IMPROVE- MENTS IN AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR PLAYING PIANOS OR OTHER KEYED INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of ." IMPROVE-
MENTS IN AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR PLAYING PIANOS OR OTHER KEYED
INSTRUMENTS." A communication from abroad by Louis Emile Jérome
Thibouville-Lamy, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Imray at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th March 1881.
JOHN IMRAY, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR PLAYING
PIANOS OR OTHER KEYED INSTRUMENTS." [A communication from abroad by
Louis Emile Jérome Thibouville-Lamy, of Paris, in the Republic of France.]
This Invention relates to automatic apparatus for playing pianos or other keyed
instruments of the kind in which a sheet of stiff paper or card pierced with suitable
holes is caused to travel over a series of levers, and each of these levers, as it drops
into a hole of the paper, causes a hammer to strike one of the keys of the
instrument. In apparatus of this kind constructed according to the present
Invention a partial vacuum is produced by means of bellows or pumps worked by
cranks or eccentrics on a shaft driven by hand, these bellows or pumps being
preferably in duplicate so as to give greater uniformity of action. A partial vacuum
is thus maintained in a reservoir, which is made like bellows capable of being
increased or diminished in volume by means of a rod and handle which the
operator can move to vary at times the amount of vacuum and thereby vary the
expression of the automatic performance. The vacuum reservoir communicates by
a pipe with a number of small bellows or pneumatic levers, one for each of the
keys that is to be struck. Each of those bellows has two valves, one opening a
passage to the vacuum pipe and the other opening a passage to the outer air, each
of these valves being made of conoidal form, whereby the resistance to its rapidly
closing is diminished. The two valves are connected together by levers within the
bellows, so that when either is opened the other is closed. The valve opening to
the outer air is connected to the lever that bears against the underside of the

page_text: perforated paper or card, the valve being kept open as long as this lever is supported
by the paper, and the small bellows remaining distended; when, however, a hole
of the paper presents itself the lever being no longer supported drops into the hole;
the outer valve of the small bellows thereupon closes, opening the valve of the
vacuum pipe, and the bellows subject to the external atmospheric pressure collapses,
causing its hammer to strike the key of the instrument. When by the travel of
the paper the hole passes the lever, the lever is pushed down by the paper, the outer
valve of the small bellows is opened, the vacuum valve is closed, and the bellows
becomes again dilated, raising its hammer from the key. The paper or card is
caused to travel by rollers, between which it is gripped, these rollers being caused to
rotate by gearing connecting them with the shaft which works the bellows or
pumps. In order to support the paper against the pressure of the levers against its
under surface a roller is situated immediately above these, this roller having
circular grooves, one corresponding to each lever, of sufficient depth to permit the
stroke of the lever. By employing vacuum action, as described, the connections of
the moving parts are mostly subjected to tensile strain, so that the parts can be
made of light and simple construction.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Imray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd September
1881.
JOHN. IMRAY, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AUTOMATIC APPARATUS FOR PLAYING
PIANOS OR OTHER KEYED INSTRUMENTS." A communication from abroad by
Louis Emile Jérome Thibouville-Lainy, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
This Invention relates to automatic apparatus for playing pianos or other keyed
instruments of the kind in which a sheet of stiff paper or card pierced with suitable
holes is caused to travel over a series of levers, and each of these levers, as it drops
into a hole of the paper, causes a hammer to strike one of the keys of the
instrument. In apparatus of this kind constructed according to the present
Invention a partial vacuum is produced by means of bellows or pumps worked by
cranks or eccentrics on a shaft driven by hand, these bellows or pumps being
preferably in duplicate, so as to give greater uniformity of action. A partial vacuum
is thus maintained in a reservoir, which is made like bellows capable of being
increased or diminished in volume by means of a rod and handle, which the
operator can move to vary at times the amount of vacuum and thereby vary the
expression of the automatic performance. The vacuum reservoir communicates by
a pipe with a number of small bellows or pneumatic levers, one for each of the
keys that is to be struck. Each of those bellows has two valves, one opening a
passage to the vacuum pipe and the other opening a passage to the outer air, each
of these valves being made of conoidal form, whereby the resistance to its rapidly

page_text: closing is diminished. The two valves are connected together by levers within the
bellows, so that when either is opened the other is closed. The valve opening to
the outer air is connected to the lever that bears against the underside of the
perforated paper or card, the valve being kept open as long as this lever is supported
by the paper, and the small bellows remaining distended; when, however, a hole of
the paper presents itself, the lever being no longer supported drops into the hole;
the outer valve of the small bellows thereupon closes, opening the valve of the
vacuum pipe, and the bellows subject to the external atmospheric pressure collapses,
causing its hammer to strike the key of the instrument. When by the travel of
the paper the hole passes the lever, the lever is pushed down by the paper, the
outer valve of the small bellows is opened, the vacuum valve is closed, and the
bellows becomes again dilated, raising its hammer from the key. The paper or
card is caused to travel by rollers, between which it is gripped, these rollers being
caused to rotate by gearing connecting them with the shaft which works the
bellows or pumps. In order to support the paper against the pressure of the levers
against its undersurface a roller is situated immediately above these, this roller
having circular grooves, one corresponding to each lever, of sufficient depth to
permit the stroke of the lever. By employing vacuum action, as described, the
connections of the moving parts are mostly subjected to tensile strain, so that the
parts can be made of light and simple construction.
The accompanying Drawings shew the construction of an apparatus according to
this Invention. On Sheet I., Figs. 1 and 2 are front and back views; Fig. 3 is a
plan of the the upper mechanism, the left hand taken on M, N; Fig. 4 is a sectional
plan of the left half on R, S, and the right half on T, U, (Fig. 1). On Sheet II.
Fig. 1 is a transverse section; Fig. 2 is a transverse section to an enlarged scale of
one of the pneumatic levers; Fig. 3 is a plan, and Figs. 4 and 5 are end views of
the mechanism connecting the lever, acted on by the paper with the valves of the
pneumatic lever; and Fig. 6 is a front view of the expression lever hereafter to be
described. Each small bellows A communicates with its wind chest B by a valve C,
which tends to close, being pressed by a spring b. The chest B is kept exhausted
by the large bellows S, which communicates with all these chests by pipes D.
Each small bellows also communicates with the outer air by a valve E, which tends
to close, being pressed by a spring a. The two valves C and E are simultaneously
actuated in the following manner :-The valve C, which is laterally guided and
hinged at c to the top of the bellows, has its lever d, d', acted on by the lever e,
which is pivotted at f, and has at its other end a rod and button g, which rises into
the valve hole when the valve E is raised, allowing the valve Ċ to close. When
the valve E is closed it depresses the button g, and so causes the valve C to open,
thus putting the small bellows A in communication with its chest B. The valves C
and E are made with conical bosses, so that they encounter less resistance in their
movements. The hammer M is at the end of a lever which is pivotted at h, and is
connected at i with the lower limb o of its bellows, so that when this limb rises in
obedience to the excess of atmospheric pressure the hammer M is caused to strike
its key. This results from the closing of the valve E excluding the atmosphere
from the bellows A, and the simultaneous opening of C, which puts the bellows in
communication with the exhaust. The closing of the valve E is effected as
follows:--Its lever k is connected by a rod j, with a bar pivotted at its ends. An
arm on this bar is linked by the rod m to the arm n of the lever t, which has a
loop c' pivotted at a¹, and has its point a bearing against the travelling paper or
card X. Thus, when a hole in X presents itself to the point x, the lever t rises,
the bar rocks, and the valve E closes and remains closed until the paper or card
at the termination of the hole, passing a, presses x down, and so causes the valve E
to be reopened and the valve C to close, whereupon the bottom O of the bellows
again descends, raising the hammer M. from the key. In the apparatus shewn
there are fifty four hammers, having their small bellows or pneumatic levers A
arranged in three tiers each of 18. All these are connected with the main bellows S,
which is double, each half worked by a connecting rod q from a crank shaft r

page_text: worked by an exterior handle Q. By means of a rod s connected to the vacuum
chest of the bellows the expression of the music can be varied. This rod 8. has at
its upper end a rack engaging with a toothed wheel u, which can be turned by a
handle v from a stop on which it rests against a spring v¹. From the shaft ra
chain transmits motion to the feeding rollers K, which are covered with caoutchouc
or other elastic fabric, and which by their rotation advance the perforated paper or
card passed between them. The roller I, against the under surface of which the
paper or card is pressed by the levers t, is grooved, having a recess corresponding
to each lever t, to permit it to rise through a perforation whilst the partitions
between the grooves support the paper or card, and this permits the use of weaker
card or paper than can be employed on other apparatus for the same purpose.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I claim in
respect of automatic apparatus for playing pianos or other keyed instruments by
means of a travelling sheet of perforated paper, card, or the like,-
First. The herein described construction, according to which the stroke of each
key hammer is effected by the movement of a pneumatic lever worked by exhaustion
of air.
Second. The apparatus herein described, according to which the pneumatic lever
is brought into action by the closing of a valve effected by the entrance of the point
of a lever into a hole of the travelling sheet.
Third. The herein described connection of the air and vacuum valves of each
pneumatic lever, so that the opening of the one and the closing of the other are
simultaneously effected.
Fourth. The herein described apparatus for varying the musical expression.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Imray, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Tenth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty one.
JOHN IMRAY. (L.S.)