US1323132A - Xylophone - Google Patents

Description

H. WELCH. xw/LoPHomi.l

APPLICATION FILED MAR-15. 1913.

1,323, 1 32. atented Nov. 25, 1919.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

- HENRY WELCH, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR T0 NORWOOD NOVELTY COMPANY,

G. A. CONNOR AND A. L. RONFOR, IPROPRIETORS, OF NORWOOD, OHIO.

XYLOPHONE.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented N ov. 25, 1919.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, HENRY WELCH, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented new and vuseful Improvements in Xylophones, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to musical instruments and more particularly to that type of instrument known as a Xylophone and one object is to provide means for freely mounting a plurality of sounding bars in such position that they will not become displaced by the movement of the framework or the turning of the latter to various positions, said sounding bars being adapted to be struck by a iexibly mounted hammer carried by a handle engaging a stop rail forming a part of the framework. f

A still further object is to provide a frame work for freely mounting a plurality of sounding bars, these bars being directly supported on strips of felt or the like, and being retained in position by upper longitudinally extending strips of wood, the framework including one side member extending above the upper surface of the bars and constituting a stop for engagement by the handle of the hammer.

, With the foregoing and other objects in View the invention consists in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of elements hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the instrument;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section, with the hammer in position;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the hammer. f

v In carrying out my invention I provlde a framework including longitudinally extending members 10 and 12 converging toward one end and being connected by a member 13, and being further connected at the opposite ends by a transverse member 14. The frame member 12 extends upwardly to a point above the upper surface of the soundin bars for the purpose specified below.

Ilxtending longitudinally of the framework are strips 16 and 17, these strips having their upper edges slightly below the upper edge of side member 10 in order that the sounding bars resting upon the strips 16 and 17 may be retained in position between side members 10 and 12.

Carried by the upper edge of each strip 16 and 17 is a strip of felt upon which the sounding bars 20 are freely mounted. These bars are retained in position in the event of the frame work being inverted, or placed in such position that the bars might become displaced, by means of longitudinal strips 21 and 22 each engaging at its opposite ends felt pads 23 carried by the upper surface of the end members 13 and 14:. The strips 16 and 17 are thereby spaced slightly from the upper surface of the sounding bars.

The hammer is shown in Fig. 3 and includes a handle 25 of wood carrying a strip of felt 26 on the lower side thereof, and supporting a strip 27 of resilient material, providing for the vibratory movement of the hammer head 28. The hammer is held in such position that the forward portion of the handle protected by the felt strip will strike the upper edge of side member 12 producing the vibratory movement of the hammer head and the necessary contact between said head and the sounding bars.

In my patent issued March 26, 1912, No. 1,021,345 I have shown a hammer stop comprising a wire stretched between suitable supports. It is found that this wire does not afford a sufliciently rigid hammer rest, and it is the purpose of the present invention to overcome that difficulty, and moreover it is the purpose of the invention to provide means for mounting the sounding bars in the manner specified in order to produce greatly improved results in the matter of tone.

What is claimed is In a device of the class described, a framework including one side member higher than the other members of said framework, the higher member being rigid and constituting a hammer stop, a plurality of rigid elements extending longitudinally within the framework, sounding bars loosely mounted on the elements last named and extending transversely thereof, and a longitudinal element extending parallel to each of the longitudinal elements first named, and spaced from the sounding bars.

In testimony whereof I aiix my signature.

HENRY WELCH.

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