc, guide vane, and spindle, and being free to
revolve on the latter, its superior momentum causes it to turn somewhat faster
than the said slotted disc (which is held back or retarded by the aforesaid friction
on the point of the spindle), whereby the slot or slots in the latter is or are caused
to pass successively under each of the reed spaces in the tune plate, allowing the
air to be drawn through them by the rotary motion of the top, so as to produce
the required succession of sounds or notes making the tune. The tune plate may
have a rim attached to or formed with it, or the plate may be made of greater
diameter in order to give it greater weight and momentum to enable it to spin
longer.
If preferred the top may be spun on a hard surface, or one which will not offer
sufficient friction to the spindle to cause the tune to be played, and the required
friction may be imparted to the spindle by pressing the same with the finger or
otherwise when it is desired to produce the tune.
The top may either be enclosed wholly or partially in a metallic case, or left
quite open as preferred.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Marshall Arthur Wier in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th May 1882.
MARSHALL ARTHUR WIER, of Gracechurch Street, in the City of London.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TUNE PLAYING TOPS OR GYROPHONES."
This Invention relates to improved and simplified means whereby a revolving
top or gyrophone may be caused to produce a succession of musical notes or to
play tunes automatically or otherwise. For this purpose I employ a tune plate
fitted with reeds or other sound producing devices, a slotted disc, and guide vanes,
all somewhat similar to those described in the Specification of a Patent granted to
me bearing date the Sixth day of September, A.D. 1878, and numbered 3533; but
instead of the requisite change of position of the slotted disc with reference to the
tune plate being produced or regulated by the centrifugal or centripetal action of
weights in conjunction with springs, I effect such change in the relative positions
of the tune plate and slotted disc by arrangements which I will now proceed to
describe, with the aid of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figure 1
represents a vertical section through a musical top constructed in accordance with
the present Invention; Figure 2, a plan of the tune plate for same; Figure 3, a
vertical section of the said tune plate removed from the other parts; Figures 4
and 5 respectively, an elevation and a plan of the slotted disc and guide vanes;
and Figure 6, a vertical section of a slightly modified arrangement. Similar letters
refer to like parts in all the Figures.
On a metallic stein or spindle A, pointed more or less at the lower end so as to
form a pivot on which the top or gyrophone is made to spin, is fixed a plate or
disc B in which is or are formed one or more radial slots C adapted to coincide as
required successively with the slots D in the tune plate E.
Beneath the slot C, or beneath each of such slots when more than one is used,
is fixed a guide vane, fan, or conduit F for the purpose of throwing the air away
from the centre by centrifugal force after it has passed through the aforesaid slot
or slots C, so as to produce a partial vacuum above the same. This disc B with
its stem or spindle A and guide vane, fan, or conduit F, is shown separately in
elevation and plan in Figures 4 and 5. In Figures 1 and 5 only one slot C is
shown, but a second guide vane F' is shown diametrically opposite to the guide
vane F belonging to the slot C; this second guide vane is in this case used merely
for the purpose of balancing the guide vane F and preserving the symmetry of
form on both sides of the spindle A. I prefer to make the aforesaid slotted disc B
and guide vane, fan, or air conduit F of comparatively light material, such as
cardboard, for example. The tune plate E is by preference made of a comparatively
heavy metallic or other suitable disc fitted with a tube G in its centre, the bore of
which is such that the aforesaid metallic stem or spindle A fits and turns easily
therein. The reeds or other sound producing devices H are fitted into this tune
plate or disc at suitable distances apart, according to the tune to be played, and
the said tune plate is placed over the said stem or spindle A and rests by its
weight on the slotted disc B below it.
The top is spun in the following manner-A string I is wound round the tube G
in the centre of the tune plate E, and a handle J with a hole in it adapted to
receive the upper end of the aforesaid stem or spindle A is placed and held thereon,
as shown in Figure 1, while the string is pulled sharply so as to cause the top to
spin in the ordinary way, the handle J being then removed.
The top should be spun on a piece of card board, felt, soft wood, or other
material, into which the lower point of the stem or spindle A enters somewhat so

page_text: as to produce friction thereon, tending to retard more or less the rotation of the
same with the slotted disc B and guide vanes F connected therewith. The tune
plate E being much heavier than the slotted disc B, guide vane F, and spindle A,
and being free to revolve on the latter, its superior momentum causes it to turn
somewhat faster than the said slotted disc B (which is held back or retarded by the
aforesaid friction on the point of the spindle), whereby the slots D in the tune
plate E with their reeds H are caused to pass successively over the slot or slots C
in the disc B, allowing the air to be drawn through them by the rotary motion of
the top, so as to produce the required succession of sounds or notes making the
tune. The tune plate E may have a rim K attached to or formed with it, as shown
in Figures 1, 2, and 3, or it may be made of greater diameter in order to give it
greater weight and momentum to enable it to spin longer.
It is obvious that the tune plate or disc may be arranged above and the slotted
plate or disc below, as shown in Figure 6, but in that case the tune plate or disc E
should be made as light as possible, and the slotted plate or disc B proportionately
heavy by a rim K or otherwise. But I prefer the arrangement shown in
Figure 1.
If preferred the top may be spun on a hard surface, or one which will not offor
sufficient friction to the point of the spindle A to cause the tune to be played, and
the required friction may be imparted to the said spindle by pressing the same
with the finger or otherwise when it is desired to produce the tune.
This top may either be enclosed wholly or partially in a metallic case, as shown
at K' in Figure 1, or left quite open, as may be preferred.
It is sometimes found advantageous to place a thin and narrow_paper_or_other_
-washer round the spindle A at L between the disc B and the tune plate E, in order
to reduce the surfaces in contact, which, if allowed to be too great, sometimes cause
the upper plate or disc to carry round the lower one at the same speed as itself,
instead of slipping over it or leaving it behind, as is essential for the production
of a succession of musical tones.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and the manner in which
the same is to or may be carried into effect, I would have it understood that what
I claim is,
The arrangement of the tune plate or disc E and the slotted plate or disc B, so
as to revolve together, but independently of each other, and so that when the
rotation of one plate or disc is retarded by friction applied to its spindle, the other
plate or disc continues to revolve at a greater speed, causing the reeds in the tune
plate or disc to pass the slot or slots in the slotted plate or disc, whereby a
succession of musical sounds is produced while the top is rotating, the said plates
or discs being constructed, combined, and operated, as hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marshall Arthur Wier, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
MARSHALL ARTHUR WIER. (L.S.)