IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Carte, of No. 20, Charing Cross, in
the County of Middlesex, Musical Instrument Maker and Music
Publisher, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Carte at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th June 1875.
I, RICHARD CARTE, of No. 20, Charing Cross, in the County of
Middlesex, Musical Instrument Maker and Music Publisher, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DESIGNATED FLUTES," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to produce a perfect chromatic scale
with the fingering of the notes in regular succession by means of a more
simple mechanism than that hitherto employed, and with more simplicity
and facility of fingering the notes.
Autor with small holes the hole
stanned immediatal

page_text: holes beyond the reach of the fingers, and on flutes with large holes
mediately by unconnected levers kept lifted by their respective springs.
All the holes are open, the keys being kept lifted by their respective
springs. The precise mechanism to arrive at this, namely, to keep open
the lever by a spring, has already been used on my flute known as the
1867 pattern. The low D natural and D sharp are open, and are both
closed with the little finger of the right hand, as also by the little finger
of the left hand. I also pierce a hole in the flute, which is operated on
by the thumb of the right hand. By pressing down the thumb of the
right hand I make C natural, and when raised I produce the C sharp,
and by pressing down the thumb of the left hand I close the hole
C sharp and make C natural.
In order to add an additional hole D natural I press down the first
finger of the right hand, which frees the lever covering the new middle
D natural or new C sharp acted upon by the second finger of the left
hand, the third finger at the same time closing the lever under the first
finger, so that the vent hole of the middle D natural, as to effect, is
produced as on former flutes by raising the first finger of the left
hand.
I can dispense with the use of the thumb of the right hand as before
described by using the C sharp vent hole as just described.
I can also obtain an additional F natural by lifting the first finger of
the right hand when the first and second finger of the right hand makes
the note F natural, and so an additional B flat when the first and second
fingers of the left hand makes the note A natural; this however is done
by connections. This arrangement can be modified by making an
F natural and B flat with the first and third fingers of the right and left
hand respectively.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
CARTE, of No. 20, Charing Cross, in the County of Middlesex, Musical
Instrument Maker and Music Publisher, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Richard Carte, Her special licence
that I, the said Richard Carte, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Carte, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DESIGNATED FLUTES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Carte, my executors or
administrators, 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 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 Richard Carte, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say:
-
The object of my Invention as stated in my Provisional Specification
is to produce a more perfect chromatic flute, the fingering of the notes
forming the vent holes being in regular succession.
To avoid repetition of what I have in a general manner described in
my Provisional Specification I will at once proceed to give a detailed
description of my Invention in order to make it clear.
Figure 1 represents a flute laid out in plan constructed according to
my improved system. The Figures represent places on which the fingers
and thumb of the right and left hand respectively fall on the keys which
cover the holes. The letters represent the notes, which are produced
when that hole and those above are closed. The keys on this flute are

page_text: fingers of the performer.
The Drawings will readily suggest to the mechanician accustomed
to make flutes of this nature how to construct the mechanical parts
without any more minute description than I have here given.
To point to a few special instances it will be readily seen that D in
Figure 1 will be shut by pressing down the first finger of the right hand,
the C will be shut by pressing down the thumb of the left hand, and
also by pressing down the third and fourth fingers of the left hand.
The respective fingers 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the left hand, and 1, 2, 3, and 4
of the right hand, pressed on their keys over the respective holes, will
close those holes, and the thumbs of the right and left hand respectively
pressed on their keys will close the respective holes. 2ª of the right
hand will close the low D hole; 3ª of the right hand will close the
low Chole, and thus the low C will be produced, all the holes being
closed.
to open, as
By pressing
key, which is
The first finger of the right hand, which closes the middle D as
above described, may be constructed so as to allow the D
in Figure 2, which represents a portion of the same flute.
down the first finger of the right hand (Figure 2) on its
kept open by its spring, the key B is also closed, and the D, which
is kept open by its spring, is relieved by the lever d being pressed
down, and thus a new vent hole is obtained when the first finger of the
left hand is raised.
by the lever
below, and 1,
Figure 3 represents the lower part of a flute, which is a modification
of the flute above described. 4 of the left hand closes G
at f; 4 closes the D hole below; 4° closes the C# hole
2, 3, and 4 cover their respective holes as before described; 4° closes the
Da, thus making C# and 4ª, the Cmaking the lower Cas produced
by 4 and 4° above described; 4 of the right hand also closes the G of
the left hand by the lever at g. By this arrangement I can pass from
C to C, and from C to D#, also C# to D# in a manner more con-
veniently than heretofore. This is also obviously done in Figure 1.
Figure 4 represents a flute of the same construction as in Figure 1
in the key of C (omitting the low C and C# keys), and can be trans-
posed to any key required for the various flutes used in military or other
bands.

page_text: Figure 5. represents a portion of the flute under the left hand. When
the second finger closes its hole it releases the key, stopping the C# hole,
which is kept open by its spring by lowering the lever h, and the third
finger closes the A and B holes, so that when the first finger is raised
off the finger piece, which covers the B, the C# hole opens, and forms
the old vent hole for the middle D₁; the arm i will close the C# on
2
Figure 5. represents a portion of the flute under the left hand. When
the second finger closes its hole it releases the key, stopping the C# hole,
which is kept open by its spring by lowering the lever h, and the third
finger closes the A and B holes, so that when the first finger is raised
off the finger piece, which covers the B, the C# hole opens, and forms
the old vent hole for the middle D₁; the arm i will close the C# on
pressing down the first finger.
Figure 6 represents that part of the flute under the right hand. G
hole is closed by the first finger of the right hand. 1º, as also the
arm 3b, closes the F.
The other notes are the same as described in Figure 1.
The object of this arrangement is to dispense with the use of the
thumb of the right hand operating on a key.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner it is to be carried into effect, I desire to make it clear that I do
not claim as any part of my Invention the particular mechanical means
of keeping open or shutting any of the keys, as the same are in common
use in the manufacture of the Boehm flute, and of my said flute known
as the 1867 pattern, and which may be varied; but what I claim is a
flute or flutes constructed substantially in the manner described in one
or other of the Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, or with the modification
described in Figure 6.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Carte, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of December, One thousand
RICHARD CARTE. (L.S.)