US1332885A - Harp and harp-action - Google Patents

Description

J. F) 'BUCKWELL. H'ARP m) HARP ACTION; APPLICATION-FILED MAR. 2|. I919.

Patented Mal-{9,1920

JAMES F. BUCKWELL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HARP AND HARP-ACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 1920.

Application filed March 21, 1919. Serial No. 284,057.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES F. BooKwELL, a citizen of the United States and a resident of the city of New York, county of Kings, and State of New York, (whose post-oiiice address is 874 Greene avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.,) have invented a new and useful Improvement in Harps and ,Harp- Actions, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a harp action which is particularly adapted to small harps or harps with a solid or bent post so that the proper harmonious and musical notes of the instrument may be obtained without the use of foot pedals and attendant mechanisms which run to the neck of the harp. This and other objects are accomplished by my invention, one embodiment of which is hereinafter more particularly set forth.

For a more particular description of my invention, reference is to be had to the accompanyin drawings forming a part hereof in whic Figure 1 is a side elevation of a harp embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the neck of the same.

Fig. 3 is a sectional. view showing a part of one action and Fig. 4 is another sectional view taken substantially as indicated by the line 44 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Throughout the various views of the drawings, similar reference characters designate similar parts.

My improved harp 1 is provided with a body 2, a pillar 3, a neck 4 and combs 5 together with strings 6 which run from the neck 4 to the body 2 in the conventional manner. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, thirty-one strings are employed and the harp is made on a correspondingly small scale and without any pedal box or pedestal. v

The novel features of my invention reside in the neck 4 between the combs 5, as will now appear.

The top of the neck 4 is surmounted by a plate 7 on which are placed seven rockers 8, and each of these rockers has an upright stem 9 and a laterally disposed base 10 whichis slotted and provided with a central pivot 11 to receive a link 12 which passes through a corresponding opening in the plate 7 and downwardly through an openmg 13 111 the neck 4 to a crank 14 to which it is pivotally connected. This link 12 has a collar 15 fixed thereon, and between this collar and the plate 7 and about the link 12 is mounted a coil spring 16 which normally keeps the rocker 8 upon its seat. The crank 14 is fixed to a shaft 17 which has one end journaled in a suitable screw cup 18 in a comb 5, and its other end has a conical bearing in the other comb 5, as shown at 19, and this end has fixed therein, a disk 20 which is providedwith the fingers 21 which are adapted to engage the string 6 in the conventional manner so that when a rocker 8 is shifted one way or the other, it matters not which, according to the desire of the musician playing the instrument, the link 12 is elevated against the tension of the spring 16, and then the shaft 17 is given an angular movement which is transmitted through the disk 20 to the pins 21 which are brought against the string to make the corresponding change in the note.

In the foregoing has been described the action for a single string, and it will be understood that there are seven rockers for corresponding connections for seven strings so that the foregoing description provides for one octavev Provision is made for the corresponding strings of the other octaves in a manner which will now be described.

Each of the shafts 17, which has a crank 14 as above described, also has a vertical and laterally disposed crank 22 which is pivotally connected at its lower end 23 and'24 which run to corresponding cranks 22 on corresponding shafts 17 which are precisely the same as above described, except that they have no cranks 14. These links 23 and 24 may be made of metal and one has a larger cross section than the other because one acts in tension and the other in compression. The one acting in tension has the smaller cross'section.

From the foregoing it is apparent that when a rocker 8 is shifted, as above described, all the other rockers for the same string in different octaves are correspondingly shifted so that the same result is obtained as where an action with foot pedals is employed.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of m invention, it is obvious that it is not restricted thereto, but is broad to two links enough to cover all structures that come Within the scope of the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim is:

1. A harp composed of a body, a bent post, strings, a neck and means extended through the neck and above the same for changing the pitch of the corresponding strings of each octave.

L. A harp composed of a back, a post, a neck, strings and means extended through the neck and above the same acting through compression and tension for changing the pitch of the strings.

3. A harp composed of a back, a curved post, a neck, strings and means mounted in the neck and extending t1 rough the same and above the neck for changing the pitch of the strings.

A harp composed of a back, a post, strings, a neck, rockers on top of the neck and means connected with the rockers for changing the pitch of the strings.

5. A harp composed of a back, a post, a neck, strings, a plate on top of the neck and rockers on the plate together With means connected to the rockers for changing the pitch of the strings.

6. A neck for a harp provided with combs, a shaft mounted between the combs, a crank extended from the shaft, a rocker mounted 011 top of the neck and a link connecting the rocker and crank.

7 In a harp, a neck, a rocker mounted on top of the neck, combs, a shaft connecting the combs, a crank extending from the shaft, a link connecting the crank and rocker and a spring for holding the rocker on theneck.

8. A harp provided With a neck, a perforated plate mounted on top of said neck, a rocker mounted on said plate, a link connected to said rocker and extended through said plate, a collar on said link, a spring between said collar and plate, a crank connected to said link, a shaft fixed to said crank, combs mounted on the neck and be tween which said shaft is mounted and mechanism for connecting a plurality of shafts so that all may be actuated simultaneously When the rocker is shifted.

JAMES F. BUCKWELL.

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