IMPROVE- MENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Downing of No. 8 Quality Court Chancery Lane
in the County of Middlesex Patent Agent for an invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS."—A communication from abroad by Merritt
Gally, of New York City, United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Downing at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th July 1882.
-
GEORGE DOWNING of No. 8 Quality Court Chancery Lane in the County
of Middlesex Patent Agent. IMPROVEMENTS IN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS ”- -A
communication from abroad by Merritt Gally of New York City United States
of America
In the accompanying drawings Fig 1 is a side view of an instrument showing
externally a number of features of the invention; Fig 2 is a longitudinal section
of the instrument showing the bellows; its operating connections, and the con-
struction of the reed chest ; Fig. 3 is a plan of the bellows; Fig. 4 is a section of
the reed chest and a view of the reed showing its peculiar construction; Fig 5 is a
plane section of the reed chest reeds &c.; Fig 6 is a plan view of the perforated
music-sheet with rollers. Fig 7 is a side view of supporting framework for the
rollers, a part of which is hinged to allow the removal of the music roll; Fig. 8 is
a representation of the music sheet roller with removeable flange or spool head,
also a portion of the music sheet with a tube attached to or formed of the end of
the sheet; Fig 9 is a plan view showing both the roller proper and flange
removeable. Fig 10 shows the journal of the flange fitted for coiling the sheet in
hollow coil; Fig 11 is a sectional view of reed pipe and reflector; Fig 12 is a
sectional view of a number of the pipes combined in a single device; also reed
blocks of various widths in one scale, Fig 13 shows the strap or apron passing
through the reedway, to which strap the music sheet is hooked; Fig 14 is a
sectional view of modified form of reed chamber when used with horizontal reeds;
and Fig 15 is a diagram for illustrating the Principle of construction of the reed
chest.

page_text: GENERAL DESCRIPTION:―The instrument shown in the drawings is what is
commonly known as a Mechanical musical Instrument, although some of the
devices of the invention are applicable to musical instruments operated either
mechanically or by means of ordinary manual keys.
The first part of the invention relates to the bellows of the instrument; and
consist in a peculiar construction and arrangement of the parts, allowing the case
enclosing the operating devices to be of comparatively small dimensions the entire
internal space being occupied to the best advantage, Fig. 2 shows the permanent
centre board of the bellows attached to the wind trunk h, which leads from the
reed chest to the bellows. The wind trunk h is attached to the table or cover of
the case K as is also the reed chest B and the operating crank shaft so that by
removing the screws which hold the cover or table to the case the entire instrument
may be lifted out of the case and thus facilitate repairing. The construction of the
bellows is pecular, in that the permanent board W has above and attached to it
the exhausters or feeders V and other exhausters or feeders-T are also attached to
the moveable board of the bellows proper S. The exhausters V and T work
alternately being connected together by means of the pivoted connections g which
cross the line of the hinge of the reservoir so that the opening and closing of the
reservoir does not affect the movement of the exhausters.
The motor for the exhausters is connected only to the exhausters-T which allows
the use of long evenly operating pitman t-thèse are operated by means of the
crank and crank shaft G. This crank and shaft also propels the take up
roller D. M. for the perforated music sheet. On the crank shaft are small friction
wheels of rubber or other suitable material upon which is mounted in the supporting
framework F the take up roller with flanges D resting upon the rubber wheels of
the crank shaft. A spring a, at each end presses the roller firmly upon the drivers
so that it will not slip in its turning. When the crank is turned the bellows are
operated thereby and the music sheet n is drawn over the reed chest by means of
the take up roller. The Journals of the take up roller have double bearings as
shown so that they may occupy either one or the other support as the case may
require. When the music sheet is wound on to roller D. M it is unwound from
roller E. It must afterwards be rewound on roller E before removing it from the
instrument and for this purpose the roller D. M. is set free from its drivers by
lifting it into the upper bearings which removes its flanges from driving contact.
The roller E is then turned by means of its crank and the sheet is rewound.
In order that the roll of music may be properly rewound and in order that it
may be properly directed through the instrument it is necessary for the roller to
be provided with flanges or spool heads as shown. To provide each piece of music
with a spool having flanges is very expensive and I have therefore devised the plan
of making a permanent roller for the instrument with one of its flanges removeable
so that the rolled music can be removed from it in form of a roll; or of making
the rollers for the sheet without flanges or spool heads and making spool heads as
a permanent part of the instrument; between which the rolled sheet may oporate.
In Fig. 6 is shown the roller E with sheet wound upon it. One of the supports F
is shown divided-one part made to swing on a hinge. This movement relieves
the bearing at that end of the spool and the spool and the spool head being made
removeable allows the roll of paper to be slipped off from the roller proper. To
facilitate this I attach a tube to the end of the music sheet or form the end of the
sheet into a tube which easily slips on or off of the roller proper as shown in
Fig. 8. I find the best method of constructing the roller proper to be that shown
in the Figure although the spool head may be made to connect with the roller
with screw or clutch or any suitable attachment. The construction shown is
simply telescopic the roller proper E being a piece of thin metal tubing with one
of the spool heads attached thereto; the removeable spool head is attached
to a short piece of tube or plug smaller than E and telescopes the roller;
and as it fits tightly into it the spool head is held at perfect right angles to
the line of the roller. The plug is easily withdrawn and the spool head

page_text: thus removed without delay. The tube Z attached to or formed of a portion of
the music sheet is made to turn with the roller by means of a spline or clutch on
the roller and a recess cut in the end of the tube as shown. When it is desireable
to use solid rollers attached to the music sheet, I make them without spool heads
as shown in Fig 9 and connect them with spool heads which are permanently
fixed to the instrument. In such case the hinged portion of the frame swings
away from the end of the roller taking with it one of the spool heads and the roller
is easily removed-After the roll of music is removed from the instrument I place
a rubber snap upon it to keep it from unwinding or becoming loose.
One of the principal features of my invention is the peculiar construction of the
reed chest and reeds in order to give the best effect to the tone of the instrument,
with the ordinary construction of reed chest as used with a perforated mechanical
inusic sheet passing over the reed ducts to produce the tones, The sound of the
instrument is very harsh and unpleasant. This construction is shown by the
dotted lines in Fig. 4. The defects arise from the following facts :-first the
ordinary reed with long butt having recess e² for drawing the reed, is used,
necessitating a long throat to the reed cell which brings the air at a wrong angle
to the tongue of the reed. Secondly the air passes through a large opening from
1 to 2 directly into the air chamber B¹ in direction of the dotted arrow. This
places the reed tongue in a current of uninterrupted tension, which produces a
barsh brassy effect. In an ordinary manual reed organ the reed cells are much
shorter than the reed blocks and that portion of the block which contains the
rivets for the tongue and the recess for drawing the reed extends from the mouth
of the cell. This brings the air at a proper angle to the reed. The ordinary reed
valves obstruct the direct tension current of air producing a partial reaction which
gives the rich organ tone. To produce a similar effect in a mechanical reed
instrument; if the upright reed cells are used I cut off the butt of the reed as
shown by dotted lines in Fig 4 thus shortening the cell x to the length shown
by the cross-section. I then confine the passage for the air to the lower end of
the tongue as shown. I lead the air into a cell t behind the reed which partially
obstructs and deflects the vibrating current before passing into the air chamber B¹.
The opening from the cell t into the chamber B₁ is smaller than the diameter of
the cell and therefore causes the air of the cell to be of less tension than that of
the chamber which is a favourable feature as it still more deflects the current
passing through the reed and produces the desired reaction.
In my first experiments I used a false valve i as shown in diagram 15 but only
with partial success as the conditions of the ordinary sounding valves of a manual
organ were not by this means fully carried out although the current was deflected
as shown. In the manual organ the open valve had a valve each side it usually
closed which former side walls as it were for transverse deflection; which require-
ment the false valves being all set open did not meet therefore my construction
with the line of cells behind the reed. These produce an extraordinary and
pleasing effect. In order to have sufficient capacity in the air chest B¹.
The ordinary construction shown by the dotted lines makes the action very high
and uncomely. To avoid this and also to further improve the tone I surround the
reed chest by the chamber B L, hanging the reed chest within as shown; this
produces the desireable results in very compact form. I then mount the music sheet
roller directly on the cover of the instrument; each side of the air chest and the
whole is in a comely and convenient shape.
A similar construction of reed chest is shown in Fig. 14, with horizontal reeds.
The construction is necessarily modified as to the position of the music sheet and
passage for the air. In this case the butt of the reed may be left of ordinary
length and the shutter d' is used to stop the open end of the cells. The shutter is
locked by a clamp or button bt which holds it both down and against the mouths
of the cells.
To make the reeds speak promptly I place the opening for the air at a desireable

page_text: angle with the passage through the reed and then elongate the cell to the right or
left to produce a primary deflection of the current as shown by the dotted lines.
The next part of my invention relates to the matter of giving power, volume,
and variety to the tones of the instrument. Powerful organ pipes are necessarily
large when constructed in the ordinary way.
The length of the ordinary pipe determines the pitch; and the size of the pipe,
the volume of tone. Reed pipes are ordinarily made to correspond with other pipes
in these particulars, with an additional disadvantage of requiring a long air
chamber attached to each pipe.
Reeds without pipes have little power or volume of tone as compared with
reed pipes, but they have heretofore been necessarily used in small organs. The
object of this part of my invention is by a new system to produce tones not only
of great power and volume but of new and pleasing variety as to quality by
means of comparatively very small pipes. In an ordinary reed pipe the reed is
constructed so that it may be turned to its proper pitch and the length of the pipe
is made to correspond; making the pipes of the ordinary diapason set very large,
occupying too much room for a small organ. With my construction this is
unnecessary.
The tone of a reed pipe is produced by the reed which determines its pitch.
All that is desirable is to modify this tone as to quality, volume and power. Any
device that will accomplish this without the use of the large pipe and at the same
time preserve the pitch will produce the desired effect. In an ordinary reed pipe
the reed is enclosed within the lower end of the pipe; and the air has no exit
except at the bell end of the pipes-The resistence to the air in the long pipe
makes it necessary to use a long chamber for each pipe for the air below the reed
and as the pipes increase in length the chambers increase in length to correspond.
In Figs 1 and 11, is shown the pipe of my invention with which I produce a tone
simular in quality and equal in volume and power to that of an ordinary reed pipo
ten times its length. This pipe may be used with either pressure or exhaust
wind and with either a free or percussion reed.
In Fig. 1 the pipe is used with exhaust the construction of reed chest being that
of Figure 2. In Figure 11 the construction of pipe is the same but shown with
reed arranged for pressure wind I use Fig 11 for explanation as it will be more
readily understood. I first do away with the use of the ordinary long chamber
below the reed by carrying the air through an opening h³ at right angles to and
confined to the free end of the reed tongue. Instead of enclosing the vibrating air
entirely in the pipe c after it leaves the reed, I project the bottom of the pipe over
the edge of the reed block leaving an open mouth graduating the opening back-
ward at the sides of the pipe. The vibrating air divides as shown by the direction
of the arrows; a portion going downward and out at the bottom of the pipe and a
portion upward through the pipe. The part which passes out at the mouth
preserves the pitch of the tone, Passing directly from the reed; while the remainder
modified the tone, as to power, volume and quality. With a very small pipe thus
constructed great power and volume of tone is produced. I find also that the
power volume, and especially the quality of tones are affected greatly by reflection;
a tone being increased in volume and power and improved in quality by a number
of combined reflectors too rapid in succession to produce distinct echoes. I
therefore use in connection with the pipe c, a compound reflector H, Fig 11. The
vibrating air is reflected at the several angles 2, 3, 4 as shown by the dotted lines
and produces an extraordinary effect as to quality.
The different positions of the reflector as shown in Fig 1 change the angles of
reflection and greatly change the quality of the tone, imitating the tones of several
different instruments. The reflector is hinged at its connection with the pipe so
that its angles may be changed at will; and the effect of a number of stops can
thus be produced by means of a single set of pipes.
In the instrument shown in the drawings the pipes are connected together in a
single device with dividing partition walls and are arranged for pairs of reeds

page_text: although they may be for single reeds if desired. The reflector is also constructed
in one piece for the entire range of pipes; the range of pipes connected together in
a single body are clamped either removeably or fixidly attached to the reed chest.
One of the desirable features of this kind of pipe is that it can be used with a
perforated music sheet passing between the reed and the reed pipe proper. If the
pipe attachment be removeably clamped to the reed chest the music sheet is easily
placed in the raceway by removing the pipes but if they are permanently attached
to the reed chest, I either have the moveable clamp 7 at one side of the instrument
which will allow the sliding of the sheet into the raceway sideways or use the
device shown in Fig. 13.-This is a strap or apron a attached to the take up
roller M and passing through the race way to this strap or apron the sheet is hooked
and thus easily drawn through the raceway.
When the sheet is re-rolled the strap
is left through the race ready for use.
In using reeds in connection with a perforated music sheet it is the custom to
use the ordinary reeds of an ordinary reed organ which have reed blocks of
uniform width requiring perforations of uniform width in the paper and therefore
an unnecessarily wide sheet. Such reeds may be used with the construction as
hereinbefore described. I however show in Fig. 12 a series of reeds flocks of
various widths; diminishing in width as the tongues diminish in size. This allows
of a like diminution in width of the perforations in the sheet as shown in the
drawings, which makes the sheet comparatively much less in width which is a very
desirable feature as the sheet is more or less affected by atmospheric changes as to
changes in width and the narrower the sheet the less the change.
In Figure, 3, is shown the bellows valves; these valves of valve leather are
usually attached to the board at both ends, which is defective in small instruments
as they are liable to stretch and then not close tightly. The valves shown in the
drawing are attached to the board only at one end, the other end being left free.
To keep the valve in place, the guard r is used crossing the valve longitudinally
and the guard or staple y, transversely. The valve thus constructed and guarded
is not affected by shrinking or stretching.
Claims: 1st. The combination with a reed-board or reed chest of an air trunk,
extending downward and attached to the stationary bellows board of a horizontal
bellows; the bellows consisting of a central bellows reservoir having exhausters
or feeders situated upon the upper surface of its stationary bellows-board, and
other exhausters or feeders attached to the under surface of its moveable bellows-
board.
2nd The bellows-reservoir having a stationary and a moveable bellows-board,
hinged together at one side, and having feeders or exhausters attached to the
stationary and also to the moveable bellows-board of the reservoir; the feeders or
exhausters being coupled together for alternate action by means of connections
situated in a line crossing the hinge of the reservoir, in order that the opening and
closing of the reservoir on its hinge shall not affect the alternate movement of the
feeders or exhausters.
3rd The central reservoir, constructed with a stationary and a moveable bellows
board, hinged together; with feeders, or exhausters situated upon the upper
surface of the stationary bellows-board and other feeders or exhausters attached to
the under surface of the moveable bellows-board, the upper and lower feeders or
exhausters being coupled together with connections situated in a line crossing the
hinge of the reservoir; in combination with the motor-cranks having Pitmans'
connecting from above the bellows with the lower feeders or exhausters
4th The Combination with the perforated music sheet or strip arranged to move
across the mouths of the reed cells; of reeds having their butts cut away, or made
short, to correspond with the proper or ordinary organ length or reed cell;
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
5th The combination with the perforated music sheet of the reed-cell and an
obstructing device for retarding or deflecting the current of air after passing through
the reed; substantially as and for the purpose specified.

page_text: 6th The combination with the perforated music sheet of the reed cells through
which the air passes to the reeds, and secondary cells into which the air passes after
leaving the reeds; substantially as and for the purpose specified.
7th The combination with the perforated music sheet and the reed cells; of the
secondary cells contracted at their outlets into the air chamber; substantially as and
for the purpose specified.
8th The air chest surrounding the reed chest pendant therein substantially as
shown and described.
9th The horizontal reed cell having the inlet opening in the roof thereof and the
cell elongated at either end to form a deflecting chamber.
10th: The take up roller for the music sheet having its flanges or end wheels
mounted upon the friction wheels of the crank shaft of the bellows motor
11th The delivery roller E in front of the reed chest and take up roller D M,
mounted on the drivers of the crank shaft in journal supports above the instrument
on the opposite side of the reed chest, centrally located.
12th The take up roller D M, having two sets of journal bearings; the one for
allowing contact of roller wheels D with their drivers e, and the other for holding
the roller face from driving contact.
13th The combination with the take up roller D M, of its driver or drivers
situated upon the crank shaft of the bellows motor and the tension springs for
holding the roller flanges or end wheels in driving contact with the drivers.
14th The combination with the take up roller and its double journal bearings
of the tension springs constructed and arranged to allow the removal of, the roller
from one set of bearings to the other without removing the springs from pressure
on the journals
15th The delivery roller having a removeable flange or spool head; to allow the
removal of the roll of music free from the spool beads without unwinding the
roll.
16th The combination with the delivery roll of a moveable journal bearing for
the removal of one of the flanges or spool heads to allow the removal of the roll of
music, free from the flanges.
17th The flanged journals for the delivery roll, one of which is moveable from
its working position; to allow the removal of the roll of music, free from the
flanges.
18th The hinged support for the journal bearing of the delivery roll arranged to
swing on its hinge away from the end of the roll to allow its removal.
19th The flanged delivery-roller; one part of its body made removeable from
the other part; the parts being fitted together by means of a telescoping joint
substantially as specified.
20th The strap or apron attached to the take up roller and extending through
the raceway to connect with the music sheet.
21st The reed pipe having a mouth at its reed end for dividing the vibrating
air; substantially as specified.
22nd The reed pipe having a raceway between the pipe proper and the reed
cell, for the passage of a perforated music sheet
23rd The combination with the reed pipe of the compound reflector substantially
as and for the purpose specified.
24th The combination with the sounding reed of a compound reflector for giving
the combined result of the tone reflected at a number of angles.
25th The combination with the sounding reed; of a reflector and a device for
dividing the vibrating air; to give the combined result of the divided tone a
part of which proceeds directly from the reed and a part of which is reflected.
26th The combination with the reed pipe of the compound reflector made
adjustable, to allow a change of the angles of reflection at will.
27th The combination with the reed chest of the range of reed pipes combined
together. as a pipe attachment to the reed chest.

page_text: 28th The combination with the range of reed pipes of the combined reflector
substantially as specified.
29th The range of reed pipes, combined together and removeably or permanently
attached to the reed chest
30th The combination with the tube board for the reed, chest, having reed cells
and reed blocks diminishing in width from the lower to the higher notes of the
scale; of a perforated music sheet with a corresponding diminution in width of its
perforations.
31st The combination with the perforated music sheet of the spring tongues, for
holding the sheet to its seat; substantially as specified.
32nd: The flexible bellows valves; with one end attached to the bellows and
the other end free; in combination with longitudinal and transverse guards;
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
33rd The table or top board having all the apparatus of the instrument attached
thereto, and made removeable from the case to facilitate repairs without disconnecting
the working parts.
In witness whereof I the said George Downing have hereunto set my hand
and seal this eleventh day of July in the year of Our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty two.