Improvements in and relating to Reed Organs.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 23rd July, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Reed Organs.
I, MELVILLE CLARK, of the City of Chicago, County of Cook, State of Illinois,
in the 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:-
In the drawings,-
Fig. 1 is a fore-and-aft vertical section of my improved pneumatic organ.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the pneumatic coupler and operating devices of
the form shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a similar elevation showing a coupler divided by octaves.
Fig. 4 is a vertical detail section of the coupler board on an enlarged scale,
of the form shown in Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 is a similar section showing the parts in a different position.
Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail section at the line 6-6 on Fig. 1.
Fig. 7 is a still further enlarged detail section at the line 7-7 on Fig. 6.
Fig. 8 is a detail elevation showing the mechanical connections from a coupler
stop to operate an intermediate section of the coupler board.
Fig. 9 is a detail elevation of a portion of the coupler board seat.
Fig. 10 is a detail elevation of a portion of the mechanical connections from
the coupler stop to one of the extreme coupler board sections.
Fig. 11 is a front elevation of a portion of the coupler board having exterior
tube connections between the corresponding ports instead of interior ducts as
shown in the other figures.
Fig. 12 is a detail edge elevation or plan of the structure shown in Fig. 11.
A is the wind-chest which communicates at a with the exhaust bellows B.
C C C C C C are the reed-boards or blocks having the reed chambers. D D
etc. are the reed valves. E E are the motor pneumatics for operating the valves.
F is a primary pneumatic which controls the motor pneumatics E E. A° is
the supplemental wind-chest connected to the wind-chest proper by hollow
brackets or throat-pieces at the ends of the wind-chest, one only of said hollow
brackets or throat-pieces being shown at Ab, that at the opposite end being
precisely similar. The primary pneumatics F are located outside the wind-chest,
being mounted on the primary pneumatic duct-board G. Each primary pneu-
matic has attached to its fluctuating side the tubular valve stem H, which extends
through the port a in the supplemental wind-chest A, and carries the two
valves H and Hb, which seat respectively at the outer and inner ends of the
port a. The motor pneumatics E E are mounted on the under side of the
board E, which overhangs the wind-chest proper and constitutes the under side
of the supplemental wind-chest A". This board E has a rib Eb extending along
the middle of its width from end to end, that is, from right to left of the
instrument as a whole. From each of the ports aª, a duct ab extends down to
the board E, and there registers with the branch-ducts A° A°, which leads to
the pneumatics respectively, and so that the valves H and Hb, seating respectively
outside and inside the wall of the wind-chest supplement, control the communi-

page_text: cation of the motor pneumatic both with the wind-chest and with the outer air.
In the primary duct-board G there are formed ducts Ga leading to the primary
pneumatics respectively, and opening at the upper edge of the board where
nipples are provided to which are attached flexible tubes K, which lead to
the tracker range L, to which they are connected in a similar manner and
constitute the continuation of the ducts L of the tracker range, which are con-
trolled by the perforated music sheet M: From the duct Ga, a branch duct Gb
leads back into the forward wall of the wind-chest supplement and in said
wall down between the ports a, through the board E and the rib Eb thereon,
and is provided at the lower side of the rib with nipples gb, to which tubes Ge
are connected and extending through the wind-chest, and by means of similar
nipples are connected at the bottom of the wind-chest with the ducts Gª,
which lead forward through the bottom board and emerge outside the wind-chest
constituting ports in proper position to be controlled by valves N, which are
operated by the manual keys respectively. By means of the manual keys the
. primary pneumatics may be vented and the sounding devices made to speak
without regard to the action of the perforated sheet M at the tracker range,
or the action of the perforated sheet at the tracker range may cause the sounding
devices to speak without regard to the manual keys. By extending the vent
passage from the primary pneumatic to the manual keys inside the wind-chest,
the structure is much more thoroughly protected, and when flexible tubes are
employed for the purpose, there is an advantage in having them inside the wind-
chest, in that they are exposed outwardly, as well as inwardly, to the rarefied
air of the wind-chest, and are therefore not collapsed by the interior rarefication,
as is the case when they are located outside the wind-chest, and that therefore,
when the pneumatic is vented by admission of atmospheric air, the effect of
such admission is not delayed or diminished by the necessity for the re-expansion
of the duct to its full size.
Another small feature of improvement consists in the provision of an easily
applied guide for the tubular valve stem H, this stem being mounted on the
fluctuating wall of the primary pneumatic, which, having soft and flexible sides,
and usually a leather hinge, is liable to be more or less inaccurate in its move-
ment, especially in view of the weight of the valve stem extending off from it.
In order, therefore, to center the valve stem in the port a", I make a coil O
of fine wire (see Figs. 6 and 7), the coil being large enough to permit the valve
stem to work freely through it, and bend down the ends of the wire, as seen
at 01 0¹, spread apart far enough to require a little compression to cause them
to enter the port a". Being thus slightly compressed and entered, they hold
the device substantially centered in the port, so that the valve stem extending
through the coil is centered with sufficient accuracy to cause the valves to seat
with certainty. The coil should be slightly elongated vertically, because the
valve stem moving as the fluctuating wall of the pneumatic swings from its
upper end, has a slight range of vertical movement in addition to its endwise
thrust.
The chief feature of improvement shown in the drawings relates to the coupling
devices. From the ducts G in the primary duct-board, two ports G and G
extend forward, opening at the forward face of the board. The coupler board R
has an upper row of ports R* adapted to register with the ports G', and these
ports are connected by oblique channels with the port Rb, adapted to register
with the ports G one octave distant. All the ports R and Rb open through the
felt strips, so that when the coupler-board is applied to the face of the primary
pneumatic duct-board, it serves as a valve to close all the ports G and G, except
when it is set so that the ports in the coupler-board register with the ports in
the primary pneumatic duct-board. When the ports are thus registered, it will
be seen that upon the venting of any primary pneumatic, whether by manipu-
lation of the manual key pertaining thereto, or by action of the perforated music
sheet over the tracker range, the primary pneumatic pertaining to a note one

page_text: octave distant is also vented, and that note is made to speak, and if the coupling
board is extended over the whole front of the primary pneumatic duct-board,
that board having the ports G and G throughout, not only will the note one
octave distant be sounded, but also the corresponding notes in every octave
throughout the entire range of the instrument. It will also be observed that
this expedient constitutes a means of coupling down as well as up; for, an upper
note having the primary pneumatic vented by the action of a manual key or
the music sheet, the upper port G in the primary pneumatic duct-board affords
communication with the lower port G8 of a pneumatic one octave above, and
the lower port G in the primary pneumatic duct-board affords communication
with the upper port G of the octave below, and so on in series. The coupler-
board is retained in close contact with the primary pneumatic duct-board by
means of the bow-springs T T, and springs S S are provided reacting upon the
upper edge of the duct-board, being stopped by brackets ss, which also afford
means for securing the springs T T, said springs S S tending to hold the coupler-
board downward toward the ports, and at a position where its ports are out of
registration with the ports of the board G. A rock-shaft Tb, suitably mounted
below the coupler-board, has short lever arms Te, which are connected respec-
tively by links Td Td to the lower edge of the coupler board. Said rock-shaft
has a longer arm To, from which a link T extends down at one end of the wind-
chest, and is connected to the horizontal arm of a bell-crank-lever T, whose
vertical arm extends downward and is connected to the stop Th, which protrudes
at the organ front. This enables the operator, by drawing out the stop, to raise
the coupler board to the position of registration and thus couple the octaves,
and this action, carrying the pivotal connections between the lever arms Te
and T just past the plane of the axis of the rock-shaft and the pivots of the
other ends of the links causes the board to be automatically locked in the position
to which it is there lifted until the stop-knob is pushed in.
In order that it may be possible to use such coupling device to couple only
two or more octaves at will, and to limit the coupling action so that, as is
desirable, there shall be no coupling across the center of the manual, the downward
coupling of the upper half being limited at the center, and the upward coupling
of the lower half being similarly limited, I divide the coupling-boards into
octave lengths R1 R2 R R and R5, as shown in Fig. 3, providing separate
operating devices for each octave length. In order that space may be obtained
for the adjustment of each octave length, independently of the adjacent lengths,
I preferably construct the board G with its ports and ducts, and the primary
pneumatics to which they pertain respectively, in octave groups with space
between the groups indicated at G on Fig. 3. This produces the necessary
space between the successive octave lengths of the coupler for the coupling
movement of any octave length without necessitating the movement of any
adjacent length. Upon consideration of this structure it will be seen that in an
instrument, for example of six octaves, five octave lengths of coupler will be
required, and that by leaving uncoupled one intermediate octave length, as for
example, R³, the effect will be that, commencing with No. 1 of the octave above
the middle, all notes above and including that note of the manual are properly
coupled, and commencing with No. 12 of the next octave below the middle, all
notes including that note are properly coupled, but that no coupling is effected
past the divisional line between said notes 1 and 12. In each division of the
manual, at both sides of the divisional line, the coupling is effected both up
and down, that is, for example, any note in the middle octave of the three
upper octaves being struck, will sound both the octave above and the octave
below the note so struck, while the upper octave couples down only, because
there is no octave above it to couple with, and the first octave of this upper
livision couples up only, because there is no octave below it in this division.
In the lower division, the octave next below the divisional line couples only
down, and the first octave (the lowest) couples only up, because there is nothing

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to couple with below it, the middle octave of this division couples both with
the octave above and the octave below it. This division may be made between
any two octaves by leaving out of coupling position the octave action of the
coupler whose middle point is at the desired divisional point. In constructing
an organ with the conventional arrangement of manual, --that is, with
middle C" practically at the middle of the manual, and having five, seven or
any other odd number of full octaves, the half octaves at the upper and lower
ends may be provided with a separate short coupler, or may be controlled in
connection with the adjoining full octaves. When the divided coupler is em-
ployed, it is convenient to construct the operating devices, as shown in Fig. 3,
the octaves above "middle C" having the coupling devices operated by stops
at the lower end, the octave length of the coupler which is left out of coupling
position in order to give the effect of a divided coupler between "middle C
and "D" below, being operated by a stop at the middle of the organ front,
the operating devices being identical with those already described except as to
location. The next octave length at either side has its rock-shaft telescoped
within a tubular rock-shaft which pertains to the next outer octave length, and
protrudes from the latter to receive the crank-arm by which it is operated, the
tubular rock-shaft having a similar crank-arm similarly actuated by an inde-
pendent stop-knob. All the stop-knobs at each end being adjacent, can be
operated simultaneously, when it is desired to couple the entire half, upper or
lower; and when it is desired to couple the entire manual, the middle stop-knob
will also be operated.
my
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a pneumatic organ, the employment of primary pneumatics which have
each a duct leading to a pair of ports located at a seat for a coupler board, and
a coupler board which has ports arranged in pairs which correspond to and are
adapted to register with the ports of the ducts leading from the pneumatics
respectively; ducts which connect one coupler port of each of such pairs with
a coupler port an octave below and the other coupler port of the pair with a
coupler port an octave above; and suitable means for moving the coupling board
to cause its ports to register or not register with the ports in the seat.
2. In a pneumatic organ, the employment of primary pneumatics having each
a duct leading to two ports at a seat for a coupling board, all said ports consti-
tuting two sets, one of the ports pertaining to each pneumatic being in one
set and the other port being in the other set; coupling boards which pertain to
the several octaves respectively, each such board having ports arranged in two
sets which correspond to the two sets of the ports of the coupling board, one set
of the coupling board ports being adapted to register with one set of the coupling
board seat ports which pertain to a given octave, and the other set of the coupler
board ports being adapted to register with the other set of the coupling board
seat ports which pertain to the next octave; and means for independently moving
each coupling board to cause its ports to register or not register with the seat
ports.
3. In a pneumatic organ, a coupling mechanism which consists of ducts con-
necting primary pneumatics pertaining to the several notes to be coupled, such
ducts being grouped in octave sets, a part or section of each of the ducts of each
octave group being formed in one and the same unitary part of the structure,
said part being movable at will to disconnect and close all the ducts of the
octave group.
4. In a pneumatic organ, in combination with a wind-chest and the primary
pneumatic exterior thereto, a duct which leads from the primary pneumatic
into the wind-chest; a tube connected with such duct and constituting a con
tinuation thereof and extending, through the wind-chest; a duct in the bottom

page_text: wall of the wind-chest into which said tube is connected and which constitutes
therewith and with the first-mentioned duct a continuous passage, said last-
mentioned duct leading to an exterior port in the vicinity of the manual; and a
valve operated by a key of the manual to control said port.
wind-
which
5. In a pneumatic organ, in combination with an erect wind-chest having
reed blocks mounted upon its vertical walls and motor pneumatics which control
the reed-valves pertaining to said blocks respectively; primary pneumatics to
control the motor pneumatics located at the upper part of the wind-chest and
exterior thereto; a duct from each primary pneumatic leading through the wall
of the wind-chest, and a duct leading through the wall of the
chest at the lower part; a
manual key
valve actuated by a
controls the outer end of the last-mentioned duct, and a tube within the wind-
chest which connects the duct at the upper part with the duct at the lower part.
6. In a pneumatic organ, in combination with the wind-chest, the motor-
pneumatic and the valve which controls its communication with the wind-chest;
the primary pneumatic to which such valve is attached, the valve having its stem
extending through the port which the valve controls; and the guide O made of
wire coiled to encompass the stem and having its ends extended to bear against
the sides of the port.
+7
1000
Dated VILIS
om day
MELVILLE CLARK.
By Herbert Haddan & Co.,
Agents to the Applicant,
18, Buckingham Street, Strand, London, W.C.