IMPROVEMENTS IN PIPE ORGANS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Walter Barber, of No. 1, Somerset
Square, Bristol, in the County of Somerset, Organ Builder, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIPE ORGANS!"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Walter
Barber at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
bis Petition, on the 31st December 1875.
I, THOMAS WALTER BARBER, of No. 1, Somerset Square, Bristol, in
the County of Somerset, Organ Builder, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIPE ORGANS," to be as
follows:-
My improvements in pipe organs consist in improved and simple
arrangements and constructions of the various parts of an organ with
the object of producing a pipe organ of small dimensions, and of such
simple construction as may make it an instrument more adapted for use
in dwelling houses; and for all purposes for which the harmonium and

page_text: piano are now used. For this purpose I construct the sound board of a
single piece of board, by preference two inches thick, of length and
breadth sufficient to carry all the pipes. On the under side of this board
are fixed the pallets and springs under their respective pipes, the whole
being surrounded with chesting in the usual way, but no bottom board,
the place of the latter being occupied by the bellows reservoir inverted,
that is, expanding downwards, the necessary weight being applied by
weighted levers at the sides, the levers being placed at such an angle that
by their contrary motion to that of the reservoir they shall tend to
neutralize the variation in the pressure caused by the opening and
closing of the ribs, and the angle formed by the reservoir when hinged
at one end. The feeders I apply either to the under side of the
reservoir, in which case I make the latter hinged like an ordinary feeder,
and either single or double, or I fix the feeders on a board or trunk at
the bottom of the organ, and convey the wind to the reservoir by trunk
in the ordinary way, the reservoir in this case being quite independent
of the feeders. The sound board and bellows I place as low down in the
organ as may be.
When the instrument is to have more than one stop or set of pipes,
I adopt the following plan instead of the usual one of slides and upper
boards. Each pipe in the organ has a separate pallet immediately under
it, which is opened by a tape pulled horizontally by the action from the
key, the several tapes for the same note being united to the pull down
wire. Between cach row of pallets and above the tapes is fixed a
trunnel or fan as long as the sound board, and turning in bearings at
each end eccentrically, so that when turned downwards all the tapes
that are connected the next set of pallets are stretched sufficiently
to bring the pallets in action with the key, and when the fan is turned
upwards the tapes hang loose and do not move the pallets, an arm on
the trunnel connects it with the draw-stop movement in the usual way.
The pipes I construct thus:-Stopped wood pipes I make of the usual.
width, but twice the usual depth from front to back with a partition in
the middle extending upwards from the block at bottom nearly to the
stopper at top. A pipe of this form of about two feet length speaks
about the same pitch as an ordinary open pipe of eight feet length.
Open wood pipes I make precisely the same as stopped wood pipes,
except that the bottom end of the back chamber of the pipe is left open..

page_text: In both instances the pipe is tuned by the stopper at top. An open pipe
of this form of about two feet length speaks about the same pitch as an
ordinary open pipe of four feet length. The stoppers of these pipes I
make of such form that one end is fixed to the pipe by glueing or
tacking the leather; the other end, which is thicker, being free to move
up or down and cut to a curve, the radius of which is the depth of the
pipe, so that the stopper may have a reasonable amount of play for
tuning without becoming unsound. When the pipes have been tuned
I put a screw or peg through the side of the pipe into the stopper to
prevent further movement.
Metal pipes I construct without the tapered foot, the feet of my pipes
being merely an extension of the body below the "language" of two or
three inches, and the pipes I fix in holes bored in the sound board and
glue them in firmly, so that the instrument can be moved about without
disturbing the pipes which also remain longer in tune. The wood pipes
I also fix immovably by screwing them to proper stays.
To regulate the wind to the pipes, both wood and metal, I fix within
the circumference of the large hole in which the pipe stands a short
piece of soft metal tube, the upper end of which is coned in till the pipe
is of the requisite power, the bottom end of this regulating tube opens
directly over the pallet. The pipes are not glued in till the regulation
and rough tuning have been done, and small treble metal pipes do not
require the regulating tube, as the pipes themselves can be coned at foot
in the ordinary way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Walter Barber in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
WALTER BARBER, of No. 1, Somerset Square, Bristol, in the County of
Somerset, Organ Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and

page_text: successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Walter Barber,
Her special license that I, the said Thomas Walter Barber, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Walter Barber, 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 Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIPE ORGANS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Walter Barber, 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 Thomas Walter Barber, 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 (that is to say) :—
My improvements in pipe organs consist in improved and simple
arrangements and constructions of the various parts of an organ, with
the object of producing a pipe organ of small dimensions and of such
simple construction as may make it an instrument more adapted for
use in dwelling houses, and for all purposes for which the harmonium
and piano are now employed. For this purpose I construct the sound
board of a single piece of board, by preference two inches thick (A,
Fig. 1); for convenience I prefer to glue this board up in two thick-
nesses, the lower thickness having the wind holes bored in it, and
the upper one the holes for the pipes to be fixed in. On the under
side of the sound board are fixed the pallets and springs (B, B, Fig. 1)
under their respective pipes, the whole being surrounded with chesting
in the usual way, but no bottom board, the place of this latter
being occupied by the bellows reservoir. inverted (C, Fig. 1), that is,
expanding downwards, the necessary weight being applied by weighted
levers at the sides (D, Fig. 1), the levers being placed at such an angle
that by their contrary motion to that of the reservoir they shall tend
to ncutralize the variation in the pressure caused by the opening and

page_text: closing of the ribs, and the angle formed by the reservoir when hinged
at one end (Fig. 2). For small instruments I use, instead of these
levers and weights, steel springs in a similar way to those in barrel
organs (Fig. 3); in this case I make the springs as long as possible,
and use narrow ribs for the reservoir. The feeders I apply either to
the under side of the reservoir, in which case I make the latter hinged
like an ordinary feeder and either single or double (Figs. 2 and 4), or I
fix the feeders on a board or trunk (E, Fig. 1) at the bottom of the
organ, and convey the wind to the reservoir by trunk in the ordinary
way, the reservoir in this case being quite independent of the feeders.
The key movement and pallets are shewn in Fig. 1. The pallets
B, B, are connected by a tape to the squares F, F, upon the movable
fans G, G; from the squares a pull down wire H and tracker wire I
complete the movement to the key. The stops are moved on and off
by draw-stop knobs in the usual way, these knobs being connected to the
fans by mechanism of the usual kind, so that by the fans being moved
up or down they tighten or loosen their respective sets of tapes.
The pipes I construct as shewn in Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8. Stopped wood
pipes (Fig. 5) I make of the usual width but twice the usual depth from
front to back, with a partition in the middle Z extending upwards from
the block at bottom nearly to the stopper Y at top; a pipe of this form of
about two feet length speaks about the same pitch as an ordinary open
pipe of 8 feet length.
Open wood pipes (Fig. 6) I make precisely the same as stopped wood
pipes, except that the bottom end of the back chamber of the pipe is
left open X. In both instances the pipe is tuned by the stopper at top.
An open pipe of this form of about two feet length speaks about the
same pitch as an ordinary open pipe of four feet length. The stoppers
Y, Y, of these pipes I make of such form that one end is fixed to the
pipe by glueing or tacking the leather, and the other end which is
thicker is free to move up or down and cut to a curve, so that the
stopper may have a reasonable amount of play for tuning without
becoming unsound. When the pipes have been tuned I put a screw or
peg W through the side of the pipe into the stopper to prevent further
movement.
Metal pipes (Fig. 7 and 8) I construct without the usual tapered

page_text: the language of a few inches, and the pipes I fix in holes bored in the
sound board as mentioned above and glue them in firmly, so that the
instrument can be moved about without disturbing the pipes, which also
remain longer in tune. To save height I sometimes mitre the longest
metal pipes as in Fig. 7; the best proportion of front to back half of
the pipe being about 3 to 2, and provide these pipes with a beard V to
steady the wind.
To regulate the wind to the pipes I fix in the wind holes of the sound
board short tubes of soft metal (U, U, Fig. 1), and cone or pinch them
in at top till the pipe is of the requisite power. Small metal pipes 1
do not require these regulating tubes as they can be coned at foot in the
ordinary way.
The pipes are not glued in their places till the regulation and rough
tuning have been done.
The features of novelty of my Invention that I claim are these,-
1stly. The method described of constructing the sound board and
bellows reservoir in one piece, as shewn in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.
2ndly. The mode of applying pressure to the reservoir by weighted
levers or steel springs, as shewn in Figs. 1 and 3.
3rdly. The movement for connecting the pallets to the keys (Fig. 1),
and the manner of throwing the stops on and off as described.
4thly. The construction of the pipes and the mode of fixing, mitering,
and regulating the wind to them (Figs. 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8). I do not
claim as new the mode of constructing a sound board with a pallet to
every pipe, but I claim the adaptation of it to small organs as herein a
described, nor do I claim applying pressure to the reservoir by springs,
but I claim the adaptation of it to small organs as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Walter Barber, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this day of June, in the year
of our Lord 1876.