AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TURNING OVER THE LEAVES OF MUSIC
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Spencer Kenrick Bellairs, Master of Arts,
Professor in Elphinstone College, Bombay, of Apsley, in the County
of Oxford, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TURNING
OVER THE LEAVES OF MUSIC."
Sealed the 20th June 1873, and dated the 28th March 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Spencer Kenrick
Bellairs at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th March 1873.
I, HENRY SPENCER KENRICK BELLAIRS, Master of Arts, Professor in
Elphinstone College, Bombay, of Apsley, in the County of Oxford, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR TURNING OVER THE LEAVES OF Music," to be as follows, that
is to say:
This Invention consists in the construction of an improved apparatus
for turning over the leaves of music for pianos, organs, harmoniums, or
for music stands, whereby great facility of action and simplicity and
economy of construction are obtained.

page_text: By this Invention each leaf of music is turned over by the weight of
a metal ball fixed to one end of a string attached at the other end to a
clip holding the leaf of music and operated by suitable mechanism
actuated by the knee or foot of the performer.
The balls are placed in a contrivance attached to the left side of the
piano or music stand, and formed of two pieces of board separated by
strips of wood about one inch in width in such a way that the upper
part shall form a trough, the bottom of which is inclined. In the lower
part of this trough is a moveable metal block, raised by means of a
wooden lever working upon a metal axis or pivot at or near its centre
and fixed underneath the trough.
A second lever suitably fixed underneath the key board or stand is set
in motion by the knee or foot and communicates motion to the first
lever which raises the said metal block at the lower part of the inclined
plane. This metal block on being raised raises and tips the ball above
it (and attached as herein-before described to the first leaf of music)
over a stop which faces the metal block; the ball then falls down and
in its fall draws over the first leaf of music; the metal block then falls
into its normal position and the next ball rolls into the position of the
one just released and is in its turn tipped over by the action of the
metal block as herein-before described, and so on for the remainder of the
balls.
When the music to be turned is in sheets it is secured to the stand by
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Spencer Kenrick Bellairs in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 26th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
SPENCER KENRICK BELLAIRS, Master of Arts, Professor in Elphinstone
College, Bombay, of Apsley, in the County of Oxford, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-

page_text: cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Spencer Kenrick
Bellairs, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Spencer Kenrick
Bellairs, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Henry Spencer Kenrick Bellairs, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TURNING
OVER THE LEAVES OF MUSIC," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Henry Spencer Kenrick Bellair, executors or administra-
tors, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Spencer Kenrick Bellairs,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say:-
1
This Invention consists in the construction of an improved apparatus
for turning over the leaves of music for pianos, organs, harmoniums, or
for music stands, whereby great facility of action and simplicity and
economy of construction are obtained.
By this Invention each leaf of music is turned over by the weight of
a metal ball fixed to one end of a string or cord attached at the other
end to a clip holding the leaf of music and operated by suitable mecha-
nism actuated by the knee or foot of the performer.
The balls are placed in a frame attached to the left side of the piano
or music stand, and formed of two pieces of board separated by strips of
wood about one inch in width in such a way that the upper part shall
form a trough, the bottom of which is inclined. In the lower part of
this trough is a moveable wooden block raised by means of a wooden
lever working upon a metal axis or pivot at or near its centre and fixed

page_text: underneath the trough. A spring moves the block back to its normal
position when the lever is released.
A second lever suitably fixed underneath the key board or stand is set
in motion by the knee or foot and communicates motion to the first
lever which raises the said wooden block at the lower part of the inclined
plane. This wooden block on being raised raises and tips over the ball
above it (and attached as herein-before described to the first leaf of
music) over a stop which faces the wooden block. The ball then falls
down and in its fall draws over the first leaf of music. The wooden
block then falls into its normal position, and the next ball rolls into the
position of the one just released and is in its turn tipped over by the
action of the wooden block as herein-before described and so on for the
remainder of the balls.
To make my Invention better understood I will proceed to describe
the same by reference to the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1
is a longitudinal section of my improved apparatus.
A, A, is one of the sides of the frame of the apparatus (the other side
not being shewn); the two sides are connected together (so as to leave
a space between them) by strips or pieces of wood a, a, d, and 9; the
first strip a, a, is inclined and forms the bottom of the trough in which
the balls are placed; b is the moveable wooden block, the top of which
forms when in its normal position a continuation of the inclined plane
a, a; c is the lever pivotting at f for raising the block b; d is the stop
formed by one of the strips separating the sides A of the frame; e is
the metal spring fixed within the frame by the screw v; the end of the
upper arm of the spring rests against the under side of the trough a, the
other end entering a slot win the block b; h, h³, h³, h³, are the metal
balls (the number of which may be increased) each weighing about one
ounce; 8, Figure 2, shews one of the silk cords carrying a ball hat one
end and a metal clip i at the other end. The clip is made of a strip
of thin hard brass or other suitable metal, and is shewn in elevation and
plan at Figures 3 and 4. A rectangular hole i is cut out near one end
of the metal strip, and the other end of the metal strip is narrowed
so as to fit into the said hole; the strip is then bent as shewn in plan at
Figure 4, and the narrow end passed through the said hole so as to form
what is called a back spring; x is a cord connecting the lever c to the
lever C (Figure 5) fixed to the under side of the key board of the
instrument, or to the music desk; this lever C pivots at j and can be

page_text: moved by the knee of the performer, or it may be placed so that it may
be moved by the foot.
My improved apparatus is fixed by a thumbscrew or other suitable
contrivance to the side of the musical instrument or desk and operates
as follows:-As many of the balls as there are leaves to be turned are
placed in the trough of the apparatus, and the clip of the first ball h
is attached to the first leaf; the clip of the second ball is attached to the
second leaf and so on. To turn over the first leaf the end C₁ of the
lever C is raised by the pressure of the knee, thereby raising (by means
of the cord x) the end c¹ of the lever c, which raises the block b
and ball placed above it; the ball being raised falls over the stop
d, and in falling draws with it by means of its cord 8 and clip i the
first leaf of music. The lever C is then relieved from pressure, and the
spring e will bring the block 6 back to its normal position, and the
balls will roll forward, the ball h¹ coming over the block b ready to be
raised in a similar manner to the first ball, when the second leaf is to be
turned, and so on until all the leaves have been turned.
Having thus described my said Invention, and the best means I am
acquainted with for carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be
understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details of con-
struction herein laid down, as the same may be varied without departing
from the principle of my Invention, but what I claim is, the con-
struction of an improved apparatus for turning over the leaves of music
by means of weights, each fixed to one end of a string or card, to the
other end of which is attached a clip, and operated by the knee or foot
of the performer, substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Spencer Kenrick Bellairs,
have hereto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of
September, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-three.