US2475213A - Toy musical instrument - Google Patents

Description

J C. BANCROFT TOY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT July 5,

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J. C. BANCROFT TOY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed July 17, 1946 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented July 5, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Joseph C. Bancroft, New York, N. Y.

Application July 17, 1946, Serial No. 684,217

3 Claims.

This invention relates to musical instruments, and more particularly to those capable of use as toys, and by means of which simple tunes or musical compositions can be readily played by children or others without musical experience or training.

An object of the invention is to provide in an instrument of this character, a relatively inexpensive construction of sturdy nature to thereby enable the instrument to withstand the use and abuse to which an article of this character is likely to be subjected.

Another object of the invention is to provide means by which the notes or tones of a plurality of simple songs or musical compositions will be placed at the disposal of the user and which may be selectively positioned in respect to the keys of the instrument so that the keys to be depressed and their sequence of operation will be effectively and accurately indicated to the player and the playing of any one of a number of tunes can be accomplished by the most inexperienced user of the instrument.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in an instrument of this character, a novel construction of playing keys, 2. simple and efficient arrangement of hammers and the reeds against which the same are impinged; a novel mounting and disposition of a paper web bearing a plurality of successively-arranged tunes, and an artistic and sturdy casing or housing within which the operating parts of the instrument are contained and by means of which a maximum of protection for the same is rendered possible.

More particularly, the device contemplates the provision of a housing having an end wall formed with a plurality of lengthy, horizontally-disposed, resiliently mounted bars constituting the keys of the instrument, said keys having free ends adapted to depress portions of resiliently-mounted hammers, the latter having head portions for impingement against a plurality of tuned reeds located above them; it further contemplates the provision of a pair of rollers mounted to receive a paper web and hold the same stretched below the keys, said web being imprinted with the notes of a plurality of tunes, the notes being arranged for proper disposition below the bars to thereby designate the proper bars to be depressed, as Well as the sequence of operation, and it further contemplates the provision of a sturdy, artistic housing or casing for the parts of the instrument to afford a most complete protection for the same.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein an 2 illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a musical instrument constructed in accordance with the invention, with the top cover plate of the housing removed to disclose construction;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the instrument, looking at the right end of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a view looking at the left end of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the complete instrument;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional View through the sounding board, the hammers and adjacent parts, and

Fig. '7 is a sectional view on the line 1--| of Fig. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows.

With reference to the drawings, l indicates generally the housing or casing of the instrument. In the form shown, the housing is preferably, but not. necessarily, in the shape of a trough-like sheet-metal stamping having its 1ongitudinal side edges rolled or curled upwardly substantially as indicated at 2 and 3. The opposite ends of the housing thus formed, are beaded, as indicated respectively at 4 and 5. The end beading 5 receives and securely retains an end wall or closure plate 3| provided with a plurality of apertures 32 through which the musical sounds can emanate when the instrument is being played.

The heading 4, located at the opposite end of the housing I, receives an end wall or closure plate 6, the same being provided with a plurality of lengthy bars I which are formed integrally with the end wall or plate 6, and are bent as at 9 to lie horizontally and substantially at right angles .to the plate or the end wall or plate 6. The bars 1, and eight in number are shown, to correspond to the notes of the musica1 scale, constitute the keys of the instrument, and by manual depression of the same, selected tunes may be played, in the manner to be described.

At their free ends, the bars I are downwardly bent as shown at 8, the lower end of each of these down-bent portions overlying a hammer, the construction of which is clearly shown in Figs. 6 and 8. It will be therein noted that the eight hammers, corresponding in number to the keys or bars 1, are all formed from one piece of spring metal. The hammer group thus provided, includes the base'portion l0 having eight spring fingers, each of which is first bent upwardly as at ll, and then bent substantially horizontally,

and then doubled over upon itself, as at l2 to provide a free-end portion M to which a striking head [5, of wood or other suitable materia1 is attached. The normal position of each hammer is shown in full lines in Fig. 6 wherein it will be seen that the end portion indicated at i2 is slightly elevated adjacent to the lower end of the downturned part 8 of the bar I, and the opposite end of the finger constituting the hammer body, is in lowered position. A strip of felt l6 or other padding is situated beneath the heads I to dead-- en the impact of the same when they descend after having struck the reeds l9 located above them. Similarly, a strip of felt I! is located be low the end portion l2 to deaden the sound of this portion of each hammer as the same is brought downwardly under the pressure of its key or bar I. A filler piece of thick, compressible cardboard, as indicated at l8 may be employed in the housing below the hammers.

The sound box of the instrument is composed of a frame which includes a pair of end supports 23 mounted in the housing along the longitudinal sides of the same, and said supports are connected by a top or upper cross-piece 22, the latter member extending transversely of the housing within the same, and having a bar 20 of metal, attached to its under side by means of screws 22. Said bar 20 is suitably apertured to receive a plurality of musical reeds H) which are, in the form shown, rods or wires disposed horizontally and properly tuned to sound the notes of the scale when they are struck by the heads l5 of the hammers located directly beneath them. This arrangement is such that by the depression of any of the bars or keys I, a corresponding hammer will have its head l5 swung upwardly to strike the reed is located above it and sound the musical note thereof. ,The resiliency of the bars I is such that the' same tend to normally lie horizontally or in raised position, although the bars are aided in rising by the tendency of the end portion [2 of the hammers to spring upwardly to the position of Figs. 2 and 6 after a note has been struck and the pressure of the finger of the player on the bar or key I has been released.

Located near the free ends of the bars I is a transverse wall or partition member 24 which is suitably secured fixedly in place within the housing. Said partition member 24 has its upper edge provided with a plurality of notches 25, these notches constituting guides for the bars I and serving to hold the same from lateral displacement, thus maintaining each of the bars properly positioned above its hammer. Rotatively mounted in the end wall 6 and in the partition 24 is a roller 26, said roller being substantially enclosed within the rolled or curled edge portion 2 of the housing. A similar roller 21 is rotatively mounted in the partition 24 and in the end wall 6, said roller extending along the opposite side edge of the housing and being accommodated within the curled or rolled portion 3 of the housing.

At 30 is shown a lengthy web of sheet material, such as paper or cloth, the same constituting a song-sheet or note-bearing member, said web having its opposite ends attached to the two rollers 26 and 21. The web can thus be caused to travel either toward or away from the operator of the instrument by the manual rotation of one or the other of the rollers 26 and 21. Roller 26 is provided with a knob 28 on its projecting end beyond the end wall 6 of the casing, and a similar knob is provided at t9 on the end of the roller 21, so that by manual rotation of either of the knobs 28, 29, the web 30 can be caused to travel in the required direction to thus place any selected portion of the web 30 at the desired position in back of or below the bars 'I.

The web 30 is imprinted or otherwise marked with musical notes, a few of which are shown at 3Ia, the notes in each group being arranged for the tones of any relatively simple song or musical composition, nursery rhyme, or the like. A number of such songs may be imprinted upon the web 30 and when it is desired to play any selected tune, one or the other of the knobs 2B, 29 is rotated to register the notes of the selected tune with the bars 1, such as shown in Fig. 1. When this has been done, the playing of the tune merely requires depression of the bars '1 located over the notes and in the sequence indicated on the web. When one tune has been played, it is a simple matter to turn to the next tune by merely shifting the web 30 to bring the next group of notes beneath the bars or keys 1. Thus, a single lengthy web can contain, for example, a complete group of childhood songs, nursery rhymes or the like, and a child can be entertained for a considerable period of time by the successive playing of the tunes provided on the web.

For the protection of the hammers and other operative portions of the instrument, a cover plate may be provided, an example of such a protective plate being shown at 34. This lends rigidity and strength to the housing and it serves to protect the reeds, hammers and other parts of the instrument likely to be damaged if left in an exposed position. The cover plate attaches to the edges of the curled parts 2 and 3 and it may be provided with louvered apertures as indicated at 35 to allow the sound to emanate when the instrument is being played.

It will also be found desirable to support the stretch of the web 30 between the rollers 26 and Zl, and for this purpose a box-like filler can be positioned below the bars 1, behind the web and between the rollers. Such a filler is shown in dotted lines at 33 in Fig. 2.

The instrument is so shaped and arranged that it presents a relatively flat, compact and easilycarried device; the parts are housed and protected by the form of housing or casing used, and the device will withstand a great deal of use and abuse at the hands of children. It serves to teach a child to readily play simple tunes, and the ease with which the tunes can be played will serve to generate an interest in music and possibly encourage the child to proceed to the study and enjoyment of music on a more serious scale.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within th scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a musical instrument, a housing provided with an end piece, a plurality of bars formed integrally with said end piece and directed horizontally from the upper edge of the same, each of said bars having a free end, each of said free ends having a downwardly-directed part, a plurality of hammers mounted for rocking movement, each hammer having a part underlying the downwardly-directed part of one of the bars, the hammers each having an end provided with a striking head, a support located above said striking heads and carrying sounding reeds which are struck by the striking heads when the hammers are rocked by manual depression of the bars.

2. In a musical instrument, a partition member having a plurality of laterally-bent, horizontallydisposed, lengthy integral spring bars constituting keys, each of said bars having a movable downwardly-bent free end, a plurality of soundproducing elements, hammers interposed between said sound-producing elements and the free ends of the bars whereby manual depression of the bars Will cause the hammers to strike the soundproducing elements, a second partition member spaced from the first and having guide notches in which the bars are operative, and a, web of note-bearing sheet material extending and behind the bars.

3. In a musical instrument, a housing consisting of a sheet of metal curled at its opposite sides to form it into trough shape, a vertical end wall secured to the housing and closing one end of the same, said end wall being provided with a plurality of integral, lengthy bars extending substantially at right angles to the end Wall, a partition in the housing remote from the end wall,

said partition having a notched upper edge con- .25

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 373,069 Hill Nov. 15, 1887 612,672 Pierce Oct. 18, 1898 710,653 Anderson Oct. 7, 1902 2,265,237 Klein Dec. 9, 1941 2,279,144 Lohr Apr. 7, 1942

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