An Improved Tubular Pneumatic Atmospheric Organ Action.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Sept., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 23rd June, 1890-Accepted, 2nd Aug., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Tubular Pneumatic Atmospheric Organ Action.
I MARTIN HETHERINGTON 15 Osborne Terrace Wallsend-on-Tyne in the County of
Northumberland do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
--
My invention relates to improvements in the construction of pneumatic organs,
whereby the whole of the key, pedal, stop, and combination actions are worked by
atmospheric pressure only, instead of using the compressed air from the bellows; as,
has hitherto been described in pneumatic organs.
My object being to produce a prompt and perfect repitition with the keys any
distance from the organ; simplify the action; and to save wind.
Over or under every key I place horizontally a small airtight bellows, which may
be made of any material providing it is airtight.
In the ends of the said bellows I insert a tube with a quarter or three eighths of an
inch bore, the other end of the tube is taken away to the organ soundboard and
inserted into another small bellows, placed in a vertical position, with the free workable
end at the top.
"
The tubes may be secured and made airtight in the holes of each bellows by any
suitable inaterial such as white-lead, red-lead or Venice turpentine,
Before securing the tubes, the key bellows must be left open, and the other small
bellows which may be termed the motor bellows, closed.
Above the motor bellows is placed a small wedged piece of wood, hinged at the
tapered end by a piece of leather, the sticker or wire of the inotor valve is placed above
the wedged shaped piece of wood.
On depressing the key, the key bellows closes and the motor bellows opens which
presses against the wedged shaped wood and lifts it, causing the motor valve to open,
by means of the sticker or wire resting on top of said piece of wood.
This motor valve may be the ordinary small buffer disc if the soundboards are on
the exhaust system, if on the pressure system I use a small concave valve which I have
described in the specification of Patent No. 641 of A.D. 1887.
The wedged piece of wood is so shaped that when the motor bellows is inflated it
rises a certain distance and remains so as long as the finger is on the key.
The motor bellows having no external pressure beyond the first impulse of sliding
the wedge, immediately on the key being released the key bellows opens and closes the
motor bellows, consequently the motor valve falls back into its normal position.
The stop, pedal, and combination actions, are on precisely the same principle, only the
stop and pedal bellows are made a little larger than the key bellows.
If the pedal soundboard is on the pressure separate valve system the motor bellows
may be directly under the wedge shaped piece of wood large enough to lift all the pipe
valves corresponding to the note depressed as the pedal bellows being larger and
having more pressure with the foot, the pedal motor bellows would lift several pipe
valves without the aid of auxiliary valves.
Dated this 19th day of September 1889.
MARTIN HETHERINGTON.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Tubular Pneumatic Atmospheric Organ Action.
I, MARTIN HETHERINGTON, of 15, Osborne Terrace, Wallsend-on-Tyne, in the
county of Northumberland, 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 pneumatic organs, and has for object to provide improved

page_text: means whereby the instruments can be played by a person situated at a distance
therefrom.
In carrying ont my invention I construct the keys, stop-pulls and pedals separate
from the other parts of the organ, so that they can be placed and used at a distance
therefrom, their action being communicated to the valves by the following means.
To each key, stop-pull and pedal I adapt an air-tight bellows in which I insert a
tube leading to a similar bellows in close proximity to each key, stop and pedal-valve
of the instrument. Above the motor valve-bellows are arranged hinged flaps adapted
to be raised and lowered by the action of the motor valve-bellows, thereby opening
and closing the various valves of the instrument when the distant keys, stop-pulls and
pedals are operated.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe how it can be carried
into practice by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which—
Figure 1 is a vertical section shewing the key-boards, one of the stop-pulls and one
of the pedals constructed separate from the other parts of the organ, and adapted to be
used at a distance therefrom according to my invention;
Figure 2 is a vertical section of an organ-valve adapted to be operated from a
distance according to my invention, the instrument being arranged to be worked on
the pressure system:
Figure is a similar view but shewing the valve constructed for use with an
instrument arranged to be worked on the exhaust system:
Figures 4 and 5 are sections of the pedal soundboard of an organ, the valves of
which are operated by pedals placed at a distance.
Similar letters in all the figures indicate similar parts.
Referring to figure 1a, a are the swell and great keys, and b, are the key-levers ;
cis one of the stop-pulls and one of the pedals, all of which parts are of usual
construction, but mounted in a frame e separate from the other parts of the organ.
are the air-tight bellows, one of which I adapt to each key-lever ; the said
bellows are fixed in a horizontal position on the frame e and are normally expanded or
open, but are closed when the keys a are struck, by means of a wire and sticker h
attached to the movable parts of the bellows and to the tail ends of the key-levers b.
The said movable parts of the bellows are weighted in order to cause the bellows to
open quickly and the keys to quickly rise when the pressure of the fingers is removed
from the latter.
i is one of the bellows which I connect. to each stop-pull c by means of a joint on
the tail-end thereof so that, when the stop-pulls are drawn out the bellows are inflated.
but closed when they are pushed in.
k is the pedal bellows, one to each pedal, connected thereto by a sticker so as to close
the bellows (which are normally inflated) when the pedal d is depressed, the pedal being
again raised when pressure is removed therefrom, and the bellows again inflated by
the action of the pedal-spring m.
n, n, n, nare the tubes which I insert with air-tight connections in the bellows ffi
and &, the said tubes being of sufficient length to lead to the place where the instrument
to be played is situated.
o(figure 2) is one of the bellows which receive the air-tubes n from the key-bellows.
It is fixed to the board p beneath the hinged flap formed with a curved under surface
as shewn which bears against the movable part of the bellows o, so that, when the
bellows is inflated it will raise the hinged Hap. The sticker of the valve s bears
upon the upper surface of the flap y and the valve therefore rises and falls with the
flap.
By this means when the keys a are operated the air in the key-bellows f will be
forced into and inflate the valve-bellows thereby opening the valves which will
remain open so long as the finger is on the corresponding key a and allow the wind
to pass from the passage, t. to the motor that works the pipe-valves. Directly the
finger is removed from the key the key-bellows opens and exhausts the air from the
valve-hellows o, the flap q falls and the valves closes.
The arrangement of bellows and flap is the same if the instrument works on the

page_text: exhaust system, as illustrated in figure 3. When the valve-bellows o is inflated, as
shewn in the said figure the valve s stops the passage of the wind from the channel t
to the channel u, and the wind in the channel u is exhausted through the outlet v.
The stop-valves may consist of small or auxiliary valves like the key-valves shown in
figures 2 and 3, and are operated from the stop-pulls c by bellows p and flaps q in a similar
manner to that in which the key-valves are operated from the keys. The bellows can,
however, if required, be made larger so as to adapt them to act directly upon the
valve that admits the wind to the different pipe chambers. The podal or pipe valves w
are also similarly operated from the pedals d, as illustrated in figures 3 and 4, but the
flaps are made wider so as to adapt them to operate directly on two or more pipe-
valves at once according to the number of stops on the soundboard without the aid of
auxiliary valves.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. An organ in which the key, stop and pedal-valves are operated by the keys, stop-
pulls and pedals placed at a distance therefrom, through the medium of air-tight
bellows connected by a tube and operating, substantially in the manner hereinbefore
described.
2. In an organ, the combination of the bellows e adapted to be operated by the keys,
stop-pulls and pedals, the bellows o connected to the bellows e by tubes n and the
hinged-flaps g operated by the bell vs o so as to actuate the key, stop, and pedal-
valves of the instrument.
3. The improved organ action hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying drawing.
Dated the 23rd day of June 1890
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.