US1196518A - Pneumatic player-piano. - Google Patents

Description

.l. P. CAULFIELD.

PNEUMATlC PLAYER PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED MAY H, 1911.

1 1 96, 5 1 8 Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

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(June Mow 1% Q MW J. P. CAULFIELD.

PNEUMATIC PLAYER PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 11. 1911.

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J. P CAULFIELD.

PNEUMATIC PLAYER PIANO.

APPLICATKON FILED MAYH. 1911.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES P. ZAULFIELD, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE J. P. CAULFIELD PIANO JQMPANY, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION OF MlARYLAND.

PNEUMATIC PLAYER-PIANO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented An". 29, 1916.

Original application filed November 27, 1909, Serial No. 530,124. Divided and this application filed May 11,

fccting a rewinding of the music sheet and pneumi ic means for controlling the exp, vssion devices.

The subje matter of the present application is a division of the matter presented in my application for patent Serial. Number filed November 27th, 1909 and for \Jlllt'l' U. S. Patent 995,766 was granted June 30th, 1911.

invention illustrated in the accompairino drawing wherein,

l, is a plan view of a grand piano =1 portion of the cover of which has been (on away to illustrate the mechanism for :iivine the music roll. Fig. 2, is partly a side and sectional view through the upper porti n of the piano to show the portilt is of :ie tracker; the conduit board, wrest plank; tl music sheet and Winding rolls and the pneumatically-operated shiftinn means that eoact to effect a rewinding of the music rolls. Fig. 3, is a perspective of the two exhaust feeders or bellows; the couurmnicating equalizer; a sectional view f the air trunks connected therewith and also shows diagrammatically the perforated key slip r d conduits for controlling the loud, soft and rewind mechanism. Fig. i is a diagrammatic sectional view of the same.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 1, designates the horizontal case of a grand piano which contains the well-known elements entering into the make-up of a piano of this character.

In the organization of the piano according to my invention and as fully shown and described in my said. pending application Serial No. 626,408.

I make use of the key-bottom, 3, a wrest plank, 6, above the keys andon which the usual metal frame, 7, is sustained which latter carries the wires, 8, that are carried on the conventional tuning pins, 9.

The case has the usual cover, 10, which folds down flat and which may be constructed in any suitable manner. Below the cover and between the latter and the tuning pins, I provide a conduit board, 11, which extends horizontally from one side of the case to the other and-is sustained at its ends on blocks which have conduits therein that pass down to and communicate with conduits in the key bottom as fully described in my said pending application and therefore not illustrated herein.

The conduit board, 11, has horizontal ducts or passages, 13, which extend from a central point to the opposite ends where they register respectively with the various conduits in the end-supporting blocks. The ducts or passages, 13, in the board communicate with the ports or passages, 19, in the tracker bar, 18, which latter is carried by the conduit board. It is thus to be understood that the passages, 19, in the tracker communicate with the horizontal ducts, 13, in the conduit board which latter in turn communicate with other passages that ex tend down at opposite ends of the key board and into the key bottom where the primary valves are located, all as clearly shown in my said pending application.

At the rear of the key bottom, 3, the instrument is provided with two independently-operated power bellows or feeders, 57, the forward ends of which each carry a bracket, 58, which is connected to one end of a bell-crank lever, 59, by a strap, (50. A flexible band, (31, is connected to the other end. of the bell-crank lever and extends forwardly therefrom and is attached to a suitable treadle mechanism, not shown. At the rear of the two feeders, 57, I provide an equalizer, 62, by means of which the exhaust tension created by the feeders is equalized. Over one of the feeders I provide a horizontally-disposed air trunk, 63, the forward end. of which is provided with a chamber or box, G l, which is connected by a tube, 65, with the air-chamber, 55, in the key-bottom, and it is through this tube that a constant suction is maintained in said air chamber, 55, and the chests in the key bottom where the primary and secondary valves are located. This airtrunk, 63, is provided with a horizontal partition, 66, which forms therein two parallel horizontal chambers, 67, and, 68,the former being below the latter, and a vertical. partition, (59, between the bottom of the air-trunk and partition, 66, forms another chamber, 70, at the forward end of the trunk through which the air in tube, 65, is exhausted as clearly seen in Figs. 3 and 4c of the drawings.

At the forward end the horizontal partition, 66, in the air trunk is provided with ports, 71, and, 72, respectively which establish communication between the chambers, 68, and, 70, and at the rear end. said partition, 66, is provided with a port, 73, that provides a communication between said up'per chamber, 68, and the lower chamber, 67. This latter port, 73, is provided with a valve, 74;, which, when closed, will shut off all communication between the air chamber, and the equalizer, 62, and therefore, at such time there will be no suction from the said air-chamber, but when it is open the suction will continue.

The port, 72, is controlled by a valve, 75, which is secured upon a diaphragm, 76, that lies over a recess, 77, in the bottom of the trunk'and a duct or passage, 78, leads from said recess beneath the diaphragm, to, ,and is controlled by a valve, 79, in a centrally located case. 80, as shown in 3 which will presently be explained.

The air trunk, (33, has position flat on top of. both the feeder, 57, and the equalizer, G2, and is provided with a plurality of p'orts, 81, through which the air in the chamber, (37, is exhausted by the feeder and additional ports, 82, that open into the equalizer. As there are two feeders,-one to be actuated by one foot of the operator and the other by the other foot, both feeders communicatc with the equalizer so as to mainain a uniform tension in the instrument.

The centrally-located case or chest, 80, is also seated flat on top of one of the feeders and extends over onto the equalizer and is also provided with ports, 83, that communicate with the feeder and other ports, 84, that place the case or chest in communication with the equalizer, thus it will be seen that both the trunk, and the case or chest, 80, are in communication with the equalizer, and that the valve, 79, which controls the valve, 7 5, and the port, 72, in the air trunk, 63, are located at the forward end of the chest, 80. This valve, 79, is carried on a stem the lower end of which is sustained by a diaphragm, 85, that extends over a recess in the bottom of the chest and from the under side of'which a duct, 86, leads to the key slip, 87, where it opens to the atmosphere through a soft tone port, 88, which normally admits atmosphere to the bottom side of the diaphragm and causes the latter to rise, because of the suction in the chest, 80. By reference to Figs. 3 and 1- it will be seen that from the bottom side of the diaphragm, 76, in trunk, (33, the passage or duct, 78, extends to and normally opens below the valve, 79, in the chest, 80, but if said valve, 79, is lowered, as it is when the soft tone port, 88, is covered by the finger, the end of the duct, 78, will be exposed to the atmosphere and consequently the suction previously maintained through said duct, 78, will be broken and the diaphragm, 76, in trunk, 68, will raise valve, 75, which will cover the bottom side of port, 72, and thus shut off the larger of the two ports that establish. communication between the air chamber, 55, and the airtrunk chamber, 68, and thereby reduce the exhaust in the air chamber, 55, so as to operate the striking pneuniatics with the de creased tension and produce a weak blow of the hammers on the strings. It will therefore be seen that instead of a soft pedal or lever mechanism to produce a soft tone the operator will simply cover port, 88, in the key slip to get the soft tone effect.

The sostenuto or sustained effect of the instrument is also produced through the closing of a port in the key slip by the finger of the operator and without the use of unsightly levers or pedals and by reference to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings the mechanism for producing this eil'ect. will now be explained. By referring particularly to Fig. 2 it will be noted that dampers, 89, ext-end crosswise of and normally lie upon or in contact with the string or wire, 8. Suitable rods, 90, depend from the dampers and are pivotally connected at their lower ends with horizontal levers, 91, which latter are sustained in any suitable or well known manner. A. horizontal cross-bar, 92, extends crosswise of the instrument and im mediately below the levers, 91, and the upper surface of this cross-bar has a cushion, 93, on which the free ends of said levers rest. At the lower rear edge, the cross bar, 92, is connected by a hinge, 9-l, to a stationary or rigid bar, 95, so that said cross-bar may be tilted upward to a slight extent at its front edge. It is the raising or tilting of this cross bar that elevates the rods, 90, and consequently raises the dampers, 80, above the strings and when thus raised the strings will be free to vibrate without the restriction of the damper and thereby produce the sustained effect.

lVhile the dampers and the devices above described for operating the same are common, I have levised a novel pneumatic mechanism for operating the said elements to which reference will now be made in connection with Figs. 2 and 4. Beneath the key-bottom, 3, and in the present instance at the rear of the striking pneumatics, 50, 1 provide a box or case, 90, the under side of which carries a bellows, 97, and a lever, 98, has its forward end connected to the movable portion of said bellows and extends in substantially a horizontal direction belowthe same. The inner end of this lever is pivotally supported in any suitable manner so that the outer end thereof may rise and fall with the bellows. By reference to Figs. 2 and 1 an end and side view of the lever and bellows may be seen, and it will also be seen in said figures that a rod, 99, extends vertically over the lever and passes through a bushing, 100, in the chamber, 55, and its upper end has position directly be low the cross-bar, 92. The lower end of the rod, 90, rests upon the upper side of said lever, 98, so that when the bellows is collapsed. as will presently be explained, the lever, 98, and rod, 09, will. be raised and the upper end of said rod will tilt the cross-bar, J2, up thus raising the damper from the strings to produce the loud effect when the h a miners strike.

1y reference to the diagrammatic view shown in Fig. 1 it will be seen that the box or case, 90, is provided with an air-chamber, 101, and that a duct or tube, 102, connects the said chamber with the air-exhaust chamber, 55, so as to maintain a continuous suction in said chamber. Two valves, 103, and, 101. respectively, are provided in the said box or case, 06, and each valve has a Vertical stem. The stem of valve.103, is connected to a diaphragm, 105,and a duct or passage, 106, leads from the bottom side of said diaphragm and opens adjacent the valve, 104, where it communicates with the chamber, 101, as long as valve, 1.0-1. is raised, so that the suction in said chamber will act on the bottom side of the diaphragm, 105, and keep valve, 103, down and permit atmosphere to enter another duct or passage, 107, and pass into the bellows, 07. to keep the latter expanded.

The stem of valve, 104, is also connected to diaphragm, 10S, and a tube, 100, leads from the under side of this latter diaphragm and opens through a sustained tone port, 110, in the key slip, 87, so as to admit atinosphere to the under side of the diaphra m, 108. and permit the latter and, also the valve. 104., to be maintained in an elevated position as seen in said Fig. 4:. When it is desired to produce a sustained tone effeet the bellows, 97, must be collapsed to actuate- .the damper rail and this is effected simply by placing the finger over the port, 110, which shuts off the entrance of atmosphere to the bottom side of diaphragm, 108,it being understood that the diaphragm has the ordinary well known bleed and the suction in the chamber, 101, together with the weight of valve, 104;, and its stem, will cause said latter valve to drop and thereby uncover passage, 106, so atmosphere can enter therein, whereupon valve, 103, will raise, because there is no longer a suction on the bottom side of diaphragm, 105, and passage or duct, 107, will be thrown into communication with the suction chamber, 101, and consequently bellows, 97, will be collapsed and will remain so as long as the port, 110, in the key slip is covered by the finger. The uncovering of said port will immediately restore the valves to their original normal position and a return to the normal tone will immediately follow.

In the operation of the instrument the music sheet, 4-0, is carried on a roll, 111, see Fig. 2, and is run from said roll onto another roll, 112, during operation, as can be better seen in Fig. 1. The particular form of mechanism for sustaining the latter roll while the sheet is drawn over the tracker while playing the instrument, may Vary as may also the motor mechanism, 113, for operating said mechanism, but in the present instance the motor mechanism is of a well known form and operates a crank shaft, 114, which carries a sprocket wheel over which a sprocket chain, 15, travels. This chain also passes around another sprocket on a longitudinally movable shaft, 116, that is sustained in a bracket, 117, carried at the rear side of the conduit board. and a pinion, 118, on said shaft meshes with a gear, 119, on the roll shaft, 120, on which the roll, 112, is mounted. Suitable hanger brackets, 121, are carried on the front face or edge of the conduit board, 11, and one of said brackets carries stem or rod. 122, which is yieldingly pressed toward the other by means of a spring coiled thereon, as seen in Fig. 1. The other bracket carries a short shaft, 123, in which a sprocket wheel is mounted and a short sprocket chain, 121, travels over said wheel and also over a similar wheel on the shaft, 116. By this means the two shafts. 110, and, 123, are driven in the same direction from the motor while the roll shaft. 120, normally revolved in a reverse direction to effect an unwinding of the music sheet from the roll, 111, that is supported between the shafts, 122, and, 1.23, onto the roll, 112, during the rendering of the music. It will thus be seen that the horizontal. conduit board. 11. sustains the roll-carrying brackets and driving mechanism immediately connected therewith, so that all of this mechanism may b removed simultane ously with the conduit board, as for example when it is desired to tune the instrument.

Another feature of the present invention the novel rewinding mechanism whereby the music sheet may be returned from roll, 112, to roll, 111, without sounding the respective notes during such return and at the same time effect the return through pneumatically operated means as will now be described reference being made to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the drawings.

in Figs. 1 and 2 it will be noted that a rod, 125, extends horizontally beneath the conduit board and is hung in suitable brackets, 126, so that it may be oscillated. The inner end of this rod extends upwardly and has a semi-circular support, 127, that e11- gages a circular head, 128, on the outer end of the shaft, 11.6, so that when said rod, 125, is rocked in one direction the said shaft will be moved longitudinally and the pinion, 118, withdrawn laterally from engagement with the gear, 119, so as to cease driving the latter. The for ard end, 129, of the rod, 125, turns laterally and parallel with the front edge of the conduit board and it is with this end of the rod that a pneumatic device engages to rock the bar one way or another to cause the music sheet to travel, and these devices will now be described.

A case or box, 130, is secured to the front side of the conduit board, 11, and over the wrest plank, 6, and by reference to Fig. 4, which shows a longitudinal section through this box, it will be seen that the same has a chamber, 131, and two pneumatic valves, 132, and, .133, respectively extending vertically therein,-the same being carried on stems, the lower ends of which are attached to diaphragms, 134, and, 135. An air duct or passage, 136, extends from the under side of the diaphragm, 135, and communicates with the suction chamber, 55, in the keybottom, 3, and by this means the suction on the under side of said diaphragm keeps the valve, 133, seated so as to normally admit atmosphere through a duct or passage, 137, to the under side of diaphragm, 134, and also into a bellows, 138, thus permitting the said bellows to remain in an expanded con dition. An air duct or tube, 139, also enters the case or box, 130, and a suction is continuously maintained through said duct and from the chamber, 131, so as to hold the valve, 132, raised and expose a rewind bellows, 140, to the exhaust in the chamber, 131, through a duct, 141, so that as long as a suction is maintained in both the duct, 136, and chamber, 131, the rewind bellows, 140, will remain collapsed.

By means of the constructions here employed a suction will. always be maintained in the chamber, 135, through tube, 139, but

during the rewinding operation there must be no suction or tension in the air chamber, 55, because if there were the return of the music sheet over the tracker would cause a reverse playing of the music which would be very objectionable; therefore as chamber, 55, is exhausted through tube or duct, 65, and chamber, 68, I have devised a construe tion whereby the valve, 74, will seat and remain. seated during the rewinding operation and thus preventany suction whatever in said chamber, 68, although the feeders, equalizer and motor continue to operate.

By again referring to Figs. 3 and 4 it will be noted that *alve, 74, is carried by a stem the lower end of which is connected to a diaphragm, 142, from the under side of which a duct or passage, 143, extends, and that said duct enters and extends along the bottom of the centrally-located case, 80, and terminates in a vertical passage, 144, in said case. This passage, 144, extends from the interior of the case to the atmosphere on the exterior and a valve stem extends through the passage and carries two valves, 145, and, 14(3,onc above the other. The valve, 146, controls the outer atmospheric end of the passage and the valve, 145, the inner end thereof and the-duct, 143, enters the said passage between the said two valves so that when valve, 146, uncovers the passage, atmosphere can pass through duct, 143, and beneath the diaphragm, 142. The lower end of the stem that carries valves, 145, and, 146, is connected to a diaphragm, 147, which covers a recess, 148, and a duct, 149, communicates with said recess beneath the diaphragm and extends to the key slip, 87, where it opens through a rewind port, 150, to the atmosphere.

From the foregoing explanation it will be seen that normally atmosphere enters through the rewind port, 150, to the under side of diaphragm, 147; that the exhaust tension in the interior of case, 80, allows said diaphragm to lift and seats valve, 145, against the lower end of a passage, 144; that atmosphere enters the upper end of passage, 144, and passes through duct, 143, to the lower side of diaphragm, 142, and consequently valve, 74, remains normally elevated. But suppose rewind port, 150, is covered by the finger of the operator and thus cuts elf the atmosphere to the bottom side of diaphragm, 147, the usual bleed in the diaphragm will cause the tension in the case, 80, to deflate the diaphragm which will draw the valves, 145, and, 146, down thereby seating valve, 146, and throwing duet, 143, into communication with the exhaust tension in case, 80, whereupon valve 74 will be drawn by diaphragm, 142, so as to cover port, 73, whereupon the exhaust in chambers, 68, and, 70, duct, 65, chamber, 55,

and all the air chests in the key bottom will be broken and consequently all the primary and secondary valves will remain inactive so that the travel of the music sheet over the tracker can be reversed without sounding a note.

The cutting ofi of atmosphere from entrance to rewind port, 150, and shutting off the exhaust in chamber, 55, will cause the iellows, 138, to collapse and the rewind bellows, 1 10, to expand and thus shift or rock rod, 125, to throw the pinion, 118, out of mesh with gear, 119, and shift the gearing then to drive shaft, 123, to effect a rewinding of the music sheet. The bellows, 138, and the rewind bellows, 110, are each provided with a bracket, 151, and each bracket has a vertical. end, 152, which projects toward the end of the other bracket but leaving sufficient space between to receive the end, 129, of the rock rod, 125, so that when one bellows collapses and the other expands the rock bar will. be moved toward the expanded bellows to effect a shifting of the shaft, 116.

By reference to Figs. 1, 3 and 1 it will be seen that a conduit box or case, 153, extends horizontally between the feeders, 57, and the equalizer, 62, and that the same is provided with a chamber, 151, that is in communication with the trunk, 63, by means of ports, 155, and with the central case, 80, by means of ports, 156, so that the exhaust maintained by the feeders and equalizer is also effective in the conduit chamber, 151, and it is through this conduit that the exhaust to operate the motor is conveyed. At one end of this conduit box or case, 158, I locate an exhaust box, 157, having a chamher, 158, which also extends over one of the feeders, 57, but has no direct communication therewith. There is however a port, 159, in the bottom and at the rear end of the said box which provided a constant communication with the conduit chamber, 151, and through the latter said chamber is exhausted by the feeders.

At the front end of the exhaust box I provide an cxpansiblereceptacle, 160, which in the present instance has the form of a bellows and comnuinication is established between the said receptacle and the exhaustbox chamber, 158, by a port, 161. Beneath the expansible receptacle and the front end of the exhaust box I provide a tempo box, 162, whose function, as its name implies is to regulate the time or the speed at which the motor is to be operated. This box has a horizontal partition, 163, which serves to form a lower horizontal channel or chamber, 161, and an upper channel or chamber, 165, and a port, 166, is provided in said partition and may be opened more or less by means of a. slide valve, 167, that has a stem, 168, which extends through the end wall of the box and which is connected to a horizontal rod, 169, that extends over the keybottom or bed, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 1 of the drawing.

At one end the channel, 16st, of the tempo box connects with a vertical passage, 170, that extends up through the front end of the exhaust box, 157 and whose upper end opens directly into the expansible receptacle or bellows, 160, as can be clearly seen in Fig. 3. The movable portion of the expansible receptacle or bellows, 160, carries a bracket, 171, at its hinged end and a spring, 172, is stretched between said bracket and a stationary bracket, 173, at the bottom of the tempo box, whereby the tension of the spring will. serve to keep the receptacle or bellows yieldingly expanded but permit it to rise and fall if the exhaust tension in chamber, 158, should vary. A tube, 17 1, enters a port, 175, in the upper side of the tempo box and extends from the chamber, 165, thereof to the motor mechanism, 113, so that the air in the latter will be exhausted through said tube; across channel, 165, of the tempo box; through port, 166, and channel, 164, then by way of vertical passage, 170, to the expansible receptacle or bellows, 160, then through port, 161, to chamber, 158, of exhaust box and finally through port, 159, to conduit box or cas and thence to feeders. In the normal operation of the instrument the slide valve, 167, in the tempo box will partly close the port, 166, but if it is desired to increase the time or speed either momentarily or for a greater period, the operator will shift the lever, 169,the handle end of which projects in front of the key slip, 87, see Figs. 2 and 6, and will move said slide valve so as to further uncover the said port, 166, whereupon the exhaust tension will be increased and the 11101101 thus operated faster. On the other hand, a gradual closing of the slide valve over said port will reduce the speed of the motor and likewise the speed of the music sheet over the tracker.

During the rewinding of the music sheet to return it from roll, 112, to roll, 111, from which it was unwound while playing, it is desirable that the rewinding be quickly accomplished, and that the striking pneumatics, 50, and valves controlling thesame be held against operation. The latter feature has been explained in connection with the valve, 7 3, diaphragm, 1 1-2, duct, 14-3, and valves, 14 1-, and, 1 15, which, during the rewinding, effect a closure of port, 7 '1 by the seating of valve, 73, and thereby prevent further exhaust to that point from the air chamber, 55. The additional exhaust tension that would otherwise be distributed through chamber, 55, and all the air chests, can be utilized in rapidly driving the motor mechanism and to aid in thus speeding up the motor while rewinding, l have provided the exhaust box, 157, with a passage, 183, which has one end opening into the chamber, 165, of the tempo box, 182, see Figs. 3 and 1, and the other end of said passage has a downwardly extending tubular valve seat, 18%, which projects into the chamber, 158.

recess, 185, is provided in the bottom of the exhaust box directly beneath valve seat, 18%, and a diaphragm, 186, covers said recess and carries a disk valve, 187, on its upper side. In order to permit this disk valve and the diaphragm that carries it to be raised by the suction on the upper sine 1 provide a duct, 188, that leads from the recess, 185, and enters the wall or the case or chest, 80, and opens in the vertical passage, 14 1, between the valves, 145, and, 146, which passage as hereinbet'ore explained is open to the atmosphere as long as the rewind port, 150, at the key slip is uncovered. When port, 150, is covered for rewind as above explained valve, 1%, will exclude atmosphere from duct, 188, and valve, 145, will drop and thus the suction in chest, 80, will draw valve, 187, and diaphragm, 186, down so as to uncover the tubular valve seat, 1241. The uncovering of this seat, 181, will increase the suction in chamber, 165, of the tempo box which has direct communication through tube, 17 1, to the motor mechanism and as at this time the entire suction of the feeders is through chamber, 158, by way of conduit, 154, the motor mechanism will be operated very rappidly to rewind the music sheet. At this same moment it will be seen that the suction in tempo chamber, 165, is drawing through tube, 139, and the suction in chest, 55, is stopped, the bellows, 138, will be drawn down and the suction in bellows, 14-0, broken and atmosphere admitted thereto so that the roll driving chains will rewind the sheet of music.

t is to be understood that while in the present instance the invention is illustrated in connection with a piano of the grand type, the invention may readily be installed in pianos of the upright style. This is particularly true of those features relating to the normally open ports, 88, 110, and, 150, in the key slip, 87, by the closing of which, preferably by means of the finger, the expression may be controlled and the rewinding of the sheet ei'lected.

Having thus described my invention what 1 claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. in a player piano the combination with the striking pneumatics, of an air trunk; means for creating a tension in the air trunk; a casing having a chamber to communicate with the striking pneumatics to actuate the latter; connections between said chamber and trunk to create a tension in the chamber from the trunk; valve means for varying the tension in the chamber from the trunk; a key slip having an open duct extending from a concealed side to an exposed side thereof; a conduit extending from the concealed side of the open duct in the key slip, and means at the inner end of the said conduit for controlling the op eration of the tension-varyin valve-means.

2. in a player piano the combination with the striking pneumatics, of an air trunk; means for creating a tension in the air trunk; a casing having a chamber to communicate with the striking pneumatics to actuate the latter; connections between said chamber and trunk to create a tension in the chamber from the trunk; valve means for varying the tension in the chamber from the trunk; a normally closed conduit having one end at and leading from one side of said valve-means; a valve at the other end of said conduit to cut oil or admit atmosphere to said latter end and a conduit normally open to the atmosphere and leading to said valve that controls the normally closed conduit to the valve means, whereby the closing of said latter normally open conduit will eliect an operation of the tensionvarying valve-means.

3. 111 a player piano the combination with the striking pneumatics, of sounding devices; a damper normally engaging the sounding devices; an air trunk; means for creating a tension in the air trunk; a casing having a chamber to communicate with the striking pneumatics to actuate the latter; a box having a chamber in continuous communication with the said casing-chamber and also having two passages; a normally open valve between the box-chamber and one of said passages; a normally closed valve between said box-chamber and the other of said passages said normally closed valve having one side exposed to the passage with the normally open valve; a damper operating bellows communicating with the passage that is controlled by the normally closed valve; connections between the bellows and the damper; a key slip having an open duct extending from a concealed side to an exposed side thercof and a conduit extending from the concealed side of the key-slip duct to one side of the normally-open valve that controls communication from the box-chainher to one of said two passages.

at In a player piano the combination with a case, of sounding devices; a tracker; music rolls; a music sheet; pneumatic driving means for the rolls; air-tension means for actuating the sounding devices; pneumatic means for reversing the direction of the rolls to rewind the sheet; a normally open valve interposed in the air-tension means which valve When closed Will cut off air tension from the means that actuates the sounding devices; a conduit leading from one side of said valve; a second valve at the other end of said conduit to normally keep said conduit open to atmosphere and a duct leading from one side of said second valve and normally open to the atmosphere to provide atmospheric pressure to said latter side of said second valve said duct When closed causing said second valve to out off atmosphere to the conduit leading to the firstnamed valve and close the latter to cut oif air tension to the sound actuating means when the direction of the rolls is reversed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of tWo Witnesses.

JAMES P. CAULFIELD.

Witnesses:

G. Fnno. Voer, CHARLES B. MANN, J r.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C.

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