IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOUND-BOARDS AND IN THE GOVERNING APPARATUS OF THE BELLOWS FOR ORGANS, HARMONIUMS, AND OTHER SIMILAR WIND INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Green, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk,
Organ Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF SOUND-BOARDS AND IN THE GOVERNING APPARATUS OF THE BELLOWS FOR
ORGANS, HARMONIUMS, AND OTHER SIMILAR WIND INSTRUMENTS."
Sealed the 18th September 1866, and dated the 28th May 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Green at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
May 1866.
I, GEORGE GREEN, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Organ Builder,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOUND-BOARDS AND IN THE GOVERNING APPARATUS OF THE
BELLOWS FOR ORGANS, HARMONIUMS, AND OTHER SIMILAR WIND INSTRUMENTS," to
be as follows:-
1st, I take a piece of solid wood of such a size, according to the size of the
instrument to be built, as would equal the size of the sound-board as now and
heretofore constructed for a similar sized instrument, and bore holes therein
wholly or partly across from edge to edgo of different sizes as required, such
holes to take the place of the grooves now formed by using sound-board bars,
and into which holes I bore from cither side of such piece of wood or sound-
board pallet and other holes to admit the air or wind into the sound-board,
and holes for supplying the air or wind to the pipes or reeds of the instru-
ment; the edges of the sound-board, in which appear the ends of the holes
so bored from edge to edge, are then covered with wood, paper, leather, or
any other substanco or material for preventing the escape of wind or air from

page_text: the holes or grooves so bored. By this Invention sound-boards can be made
much quicker and cheaper than on the old plan, and, further, no glue being
used there is no fear of the sound-board falling to pieces by the glue dissolving
either from heat or damp.
2nd, and in order to enable the instrument to be used in climates which
might have the effect of cracking, splitting, or otherwise affecting the wood of
which it is composed, I insert in all the holes and borings so made as firstly
described, or in any groove as now or heretofore made, any tube or pipe
composed of iron, brass, lead, tin, zinc, or any other description of metal, or
of glass, india-rubber, gutta percha, or any other substance or composition,
or I line such holes or grooves with any or either of those substances; by
this the cracking or splitting of the wood would not cause any escape of air
or wind.
3rd, as an improvement in the governing apparatus to the bellows of an
organ, harmonium, or other similar instrument I place at the end or side of
such bellows a governor made of a flat piece of wood, or iron or other metal,
screwed or fastened on to the tray or resevoir of the bellows and projecting
upwards beyond the top of the bellows when open, and passing through a
mortice cut in the top of the bellows, which must overlap or project for that
purpose, or through a mortice cut in a separate piece of wood screwed or
fastened on to the edge of such top.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Green in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
GREEN, of Ipswich, in the County of Suffolk, Organ Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Green, Her special licence that I, the said George Green, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Green, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel

page_text: Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUC-
TION OF SOUND-BOARDS AND IN THE GOVERNING APPARATUS OF THE BELLOWS FOR
ORGANS, HARMONIUMS, AND OTHER SIMILAR WIND INSTRUMENTS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said George Green, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Green, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the construction of sound-
boards and in the governing apparatus of the bellows for organs, harmoniums,
and other similar wind instruments. The sound-boards of organs or other
similar wind instruments have heretofore usually been formed by framing
together pieces of wood so as to build up the required channels or passages
for the wind.
Now according to my Invention I take a block of wood and bore or form
therein the passages required; thus 1 boro or form in the block of wood' one
set of passages parallel with the top and bottom surfaces and other passages
communicating with these, and passing to the top and bottom of the sound-
board respectively. The openings on the under side of the sound-board are.
as is usual enclosed within the wind chest and covered with the pallets or
valves which are opened by means of the finger keys, whilst the openings on
the top of the sound-board receive the pipes or vibrators, as the case may be;
or if the organ or instrument has more than one stop, then the draw stops lie.
on the top of the sound-board, and the pipes or vibrators are immediately
above; these arrangements, however, are of the ordinary description. It is
not essential that the sound-board should be made of wood; a sound-board
may be similarly formed in one piece from other materials.
The following is the manner in which I prefer to proceed:-To form the
sound-board of a small organ (and it is to small instruments that my Invention
is more especially applicable), I take a piece of sound wood, say, four and a half
feet long, seven inches wide, and two and a half inches thick; in this piece
of wood I bore a number of passages equal to the number of finger keys in
the instrument, say, 56 in all. I arrange these passages in two rows, the less
to weaken the piece of wood. The passages vary in diameter according to the a

page_text: notes with which they correspond, usually, say, from half an inch at the treble
to an inch at the base end. From the top of the sound-board I bore holes
communicating with these passages, and, say, of two-thirds of the diameter
of the passages into which they open; to these holes the pipes or vibrators
are fitted either directly or with draw slides interposed, as the case may be.
If the instrument has but one stop then there will be but one hole passing
downwards into each of the horizontal passages, but if there are several stops
there will be as many holes as there are pipes or vibrators corresponding with
each note of the instrument, and the draw stops are interposed between the
holes and the pipes or vibrators to regulate the passage of the wind to the
particular pipe or vibrator which is required to sound when the corresponding
finger key is depressed. From the under side of the sound-board other similar
holes are bored into the horizontal passages; usually I bore one such holo
under the foot of each pipe or under each vibrator, so that the wind from the
wind chest may strike directly on the foot of the pipe or vibrator which is
required to sound; this, however, may be varied according to the effect which
it is desired to obtain. The holes on the under side of the wind chest are
covered with the pallets, which may be applied in the ordinary manner, each
pallet covering all the holes which open into the corresponding horizontal
passage in the sound-board. The horizontal passages are closed at each end
by covering them with strips of wood secured by glue and brads, or in other
convenient manner.
In the annexed Drawing, Figure 1 is a plan, Figure 2 an under side view,
and Figure 3 is a front view of one end of a sound-board thus constructed.
a, a, are the horizontal passages; b, b, the holes leading into these passages
from the top of the sound-board; c, c, other holes leading into the said
passages from the under side of the sound-board; d, d, are the pallets which
cover the holes c, c. When the sound-board is required for use in climates
where the wood may be liable to crack, I line the passages a, a; this is most
conveniently done by forcing into them pipes of soft metal (such as is usually
employed in making organ pipes), as is indicated at a', a', in the Drawings,
the lining tubes are secured by slightly expanding their ends, and the holes
b and c are afterwards bored, so as to pass through into the lining tubes. Or
in place of lining the passages in this manner the sound-board may in the first
instance be completed as far as respects the forming the passages a, a,
and the holes and c; the openings may then be closed at their ends, and the
spaces filled with melted bitumen or asphalte; whilst still hot the bitumen or
asphalte is poured out, and it then leaves a coating over the entire surface of
cach of the wind passages.

page_text: I would remark that other materials may be used in place of wood, although
not I believe so conveniently; but what I claim, as respects this part of my
Invention, is the boring or otherwise obtaining the wind passages in the sub-
stance of the wood or material in which the sound-board is made in place of
building up the sound-board of many separate pieces, as heretofore.
I also claim the lining the said passages or wind ways, so that loss of wind
may be avoided even should the material of which the sound-board is formed
crack or become unsound.
Another part of my Invention relates to the governing apparatus of the
bellows of organs, harmoniums, and other similar wind instruments, by which
the weighted top of the bellows is caused to rise and fall truly. I fix at the end
or side of such bellows and to the reservoir or tray thereof a flat piece of wood
or other material projecting upwards beyond the top of the bellows when
open; this piece passes through a mortice cut in the top of the bellows, which
is made to overlap for the purpose; or the mortice may be in a separate piece
fixed to the top of the bellows.
A perspective view of one end of the bellows with the improved governing
apparatus is shewn about full size at Figure 4. a, a, is the tray or reservoir
of the bellows; b, b, are boards jointed to the reservoir, and to each other in
the usual manner; c is the top of the bellows with a mortico cut in it at c¹;
d is a governor or guide consisting of a flat strip of wood passing through the
mortice c', and secured by screws to the tray or reservoir. The arrangement
at the further end of tho bellows is similar to that at the end represented in
the Drawings. As the mortices c¹ nicely fit the guides d, it will be seen that
the true rise and fall of the top of the bellows is ensured. The mortices are
lined with soft leather to avoid noise, and the rubbing parts are coated with
black lead to lessen the friction.
I claim, as respects this part of my Invention, the arranging in the manner
described the governing apparatus of the bellows of organs, barmoniums, and
other similar wind instruments.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Green, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
GEORGE GREEN. (L.s.).