US2478549A - Musical instrument - Google Patents

Description

Aug 9, 1949. F. 1. SAMET 2,478,549

MUS ICAL INS TRUMENT Filed May l5, 1946 AT ORNEY Patented Aug. 9, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE This invention'relates to'musical instruments and, more particularly, pertains to musical instruments of the percussion type, such for example, as xylophones and pianos. Even more specically theA invention is concerned with toy musical percussion instruments.

It is an object of the invention' to provide a musical instrument of the characterV described with whichk a person entirely unskilled in musical notations can play unerringly from sheet music.

It is another object of theinvention to provide a musical instrument of the character desribed which can be used to aid in teaching a person musical notations and the playing' of` a percussion instrument.

Itis a further object of the invention to provide a musical instrument of the character described which will aid in perfectingy manual'and visual coordination.

It is yet anotherobject of the .invention to provide'. av musical instrument ofthe character described which comprises relatively few and simple parts, is economical tomanufacture, and, withal, is rugged and elicient in use.

Other objects of the invention will in partbe obvious and in part hereinafterV pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in theA features of construction, combinations of. elements and arrangements of parts which Will be exemplied in the construction hereinafter described, vand of which the scope of application will be indicated in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments ci. this invention,

Fig. 1 is a top view of'a Xylophone constructed in accordance with my invention; and

Figs. 2 and 3 are enlarged sectional views taken substantially along the. lines 2.-2. andA 3-3; vrei spectively, in Fig. 1.

In general I carry out the several objects of my invention by providing a plurality of'musical elements7 such for instanceas strings, bars, rods, tubes or bells, which are so constructed andarranged that when impacted they will sound musical notes. Such elements will be referred to hereinafter as percussive elements- The instrument also includes at least* one percussion member which is used to selectively strikeany oneof the percussive elements at a time. Such member. will be referred to hereinafter as a ham mer.

TheVV hammer and percussivel elements are mounted for relative'movement in. such manner that the hammer can be positionedidn front of any selected single percussive element. For this purpose the hammer preferably is arranged to be movable in a line parallel to the surface dened by the several percussive' elements.' For'instance', if said'elements are arranged in a plane the ham-v mer may be mounted for movement along a straight line or swept throughv an arc in a substantially parallel plane. If the elements are arranged on a conical ora cylindrical surface, the hammer may be mountedfor movement along a circular path concentric with the generating axis of the conical or cylindrical surface. The hammer in addition to being selectively movable from one to another of the percussive elements also can be moved toward and away from any single element in order to strike the selected element.

Further pursuant to my invention there is provided means to hold in predetermined positionr a member carrying musical notations. Such member will hereinafter be referred to as, a piece of music. In addition an indexing means such as a plate or pointer is included, the same being movable relative to the piece of music upon selective movement of the hammer relative to the percussive elements. With this arrangement, if the indexing means is set to any given musical note on the piece of music, the hammer will be positioned in front'of the corresponding percussive element.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, I0 denotes a toy Xylophone constructed in accordance with and embodying myV invention. Said Xylophone includes a base I2 supported by a plurality of legs I4 and carrying, in any conventional manner, several substantially uniformly spaced metal tubes I6. These tubes are tuned to provide a mus'- ical scale by proper graduation of their lengths.

The base has an aperture i8 formed therein in a location laterally of the imaginary line joining the centersof the tubes I6 and about half way between the ends of said" line. This aperture receives a flanged sleeve bearing 2!) secured to the base I2 by rivets 22. Said bearing rotatably supports a stub shaft 24 which is held in the bearings by a cotter pin 26 transXing the lower end ofthe shaft and a plate 28 to which th'e-slfla'ftA is secured by swedging. A washer 3U interposed between the plate 28 and sleeve bearing 2U, and a washer 32 interposed between the cotter pin 26 and sleeve bearing, act as thrust bearings.

The plate serves to support an outwardly tapering cantilever arm 34 made from spring sheet material, e. g., spring sheet steel, and aixed to said plate' at'its wide end-by rivets" 36. Said arm' is suciently long for its narrow free end to extend to approximately the line joining the centers of the tubes I6. At said free end the cantilever arm has secured thereto a downwardly projecting small hammer 38 made of a proper material, for example, hard rubber, to strike a tube and secure a musical sound of a desired tonal quality. The arm is bent in any suitable fashion, for instance as indicated in Eig. 2, so that when idle the tip of the hammer is biassed to a position clear of the tubes I6. Said arm is stiffened by a. reinforcing strip 40 which carries a manually actuable knob 42 held thereto byia screw 44 having a rubber pad 46 at its lower end.

It will be apparent that by swinging the Y cpanwhich extends transversely of the slots 62.

tilever arm 34 about the sleeve bearing 20 the Y hammer 38 can be located above any one. of the musical tubes, the swinging being accomplished by gripping the knob 42 and moving the same in a rotary direction with the shaft 24 as a center. When the hammer 38 isabove the tube desired Vtobe sounded, the knob 42 is rapidly depressed, causing the hammer to impact said tube. If the knob then is released it Will spring back toiits idle position above the tubes ready to be moved to the next note. A

Therel is a tendency for children playing a percussion instrument to allow the hammer to remain in contact with the percussive element, and it is to prevent the resultant mutingof the sounded note that the rubber pad 46 is employed. The instrument is so` designed that when the knob 42 is depressed said pad will strike the base I2 before the hammer 38 impacts a tube. However, the free end of the arm 34 is unconnected to the reinforcing strip 40 for a substantial distance so that, although the pad 46 stops downward movement of the knob, the hammer 38 continues under its own momentum until it strikes'a tube. Thereupon the hammer will spring f back against the reinforcing strip so that the tube is allowed to vibrate'freely and clearly emit the desirednote. f

It may be mentioned that it is within the scop of my invention to omit the rubber pad altogether and rely upon proper handling of the instrument to produce the desired tones or said pad may be reduced in height and merely serve as a stop to prevent too great a downward movement ofthe knob 42 after the hammer 38 has struck a musical tube.

VThe base I2 has a gauge 48 located on Yits upper surface in a position where it can accommodate a sheet 50 of music clear of the tubes I6 and arm 34. Said sheet may have the musical notations printed thereon in the `usual fashion, as clearly seen in Fig. Vl, the musical characters 52 being arranged on stas 54. The lines 56 of the stairs extend in a predetermined direction desirably parallel to the imaginary line joining the centers of the tubes I6 so that a user of the Xylophone can easily read the music While standing in conventional position with regard to the Xylophone tubes. Y

The indexing means in the illustrated embodiment of my invention comprises a rectangular transparent index plate 58 overlying the space occupied by the sheet 50 of music. Means is included to constrain said index plate for movement in a direction transverse, e. g., perpendicular to the lines 56 of the staifs. Such means may comprise a plurality of pins 60 arranged alongside the sheet `5i) of music and lcarried by the vbase I2. These pins are slidably received in slots 52 in the index plate extending in a direction transverse to the lines of the staff.

The active element of the indexing means comprises one or more index lines 64 suitably enu graved or imprinted on the index plate and running in a direction parallel to the lines of the staff. Said index lines are specially arranged ior cooperation with sta-ils 54 which are spaced a predetermined distance apart, the spacing between successive index lines being identical with the spacing between similar lines of adjacent stais.

The index plate also is formed with a slot 66 Said slot 66 is designed to slidably receive a pin 88 se Ycured to and depending from an extension 'Iii formed in one piece with the plate 28, as shown in Fig. l.

With such arrangement, when the plate 28 is rotated the index plate will be shifted transversely of the staff lines so that for any position of the plate 28 corresponding to a location of the hammer 38 above a certain musical tube I6, all of the index lines 64 will occupy definite positions relative to the gauge 48 and sheet 50 of music. The printing of the stads 54 on said sheet are governed by the foregoing controlling consideration so that when an index line is placed above a given musical note 52 the hammer 38 will be located above the musical tube I 6 whose tone corresponds to the pitch indicated by said note.

It will now be apparent that to play a tune from a sheet of music the player grasps the knob 42 and moves it clockwise or counterclockwise, as the case may be, until the uppermost index line is directly over the rst note 52 at the extreme lefthand end of the uppermost stair. Then the player quickly pushes the knob 42 downward to sound a musical tone, as described earlier.y Next the player turns the knob 42 until the same index line registers with the second note of the rst staff and again depresses the knob 42, and so on until Vall the notes of the first stair have been played.

The player now shifts his eyes to the second stai and second index line, allowing these to control his playing of the instrument.

It Will be appreciated that such operation requires and develops excellent visual and manual coordination; visual to secure quick registery between the index lines and musical notes, and manual to move the knob 42 either rotatively or up and down at a desired rapid rate.

, It is obvious that a person who does not know how to read music nor how to pick the right elements (tubes in this case) can easily and unerringly play a tune from a piece of music with the instrument just described. Furthermore, after having exercised on said instrument for a number of times, the player not only becomes familiar with the tune but also learns which percussive element corresponds to which note and thus learns how to read musical notations.

It will be understood that the value of notes or of rests between notes can be indicated by any conventional notations. Although in the preferred form of my invention above described in detail I have shown the hammer experiencing a selective movement relative to stationary percussive elements and the indexing means experiencing a registering move ment relative to a stationary music locating means, it will be understood that my invention embraces percussion instruments in which the percussive elements are selectively movable relative to a stationary hammer (the hammer, however, being movable for striking) and/or in which the music locating means is movable for registry relative to a stationary indexing means providL ing, however, that the two movable members, Whichever they may be, are interconnected so that, when the indexing means is in registry with any specific note on a piece of music, the hammer "will be in front of the percussive element with the corresponding pitch. f

It Will thus be seen that I have provided a musical instrumentI and a method for playing the same which achieve the several objects of my invention and which are well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A musical percussion instrument comprising a base, a plurality of percussive elements of different pitch carried by said base, a resilient arm, means to rotatably support one end of said arm on said base, the free end of said arm being movable in an arc above said percussive elements, a hammer on said free end, a gauge on said base to locate a piece of music in predetermined position, a transparent index plate, means to support said plate above said gauge for movement in a direction transverse to the staff lines of a piece of music, linkage means to interconnect said arm and said plate so that when said arm sweeps over the percussive elements it will cause the plate to move in a direction transverse to said staff lines, and at least one index line on said index plate, said line running parallel to said staff lines.

2. A musical instrument comprising a plurality of elements of diierent pitch, means to actuate any selected element, means to mount said actuating means and element for rotary selective movement relative to one another so that the actuating means can be operably positioned with regard to any selected element, means to locate a piece of music in predetermined position, an indexing means, means to mount said indexing means and locating means for registering movement relative to one another, and linkage means to interconnect said selecting moving means and said registering moving means for joint selective and registering movement such that when said indexing means is registered with a musical notation on said piece of music said actuating means will thereby be disposed in operable position with regard to the element whose pitch corresponds to that indicated by said notation.

3. A musical instrument comprising a plurality of elements of different pitch, means to actuate any selected element, means to mount said actuating means and element for selective movement relative to one another in such manner that the actuating means can be operably positioned with regard to any selected element, means to locate in predetermined position a piece of music having staff lines, an indexing means, means to mount said indexing means and locating means for registering movement relative to one another, and linkage means to interconnect said selective moving means and said registering moving means for joint selective and registering movement such that when said indexing means is registered with a musical notation on said piece of music said actuating means will thereby be disposed in oprable position with regard to the element Wlb pitch corresponds to that indicated by said notation, said indexing means and said locating means being constrained for relative registering nievement in a direction transverse to the staff lilies of the piece of music. l

4. An instrument as set forth in claim -3 wherein the indexing means includes means providing a line arranged parallel to the staff lines of the piece of music.

5. An instrument as set forth in claim 3 wherein the indexing means includes a transparent plate supported above the music locating means, said plate having at least one straight line thereon parallel to the staff lines of the piece of music.

6. A musical instrument comprising a plurality of elements of diierent pitch, means to actuate any selected element, means to mount said actuating means and element for selective movement relative to one another in such manner that the actuating means can be operably positioned with regard to any selected element, means to locate a piece of music in predetermined position, an indexing means, means to mount said indexing means and locating means for registering movement relative to one another, and a linkage system to interconnect said selective moving means and said registering moving means for joint selective and registering movement such that when said indexing means is registered with a musical notation on said piece of music said actuating means will thereby be disposed in operable position with regard to the element whose pitch corresponds to that indicated by said notation.

7. A musical instrument comprising a plurality of elements of different pitch, means to actuate any selected element, means to mount said actuating means and element for selective movement relative to one another in such manner that the actuating means can be operably positioned with regard to any selected element, means to locate a piece of music in predetermined position, an indexing means, means to mount said indexing means and locating means for registering movement relative to one another, and a motion reducing linkage system to interconnect said selective moving means and said registering moving means for joint selective and registering movement such that when said indexing means is registered with a musical notation on said piece of music said actuating means will thereby be disposed in operable position with regard to the element whose pitch corresponds to that indicated by said notation.

8. A musical percussion instrument comprising a plurality of percussive elements of different pitch, a hammer, a resilient member on which said hammer is mounted, means to mount said resilient member and said percussive elements for selective movement relative to one another in such manner that the hammer can be positioned in front of any selected percussive element, said hammer being movable relative to said elements for striking, means to check the movement of the resilient member when the hammer is moved in a striking direction, said checking means being disposed to halt the progress of the resilient member before the hammer has struck a percussive element whereby said hammer will continue moving under its own momentum to strike the percussive element and then spring back therefrom, means to locate a piece of music in predetermined position, an indexing means, means to mount said indexing means and locating means for registering movement relative to one another, and linkage means to interconnect said selective moving disposed in an operable position with regard to 5 the percussive element whose pitch corresponds to thatindcated by said notation. v FRANK I. SAMET.

REFERENCES' CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

Number 8 UNITED STATES lPATENTS Name Date Dodd Oct. 9, 1894 Smith Aug. 29, 1899 Marx Nov. 19, 1918 Huth Oct. 4, 1921 Barnum Oct. 7, 1930 Klein 11,1 Dec. 9, 1941

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