Improved Damper Register for Accordeons and similar Musical Instruments.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Feb., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 18th Nov., 1891-Accepted, 13th Feb., 1892
DROVISIONAL
DRONIZATION
PRO
SPECIFICATION
An Improved Damper Register for Accordeons and similar Musical
Instruments.
I, WILHELM ZIELKE of Thorn, Western Prussin, in the Empire of Germany,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is an arrangement for damping or deadening the
sound in accordeons or similar musical instruments, which allows of a tight closing
of the sound-air passages.
To accomplish the said purpose a covering bar suitably placed over each row of
sound plates has at the bottom side a corresponding number of covering plates.
Said bars are secured to arms movable in hinges and adapted to be operated from
outside by the damper slides or stops. The latter act on driving levers which are
revoluble at one end and detained with the other end in eyes provided on the
covering bar.
Or the damper bars may be moved by means of slotted levers, adapted to be
turned by a rod and outside knob connected therewith while each damper bar has a
pivot, with which it engages in the respective lever slot.
The damper knob may also be formed as a double horizontal knob, passing
through and tightly displaceable in an outward bridge or box and adapted to be
pressed from both sides. The knob bolt acts on a lever one end of which influences
a rod or rail which for its own part actuates driving levers connected with the
covering bars, thereby opening or closing the latter as the case may be.
The improved arrangement may in its particulars be conformed to the shape and
.construction of the instrument to which it is applied, the essential feature of the
invention being the movable covering bar, by means of which the damping of the
sound or the complete closing of the passages is effected from inside.
Dated this 20th day of February 1891
HUELSER & Co.,
Agents for Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Damper Register for Accordeons and similar Musical
Instruments.
1, WILHELM ZIELKE of Thorn, Western Prussia, in the Empire of Germany,
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 :-
This invention relates to an improved device for damping the sounds in
accordeons and similar musical instruments, which differs materially from the
registers hitherto employed. The latter never allow of a tight closing of the
sound-air channels, as, when fitting tightly, they casily swell in damp weather and
become inoperative, while, if easily movable, and in dry weather, they give passage
to the air and cause the tone of the instrument to be husk.
These drawbacks are intended to be obviated by the improved device illustrated
in the accompanying drawings Sheets I to IV, in which
Fig. 1 is an inner view of the reed plate box showing the dampers or covering
bars as lying on the reed plates.
Fig. 2 is a section along line M M Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a section along line N N Fig. 1 showing in dotted lines the covering
bars as turned up.
Fig. 4. is an inner view showing the covering bars as raised.

page_text: mustrates an arrangement for moving the covering bars, which are shewn
as lying on the reed plates.
Fig. 6 is a section along line O O Fig. 5.
Fig. 7 the same showing the covering bars as lifted off the reed plates.
Fig. 8 illustrates a modification.
Fig. 9 is a section along line P P Fig. 8 showing in dotted lines the damper bars
as turned up.
Fig. 10 is an inner view of a sound box, in which the bar is shown as lying
on the reed plates and is so arranged that a fine and strong sound is produced.
Fig. 11 is a section along line QQ Fig. 10.
Fig. 12 a section along line R R Fig. 10.
Fig. 13 the same, except that the reed holes are shewn as laid open.
Fig. 14 is a section along line S S Fig. 11 showing the arrangement of the reed
*holes.
Fig. 15 is a section through the reed plate box showing the damper bar as turned
back.
Fig. 16 is a cross section along line T T Fig. 15.
Fig. 17 is the inner view of a reed plate box with a cap-shaped bar arranged
over the reed plates.
Fig. 18 is a section along line U U Fig. 17.
Fig. 19 the same along line V V Fig. 17.
Fig. 20 is a section shewing the arrangement of the bar in an instrument in which
the sounds are mechanically produced.
Fig. 21 is a longitudinal section along line X X Fig. 20.
Over the reed plates A are arranged the covering bars B which are provided
with reed-covering plates a. The covering bars are secured to arms D movable in
hinges by the action of damper slides d. The slides d act on driving levers f
which are introduced into the eye 7 of the covering bar and revoluble about h
Figs. 1 and 2, (covering bar closed) Fig. 4 (covering bar opened). By moving
the slides d always a full opening or a secure closing of the reed holes and
consequently also a clear and pure alteration (strengthening) of sound is
attained.
The damper or covering bars may also be differently arranged as is shewn for
instance in Figs. 5 to 7. The knobs are here arranged to be turned and the
damper bars are moved by means of slotted levers E, in the slot of which is intro-
duced the damper bar pivot k. In Figs. 8 and 9 the damper knob is formed as a
so-called "clavis" knob, that is to say a horizontal double knob, tightly displace-
able in an outward bridge and adapted to be pressed from two sides .e. to he opened
or closed. The bolt d acts on a lever 1, the one end of which influences a bar or
rail G which acts on the driving levers m m³ m" thus opening or closing the
covering bars B.
In order to better utilize the arrangement of a movable bar or of a cap-shaped
stationary bar, Sheets 2, 3 and 4, for the action of the instrument, that is to say
for enhancing and strengthening the sound, the following contrivance is provided.
A. tapering strip 13' of sheet metal is slightly bent round at its sides n and o and
covered on the bottom side with a thin piece p of felt or other soft material. The
sheet metal strip is held by the hinged wire and can be turned up and down,
simultaneously with the latter. For this purpose one end q' of the wire g terminates
in an eye which is open at the top and serves to receive the end of driving
ever f When the sheet metal strip, the side of which lies exactly over the
middle of the reed plates, is given the position shown in Fig. 13, in which the side n
is at a vertical distance of 4 millimetres and the side o at a vertical distance of
12 millimetres from the reed plates, a soft, agreeable and round tone is attained.
When the instrument is not being played i.e. when the knob d is shifted in, the
lever presses on the sheet metal strip between n and o.
When the instrument is started playing i.e. on the knob being pulled out, the
lever f brings the sheet metal strip into the position indicated above. The pressing

page_text: of the sheet metal strip on the reed plates, when the instrument is not being played,
serves to always force the leather plates which cover the metal stops, into their
horizontal, covering,-position, as these leather plates are deprived by dampness
or heat of their flatness, roll themselves up and cause the sound to be impaired.
The lining of the sheet metal strip with a soft material serves to protect the
leather pieces and chiefly the metal reeds, as injury to the latter by the uncovered
metal strip would impair the sound.
In an analogous manner as to accordeons, the improved device may also be
applied with the same success to mechanical musical instruments as is shown by
Figs. 20 and 21 Sheet IV. Or a stationary cap-shaped bar B" may be used in lieu
of the movable device for attaining an enhanced and strengthened tone. The effect
is the same except that the compressed air cannot escape at will in any direction
but is led off from the one open longitudinal side.
11
When the instrument is to be tuned or the reeds are to be repaired, lever fis
lifted out of eye q" and laid under the bar B¹ so as to hold the same; Figs. 15
and 16; the cap-shaped bar can likewise be easily removed so as to allow any
repair to be commodiously executed.
In order to bring forth with full power the enhanced modulated tone produced
by the application of the movable, or of the cap-shaped stationary, sheet metal
strip, the reed holes (Figs. 12 to 14) are not, as heretofore, narrower than the two
reeds lying thereover, but are shaped in proportion to the high and low tones in
half the length and slightly more than the whole width of the reeds, so that the air
strikes vertically direct on the stronger part of the reeds.
It is further of great advantage that only the stronger part of the reeds is
exposed to direct air pressure, whereby a breaking of the reeds is absolutely
excluded.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1) A damper register device for enhancing and strengthening the sounds in
musical instruments working with suction-and pressure air, characterised by the
damping or closing of the reeds being effected from the inside, for which purpose
a covering bar B₁ revoluble in hinges is arranged over each reed plate, which bar
can be so moved by means of slide d or turning knob d¹ or double horizontal
knob d together with the levers El, rail g and driving levers m m m that a
damping or closing, or an opening of the reeds is effected, substantially as illustrated
and described.
2) The arrangement forming the object of Claim 1, so modified that the bar B¹
is made from sheet metal with bent-round rims no and provided with felt or other
soft lining p, while the hinge wire 7 terminates in an open eye q serving to receive
the lever end f¹ so that lever can be hooked out of the eye and used to hold fast
the bar, which can then be completely turned back Figs. 15 and 16, substantially as
illustrated and described.
3) The device referred to in Claims 1 and 2 so modified that in lieu of the
movable contrivance a stationary cap-shaped bar B is arranged over the reeds,
which bar can be attached or detached in any suitable manner, substantially as
illustrated and described.
4) The arrangement referred to in Claims 1 to 3 for producing a soft and
powerful sound, in co-operation with the arrangement of reed holes, which are
shaped proportionally to the high and low tones in half the length and slightly more
than the whole breadth of the reeds, substantially as illustrated and described.
ם
1
101 3
XY
1001
WILHELM ZIELKE,
By Huelser & Co.,
His Agents.