Improved Music Recording, Noting, and Marking Mechanism for Pianos, Harmoniums, and other Keyboard Instruments.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st May, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 1st Feb., 1898-Accepted, 1st June, 1898
Improved Music Recording, Noting, and Marking Mechanism for
Pianos, Harmoniums, and other Keyboard Instruments.
I, ALBERT ANTOINE LATEULERE, of 19, Clerkenwell Road, London, Musical Box
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to provide easy and effective means for recording
or noting compositions or musical ideas on a strip or roll of paper or other suitable
material; as hereinafter described.
My invention consists of a board about 9 inches high, extending the length of
the keyboard of the instrument it is to be adapted to, with brackets at each end
carrying a screw or wedge device for pressing against the inner side of the instru-
ment at each end thus holding the board rigidly in an upright position directly
over and a little behind the ivories of the keys, and without restricting the freedom
of action of the keys. This board is provided with as many rods furnished with
studs or pins as there are keys or notes required. The left hand rods carry a wire
fixed to the stud by a shouldered screw or pin furnished with a hook or other
means to engage with a screw fixed in the backs of the ivories of the keys. The
right hand stud of the same rod has another wire which is connected in a similar
way to a lever carrying the inking roller and pad fixed just above the rods on the
board. Thus if there are 61 keys to be connected I arrange them in two parts
namely, of 30 and 31 at equal distance on the left and right hand of the board.
I use spiral springs on the rods connected to the keys or those connecting to the
lever carrying the inking roller and pads for the purpose of obtaining an even
tension. Should the spring or balance of the key not be effective in keeping the
lever carrying the inking roller and pad out of action, I use a second set of spiral
All the connections
springs conveniently fixed to the tails of the said levers.
hitherto referred to are arranged in rotation corresponding to the keys or notes of
the keyboard. The levers carrying the inking roller and inking pad are fixed in a
rack by a wire pin passing through the whole of such levers, permitting each to
work separately and independently of each other. This rack is fixed on a frame
through which the paper travels, provided with a roller and inking pad to rule the
paper to correspond with the notes of the keyboard before mentioned. The inking
pads and marking rollers are caused to rotate when the paper is set in motion,
and the levers, each of which carries an ink pad and marking roller are brought
down upon the paper by depressing the keys. Thus the rotary markers are being
constantly supplied with ink. If desired the inking pads may be supplied with
ink automatically by the motive power depressing a ball or the like at intervals,
and forcing the ink through tubes arranged over the pads or by the performer
pressing such ball himself. The paper is caused to travel or rotate under the print-
ing levers either by being rolled off one roller on to another having a clip device
or pulled through by pressure rollers driven by any suitable motive power such
as clockwork, or electricity, which is provided with a sensitive speed regulating

page_text: device, such as is used in clockwork of precision. It is important that the paper
should travel at a uniform rate in order to correctly give the duration of time of
each note; for instance, if the paper travels at andante and the keys are depressed
it will be easily seen that a whole or sustained note, marked by the printing lever
on the paper, is much longer than a 34, 2, or 4 note. The name of the note is
known by the position it occupies on the paper, the paper being ruled to corres-
pond with the keyboard, the black keys or hotes are denoted by colored lines and
the white keys, or natural notes, by white spaces. A scale, rule, or measure may be
used for ascertaining the length and duration of time of every note. The notes
being marked on the paper precisely as on the keyboard on a reduced scale it will
be easy to transcribe the records or marks, employing the usual musical notation.
The motive power can be started or stopped at will by any suitable contrivance
fixed under the instrument or in front of the performer and operated by the foot
or by hand. The entire contrivance may be built permanently within or fitted to
any keyboard instrument, or if preferred, fixed upon a dummy keyboard the keys
of which being provided with felted pegs on the under part at a suitable height
and so constructed to fit over the keys on the ordinary keyboard of the instrument
so that when the top or recording keyboard is played upon it puts the recording
mechanism in action and the felted pegs pressing on the bottom keys, namely the
real keys of the instrument, sound the notes.
Dated this 1st day of May 1897
S. S. BROMHEAD,
Agent for Applicant, 97, Newgate Street, London, E.C.
Improved Music Recording, Noting; and Marking Mechanism for
Pianos, Harmoniums, and other Keyboard Instruments.
I, ALBERT ANTOINE LATEULERE, of 19, Clerkenwell Road, London, Musical Box
Manufacturer, 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 provide easy and effective means for recording
or noting compositions or musical ideas on a strip or roll of paper or suitable
material as hereinafter described.
My invention consists of a board about 9 inches high, extending the length of
the keyboard of the instrument it is to be adapted to, with brackets at each end
carrying a screw or wedge device for pressing against the inner side of the instru-
ment at each end, thus holding the board rigidly in an upright position directly
over and a little behind the ivories of the keys, and without restricting the freedom
of action of the keys. This board is provided with as many rods furnished with
studs or pins as there are keys or notes required. If there are 61 keys to be con-
nected I arrange them in two parts, namely of 30 and 31 at equal distance on the
left and right hand of the board. I use springs on the rods connected to the keys
or those connecting to the lever carrying the inking roller and pads for the purpose
of obtaining an even tension. Should the spring or balance of the key not be
effective in keeping the lever the inking roller and pad out of action, I may use a
second set of springs conveniently fixed to the said levers. All the connections
hitherto referred to are arranged in rotation corresponding to the keys or notes of the
keyboard.
The levers carrying the inking roller and inking pad are fixed in a rack by a wire
pin passing through the whole of such levers, permitting each to work separately

page_text: and independently of each other. This rack is fixed on a frame through which the
paper travels, provided with a roller and inking pad to rule the paper to correspond
with the notes of the keyboard before mentioned.
The inking pads and marking rollers are caused to rotate when the paper is set
in motion, and the levers, which actuate the ink pad and marking roller are
brought down upon the paper by depressing the keys. The rotary markers are
constantly supplied with ink automatically from a trough in which revolves an
inking roller.
The paper is caused to travel or rotate under the printing levers in the manner
hereinafter described, or the rollers may be driven by any suitable motive power
such as clockwork, or electricity, which is provided with a sensitive speed regulat-
ing device, such as is used in clockwork of precision.
It is important that the paper should travel at a uniform rate in order to correctly
give the duration of time of each note; for instance, if the paper travels at andante
and the keys are depressed it will be easily seen that a whole or sustained note,
marked by the printing lever on the paper, is much longer than a 34, 2, or 4 note.
The name of the note is known by the position it occupies on the paper, the paper
being ruled to correspond with the keyboard the black keys or notes may be denoted
by colored lines and the white keys or natural notes by white spaces.
rule or measure may be used for ascertaining the length and duration of time of
every note.
The notes being marked on the paper precisely as on the keyboard
on a reduced scale it will be easy to transcribe the records or marks employing the
usual musical notation.
A scale
The motive power can be started or stopped at will by any suitable contrivance
fixed under the instrument or in front of the performer and operated by the foot
or by hand. The entire contrivance may be built permanently within or fitted to
any keyboard instrument or if preferred fixed upon a dummy keyboard the keys
of which being provided with felted pegs on the under part at a suitable height
and so constructed to fit over the keys on the ordinary keyboard of the instrument
so that when the top or recording keyboard is played upon, it puts the recording
mechanism in action and the felted pegs pressing on the bottom keys, namely the
real keys of the instrument, sound the notes.
I will now describe my invention with reference to the accompanying drawings
in which:-
Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of the mechanism.
Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of Fig. 1 on a larger scale.
Fig. 3 shows the reading keyboard used for transcribing or writing music in the
ordinary notation.
a, is the frame on which the mechanism hereinafter described is mounted.
6 (Fig. 2) is one of the keys of the instrument fulcrummed at a¹, and when its
front end is depressed causes its back end to rise and actuate the lever b' through
the adjustable bolt and nut C provided with a felt pad to prevent vibration. The
lever b¹ is fulcrummed at 69 and when its back end is raised, its front end is
depressed and operates the printing lever f. This action is effected as follows:-
As will be seen in Figure 1 the recording mechanism is condensed to occupy as
small a space as possible. To convey the motion of the keys to the recording
mechanism a number of horizontal rods e are pivotted in brackets el attached to the
frame a.
C
:-
The number of these horizontal rods correspond to the number of keys required.
The rods e are each provided with two projecting studs e. To one of them is
connected the rod c to convey the motion of the key to one of the horizontal rods e.
The rod conveys the motion from the horizontal rod e to the printing lever and is
connected to the second stud which actuates the upper end of the printing
lever f. Each of the printing levers consists of a small cranked rod fulcrummed
at f on the rod f. At the lower end of each of these levers is a small disc f³.

page_text: The printing lever and disc oscillate with the movement of the keys towards or
away from the inking rollers g and the travelling strip of paper.
The lever is normally held away by means of a leaf spring g₁ so that the disc
does not touch the inking roller.
As the inking roller rotates, when the disc f3 strikes it the disc f³ is also caused
to rotate and make a mark upon the paper.
Each of the levers moves in a forked guide
to prevent side play and is pro-
vided at the front end with a felt stop to prevent noise.
The inking roller g rotates (as hereafter described) in a trough g* containing the
ink.
The inside surface of the front of the trough is provided with a suitable scraper
to regulate the quantity of ink upon the roller and is provided at the back with an
upwardly projecting lip g³ to keep the back of the paper off the inking roller.
h is a tension roller which also serves as a bed to receive the impression from the
printing discs. The paper is fed from a feeding roller k, passes round the tension
roller hand is finally wound upon a winding roller l.
It will be understood from Fig. 1 that the above description with reference to the
transmitting mechanism from the keys to the printing discs applies only to one
set which is duplicated as many times as desired.
The driving mechanism of the paper and inking roller is as follows:-
In Fig. 2 a suitable motor indicated in end view by two dotted circles mm¹
representing wheels one of which drives the vertical shaft n by pinion n¹. The
shaft n runs in suitable bearings n³ and is provided at its upper end with a pinion o,
driving a crown wheel p on the end of the paper winding roller t. The roller is
provided with a pulley and band to drive the inking roller g, by means of another
pulley .
The pinion o is kept in its normal position that is to say that of engagement with
crown wheel p by means of a spring o¹. The paper winding roller may thus be
thrown out of gear when a paper is to be wound off.
The end of the paper is fixed in the paper winding rollers by means of the
detached section a. The paper winding roller consists of two concentric tubes 7, 7
in which are formed longitudinal slots 22 of suitable length. Thus if one of the
tubes is shifted so that the slots are brought together the end of the paper may be
slipped through the slots and the inner or outer tube turned a short distance thus
gripping the end of the paper firmly.
If it is desired to dispense with the use of the recording mechanism it is only
necessary to tilt the frame a forward so that the back end of the keys do not
actuate the levers b. t is a time lever operated from below by the foot of the player
through the pedal which actuates the end printing lever f and serves to indicate
the time in which the music is to be played.
In the present drawing 61 actuating rods are shown on the frame a.
used for the keys and one for the time pedal (see Fig. 1.)
60 are
The printing levers f, springs g¹, guides 92 inking roller g, tension roller hare
all supported by rack w superposed above frame a.
The paper feed roller k and paper winding roller are removably supported in
, suitable brackets projecting from rack w.
To adjust and fix the recording mechanism firmly in position, q is a slotted
angular plate recessed in the frame a. The plate is caused to move laterally by
means of screw r and cone or wedge s and so tighten it against the side of the piano.
In accordance with the length the key is kept under pressure or the note is
sustained, that is, a semi-breve a minim, a crotchet or quaver, their respective
values in time will be shown by the varied length of the marks produced on the
paper by the recording mechanism. Their lengths are determined by the speed
the paper is caused to travel at.
With reference to Fig. 3.
A is a strip of paper which is supposed to have passed through the recording

page_text: mechanism and the lines dashes and dots shown represent notes which have been
played on the instrument. B is a reading frame, the upper part being a diagram of
the keyboard of the same length and same divisions as the recording mechanism.
The strip of paper A is passed under the diagram of the keyboard so that the
marks on the strip of paper may be easily transcribed into the ordinary notation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim
is:-
1. An apparatus for recording or writing down the music played upon a piano
or other keyboard instrument substantially as herein described and set forth.
2. An apparatus for recording music consisting essentially of a frame a a number
of levers 6, adapted to be operated by the keys of the instrument, said levers b¹
operating a corresponding number of printing levers f and printing discs f³ through
rods c, c¹ and e, and studs e² whereby they intermittently come into contact with a
rotating inking roller g and a travelling band of paper, said inking roller causing
the disc f³ to rotate and thereby make a mark upon the travelling band of paper
substantially as herein described and set forth.
3. In an apparatus for recording music the levers b¹, vertical rod c, c¹, and
horizontal rods e and studs e³, printing levers f and discs f³, inking roller 9, time
lever t, and a travelling band of paper, all in combination with frame a and rack w
substantially as herein described and set forth.
4. In an apparatus for recording music the combination of the inking roller g
special trough g³, tension roller h, paper feed roller k, paper winding roller / driven
by a suitable motor said roller driving the inking roller g, with the matter claimed
in the previous claim substantially as described and shown.
5. In combination with an apparatus for recording music the longitudinally
slotted concentric tubes ppl, forming together the paper winding roller, to grip
the end of the travelling band of paper substantially as shewn and described.
6. In combination with an apparatus for recording music, the keyboard diagram
and frame B for transcribing the marks printed upon the travelling band of paper
into the ordinary way of writing or reading music, substantially as herein described
and set forth.
1
13 1
1000
S. S. BROMHEAD,
Patent Agent, 171, Queen Victoria Street, London.