US1141379A - Pneumatic action for automatic players. - Google Patents

Description

M. CLARK.

PNEUMATIC ACTION FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYERS.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN.28. 1914.

1 14 1 ,379, Patented June 1, 1915.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MELVILLE CLARK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T MELVILLE CLARK PIANO COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PNEUMATIC ACTION FOR AUTOMATIC PLAYERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 1, 1915.

Application filed January 28, 1914. Serial No. 814,911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, MnLviLLn CLARK, a

I citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Actions for Automatic Players, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

The purpose of this invention is to provide an improved construction of pneumatic action for automatic players to be contained within the case of the piano to be played, a specific purpose of the invention being compactness for the purpose of introduction into space available in an ordinary upright piano without change in the dimensions of the case.

It consists in the elements and features of construction shown and described as indicated in the claims.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a vertical fore-and-aft section of a portion of a pneumatic action embodying this invention at the line 1--1, on Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the same action. Fig. 3 is a rear side elevation of the same. Fig. 1 is a forward side elevation showing a portion of a hinged upper section of the front wall of the exhaust chamber broken away disclosing the interior and the forward surfaces of the edge walls of said chamber. Fig. 5 is a detail section on an enlarged scale at the line 55 on Fig. 2.

In the pneumatic action shown, 1 is the exhaust chamber, which is a substantially fiat vertical or uprightly positioned box containing within its cavity no mechanism whatever, so that said cavity can be, as shown, very thin or shallow, only suflicient distance being required between its front and rear walls to prevent undue air friction. An air trunk, 2, leads from this chamber at any convenient point, which is usually at one end or edge as shown. Upon the rear wall, 3, of the exhaust chamber there are mounted motor pneumatic supporting boards, 4, as many in number as the number of banks or levels into which it is desired to distribute the motor pneumatics. As illustrated, three such banks are shown, the motor neumatics, 5, being mounted upon the under sides of the supporting boards, 4,

in staggered arrangement for reasons well understood. In the upper side of each pneumatic supporting board there are formed a1r pockets, 6, one for each motor pneumatic supported upon the under side of the board, said air pockets communicating through ports, 3, in the rear wall, 3, of the exhaust chamber with the cavity of said chamber for producing exhaust or rarefied condition of the air in the air pockets. In each air pocket there is mounted a primary pneumatic, 7, the bottom of the pocket seating the lower or fixed wall of such primary pneumatic; and in the pneumatic supporting board, 4, for each of the air pockets therein, there is formed a duct, 8, leading into the primary pneumatic mounted in such air pocket, said duct emerging at the rear edge of the board and there registering with a port, 9, which connects with a vertical duct, 10, formed in the rear wall, 3, of the exhaust air chamber, said duct emerging at the upper edge of said rear wall for connection by means of the nipple, 11, with a tube, 12, for leading to a tracker not shown. Upon the upper side of the board, 1, opposite each motor pneumatic mounted upon its lower side, there is mounted a block, 14, containing a valve chamber, 15, the upper wall of which is formed by an exteriorly applied annular cover, 16, secured to the top of the block. The lower wall of the valve chamber has an aperture, 18, directly opposite the central aperture of the annular cover, 16. In the block, 14, there is formed an air passage, 17, leading from the valve chamber and emerging through the lower surface of said block; and in the board, 4, there is made a vertical aperture, 19, whose upper end registers with the mouth of the duct, 17 and whose lower end registers with an aperture, 20, in the top member, which is the fixed member of the motor pneumatic, so that communication is provided from the valve chamber to the motor pneumatic cavity. The central aperture, 16*, of the cover plate, 16, constitutes the communication of the valve chamber with the outer atmosphere. In the valve chamber the valve, 21, is adapted to play between the upper and lower seats, formed, respectively, by the under side of the cover plate, 1.6, and the bottom of the valve chamber, said valve being attached to the upper moving wall, 7 of the primary pneumatic, 7, which may be conveniently done by a screw, 23, set down through the central aperture of the cover plate, 16, screwed into the said moving wall, 7, in the course of assembling the parts.

It will be observed that while the air pockets for the primary neumatics of each bank are all formed in one continuous board, l, the valve chambers and the motor pneumatics are independent and are separately mounted upon said board, which is sometimes a matter of convenience in making repairs.

Bleeders or leak ports for the primary pneumatics are provided by drilling through the upper edge wall, 25, of the exhaust chamber from the forward suriace of said upper edge wall a duct, 26, leading into the duct, 10, which connects the primary pneumatic with the tracker, and drilling from the top surface of said edge wall, 25, a crossport, 27, intersecting the duct, 26, and leading into the exhaust chamber cavity. Into the upper end of the cross port there is set an adjusting screw, 28, which crosses the duct, 26, and is adapted to obstruct to any degree, according to its adjustment, the opening thereinto of the lower portion of the cross-port, 27, the end of the screw being tapered to adapt it to permit nicety of adjustment for that purpose. The forward wall, 30, of the air chamber is removable, being secured by screws, so that the inner surface of the rear wall may be fully exposed, and the boards, 4:, are secured against said rear wall by screws, 31, set in through said rear wall from the inner side of the chamber into the edges of said boards, f. Said forward wall, 3.0, when applied and secured upon the chamber, closes air tight not only the cavity of the chamber but also the forward ends of the ducts, 26, in the upper edge wall of said chamber, so that the ducts from the primary pneumatics to the tracker are not thereby afforded any communication with the outer air; and the construction described, it will be seen, exposes at the upper edge of the exhaust chamber all the adjusting screws, 28, for regulating the leak ports or bleeders of all the primary pneumatics in all the boards, 4:, mounted upon the exhaust chamber, because the ducts, 10, from the primary pneumatics in all the boards, a, emerge at the upper edge of the rear wall of the exhaust chamber; and notwithstanding said pneumatics are arranged in several levels, their ducts are all in position to be tapped by the cross ducts, 26, bored, as described, through the upper edge wall of the exhaust chamber; and the adjustment of all the leak ports can be effected without disturbing the position of any of the parts, but, on the contrary, while the entire pneumatic action is completely assembled and in position and condition for service, so that the adjustment of the leak ports can be tested by actual operation while the adjustment is being made.

I claim 1. In a pneumatic player action, in combination, a substantially fiat exhaust chamber; a motor-pne-umatic-supporting board mounted edg'ewise on one surface of the exhaust chamber; a series comprising a multiplicity of motor pneumatics mounted on one side of the board, the board having air pockets opening at the opposite side of the board which communicate with the exhaust chamber and with the pneumatics respectively; blocks which cover the said pockets at their open side valve chambers in said pockets through which the air pockets, respectively, communicate with the respective motor pneumatics; covers for said valve chambers mounted on the side of the blocks opposite that which is seated on the board; said blocks and valve chamber covers being removably secured, and securing means exteriorly accessible while the board remains mounted on the exhaust chamber; valves in the respective valve chambers controlling said motor pneumatic communications respectively; primary pneumatics in the pockets respectively, adapted to be connected with the respective valves, the board having ducts leading to said pneumatics, and means by which said ducts are adapted for communication with the tracker.

2. In a pneumatic player action, in combination, a substantially fiat exhaust cham her; a motor-pneumatic-supporting board mounted edgewise on one surface of the exhaust chamber; a series comprising a multiplicity of motor pneumatics mounted on one side of the board, the board having air pockets opening at the opposite side of the board which communicate with the exhaust chamber and with the pneumatics respectively; blocks which cover the said pockets at their open side; valve chambers in said pockets through which the air pockets, respectively, communicate with the respective motor pneumatics; covers for said valve chambers mounted on the side of the blocks opposite that which is seated on the board; said blocks and valve chamber covers being removably secured, and securing means exteriorly accessible while the board remains mounted on the exhaust chamber; valves in the respective valve chambers controlling said motor pneumatic communications respective'ly; primary pneumatics in the pockets respectively operatively connected with the respective valves; the board having ducts from the primary pneumatics respectively to the surface of said board abutting on the wall of the exhaust chamber, said wall hav ing ducts registering with the first mentioned ducts respectively, and adapted for connections to lead to a tracker.

3. In a pneumatic player action, in combination with an exhaust chamber having in one side wall thereof ducts for communication with the tracker, said ducts extending in said wall opposite the lapping edge of a transverse wall of said chamber; ducts extending transversely in such transverse wall. and leading into the first-mentioned ducts respectively, and cross ports bored through said transverse wall intersecting said transverse ducts, and adjusting screws set into the outer ends of said cross ports extending across transverse ducts and adjustable to regulate the communication through said cross ports between the tracker-connected ducts and the exhaust chamber.

4. In a pneumatic player action, in combination with an exhaust chamber having in one side wall thereof ducts for communication at one end with the tracker and at the other end with primary pneumatics; a member having chambers in which such primary pneumatics are mounted, and ducts in said member leading from the primary pneumatics in said chambers, said member being mounted on the exhaust chamber with said last mentioned ducts registering with the first-mentioned ducts in the wall of said exhaust chamber, said last-mentioned ducts extending to their emergence for connection with the tracker past the lapping edge of a transverse wall of said exhaust chamber, and ports leading from said ducts respectively to the surface of said wall on which said transverse Wall abuts, said transverse wall having ducts extending through it from edge to edge registering at one edge with said ports and closed at the other edge by the opposite wall of the exhaust chamber; cross ports bored through said transverse wall emerging at one end in the exhaust chamber and at the other end in an exteriorly exposed surface of said wall, and adjusting screws set into the exposed ends of said cross ports extending across the transverse ducts therein and adjustable to regulate the communication through said cross ports between the primary pneumatics and the exhaust chamber.

5. In a pneumatic player action, in combination with an exhaust chamber, a member mounted thereon having individual chambers for primary pneumatics communi cating respectively with the exhaust chamber, the wall on which such member is mounted having ducts for connecting the primary pneumatics with a tracker, each of said ducts emerging at the upper edge of such wall; transverse ducts in the upper edge wall of the exhaust chamber leading into' said first-mentioned ducts respectively, and cross ports bored through said upper edge wall intersecting said transverse ducts, and adjusting screws set into the upper ends of said transverse ports extending across the transverse ducts and adjustable to regulate the communication through said cross ports between the primary pneumatics and the exhaust chamber.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, at Chicago, Illinois, this 20th day of January, 1914.

MELVILLE CLARK.

Witnesses:

LUCY I. STONE.

copies of this patent maybe obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

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