IMPROVEMENTS IN ORGANS, HARMONIUMS, AND OTHER SIMILAR KEYED WIND: MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Hopkinson, of Regent Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Pianoforte Manufacturer, and John Whitelock, of 6, Com-
mercial Street, Leeds, in the County of York, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ORGANS, HARMONIUMS, AND OTHER SIMILAR KEYED WIND:
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS."
Sealed the 28th December 1865, and dated the 7th July 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John. Hopkinson and
John Whitelock at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 7th July 1865.
We, JOHN HOPKINSON, of Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Pianoforte Manufacturer, and JOHN WHITELOCK, of 6, Commercial Street,
Leeds, in the County of York, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ORGANS, HARMONIUMS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
KEYED WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS," to be as follows:-
The object of the improvements is to give facility in playing upon the keys
of organs, harmoniums, and such like keyed wind musical instruments, by
obtaining two distinct sensible or definite touches to each key, and by the
pressure of the secondary touch to give prominence to the melody or any part
of the harmony or the bass at the will of the player. For this purpose the
keys may be each arranged to act in the ordinary way upon one or more

page_text: upon
valves when pressed down to a stop sensible and definite to the touch, and
then by further pressure to open another or other valves. These stops we
form yielding or elastic, and by preference of india-rubber prepared or vul-
canized such as will act as to stop sensibly to the touch, and which will yet
admit when increased force or pressure is applied thereto of the key being
further depressed to open another or other valves. Each of the keys acts
the valves by levers which may be connected or disconnected at pleasure;
the keys either at the first or secondary touch may, when desired, be caused
to act simultaneously on any number of valves by the use of connectors
drawn into position between the keys and levers to the valves. These con-
nectors may be sustained on links forming each a parallel motion, or they
may be otherwise capable of moving into position between the parts or with-
drawn therefrom; the movements to these connectors_may externally have
the appearance of "draw stops."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Hopkinson and John Whitelock in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 6th January 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
HOPKINSON, of Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex, Pianoforte
Manufacturer, and JOHN WHITELOCK, of 6, Commercial Street, Leeds, in the
County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
John Hopkinson and Jolin Whitelock, Her special licence that we, the said
John Hopkinson and John Whitelock, our executors, administrators, and
assign's, or such others as we, the said John Hopkinson and John White-
lock, our 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 ORGANS, HAR-
MONIUMS, AND OTHER SIMILAR KEYED WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Hopkinson and John
Whitelock, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under

page_text: our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of ono of us or
them, 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 John Hopkinson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
The object of the improvements is to obtain two distinct or definite touches
to each of the keys of organs, harmoniums, and such like keyed wind musical
instruments so as to give facility in playing upon such musical instruments,
and by the pressure of the secondary touch to give prominence and additional
power to the melody or any part of the harmony, or the bass, or to any single
note at the will of the player, and thus to produce by the use of the first
touch the "piano" or soft tones, and by the use of the secondary touch the
"forte" or louder tones.
And in order that the Invention may be fully understood, we will, by

page_text: by the bar l, one end of which is by pin joint connected to one end of the
arm affixed to the rocking bar 23, whilst the other end of the arm lis-by
pin joint connected to one end of the sticker m, the upper end of which is
guided by passing through a hole formed for it in the fixed bar or plate n.
The key a on being depressed in ordinary playing will come down upon the
elastic stop o, which is by preference formed of india-rubber (vulcanized or
.otherwise prepared), but it may be formed of other suitable material which
will admit of compression and a further depression of the outer end of the
key a, when that key is forcibly acted upon by the finger and of expansion or
return to its normal state on the withdrawal of such extra pressure from the
key.
As the parts are shown by the Drawings, pressure upon the outer end of
the key to bring it down to the elastic stop o will act on the sticker is to open
the valve d, and a further depression of the outer end of the key a to compress
the elastic stop o will act on the sticker m to open the valve e.
The bars and 12 are supported on axes, and they have arms and con-
necting rods by which they are connected to "stops" of the character of "draw-
stops," by which the position of the bars i and 13 may be changed if desired,
so that the lever k and valve e may be acted on first as indicated by the parts
in Figure 9, or so that both valves may be simultaneously acted upon as
indicated by red lines in Figure 9, or when desired two or more valves may
be connected together by parallel motions applied to them; thus it will be
seen that the keys may be each arranged to act in the ordinary way upon one or
more valves when pressed down to a stop sensible and definite to the touch, and
then by further pressure being applied to them they will each open another or
other valves. The peculiarities of these stops are that they act directly upon
the keys where their influence is at once definite. and sensitive to the touch of
the player, that they are also yielding and elastic to admit, when increased
force or pressure is applied to the keys, of those keys being further depressed
to open another or other valves.
.
From the description given it will easily be understood that the improve-
ments may be readily applied to organs or other wind musical instruments
having similar keys.
Having thus described our improvements, and means by which. we carry
the same into effect, we would have it understood that we do not confine our-
selves to the precise details shown and described, as these may be varied ;.
but what we claim is the adaptation or combination of means by which facility
is given for the keys of organs, harmoniums, and other similar keyed wind
musical instruments to act in giving to the performer on such instruments

page_text: two distinct and sensible touches, for the purposes and in manner substantially
as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hopkinson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JOHN HOPKINSON. (L.S.)