US1727144A - Organ - Google Patents

Description

E. S. VOTEY Sept. 3, 1929.

ORGAN Filed Dec. 31, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 E.S.VOTEY ORGAN Filed Dec. 31, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 3, 1929.

UNITED STATES 1,121,144 PATENT OFFICE.

EDW'IN S. VO'IEY, OF SUMMIT, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE AEOLIAN COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

ORGAN.

Application filed December 31, 1925. Serial No. 78,588.

My present invention relates to means for selectively operating the swell shades belonging to different organ stops from one and the same swell engine. By my invention, novel ,5 expression eliects are obtainable which cannot be obtained in a construction where the swell engine is connected non-selectively to the several sets of swell shades.

The annexed drawings show my invention by illustrating diagrammatically one particular embodiment thereof which I today preier in practice. In said drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagram showing my present improvements in combination with the swell-engine, swellshades and pedals of an organ; Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the Valve-box 12 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a sin 'lar View of valve-box 42 of said Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the underside of the upper part of the pedal 6; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view through said pedal 6 and contact strip 35, the arm 31 and knob 33 being shown in elevation; and Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view, partly in elevation, through said pedal on the line 6-6 in Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Describing now my invention by way of said drawings but without limiting myself to the details thereof except as required by the terms of the annexed claims, including the benefit of equiva1ents,1 shows diagrammatically a box or chamber for containing the pipes of a given stop or stops such as the vox humana. such chamber being provided with the swell shades 2 of any usual or preferred. construction.

3 similarly shows another box or chamber which will ordinarily be larger than 1 so as to contain the pipes of some or all of the remaining stops of the organ, said chamber be ing provided with the swell shades 4.

5 indicates a swell engine of any usual or preferred construction for operating said swell shades 2 and 4, namely, for tilting the shades about the individual axes thereof 2 and 4" respectively so as to open and close same more or less depending upon the degree of tilting.

6 is a swell shoe or pedal hinged at 6 to a part 7 of the organ console for operating the swell engine 5 to in turn operate the swell shades 2 and 4.

The details of the swell engine form no part of my present invention and, therefore, I do not show or describe same except to show that the box 5 of said engine contains the usual accordion bellows 5 made up of a plurality of independently expandible and collapsible compartments. The left hand end only of said accordion bellows in Fig. 1 is attached to the corresponding end of the box 5"; whereas the right hand end of said bellows is attached to the rod 8 which is adapted to reciprocate freely like a piston rod through a hole in the right hand end of the box 5. 5-5 indicate in purely diagrammatical fashion the electro-pneumatic connections for operating the swell engine from the swell shoe. The details of the electrical and pneumatic parts and connections not being shown because of the fact that they are old and well known in the art, it is sufficient to explain that as the pedal or shoe 6 is pushed into a more and more vertical position, the electrical contact strip 6 mounted on the underside of said shoe is brought into lateral wiping contact with the row of fixed electrical contacts 6, one after another. These contacts 6 are electro-pneumat-ically connected to the respective compartments of the accordion bellows 5. Normally, the said shoe 6 occupies the position shown in Fig. 1 wherein its said contact strip 6 is out of contact with the contacts 6 The electro-pneumatic connections are such that when the pedal 6 is in its aforesaid normal out-of-contact position with the contacts 6 there will be wind under the same high pressure both on the inside and outside of all the compartments of the accordion bellows 5", the result being that said accordion bellows is fully expanded and the shades 2 are -fully open due to the pull of the weight 9 attached to the cord 9 passing over the pull ey 9 into suitable attachment to the rod 8. (In this specification, high pressure air or wind means that it has a pressure materially greater than atmospheric pressure.) As soon, however, as the contact strip 6 makes electrical contact with one or more of the contacts 6 the interior of the particular compartment (or compartments) of the accordion bellows belonging or related to said active contacts, is connected with the atmosphere with the result that the high wind pressure normally in the box 5 outside of said bellows immediately collapses the particular compartment or compartments and correspondingly operates in closing direction the swell shades 2 of the organ chamber 1. If the aforesaid contact strip 6 contacts with all of the contacts 6 then it will be understood that each and all of the compartments of the accordion bellows will be collapsedand the swell shades 2 will be completely closed.

With the foregoing already known construction, I have combined the following 10 is a bellows comprising the usual two boards 1O 10 connected all around their edges by the usual flexible airtight material 10, said bellows where its two boards are hinged together being pivotally connected at 1O to a suitable support 11. 10 is a strap which prevents the boards from being pulled apart beyond a degree'of separation corresponding to :1 full, or substantially full, pneumatic expansion of said bellows. On the other hand, said strap does not prevent or limit the free collapse of said bellows with resultant bringing together of the boards 10 and 10 I v The rod 8 (already described as operatively connecting the swell engine with the swell shades 2) is also directly connected with one board 10 of the bellows 10. The other-board 10 of said bellows is connected by another rod 88 with the swell shades 4 of the other box 3. I

VJhen high pressure wind is omitted into the aforesaid bellows 10, it forces apart the rods 8 and 88 to the extent permitted by the strap 10 of said bellows; and this is the normal condition of said bellows. From the earlier description it will be seen that the normal condition of the swell engine 5 is with its accordion bellows fully expanded as in Fig. 1, due to the fact that there is the same high pressure wind on both the outside and the inside of said bellows. Under the circumstances, the weight 9 keeps said accordion bellows normally fully expanded with the rod 8 pulled to the right in Fig. 1 and with the swell shades 2 in their widest open position which accordingly is their normal condition. This also adjusts the board 10 of the bellows 10 into the position shown in Fig. 1 which is, therefore, its normal position relatively to its support 11. Because, as heretofore explained, the bellows 10 is normally fully expanded due to its interior be ing normally connected with the high wind, it follows that the normal position for the board 10' of said bellows is that shown in Fig. 1. This in turn results in'keeping the rod 88 normally forced to the right as in Fig. 1 with the swell shades 4 connected therewith in their normal position, namely, in their widest open position as shown in said Furthermore, as long as the bellows 10 is kept expanded on high wind, the two rods 8 and 88 will move as one to operate the tWo sets of swell shades simultaneously, whether inclosingtheni due to the collapsing of the accordion bellows 5 in whole or in part, or

reversfllyu if opening said swell shades due pedal 6 in the usual manner, will produce similar simultaneous movements of both sets of swell shades 2 and 4; and will, therefore, simultaneously produce loud and soft effects at will of all of the stops in the organ chambers 1 and 2.

On the other hand, whenever the bellows 10 is taken off high wind and connected with the atmosphere, it will no longer transmit the motion of the rod 8 to the rod 88 described before. ()n the contrary, the rod 8 under these circumstances, when operated by the swell engine 5 and the weight 9, will now merely operate the one set of swell shades 2, but will not operate at all the other set of swell shades d, because the board 10 of the bellows 10 will now merely hinge idly about its hinge 10 due to the fact that the interior of the bellows 10 is open to the atmosphere. This enables the organist now to operate only the swell shades 2 from the shoe 6, the other set of shades 4 being unaffected and indeed kept closed so that desirable expression effects are obtainable from the vox humana or other stops in the small organ chamber 1 which can be clearly heard over the subdued tones of any stops then being played in the large organ chamber 3.

In short, when the bellows 10 is on high wind it is a device which couples the swell shades 2 to the swell shades 4 so that any operation of the former is transmitted to the latter. On the other hand, when the same bellows 10 is connected with the atmosphere, it no longer operatively couples the swell shades 2 and 4 and, therefore, they are now operable independently of each other whereby the organist, for example, can close the swell shades 4 and operate only the swell shades 2 from the shoe 6 and thereby obtain desirable expression efiects.

I will now proceed to describe one preferred form of means, namely, that illustrated in the drawings, for enabling the organist as aforesaid to connect the bellows 10 at will either with the high pressure wind or with the atmosphere for the purposes above set forth, and also to enable him in connection with the foregoing to shut the swell shades 4.

Thus, 12 is a valve box whose interior is connected with the high pressure wind. 13 is a flexible tubular connection to connect the interior of the bellows 10 with a duct let in the cover of the valve box, said duct leading to the usual cylindrical recess 15 in said cover for operatively containing the two inside valves 16 and 17 secured to the valve stem 18 mounted on the usual pouch 19 extending over the pouch Chamber 20. The aforesaid cylindrical recess 15 is bounded by an upper valve seat 21 with a port 22 through it leading to the atmosphere past the apertured bridge 23 serving as a guide for the upper end of the said valve stem 18. Also, the aforesaid cylindrical recess 15 has a lower valve seat 24 with a port 25 through it leading to the high wind in the box 12. The aforesaid pouch chamber 20 connects by a duct with the usual recess 26 provided in the bottom board of the valve box for operatively supporting the usual armature 27 of the electromagnet 28. Normally this electromagent is de-energized and therefore normally its armature 28 is in its down position shown in Fig. 1 wherein it closes the atmosphere port 29 and leaves open the high pressure port 30. In other words, normally the pouch chamber 20 is on high wind communicated to it from the box 12 by way of the port 30. The aforesaid valves 16 and 17 are also normally kept in their up position as in Fig. 1 due to the high wind under the valve 16 overcoming the atmospheric pressure on top of said valve. The result of said Valves being normally up is (see Fig. 1) that the bellows 10 is normally on high wind (as earlier explained) because it is directly connected with the interior'of the valve box 12 by way of the tube 13 and the high wind port 25.

The moment, however, that the organist energizes the electromagnet 28 by the means next to be described, its armature 27 is raised, closing the high wind port 30 and opening the atmosphere port 29, whereby the high wind inthe pouch chamber 20 is vented to the atmosphere and the pouch 19 and the valves 16 and 17 drop so that the bellows 10 is now out off from the high wind and instead is vented to the atmosphere for the purpose and with the results earlier explained in this specification.

Means is provided as an attachment to the swell shoe 6 for the organist to control the aforesaid energization and de-energization of the aforesaid electromagnet 28 and, therefore, to control the pneumatic collapse and expansion of the bellows 10. This means comprises a flexible metal arm 31 pivotally attached by one end 32 to the swell shoe 6 on the underface thereof. The free uppr end of said arm is provided with a knob'33 which projects through a laterally extending slot 34 in the shoe to the outer face thereof. An electrical contact strip 35 is secured by one end 36 to the underface of the shoe and extends laterally across same. The middle portion of said strip is arched away from the shoe as shown in Fig. 6. The electrical connections of the aforesaid device are as follows: 37 is a wire connecting the electromagnet 28 to the contact strip 35; and 38 is a wire connecting the arm to one pole of the battery 39 and 40 is a wire connecting the other pole of the battery with the electromagnet 28.

As long as the knob 33 and the arm 31 are in their central position relatively to the swell shoe, it makes no difference that the organists foot may be pressing on the pedal and the knob 33, and no electrical circuit will be closed through the electromagnet 28 because the arm 31 cannot touch the arched portion of the contact strip 35.

From the foregoing analysis it will be seen that if the organist wants to operate both sets of swell shades 2 and 4 simultaneously, he will leave the knob 33 in its central position because by so doing he will not ener gize the electromagnet 28. Therefore, the bellows 10 will be on high wind and consequently the two sets of swell shades will be coupled together for unitary action as heretofore explained.

On the other hand, if the organist wants to operate only the swell shades 2, he will kick the knob 33 over to one side and thereby cause the contact arm 31 to bear against the free end of the strip 35 which will close the electrical circuit through the electromagnet 28 which in accordance with the foregoing analysis will result in connecting the bellows 10 with the atmosphere so that said bellows no longer couples the swell shades 2 and 4 and therefore the swell engine 5 will operate only the one set of swell shades 2.

The means for insuring the closure of the swell shades 4 whenever the bellows 10 is connected with the atmosphere, consists of the following: 41 is a bellows having a fixed or stationary board 41 and a movable board 41 operatively connected to the rod 88 whereby the expansion of the said bellows by the admission to it of high wind will force said rod 88 to the left in Fig. 1 and will thereby shut the swell shades 4. On the other hand, when said bellows 41 is connected with the atmos phere it has no operative effect on said swell shades and, therefore, will not interfere with their operation from the swell engine through the coupling bellows 10.

The valve box and electrical connections for operating and controlling the said bellows 41 are as follows: 42 is a valve box containing high wind. The tube 43 connects the interior of the bellows 41 with a duct 44 in the cover of said box, said duct leading to a cylindrical hole through said cover to provide an atmosphere port 45 and a high wind port 46 controlled by the outside valves 47 and 48 carried by the valve stem 49. mounted on the pouch 50 and having its upper end guided by an apertured bridge 51 on the cover of said box. The aforesaid pouch is secured across the top of a recess 52 in the bottom board of the valve box and is connected by a duct 53 with a recess 54 in said bottom board, which recess has a port 55 leading to the high wind in the valve box, and has another port 56 lead ing to the atmosphere. 57 is an electro magnet inside the valve box mounted on the bottom board with its pole pieces adjacent said high wind port. 58 is the armature of this magnet which shuts one port or the other depending upon the energiz ation or de-energiza tion of the electromagnet. The electrical connections are as follows: 59 is a wire connecting the electromagnet to the contact strip 38 is a wire connecting the arm 31 to one pole of the battery 39, and 61 is a wire connecting the other pole of the battery with the electromagnet' In other words, the aforesaid details of the valve box 42 including the electrical connections therefor are substantially the same as those already described in connec tion with the valve box 12 for operating the bellows 10, except that the valves in the former are outside valves 47 and 48, whereas in the latter they are inside valves 16 and 17 relatively to their ports. This difference combined with the fact that the said bellows 10 and 41 are both controlled as aforesaid from the same electrical contacts 31 and 35 on the swell shoe, brings about the following result, namely, that whenever the organist operates the said electrical contacts 31 and 35 to put the high wind on bellows 10 to conple together all the swell shades for their joint operation, he, incidental thereto, will automatically connect the other bellows 41 with the atmosphere. Vice versa, whenever he operates the said contacts to connectthe bellows 10 with the atmosphere to uncouple the shades 4 from the shades 2, he, as an incident thereto, will automatically connect the other bellows 41 with the high wind to insure the positive shutting of the swell shades. 4 at this time, so as to subdue the tones from the stops in the organ chamber 3 to the advantage of the expression effects obtainable by the operation of the shades 2 in connection with the stops in organ chamber 1.

Obviously, in an organ playable automatically from a music-roll, the electrical contacts 6 and 6 for controlling the swell engine will be operated from music-roll perforations as they pass over the tracker bar; also that the electrical contacts for controlling the bellows 10 and 41 can and will be similarly operated from perforations provided for that purpose in said music-roll.

What I claim is:

1. In an organ the combination of a swell engine, swell shades, an operative connection between said engine and said swell shades comprising a pneumatically expansible and contractible member forming no part of said swell engine and means for admitting air under pressure to said member to expand it, and vice versa, for admitting atmosphere thereto to deflate it, whereby in the former case said expanded member transmits the motion of the swell engine to the swell shades.

- 2. In an organ the combination of a swell engine, swell shades, an operative connection between said engine and said swell shades comprising a pneumatically expansible and contractible member, means for admitting air under pressure to said member to expand it, and vice versa, for admitting atmosphere thereto to deflate it, whereby in the former case this expanded member transmits the motion of the swell engine to the swell shades, and another set'of swell shades directly operatively connected to said swell engine.

3. In an organ the combination of a swell engine, swell shades, an operative connection between said engine and said swell shades comprising a pneumatically expansible and contractible member, and means for pivotally supporting said member.

4. In an organ the combination of a swell engine, swell shades, an operative connect-ion between said engine and said swell shades comprising a pneumatically expansible and contractible member, another set of swell shades directly operatively connected to said swell engine, a pneumatic .operatively connected with the first named swell shades, and means for admitting air under pressure to said pneumatic to close said swell shades whenever the aforesaid pneumatically expansible and contractible member is on atmosphere,and vice versa, for admitting atmosphere to said pneumatic whenever the aforesaid pneumatically expansible and contractible member is on pressure.

5. In an organ the combination of a swell engine, swell shades, a connection between said engine and said swell shades, means for making said connection either operative or inoperative to deliver the motion of the swell engine to said swell shades; and another set of swell shades, operatively connected to said swell engine.

6. In an organ the combination of a swell engine, swell shades, an operative connection between said engine and said swell shades comprising a pneumatically expansible and contractible member, means for admitting air under pressure to said member to expand it, and vice versa, for admitting atmosphere thereto to deflate it,whereby in the former case said expanded member transmits the motion of the swell engine to the swell shades, a swell shoe operatively connected with said swell engine, and control means carried by said shoe for initiating the aforesaid operation of the pneumatically expansible and contractible member.

7. In an organ the combination of a swell engine, swell shades, an operative connection between said engine and; said swell shades comprising, a pneumatically expansible and contractible member,means for admitting air under pressure to said member to expand it, and vice versa, for admitting atmosphere thereto to deflate it, whereby in the former case said expanded member transmits the mo tion of the swell engine to the swell shades, and control means for initiating the aforesaid operation of the pneumatically expansible and contractible member.

8. In an organ the combination of aswell engine, swell shades, an operative connection between said engine and said swell shades comprising a pneumatically expansible and contractible member, another set of swell shades directly operatively connected to said swell engine, a pneumatic operatively connected with the first named swell shades, means for admitting air under pressure to said pneumatic to close said swell shades whenever the aforesaid pneumatically eX- pansible and contractible member is on atmosphere, and vice versa, for admitting atmosphere to said pneumatic whenever the aforesaid pneumatically expansible and contractible member is on pressure, and control means for initiating the aforesaid operation of the pneumatically expansible and contractible member and also of the aforesaid pneumatic.

9. In an organ the combination of an operatively supported pedal and electrical contacts carried by said pedal comprising apivoted arm and an arched strip extending transversely across said arm, said arm being pivoted to the underside of the pedal and being provided at its free end with a knob located in a slot through the pedal, with the knob normally projecting above the upper face of said pedal the arched strip being secured at one end to the underside of the pedal, the relationship between the parts being such that when said knob is pressed downwardly by the foot on the pedal, said arm cannot touch the strip at its arched portion but can touch the free end of the strip after the knob has been kicked laterally so as to swing the arm to said free end of the strip.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, this 30th day of December, 1925.

EDWIN S. VOTEY.

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