An Improved Mechanical Musical Instrument with Suction Wind.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1890-Accepted, 26th July, 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Mechanical Musical Instrument with Suction Wind.
I, FERDINAND PIETSCHMANN, of No. 28A Brunnen Strasse, Berlin, Germany,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my said invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
In mechanical musical instruments in which the reeds are operated by suction wind,
the air feed is effected by means of air canals or ways, through which the air for
opening the valves flows.
These canals or ways are opened and closed by means of perforated paper carried
by rollers, that is, as a perforation in the paper comes above one of the ways, the air
can enter through the same, said canal or way being again closed by the paper as soon
as the perforation has passed beyond the said air way. Now the rolling up and
unrolling of such paper by means of rollers is very troublesome, for instance, in order
to suddenly leave off playing one piece of music the entire paper must be transferred
from the one roller to the other and besides this, endless note sheets cannot be
employed without applying complicated devices.
In order to avoid these disadvantages in musical instruments wherein suction wind
is employed, the same are provided with an air-tight chamber, in which a partial
vacuum is to be maintained for the reed cells and in which valves are arranged side
by side or above each other, so as to permit the outer or atmospheric air to act on the
vibrators or reeds by means of the perforations in the note sheet, which acts on
levers connected by wires to the valves, said wires being packed by means of
membranes.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figures 1 to 4 represent two methods of carrying my said invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section, and
Figure 2 a vertical longitudinal section of the one mode of carrying out my
invention, according to which the endless note sheet E, which is operated by india
rubber or other suitable rollers g when the crank is turned, is guided in a slot B of
the casing A of the instrument.
Beneath the chamber C containing the valves d are the suction bellows D, which
are extended by means of the springs k, said bellows being operated in the customary
manner by means of a crank and connecting rods f.
The valves d close the openings e of the cells for the reeds z and each of the valves,
which are arranged in two or more rows, are operated on through the note sheet by
means of levers a. These levers a are each arranged to turn at one end of a fulcrum,
the other end carrying a point or tip which springs into the perforations of the note
sheet and also a spring arm connected by the wire b to an arm of one of the valves d.
In order to secure an air-tight closing of the chamber C the wires b are led through a
membrane c. Springs e act on the valve arms so as to press the levers a upwards
against the note sheet.
If the note sheet is now shifted by means of the india rubber rollers g, the tip of
one or more of the levers a will spring into the perforation or perforations of the note
sheet passing above the same, the valve pertaining to the reed cell will be opened, the
atmospheric air flows into the rarefied air space and causes the reed in question to
sound. The wind is drawn in the direction of the arrow through a way or channel /
to the rear of the slot B.
Instead of placing the valves d side by side as shown in Figures 1 and 2, the same
can be arranged above each other, in which case, as represented in Figures 3 and 4,
the wires b, which run through a membrane c, are of various lengths. In this case
the endless note sheet is laid around the casing A. The air or wind flows through the

page_text: opening into the space h and is here taken up by the suction bellows D and auxiliary
bellows R, said bellows being held in extended position by the springs k.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1: A musical instrument for suction wind, characterised by an air-tight closed
chamber C, in which a partial vacuum must be maintained and containing the reed
cell valves d arranged side by side or above each other, so as to permit, by means of a
perforated note sheet E, the atmospheric air to thereby act on the reeds z and cause
the same to produce a tone, so that the note sheet E acts on levers a, connected by
wires to the valves d, said wires running air-tight through a membrane
stantially as described and shown.
sub-
2: My improved mechanical musical instrument for suction wind, substantially
as specified in the foregoing specification, and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
L
32 1 1
1000
RAYNER & CASSELL,
37, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.