CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HARMONIUMS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wheatstone, of 20, Conduit Street, Hanover
Square, Middlesex, Musical Instrument Manufacturer, for the Invention
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wheatstone at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
September 1859.
I, WILLIAM WHEATSTONE, of 20, Conduit Street, Hanover Square, Mid-
'dlesex, Musical Instrument Manufacturer, do hereby declare 'the nature of
the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HARMONIUMS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the class of musical instruments known as
harmoniums, and consists in certain new arrangements and combinations of
parts of which the same are composed, whereby such instruments are rendered
more compact and simple in their construction, and can be produced in a
more portable form at a much less cost than at present.
In this improved harmonium the wind chest is placed above the somnier
or note cavity box instead. of underneath, as in all ordinary instruments and
the somnier, together with the note frames, vibrators, & palettes are inverted,
thus causing. the note frames with their vibrating tongues to be at the top,
and the palettes or valves to be below the somnier. Each palette or valve is
composed of a single piece of wood or other material, fitted with the usual

page_text: leather to prevent its action from causing unnecessary noise, and to confine
the wind when the note is not in use. Through one end of the palette is
passed a small pin, which is secured to the bottom plate of the somnier, and
serves as a fulcrum for the movement of the palette. The other end of the
palette is made to project beyond the front side of the somnier, and is acted
upon by a plunger or depresser attached to the under side of the finger key,
so that the descent of the key, when pressed by the performer, causes the
valve or palette to open and allow of the passage of the wind through the
vibrating tongue and note cavity. Beneath the palettes is a slip or piece of
wood carrying small grasshopper springs, which keep the palettes when not
depressed by the plungers of the finger keys firm against the bottom plate
of the somnier, and close the notes. This spring bar is attached to the
somnier by means of small pins or wires passing between the palettes, to which
they serve as guides, and counteract the pressure of the springs.
In this improved harmonium the wind apparatus is composed of three
cuckoo bellows, two of which serve as feeders, and a third as a reservoir; the
boards of the bellows are arranged in the shape of the letter N. The front
and middle boards are moveable, and the back board is fixed to the back of
the instrument. The feeders are actuated by two pedals or treadles, to which
they are connected by bands or straps passing over small pullies secured to the
backboard of the reservoir. The reservoir is provided with external springs
to counteract the action of the pedals, and in conjunction with the feeders is
placed in a vertical position instead of a horizontal one, as in ordinary instru-
ments. The wind which enters the feeders, when distended by their internal
springs, is forced by the descent of the pedals through apertures in the middle
board into the reservoir, from whence it passes into a wind passage at the
bark of the somnier into the wind chest.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Wheatstone in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WHEATSTONE, of 20, Conduit Street, Hanover Square, Middlesex, Musical
Instrument Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of

page_text: Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Wheatstone, Her special licence that I, the
said William Wheatstone, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Wheatstone, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN HARMONIUMS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Wheatstone, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 William Wheatstone, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is. to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The objects sought to be obtained by these improvements are the production
of harmoniums of a more simple construction in a more compact and portable
form, and at a great reduction of cost of manufacture than can at present be
done, which objects are effected by certain new arrangements and combi-
nations of several parts of which this class of musical instruments usually
consist, and by certain novelties of construction of certain, other component
parts of the same, as herein-after set forth..
In harmoniums, as hitherto constructed, the somnier or note cavity box is
placed in the instrument immediately under the key board, with the palettes
or valves on the upper side of the somnier, and the note frames with their
vibrating tongues on the under side of the same. The wind chest is situate
underneath the somnier. It will readily be understood that by this arrange-
ment, in order to cause the palettes or valves to open on the depression of the
finger keys, that such palettes must be formed on the lever principle, that is,
must be centred on fulcrums at or near the middle of their length, the
adjusting screws serving as plungers or depressers attached to the keys acting
upon one of their ends, and raising the other, thereby opening the valves, and
causing the wind to act upon the vibrating tongues. Now, in my improved
harmonium this arrangement is completely reversed, that is to say, the wind

page_text: chest is placed above the 'somnier, and the-somnier itself is inverted, liaving
its note frames and vibrators above and its palettes or valves below, and
opening downwards, so that by causing one of their ends to project beyond
the front board of the somnier, the plungers of the finger keys can be made to
act directly upon the palettes, and open 'the valves required. The somnier is
also made to take out separately from the instrument, having no mechanical
connection with the wind chest or with the key board as in ordinary instru-
ments; thus facilitating the rectification of the palettes or notes. Further-
more, in harmoniums as at present constructed the wind apparatus is placed
horizontally in the instrument, and consists of a reservoir and two feeders;
each feeder is connected by a short arm to a lever fixed on a spindle; the
other end of the lever being attached by a short strap or cord to one of the
treadles or pedals. The wind which enters the valves of the-feeders is forced
by the descent of the treadles through wind trunks at each side of the instru-
ment into the wind chest, from thence it passes, when the instrument is not
being played "expressively," into the reservoir through a valve which is
opened or closed by the expression stop. Whereas, in my improved har-
monium the wind apparatus is placed vertically in the instrument, and
consists of three cuckoo bellows, two of which serves as feeders, and the third
as a reservoir. The feeders are actuated by two pedals or treadles, to which
they are connected by bands or straps passing over small pullies secured to
the back board of the reservoir, thus dispensing with the lever spindle and
short arm of the ordinary instrument, which appliances are more liable to
derangement, and more costly in manufacture than the pullies and straps.
The wind which enters the feeders in my instrument, when distended by their
internal springs, is forced by the descent of the treadles through valves in the
middle board of the bellows into the reservoir, from whence it passes through
wind passages at the back of the reservoir, and through the somnier into the
wind chest.
The manner in which my said improvements are carried into practice is
more particularly explained in the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, in which similar letters refer to
the same parts of the instrument in all the different figures or views.
Figure represents a vertical transverse section of a harmonium con-
structed according to my improvements'; Figure 2 represents a longitudinal
section of the same, one half marked A taken on the line C, D, of Figure 1,
and the other half marked B taken on the line E, F, of the same; Figure 3
is a section through the wind chest and somnier, shewing the finger keys,
plungers, palettes, note frames, and a portion of the wind apparatus to a scale

page_text: of three-quarters of their actual size; Figure 4 is a front view of the same;
and Figure 5 is an under plan of the palettes, springs, and spring supporter.
a is the wind chest, and 6 the somnier or note cavity box; c, c, are the note
frames, and c, c', are the vibrating tongues fixed on the upper side of the
somnier, and d, d, the palettes or valves working on the' under side of the
somnier. Each palette or valve is. composed of a single piece of wood or
other material fitted with the usual leather to prevent its action from causing
unnecessary noise, and to more perfectly confine the wind when the note is not
in use. Through one end of the palette is passed a small pin e, which is
secured to the bottom board of the somnier, and serves as a fulcrum for: the
movement of the palette. The other end of the palette is made to project
beyond the front board of the somnier, and is acted upon by a plunger or
depresser fattached to the under side of the finger key 9, so that the descent
of the key, when pressed by the finger of the performer, causes the valve or
palette to descend with it, as shewn in Figure 8. The valve being now open,
the wind passes through the note frame c, and acting upon the vibrating
tongue c', produces the note desired. The plungers or depressers are provided
at their lower ends with small screws h, h, for adjusting the level of the finger
keys. To the under side of the palettes or valves d, d, are attached small grass-
hopper springs i, i, which press against a rail or slip of wood, or other
material, and keep the palettes, when not depressed by the plungers of the
finger keys firm against the bottom board of the somnier, and effectually close
the note cavities. This slip is suspended from the somnier by means of
small pins or wires & passing between the palettes, to which they serve as
guides, and also to counteract the action of the springs upon the rail l; m, m,
represent the cushions or pads, composed of strips or rolls of leather or other
material lined or stuffed with worsted or other suitable substance, which are
fixed round the edges of the top board of the somnier, and serve to prevent
the wind from escaping between the wind chest and the somnier.
The wind apparatus, consisting of three cuckoo bellows placed vertically in
the instrument as before stated, is shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3. In Figure 1
one of the two feeders is shown in side elevation, and the reservoir is seen in
transverse section. In Figure 2, a front elevation of one of the feeders is
shewn, and the reservoir in longitudinal section. The boards of the bellows
are arranged in the shape of the letter N; the front boards n, n, of the
feeders o, o, and the middle board p are moveable; the back board g of the
reservoir r is fixed to the back of the instrument. The wind enters the feeders
when they are distended by their interal springs o¹ (see Figure 3) through
the apertures and valves s, s, in the front boards, and is forced into the

page_text: reservoir, when the feeders are compressed by the action of the treadles t, t,
through corresponding apertures and valves in the middle board p. The wind'
is then conducted from the reservoir through the wind passages w, w, and
through the apertures 6' in the top and bottom boards of the somnier into the
wind chest, from whence it passes through the note frames on the opening of
their respective palettes or valves (as indicated by the arrows in Figures 1
and 8); u, u, represent the straps connecting the treadles with the feeders,
and v, v, the pullies over which they pass; x is a strong hour-glass spring
fixed between the front of the instrument and the middle board of the bellows,
for the purpose of compressing the reservoir, and forcing the wind contained
therein into the wind chest. The reservoir is also provided with a safety
valve y, to which is attached a small piece of tape or cord, the length of which
regulates the extent to which the reservoir can be safely distended.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as my
improvements, —
The peculiar arrangement and transposition of the wind chest and somnier
in combination with the plungers or depressers of the finger keys and the
palettes or valves with their springs and spring rail or supporter, constructed
and working in the manner above described.
And also the peculiar arrangement and construction of the wind apparatus
or bellows, the method of forming the wind passages at the back of the
reservoir and through the back of the somnier into the wind chest, and the
manner of actuating the feeders by pullies and straps, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wheatstone, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
WILLIAM WHEATSTONE. (L.S.)
Witness,
GEORGE HATTON KING,
16, Charles St. Manchester Sqr.