Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Aug., 1888
Specification Accepted, 31st Dec., 1888
RESE
I, GUSTAVE RENHOLD NEWMAN of No. 38 South Canal Street in the City of
Chicago and State of Illinois United States of America Organ Manufacturer 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-
My invention relates to reed-organs, melodeons, or like musical instruments in which
the production of the tone is effected by means of vibrating tongues, and the object of
my invention is to so modify the tone of the reads as to give thereto a character
closely resembling in quality or "timbre" the corresponding tone of a pipo organ.
To this end my invention consists in certain novel features of construction hereinafter
described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing, and particularly pointed out in
the claims at the end of this specification.
Figure 1 is a view in vertical transverse section through the reed-board and
connected parts of a reed-organ, having my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a
fractional view in vertical longitudinal section through a portion of the reed-board and
adjacent parts. Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view upon a reduced scale of a portion of
the supplemental cell-board.
A designates the mortise-board or reed-board of the organ, the reed-openings a of
which are controlled by the usual or suitable valves A', the stems a' of which connect
with the usual keys a of the key board. Upon the mortise-board or reed-board A is
set the cell-board B that is provided with a series of cells of any usual or suitable
form and arrangement, the front ends of these cells being controlled by means of the
mute or stop valves C pivoted, as at c, and operating in well-known manner. Within
the cells and above the appropriate openings in the reed-boards A are set the reeds
or tongues A2, by the vibration of which the musical tones are effected. The con-
struction and operation of the parts as thus far defined are familiar to those skilled in
the art and need not be more particularly describol.
I provide the top of the cell-board with a series of perforations b¹ near the front edge
of the cells, and with a like series of perforations near the back of the cells, a front
and back perforation being provided for each cell of the cell-board. Upon the top
of the cell-board B is fixed, what for convenience may be termed a supplemental cell-
board D, that is provided with a series of cells or cavities d corresponding in number

page_text: and location with the sub-jacent cells of the cell-board B, and it is apparent that when
the cell-board D is in the position shown, the perforations & and will afford a passage
way between the cells of the usual cell-board, and the corresponding cells of the
supplemental cell-board at the front and rear of such cells. My invention is shown in
the drawing as applied to a reed-organ in which a suction-bellows is employed, and by
the arrows I have indicated what I understand to be the effect upon the incoming air
when the mute valves have been lifted, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1 of the
drawing, that is to say, a portion of the air will pass directly through the cells of the
cell-board B, around the tongues, A³, and downward through the openings a of
the mortise-board A, whilst a portion of the incoming volume of air will pass upward
through the perforations & into the cells of the supplemental cell-board and thence
through the cells and downward through the perforations into the cells of the
cell-board B. In this way a circulation of the air between the cells band d is effected,
and I have found in practice that a very material improvement is secured in the tone
of the organ. In fact the quality or timbre" of the tone is so far modified that it
resembles much more approximately the like tone of a pipe organ than 1 have ever
been able to produce in constructions in which a supplemental series of cells was not
employed above the usual cell-board. The air circulating as it does through the cells a
of the supplemental cell-board, seems to operate in much the same manner, and with
much the same effect as do the pipes of a pipe organ, and the resultant tone is
correspondingly similar to that of a pipe.
It will be readily understood that instead of employing the supplemental cell-board D
above the usual cell-board B, the series of cells d may be formed in other convenient
manner, as for example, by a series of short pipes communicating with the per-
forations and of the cell-board B, although I regard the construction shown as a
very cheap one, and in practice it has proved in all respects most advantageous. It
will be understood also that whilst I have shown iny invention as applied to
one form of reed organ, it will be readily applicable to a variety of other
constructions.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what [
claim is: -
1. In a reed-organ, the combination with the usual cells, of supplemental cells, the
usual cells being provided with ports communicating with the supplemental cells at
front and rear thereof, substantially as described.
2. In a reed-organ, the combination with the usual cell-board, of a supplemental
cell-board having a series of cells closed at their ends and arranged above the cells of
the cell-board, the top of the usual cell-board being provided with the front and rear
perforations leading into the cells of the supplemental cell-board, substantially as
described.
3. In a reed-organ, the combination with the reeds A2, and the cell board B; having
cells b, and having perforations 1 and 2, of the supplemental cell-board D, having a
series of cells d communicating at their ends with the cells 6, of the usual cell-board B,
substantially as described.
Dated this 19th day of August, A.D. 1000.
GUSTAV R. NEWMAN.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.