AN IMPROVED COMPLETE TUBULAR PNEUMATIC ACTION FOR ORGANS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, CHARLES BRINDLEY of Columbia Place, Suffolk Road Sheffield in the County
of York Organ Builder do hereby declare the nature of my said invention for
AN IMPROVED COMPLETE TUBULAR PNEUMATIC ACTION FOR ORGANS to be as
follows:-
-
My Invention is for the purpose of simplifying the mechanism of Organs, and
by dispensing with the use of trackers, roller boards, lever bars, backfalls and other
details, the cost of manufacture is reduced, and the fingering is lighter, the couplers
requiring no increase of pressure.
In carrying out my invention, I place a windchest under the keys, having a wire
direct from the key to the pallet. The coupler knobs operate sliders connected
with the beforementioned windchest (which communicates with the bellows) and
upon putting down a note on either the manual or pedal keyboard, the coupled
notes are sounded without the weight of their action having to be overcome by the
strength of the finger or the foot of the performer. The windchest before-
mentioned (and which I will call the keyboard windchest,) is connected by means
of a series of tubes of a smallbore, with certain "tube boxes"--which are provided
with automatic exhaust valves, which prevent the escape of air during action, but
open the instant the action is over, and thus relieve back pressure and prevent
undue protraction of the note.
The connection between the tube boxes and the windchest upon which the
speaking pipes stand, is made by a single tube of small bore.
The automatic exhaust valves, the tube boxes, and the mode of making
connections, and the general arrangement of the various parts constituting this
invention are novel and original.
By the use of my invention, the Organist experiences no more effort when using
the couplers, than when playing single notes, and perfect articulation is obtained in
the most rapid passages of music.
+

page_text: ! $3
An Improved Complete Tubular Pneumatic Action for Organs.
I, CHARLES BRINDLEY of Columbia Place, Suffolk Road Sheffield in the County
of York Organ Builder do hereby declare the nature of my invention for AN
IMPROVED COMPLETE TUBULAR PNEUMATIC ACTION FOR ORGANS 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 invention is for the purpose of simplifying the mechanism of Organs, and
by dispensing with the use of trackers, roller boards, leverbars, backfalls and other
details, the cost of manufacture is reduced, and the fingering is lighter, no increase
of pressure being required when couplers are used.
And in order that my invention may be clearly understood I annex a sheet of
illustrative drawings, the same letters of reference indicating the same or similar
parts in any of the figures in which they occur..
Fig. 1, is an elevation of Organ, showing the general arrangement of
tubes.
pneumatic
Fig. 2, section of keyboard console, showing key windchests, tube boxes, and
air pipes.
Fig. 3, section of windchest for speaking pipes.
Fig. 4, section showing the draw stop valves.
Fig. 5, section of automatic exhaust.
Fig. 6, section of "relay" wind chest.
In carrying my invention into practice as illustrated in the drawings I fix in the
interior of the console, in suitable positions under the keyboard, any required
number of wind chests A, A' A2, A³ which are in direct communication with the
bellows. The keys are connected preferably by the wires B, directly with the
pallets C, which open and close (by the aid of springs not shown) the mouths of
the pneumatic tubes D, which open into the interior of the said wind chests, and
pass forward to the tube boxes E, which are provided with automatic exhaust
valves F, as shown in Fig. 5, on an enlarged scale. The exhaust valves consist of
the discs G, of suitable material, preferably faced on both sides with cloth, and
fitting loosely in a circular chamber having an opening to the windpipe H and an
outlet I. Thus when compressed air is admitted into the pipe H, the disc G is
raised by the action of the air, and closes the outlet; the instant the key is
released by the performer, the disc drops, pressure disappears and pneumatic action
ceases. This action not only prevents undue protraction of the notes, but it
enables the most rapid and perfect. articulation to be accomplished with certainty.
The communication, between the tubes boxes E, and the wind chests (shown in
Fig. 3) upon which the speaking pipes stand, is made through a series of tubes of
small bore D D D D'-which I have shown in Fig. 1 as leading respectively to
the Great Organ, the Choir, the Swell, and to the Pedal Organ.
On pressing, down one of the keys, its attached wire B, and pallet C, are raised
and the air under pressure in the windchest marked A for example, at once acts
upon the air in the tubes D; the tube nearest to the back of the console is the
only open tube and represents the normal note, the three other tubes are stopped
by the sliders P.

page_text: The compressed air so admitted passes through the tube box and the tube D',
and raises the valve J, which permits the compressed air in the windchest R to
pass into the air passage K and by inflating the bellows L to open the valves N.
Wind is supplied to the windchest Fig. 3, by the drawstop valves shown in
Fig. 4 which are there represented as open. S is the wind trunk, the compressed
air in which acting upon the large area of the bellows T, keeps the valves U, closed,
until compressed air is admitted into the interior of the bellows when the valves
are instantly opened and air admitted to the windchest above.
The system of coupling is shown in Fig. 2 and will be readily understood by
organbuilders, thus for example, the first tube from the upper windchest A, when
the top slider is drawn, couples the great and swell organs, the two middle tubes
are for coupling the octaves and suboctaves. The tubes marked with a star are
open or normal notes, the other tubes are couplers.
The relay apparatus Fig. 6, is a windchest connected with the bellows, and is
intended to be placed in any intermediate position when the tube connections are
long, as a relay of air at the original pressure.
I am aware that pneumatic tubes are to a certain extent used in organ building
and therefore I do not claim the application of pneumatics broadly, but I claim for
my plan that it is much more complete than any other, and is the only system
of complete pneumatic action from keys to windchest for speaking pipes.
An Organ constructed upon the principle above described can be better adapted
to the shape of the chamber in which it is to be placed, and the Organist can
have the console placed in any convenient position. Roller-boards, back falls,
leverbars, square-bars, and trackers are dispenced with, and by their disuse the
rattling of worn mechanism is entirely done away with, as also is binding from
change of temperature.
By this system the most delicate, elastic, prompt and responsive touches are
obtained, capable of the most rapid repetition, no increased resistance is felt by
the addition of any or of every coupler. I wish it to be understood that I do not
bind myself to the exact arrangement or position or number of the windchests as
shown in the accompanying drawings as it is obvious that these may be varied to
suit the size and construction of the Organ.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed and carried into
practical effect, I declare that what I claim is
1st The complete pneumatic system, or action, for Organs, substantially as
hereinbefore described and illustrated.
2nd In the application of a pneumatic action to organs, the arrangement and
construction of the windchests, tubeboxes, and tube connections contained in the
console, substantially as herein before described and illustrated.
3rd In Organs the construction of the windchest for speaking pipes substantially
as described as shown in Figs 3. & 4.
4th In pneumatic systems for Organs, the construction of relay or auxilliary
apparatus substantially as herein described and shown in Fig. 6.
" automatic
5th In pneumatic systems for Organs, the construction of an
exhaust" for the purpose specified and substantially as hereinbefore described
and as shown in Fig. 5.