Stop ACTIONS of American Organs and Harmoniums.
Year: 1885

page_text: Stop ACTIONS
of American Organs and
Harmoniums.
I, JOHN HOLT, of 141, High Street, Bordesley, Birmingham, Warwickshire,
American Organ and Harmonium Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
My Invention has reference to the stop actions of American Organs and
Harmoniums, that is to say, those parts by which motion is transmitted from the
stop knobs to the mutes or valves which admit wind to the reeds, and my objects
are to simplify the construction of such parts, thereby diminishing their cost of
manufacture and liability to get out of order, and to so arrange them that the stop
board with the stop knobs and their draw rods can be readily removed when
required for repairs and readily replaced.
My Improved stop action consists essentially of a strong piece of wire which
may be said to be divided into three parts the two-end parts being bent at about
right angles to the third part which is between them and which I call the central
part and at about right angles to each other. I will call one of the said end parts
the draw rod lever because it forms a lever operated by the draw rod, and the
other end part I will call the mute lever because that end forms a lever for
operating the mute or valve.
I will describe my Invention as applied for example to a single stop only of an
American Organ and one which operates a mute placed below the stop knob but
it can of course be applied to any or all of the stops of such an Organ or of a
Harmonium and be arranged to operate such mutes or valves as are above the
stop knobs similarly as hereinafter described for operating a mute placed below
the stop knob.
In this example of my Invention the said central part of the piece of wire is
carried by suitable bearings in which it is free to rock and it lies, preferably in a
horizontal direction parallel to the draw rod, below the draw rod and from which
it extends to the mute which that particular draw rod is required to operate. The
said draw rod lever extends upwards from the said central part to the side of the
draw rod and the said mute lever extends in an approximately horizontal direction
from the said central part to the mute or valves. The said central part thus forms
a rocking shaft having at one end the draw rod lever and at the other end the

page_text: mute lever. The outer end of the said mute lever is connected to the mute or
valve. On the side of the draw rod I form or attach an inclined part against
which the draw rod lever is pressed by a suitable spring.
The operation of my Improved stop action is as follows:-On pulling out the
draw rod by means of the stop knob attached thereto the said inclined part thereof
forces the draw rod lever sideways thereby raising the end of the mute lever and
opening the mute or valve; on pushing the draw rod inwards the inclined part
thereon allows the draw rod lever to be moved in the opposite direction by means
of the said spring and the mute or valve to close.
As the draw rod lever is not connected to the draw rod but is simply pressed
against its side as above described the stop board of the Organ or Harmonium and
draw rods can readily be removed for repairs and readily replaced.
When it is desired to open two or more stops at the same time, for instance for
a swell, I connect the draw rod levers of those stops together by a rod so that
by sliding such rod along, these draw rod levers can be simultaneously pressed
away from their draw rods and the mutes or valves thereby opened together.
I sometimes find it necessary to employ a lever or connecting wire to connect
the end of the mute lever to the mute or valve.

page_text: Harmoniums.
I, JOHN HOLT, of 141, High Street, Bordesley, Birmingham, Warwickshire,
American Organ and Harmonium Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My Invention has reference to the stop actions of American Organs and
Harmoniums, that is to say, those parts by which motion is transmitted from the
stop knobs to the mutes or valves which admit wind to the reeds and my objects
are to simplify the construction of such parts, thereby diminishing their cost of
manufacture and liability to get out of order, and to so arrange them that the stop
board with the stop knobs and their draw rods can be readily removed when
required for repairs and readily replaced.
My Improved stop action consists essentially of a strong piece of wire which
may be said to be divided into three parts the two end parts being bent at about
right angles to the third part which is between them and which I call the central
part and at about right angles to each other. I will call one of the said end parts
the draw rod lever because it forms a lever operated by the draw rod, and the
other end part I will call the mute lever because that end forms a lever for operating
the mute or valve.
I will describe my Invention as applied for example to a single stop only of an
American Organ and one which operates a mute placed below the stop knob but
it can of course be applied to any or all of the stops of such an Organ or of a
Harmonium and be arranged to operate such mutes or valves as are above the
stop knobs similarly as hereinafter described for operating a mute placed below
the stop knob.
In this example of my Invention the said central part of the piece of wire is
carried by suitable bearings in which it is free to rock and it lies, preferably in a
horizontal direction parallel to the draw rod, below the draw rod and from which
it extends to the mute which that particular draw rod is required to operate. The
said draw rod lever extends upwards from the said central part to the side of the
draw rod and the said mute lever extends in an approximately horizontal direction
from the said central part to the mute or valves. The said central part thus forms
a rocking shaft having at one end the draw rod lever and at the other end the
mute lever. The outer end of the said mute lever is connected to the mute or
valve. On the side of the draw rod I form or attach an inclined part against
which the draw rod lever is pressed by a suitable spring.
The operation of my Improved stop action is as follows:-On pulling out the
draw rod by means of the stop knob attached thereto the said inclined part thereof
forces the draw rod lever sideways thereby raising the end of the mute lever and
opening the mute or valve; on pushing the draw rod inwards the inclined pařt
thereon allows the draw rod lever to be moved in the opposite direction by means
of the said spring and the mute or valve to close.

page_text: .
As the draw rod lever is not connected to the draw rod but is simply pressed
against its side as above described the stop board of the Organ or Harmonium and
draw rods can readily be removed for repairs and readily replaced.
On the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a stop action
constructed according to my Invention; Fig. 2 represents a sectional perspective
view of part of an American Organ shewing the application of the stop action
illustrated by Fig. 1 to a single row of mutes one of the mutes being shewn open;
Fig. 3 shews the same parts as Fig. with the mute closed and Fig. 4 illustrates
the application of my improved stop action for operating two or more rows of
mutes.
Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several Figures.
A (see Fig. 1) is the stop action consisting of a strong piece of wire, which may
be said to be divided into three parts a, b and c of which a and b are the two end
parts bent at about right angles to the third or central part c and at about right
angles to each other. The part b may act as the draw rod lever and the part'a as
the mute lever.
In applying my Invention to a stop of an American Organ which operates a
mute or valve placed below the stop knob I proceed as follows and as illustrated
more particularly by Figs. 2 and 3 in which d is one of the draw rods having at
one end the stop knob e; fis the stop board which carries the draw rods through
holes in its front and back; g is a mute or valve for admitting wind to the
reeds hinged at its upper edge and required to be opened by the draw rod d. The
central part c of the piece of wire or stop action A is free to rock in its bearings h
and it lies preferably in a horizontal direction parallel to the draw rod d and
below it. The mute lever part a of the stop action is connected to the mute g by
a wire hook j or by other means and the draw rod lever part 6 of the same passes
through a slot f¹ in the stop board and rests against an inclined part k formed on
the draw rod d. The ordinary wire spring g¹ which closes the mute g also serves
to press the lever b against the draw rod d. is a metal plate against which the
draw rod d bears so as to take up any side strain.
The operation of my Improved stop action as above in part described is as
follows: When the draw rod d is pulled outwardly its inclined part k forces the
draw rod lever b sideways (see Fig. 2) thereby raising the end of the mute lever a
and opening the mute g; on the draw rod being pushed inwards its inclined part k
allows the draw rod lever b to be moved in the opposite direction (see Fig. 3) by
means of the spring g' and the mute g to close. At the top of the inclined part k
is a flat part k¹ against which the lever b rests when the draw rod is in its extreme
outward position to prevent the reaction of the lever b moving the draw rod
inwards.
-
It will be seen that the stop board f and the draw rods can very readily be
removed and replaced by simply raising them altogether as the ends of the levers b
simply rest against the sides of the draw rods.
When it is desired to open two or more stops at the same time, for instance for
a swell, I connect the draw rod levers 6 of those stops together by a rod o (see
Fig. 4) which has slots against one side of each of which the levers b fit so that
by sliding the rod o along in the direction of the arrow the draw rod levers will be
simultaneously pressed away from their draw rods d and the mutes or valves
thereby opened together. The rod o can be connected to receive motion by the
knee swell or by a stop knob in any ordinary manner.
I sometimes find it necessary to employ a lever or connecting wire to connect
the end of the mute lever to the mute or valve.
In the organ partly illustrated by Fig. 4 where two rows of mutes or valves
are employed the mute levers a are severally connected to the mutes or valves g'
by levers or connecting wires each bent to form a central rocking shaft m¹ having
a lever m³, m³, at either end the central parts m¹ being carried in bearings in the
pieces n. The lever ends m² are connected by wire hooks to the mutes g₁ and the

page_text: lever ends m³ are turned inwardly at right angles to rest against the ends of the
mute levers and transmit their motions to the mutes g³.
My Improved stop action as herein before described and illustrated as applied to
mutes or valves below the stop knobs can be similarly applied to mutes or valves
above the stop knobs or to operate the valves in a Harmonium as will be readily
understood.
It will be evident that instead of making the stop action A from wire as above
described it may be made of a similar shape of cast or stamped metal.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1st A stop action for an American Organ or a Harmonium consisting of a mute
lever a and a draw rod lever 6 connected together by a central rocking part c
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the accompanying
drawing.
2nd A stop action for an American Organ or a Harmonium consisting of a piece
of wire bent to form two levers and a rocking shaft substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by the accompanying drawing.
3rd The application and use in an American Organ or a Harmonium of a stop
action as herein described and illustrated operated by an inclined part on the draw
rod substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated by
the accompanying drawing.