Improvements in and relating to Pneumatic Organs.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 17th May, 1900-Accepted, 30th June, 1900
Improvements in and relating to Pneumatic Organs.
1, CHARLES WARREN, of 115, Leighton Road, Kentish Town, in the County of
London, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to that class of pneumatic organs which may be played
either from the ordinary key board or automatically by means of a tracker
board and perforated music sheet and has for object to simplify the construc-
tion of such instruments and obtain an increased power of pneumatics in a
reduced space.
According to my invention I employ a vacuum chamber the valves of which
are operated by a diaphragm or its equivalent in the usual well known manner.
The pneumatics are advantageously arranged on the underside of the vacuum
chamber and are placed end to end in two rows one row being somewhat in
advance of the other so that the end of a pneumatic in one row is opposite
the ends of two pneumatics in the other row by which means pneumatics of
larger capacity and consequently of greater power can be arranged in a given
space; each pneumatic is directly over the particular key for operating it; and
the diaphragm and valves are formed in the walls at the front and back of the
vacuuni chamber the openings in the tracker board communicating by means
of air passages with the diaphragms herein before described.
In connection with this arrangement I advantageously make use of what I
term a double valve box for the purpose of governing communication with the
vacuum chamber. The valve box is provided with a slide valve and a relief
valve operated by a stop. In one position an opening is uncovered which allows
of communication of the vacuum chamber with a vacuum chamber communicat-
ing with the bellows reservoir and in the other position the said opening is
closed and the relief valve opened thereby putting the first named vacuum chamber
in communication with the outer air and rendering the pneumatics immediately
inoperative and the instrument can then be played from the key board it being
unnecessary to cover or close the openings in the tracker board as is now usually
The said stop is also connected to mechanism for reversing the direction
in which the music roll is driven by the motor for rewinding the said roll. The
pneumatics are connected to the keys which are connected to the ordinary reed
chambers in the usual way.
the case.
For actuating the exhaust feeders I employ webbing or other suitable material
connected to the said feeders and the front of the instrument; the said webbing
is connected by means of another webbing to the pedal. Instead of the webbing
I sometimes employ a toggle joint which is connected to the pedal by a pitman.
The 17th day of August 1899
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: I, CHARLES WARREN, of 115, Leighton Road, Kentish Town, in the County of
London, Mechanic, 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:-
This invention relates to that class of pneumatic organs which may be played
either from the ordinary key beard or automatically by means of a tracker
board and perforated music sheet and has for object to simplify the construc-
tion of such instruments.
In order to enable the invention to be fully understood I will describe the samė
by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:-
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation:
Figure 2 is an inverted plan of the pneumatics and showing their relation to
the key levers.
Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation of an arrangement for operating the
exhaust feeders.
In carrying out my invention I employ a vacuum chamber a extending longi-
tudinally and communicating with the tracker board by tubes c, communicating
alternately with diaphragms d in the front and back walls of the vacuum chamber
valves e covering openings el connecting the chamber a with the outer air being
adapted to be operated by the diaphragms d in the usual well known manner.
The vacuum chamber is provided with pneumatics f on its under side placed end
to end in two rows one row being somewhat in advance of the other so that the
end of a pneumatic in one row is opposite the ends of two pneumatics in the
other row as clearly shewn in Figure 2; by this construction each pneumatic f
is directly over its particular key lever f to which it is connected by a string g,
or its equivalent. The keys are independently connected with operating mechan-
ism of the ordinary type and are provided with a jumper rail f above their
pivots to prevent them being lifted at this point when operated by the pneu-
matics f.
For cutting off the herein before described automatic part of the apparatus or
putting it into action I provide what I term a double valve box which com-
municates with the vacuum chamber a by means of a trunk i and with the exhaust
feeder j, through openings k, and is divided into two chambers 1, m, by a
partition n, having an opening o; the chamber is also provided with an open-
ing communicating with the outer air and with a slide valve q controlling
the opening o and a relief valve r, connected by a rod s, to a link t, which is
operated by a stop u, which is also connected to mechanism (not shewn) for
reversing the direction in which the music roll is driven by the motor for re-
winding the said roll.
For actuating the exhaust feeder I employ webbing v, connected to the said
feeder and to the front of the instrument, the said webbing v being connected
by a strap, to the pedal .. y is a spring which normally keeps the parts in
the position shewn in the drawing. In the arrangement shewn in Figure 3,
instead of the webbing I employ a toggle joint z, connected to the pedal by a
pitman a¹.
Figure 1 of the drawing shows the instrument in position to be played manu-
ally. Should it be desired to play the instrument automatically the stop u is
pushed in whereby the relief valve r closes the opening p and the slide valve q
uncovers the opening o thus putting the exhaust feeder j in communication with

page_text: the vacuum chamber a, through the valve box h and trunk i. On an opening
in the music sheet coinciding with an opening in the tracker board the corre-
sponding diaphragm e is distended and operates one of the valves d to cut off
communication of its pneumatic with the outer air and put it in communication
with the vacuum chamber a, whereupon the pneumatic collapses and by means
of its string 9 operates its key lever f¹ and causes a reed to speak.
By my construction of valve box it is unnecessary to close or cover the openings
in the tracker board when playing the instrument by hand as is now usually the
case and the arrangement of relief valve r, enables the automatic part of the
instrument to be cut off from the other part practically instantaneously.
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:-
1. In pneumatic organs the vacuum chamber with its passages, valves, pneu-
matics and tracker board combined and arranged substantially as shown in
Figure 1, that is to say, the vacuum chamber extending longitudinally and having
passages arranged alternately in its front and back walls and communicating
with pneumatics placed alternately under the front and back walls of the vacuum
chamber and arranged as shewn in plan in Figure 2.
2. The combination consisting of the parts referred to in Claim 1 with the
subjacent keys arranged so that each pneumatic lies over its appropriate key and
is connected therewith by a string or its equivalent, the keys themselves being
also independently connected with operating mechanism of the ordinary type, the
whole arranged and operating substantially as described.
3. The improved arrangement of valve box for cutting off the automatic part of
the apparatus or putting it into action in the manner described. .
4. The combination of pedal and exhaust fecders with webbing e, strap we and
spring y, substantially as described.
5. The combination of pedal and exhaust feeders with toggle joint, pitman a
and spring, substantially as described.
Dated th 1741 day ... 1000
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.