A NEW OR IMPROVED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT."-A commu-
nication from abroad by Clarendon Williams and E. F. Falconet, of
Nashville, Davidson County, State of Tennessee, in the United States of
America.
Sealed the 2nd January 1861, and dated the 3rd August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the 'said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd August 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT,"
to be as follows:-
The new or improved musical instrument, which forms the subject of the
present Invention, is composed of a number of bells properly tuned and
arranged, in combination with playing keys like those of a pianoforte operating
upon a suitably applied system of hammers to strike the bells, and in con-
nection with the hammers there are dampers which are acted upon. by the
hammers, and which may be also acted upon by a pedal..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd February 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward .Newton,, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT," being a commu-
nication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The new or improved musical instrument, which forms the subject of the
present Invention, is composed of a number of bells properly tuned and
arranged in combination with playing keys like those of a pianoforte, and
made to operate upon a suitably applied system of hammers to strike the
bells; and in connection with the hammers there are dampers, which are
acted-upon by the hammers, and which may be also acted upon by a
pedal.
In the accompanying Drawings; Figure 1 is a vertical section of the instru
ment exhibiting the bells of one octave; Figure 2 is a horizontal section of
the same, showing the arrangement of the octaves of bells, the instrument

page_text: !
having six octaves. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in the several Figures.
A is the case of the instrument containing the bells and the playing action,
and having a key board B in front like a pianoforte; C, C, are upright posts;
one for supporting the bells and their hammers and dampers, one of such
posts being employed for each octave of bells, and one for any portion of an
octave more than a given number of complete octaves that may be employed
in the instrument. The posts C, C, may be stayed by stays connecting them
with each other or with the upper part of the case to give them the necessary
stability, and each has attached to it a number of arms D, D, arranged half in
front and half at the back, one above another, each of these arms supporting
one of the bells E, E, and its hammer F and damper, and part of the playing
mechanism. The bells are hung from their crowns upon crane-like. standards
G, G, erected upon the arms D, D. The hammers have their shanks arranged
to work as devers each upon a fixed fulcrum a secured in a short post H
standing upon the outer end of its respective arm D within its respective bell;
as shown in Figure 1, by the representation of one bell in section..
Each playing key I, working on a fulcrum h, is connected with its respective
hammer in the following manner, as illustrated in Figure 1:-The rear end
of the key is connected by a short link 6 with the rear end of a lever J, which
works on a fulcrum g, and whose front end--is connected by a wire c with 'a
bell crank K, which works on a fixed fulcrum d secured in the standard G of
the opposite bell of the same octave, or attached to the same post C. From
this bell crank a wire e crosses over to a bell crank L on the post H of its
respective bell, and this bell crank is connected by a wire f with the hammer.
When the key is struck by the finger in playing, the front end of the lever Jis
depressed, and the wire c is made to draw down the upper or horizontal arm
of the bell-crank K, and throw outward the lower or vertical arm of the
same, which by its pull on the wire e, draws inward the lower or upright arm.
of the bell crank L, and draws down the horizontal arm thereof, and the
latter arm, by its pull on the wire f, throws the hammer against. the side of
the bell. Each hammer has a spring i, see Figure 1, so applied to it as to
cause the hammer at once to fall back free of the bell, so that the bell may-be-
free to vibrate till the key is liberated, and the damper thereby allowed to
come into action on, the bell. The bammer shank, it is obvious, should be
slightly elastic. The damper k of each bell is attached to a lever M arranged
to work within the bell upon a fulcrum 7.attached to its respective post H,
and this lever has applied to it a spring m, which tends to force the damper
into contact with the bell, but which when the hammer strikes is overcome by

page_text: the pressure of the hammer shank upon the lever M, which pressure forces
the damper out of contact with the bell, and holds it so until the playing end
of the key is allowed to rise, when the hammer ceasing to press upon the
damper lever, allows the spring m to force the damper into contact with the
bell. N is a foot pedal for holding the dampers out of contact with the bells
when desired. .A rod n connects this pedal with a series of upright rods p, p,
which are connected by short links r, r, with cross heads 8, s, fixed on the bell
posts C, C. These rods p, p, have arms q attached, one arm near each
damper lever, as shown in Figure 1. By pressing on the pedal with the foot
the rod n is raised, and with it the rods 'p, p, which, owing to the arrangement
of the links r, are at the same time thrown outward toward the bells, and by
this movement of the rods p, p, their arms q are pressed against the damper
levers in such a manner as to remove the dampers from the bells. We
propose in most cases to employ two sets of hammers, that is to say, a hard
one and a soft one for each bell, and to bring either the hard or the soft, set
into connection with the keys by means of a moveable key board capable of
being shifted, by a pedal, or by means of a suitable system of couplings.
i
Having thus described the Invention that has been communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be distinctly understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein set forth, as such may be varied
or modified 'without departing from the principle of action thereof; but I
claim as new, and as the Invention which I desire to secure by Letters Patent,
constructing musical instruments of bells, hammers, playing keys and dampers,,
and their appurtenances, as herein described..
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this First day of February, in the year
of our Lord, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,..
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.B.)