IMPROVEMENTS IN HARMONIUMS AND OTHER SIMILAR FREE REED INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Armand Gilbee, of the Firm of L. de
Fontainemoreau & Co., Patent Agents, 4, South Street, Finsbury,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
HARMONIUMS AND OTHER SIMILAR FREE REED INSTRUMENTS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Maria Procopé, of Stockholm, in the
Kingdom of Sweden.
Sealed the 14th March 1873, and dated the 16th October 1872.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Armand Gilbee
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 16th October 1872, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ARMAND GILBEE, of the Firm of L. de Fontainemoreau & Co., Patent
Agents, 4, South Street, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN HARMONIUMS AND OTHER SIMILAR FREE REED INSTRUMENTS," and have

page_text: petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made
solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad
by Maria Procopé, of Stockholm, in the Kingdom of Sweden.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Armand Gilbee, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
scal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, reference being had to
the Drawing hereto annexed and forming part of this Specification,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
.
The object of these improvements is an improved method of tuning
harmoniums and other similar free reed instruments, and the Invention
consists in an improved arrangement and construction of the reeds of
such instruments whereby, firstly, the pitch of the instrument can be
raised or lowered to the extent, if required, of a whole tone; secondly,
the instrument can be tuned without the necessity of scraping or filing
the tongues, and without opening the wind chest for each tongue tuned ;
thirdly, the instrument can be tuned in a very short time, and with such
facility that the player will be able to tune his own harmonium;
fourthly, the instrument can be set to the music of wind instruments,
and is adapted for the so called French tuning; fifthly, the tone of the
instrument is rendered, richer, purer, and more sonorous.
"
יד
To carry out this Invention reeds are employed which may be tuned'
either by pushing the tongue backwards or forwards, as in former
Letters Patent granted to me, and dated the Twenty-fifth day of October
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, by which the length of
the vibrating part of the tongue is varied, or a so called tuning tongue
is applied over or under the fixed tongue of the reed in such a manner
that it can be moved backwards and forwards as required, and so
adapted as to have its point resting against the fixed tongue, so that
the length of the vibrating part of the latter may be varied, and
consequently the number of its vibrations will be varied. In both cases
the reeds are constructed and arranged so that they may be tuned either
from the top of the instrument directly behind the keys, or from the
front below the key board by means of a tuning key similar to that
employed for tuning pianos.***

page_text: To make the Invention communicated to me better understood, I will
now proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying
Drawing, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section of a harmonium
constructed with the improved reeds having fixed and moveable tongues;
Figure 2, view of the under side at line A, B; Figure 3 a plan;
Figure 4, plan at line C, D; Figures 5 and 6, sections shewing
modifications of the construction of the reed shewn in Figure 1;
Figures 7 and 8, views shewing the construction where two moveable
tongues are employed.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 a, b, are the keys of the harmonium; f, the
frame of the reeds; g, the fixed tongues; and 7, the moveable or tuning
tongues. The frame f is screwed on in the ordinary manner; h is
another frame also fixed by screws, and in which are cut channels i for
receiving the metal strips or plates k, toothed on one side so as to form
a rack, as shewn in Figure 2. On these plates k the moveable or tuning
tongues are fixed, their outer ends being bent so as to form a sharp
angle, or into the form of a bow, as shewn in Figure 1. The extremitics
of the tongues / rest on the tongues g, but without pressing them.
Thin plates m are screwed to the frame h, the edges slightly overlapping
the edges of the plates k, so that the latter are held firmly, but can be
moved backwards and forwards when required to move the tuning
tongues . Into the teeth or racks of the plates & gear the pinions o,
each of which is fixed at the lower end of a vertical rod n, Figure 1.
The upper part of each rod n is made square, so as to allow of their
being turned by a tuning key when the instrument is to be tuned.
When the rods n are turned the pinions o gearing with the teeth or
racks of the plates k, the latter and with them the moveable tongues /
are moved backwards or forwards. The bar p carrying the brass plates"
is fastened to the bottom of the wind box by means of the pillars q, and
serves as a guide to the rods n. The key plates at the back of the
keys is furnished with two knobs t, by which it may be moved
backwards and forwards, and thus uncover the square ends of the tuning
rods n when the instrument requires tuning.
In the modification shown in Figure 5 the tuning tongues are
applied under the tongues g. In this arrangement it is necessary to
apply a packing u of india-rubber or other suitable material, holes being
cut therein for the wind passages. In the modification shewn in
Figure 6 the tuning rods n are placed horizontally instead of vertically

page_text: as herein-before described. The moveable tongues
either over or under the tongues g. The front flap
and may be let down so as to
ends of the tuning rods n.
employed.
may be placed
moves on hinges,
uncover and render accessible the square
Instead of the rods n, screws may be
5
Figures 7 and 8 shew the arrangement wherein the vibrating tongue
is moveable. The frame f is formed with channels to receive the
tongues g and h. The tongues g are firmly held by means of the cross
bar d, grooved to allow the tongues to slide. The cross bar d is fixed
to the frame by screws c, which pass through the cross bar d, packing 6, 1
and spring a.
The springs a are applied between the tongues and the
cross bar d, so that the tongues g are held steady. The tongues / are
held by a spring k, which passes across them and is held to the frame f
by the screws i. On the tongues and h are fastened the metal
pieces e, connected by bars 1, thus uniting the tongues in pairs. When 1
placed vertically a screw m is applied to one side of the piece e for
moving the tongues, but when placed horizontally one side of the
piece e is cut with teeth, and gears with a pinion as herein-before
described.
The method of tuning an instrument constructed as herein-before.
described is as follows:-When the tuning rods n or mare placed
vertically, as in Figure 1, the keyboard 8 is pushed back as herein-before
described, but if the rods are placed horizontally, as in Figure 6, the
flap is let down. In both cases the square ends of the rods will
be uncovered and easily accessible, and the instrument can be tuned by a
a tuning key more easily and quickly than an ordinary piano.
The tongues of the reeds do not require to be scraped or filed, and the
(sound box need not be frequently opened as is the case in tuning an
ordinary harmonium.
Having now described the nature of the Invention communicated to
me, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it to be understood
that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein laid down, as
the same may be varied without departing from the principle of the
Invention, but what I claim is, the improvements in harmoniums and
other similar free reed instruments, whereby they may be tuned or set
to a different key from the top or from the front (by means of an
ordinary tuning key) without scraping or filing the tongues of the reeds,

page_text: or opening and closing the sound box, as herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Armand Gilbee, have
hereto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.