US644987A - Harp. - Google Patents

Description

Patented Mar.Y 6, |9U0. G. F. LYDN.

H A B P.

(Application led Kay 19, 1899.)

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Yaya/fiar Zja/z 55 fand secured to hooks ZJ on the back frame UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GUSTAVE FRANTZ LYON, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

HARP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent o. 644,987', dated March 6, 1900.

Application tied May 19, 1899.

To dit whoml it may concern:

Beit known that I, GUsTAvn FEANTZ LYON, a citizen of France, residing at Paris, France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Harpe, of which the following is a specifi-cation.

My present invention relates to certain iinprovements in harps of the type shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 008,058, my purpose being to provide simple and novel means for attaching the strings by which the sound-yielding properties of the instrument shall be increased.

I will describe my invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a view showing part of the back frame andsounding-board of a harp and illustrating the old method of attaching the strings to the back frame side by side with one form of my invention for the same purpose. Figs. 2 and 3 are views showing similar portions of the instrument with modified forms of my invention.

In the said drawings, the reference-letters a and a indicate two of the strings of a harp, the former being attached to the back frame c and sounding-board e in accordance with my invention, while the latter, a', is shown as attached to the same parts in the manner heretofore practiced. In the ordinary harp these strings, which are attached at their up per ends to pegs in the hollow head, (not shown,) have their other ends passed through openings d in. the sounding-board eand bars c of the harp, as described in the Letters Patent No. 608,058, hereinbefore mentioned. As the openings CZ are formed at an angle to the line ofdirection of the string, the latter is compelled to bend at two points in passing the sounding-board, and its friction in the. said opening d is so great that it may beregarded as practically fastened firmly to the sounding-board. The portion of the string between the points d and h merely serves to connect the sounding-board e to the back framec. Said portion is very short and has very little, if any, capacity for extension.

It will readily be understood that if the sounding-board and back frame be connected by a considerable number of strings in the same manner that the string a is attached in Serial No. 717,513. (No model.)

Fig. l the sounding-board would practically be rigid, and its vibrations would be prevented, as each of the points d would be in capable of movement. To avoid this objection, I effect the connection by means Vof springs g, of spiral form, which are connected at one end to the back frame c and at the other end to the string ci or to an intermediate device, as in Fig. 2, or directly to the soundingboard, as shown in Fig. 3.

In Fig. l of the drawings I have shown a single string a passed through an opening d in the sounding-board c and bar f substantially in the same manner as the string ct. Instead, however, of being extended to the back frame c and attached to a hook b the string a is terminated at or near the sounding-board and its end is attached to one terminal of a spiral spring g, the other terminal of said spring being secured to a hook Z2 on the back frame. The spring g is of such length that when connected to the end of the string or other part it will be under a proper degree of tension to counteract `the traction exerted by the string, which would otherwise be wholly sustained by the sounding-board. By a slight modification of the invention thetraction of the string a upon the sounding-board may be regulated. In Fig. 2 of the drawings the letter 7i denotes a dog having a curved or hemispherical head 7i', which lies over the opening d and against or close to the rear face of the sounding-board. This hemispherical head is provided with an aperture, through which the end of the string is passed, a knot or other means being provided to prevent it from being Withdrawn. The spring g, which is shorter than the distance from b to d, must for this reason be placed'under tension in order that its ends may be connected to the hook h and to the end of the dog h. lfVhen the traction of the string a draws the dog against the sounding-board, as shown in Fig. 2, it is evident that the counteracting power of the spring will be at its maximum and that it cannot be increased without dis connecting the spring and shortening it. In Fig. l, on the'other hand, a slip of the string a in the opening d can increase the tension of the spring and to that extent decrease the traction of the string a upon the soundingboard. By the employment of an intermedi- .TOO

ate device like the dog /L each string can be made to eXert upon the sounding-board such a fractional part of its own traction as may be necessary in order to secure the best results. It is not essential, however, that the springs be attached either directly or otherwise to the strings. I may obtain the same results by the construction shown in Fig. 3, in which the ends of the strings a are secured to the sounding board c by any suitable means, such as peg c', inserted in the openings d. The springs g are secured at one end to the hooks b, as before; but their other ends are attached directly to the sounding-board by passing them through openings in said board, formed parallel with the direction of the strings. The ends ot the springs are screw-threaded to receive milled nuts m, which bear upon abutments n. By adjusting the nuts the tension of each spring can be regulated.

With the construction last described the number of springs used may be determined according to the requirements of the case, while in both the forms shown in Figs. l and 2 the springs must be as many as there are strings.

It is evident that the nut m may be placed elsewhere without departing from the invention.

I am aware that prior to my invention springs have been used in connection with stringed musical instruments, but only for the purpose of maintaining the notes given by the strings. For this purpose the springs have usually been arranged parallel with the sounding board. They cannot, therefore, modify the vibrations of the board. In my invention the springs are arranged at an angle of about sixty degrees with the soundingboard.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Iletters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In aharp,the combination with the sounding-board, the back frame, and the strings pullinnr on the sounding-board, of springs interposed between the sounding-board and back frame and having a tension to counteract the tractien exerted by the strings on the sounding-board, substantially as described.

2. In aharp,the combination with the sounding-board, the strings pulling on the sounding-board,and the back fra1ne,ot` a series of spiral springs connected to said back frame and sounding-board and having a degree of tension to counteract the traction of the strings upon the sounding-board, substantially as described.

3. In a harp, the combination of a sounding board, a series of strings attached to said sounding-board, a back frame, and spiral springs attached at one end to the back frame and having their other ends secured to the sounding-board, said springs being under a proper tension to counteract the traction of the strings on the sounding-board.

4t. In a harp, the combination with a soundin g-board of strings attached at one end thereto, spiral springs having one end attached to the back frame and the other ends passed through openings in the sounding board formed parallel with the strings, and milled nuts turned on threaded ends of said springs to regulate their tension, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GUSTAVE FRANTZ LYON.

NVitnesses:

EDWARD P. MACLEAN, ALFRED Fairy.

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