US1071888A - Organ. - Google Patents

Description

E. DALLWIG.

ORGAN.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 2, 1912.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

l I I I l l I l L I I I l.

l l l l l I I l l I l I l I I I l l l l coLUMBlA PLANOGRAPH cc.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

E. DALLWIG.

ORGAN.

APPLICATION FILED D20. 2, 1912.

COLUMNA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTQN. D. c.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ERNST DALLVJIG, OF KNIGSBERG, GERMANY..

f Y ORGAN.

Application filed December 2, 1912.

To aZZ whom, z' may concern:

e it known that I, ERNST Datmvio, a citizen of the German Empire, residing at Knigsberg, in the` Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire, have invented new and uset'ul improvements Relating to Organs, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has tor its object to provide an automatic solo attachment or coupler applicable to reed organs, for the purpose of giving sub-bass (16 feet tone) effects without the use of pedals, and also when required for giving soprano-solo eftects.

By means of this invention the effects of a pedal organ are obtained in an automatic manner without any conscious effort on the part ot the player.

The solo coupler attachment can be built into any type of suction reed organ. The sub-bass is made of rather larger dimensions than usual and it extends preferably to 27 notes or semitones. Its range ot connection with the keyboard will generally be from A in the sub-bass (or 16 feet octave) to B in the tenor octave (or 4 feet octave), because between this B and the next note C (which begins the two feet octave) the division of the register occurs. Evidently, however, the range may be that of the ordinary pedal coupling from C in the bass octave (or 8 feet C) up to D in the middle octave, because the sub-bass attachment according to this invention is arranged independently of the other sets of reeds, at the back ot the sounding board and wind chest.

Although the effects of a pedal organ are obtained according to this invention, yet a second person is not needed 'for working the organ bellows.

In the accompanying drawing the subject of the invention is illustrated by way of example, Figures l and 2, as seen from the Jfront and side respectively, both views being mainly in section to show the details or" construction, and being partly broken away. Fig. 3 is a sectional detail view of a double valve on a larger scale.

The back part of the wind chest and sounding board marked o in the drawing, carries the whole oi the sub-bass attachment with its pneumatic solo coupler apparatus. The apparatus consists ot` three principal portions standing one upon another as tollows:-lst. The lowermost portion o contains the 27 valves and pistons Specification ofv Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 2, 1913.

Serial No. 734,543.

hereinafter described. 2nd. rIhe next higher portion c is the actual sub-bass containing the 27 reeds or vibrators, the lowest of which is the sub-contra. A (an octave below il in the 16 feet octave) 5 this sub-contra A reed is the one shown at the extreme left hand end in Fig. l, the remainder of the reeds being a succession of semitones upward from this subecontra A. 3rd. rlhe topmost portion d is the sounding chest which has openings e (Fig. 2) at the front through which the air is drawn in for sounding the subbass. The portion Z) contains a long horizontal casing f closed at the top and sides but open at the bottom to the suction wind chest. The casing is divided horizontally by a long thin board g into two stories or layers, both ot which are subdivided by vertical walls L and z' into 27 compartments. Only twelve of these compartments in each layer are seen in Fig. l. The upper' 27 compartments are in connection one with another through elongated rectangular openings at 7c in the wooden partition walls 7L; each of these upper compartments has also two rectangular openings Z leading to the corresponding lower compartment which is open at the bottom to the suction wind chest, from which air is withdrawn through the channel m leading to the suction bellows. In the upper set of compartments long double valves n are arranged, pivotally supported by metal side plates t on pairs of steel pins o in the sides ot' the apertures 7': in the compartment walls. Then a playing key of the organ in the bass portion of the register is depressed, the rear end of the corresponding sub-bass operating lever 29, which is actuated from the key p, Fig. 2, in a well known manner, is raised causing the corresponding vert-ical valve-rod q also to rise. The rods g have adjustable buttons jf, o-n their lower ends by which they rest on the levers p, and they are pivotally connected at their upper ends at s to cross bars r (Fig. 2) attached to the valves a. Hence, when a valve-rod rises it causes its valve n to turn around the pins 0. Each valve has two principal positions: In the normal position it lies with its lower tace flat upon the board g, thus closing in an airtight manner the holes Z leading to the lower cont partment, while the holes are lei-'t open. Most of the valves shown in Fig. l are in Vthis position. lVhen a key is depressed as above mentioned, the corresponding valve a is turned around the pivots 0 until. it occupies the position shown in the fourth and eleventh compartments from the left hand end. ln this position the holes Z leading to the corresponding lower compartments are open while the openings 7c in the side walls k are completely closed by the other valve faces, the openings l: in question being those at the right hand side of the valve chambers wherein the valves are raised.

In each of the lower 27 compartments is a piston u, which iills the long rectangularV compartment in a nearly airtight manner. These pistons are guided by means of vertical rods o (Fig. 2) fixed in the pistons and working through holes in the board g and the longitudinal guide bar fw, so that the pistons are constrained to move only in a vertical direction while always keeping in a horizontal position. The valve rods g must pass up through the pistons to the valves n above them; the rods (j work also through holes in the bar w -and board g, and the holes in the piston through which the rods pass, are made suiiiciently large for the rods fg to work practically without any friction therethrough. The pistons u have no packing material around the edges, and they work practically without friction up and down between the side walls z', which are made of thin sheet metal.y One object of making these walls of thin sheetmetal is to leave as much as possible of the 28 millimeters pitch between the notes of the subbass available for effective piston surface.

The faces of the valves n. at the left hand side thereof are slotted or cut away, as

- shown, where the rods y and o pass upward, so as to allow of the turning movements of the valves without hindrance from the rods. The connecting links at s for the valve rods (j are so placed or arranged that their movements toward the right in the opening of the valves are reduced to a minimum. Any possible friction which might be caused by this between the rods q and the holes through which they pass in the board g, is easily eliminated by making these holes very slightly oval in the direction of the lateral movement. The enlargement of the holes in this way is so slight that the loss of air therethrough is absolutel y negligible.

Each of the pistons u is connected with a very thin long vertical wire m, to which inV turn is connected a cord y/ passing upward and around a pulley e and attachedv at its end to the corresponding sub-bass palletal. This thin wire is of course made to pass in as airtight a manner, but with as little friction as possible through all the wooden parts up to the sounding` chest (Z, wherein it also passes through the sub-bass pallet itself. The wire does not pass through the actual aperture-closing portion of the pal-let, so that a slot can be formed for the wire to pass through which will prevent the wire from being caught by the pallet in any position thereof. Springs c1 are provided which press down the pallets al on to their seatings, andare strong enough to hold up the pistons u by means of the cords y and wires x, keeping them in their highest positions. the atmosphere at tZl, at the left hand end Vonly of the lower casing Z (Fig. l), and air can enter the upper compartments of the casing only through this opening and the holes 7c in the partition walls.

The solo attachment operates in the following way:

l. On depressing the keys for instance of a four-note chord, the four lever ends 7) corresponding with these keys are lifted, and the corresponding valves n are turned to their second or raised position by the rods g. In Fig. l two of the valves n, in the fifth and eleventh compartments from the left, are shown raised which would correspond with an interval of a fifth between the bass and tenor notes of the chord. What is desired is that the sub-bass, which 'of course should be a solo note, should sound alone in the deep 16 feet tone. The air entering through the openings Z1 at the left or bass end of the row of compartments flows freely through the openings s over the valves n of the first three of these compartments, until it reaches the fourth compartment. This is the first in which the valve n is raised, closing the next opening 7c but exposing the openings Z leading to the fourth lower compartment, and the air entering this lower compartment through the openings Z forces down the piston u therein. This causes the pallet al of the fourth note of the sub-bass to be raised through the connect-ing wire and cord, so that the reed el of the note in question is caused to sound by the air entering at e and iiowing past the reed to the suction wind trunk m, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. Owing to the fact that the valve n of the fourth compartment has closed the next opening 7c, theair cannot reach any of the other compartments farther toward the right, and for instance, no air can reach the eleventh compartment to operate the eleventh piston u, although its valve n is raised. Hence, only the bass note of the chord is sounded in the 1G feet tone.

2. New let usv assume that the bass advances by an interval of hfth inthe next following chord. rEhe valve n of the fourth chamber closes at once upon the openings Z as its lever 79 falls, and as the suction of air continues, the leakage of the air past the edges of the piston u and lthe hole in it for the valve rod g', equalizes the pressure difference, whereupon There is a rectangular opening to through Y l-SO the spring c, of the pallet a2 of the fourth reed causes this pallet to fall and the piston u to rise through its connecting cord and wire. The fourth note thus ceases 5 to sound. The air can now iiew on through the succession of openings 7c to the eleventh compartment, where the valve n, is raised, and the air thus reaches the eleventh piston a, causing it to descend and to open the pal- 10 lct of the eleventh note, so that the note a dif-th (quint) above the previous one is sounded as required, and no other note is sounded as the air is out oli toward the right by the valve a of the eleventh compartment, and no other piston u can be sucked down.

3. In case now that the bass descends by a certain interval, while the former bass note is sustained for instance as the tenor note of the next chord, the valve a of the newly sounded bass note closes the wind passage toward the right of it, stopping the air current to the piston u of the former bass note which has now become the tenor, and causing the pallet al of that note to be closed in the manner already explained.

4. Finally, if the bass moves about in rapid sequences or figures, so that the valves a are being continually opened and closed, a little air might find its way to the right of the valve a of the bass note sometimes, but it would not be sufficient to force down any further piston, of the tenor note for instance, and the tenor note would not be sounded in the sub-bass, because the pistons are not tightly packed in their compartments, and the amounts of air which could reach them under such circumstances could leak through without appreciably increasing the pressure above the pistons in question.

In some organ music there are frequent pauses in the pedal part; in order to make provision for dealing easily with these, a subsidiary knee lever may be provided between the two usual knee-levers, and arranged to open and close a valve or pallet controlling the admission of air to the opening (Z1. This is not illustrated in the drawing, but will be readily understood. The sub-bass can be thrown into and out of action easily and quickly by such a device.

The playing of the keys in the range associated with the sub-bass is not any harder than in an instrument of a type frequently met with, wherein there is a sub-bass of 13 semitones, and the lever ends 79 serve to raise directly the pallets corresponding with a, by means of long vertical stickers. In the device according to the present invention on the other hand, the valve rods g and valves 'a are the only parts directly raised by the levers p, and the valves a have no springs but close under their own weight when the levers 79 are released. The valves n are s0 held by their pivots 0 that they cannot be sucked tightly against the walls L and cannot stick from this cause. It desired, however, to insure the positive fall of the valves a, the ends of the rods g or their adjustable buttons f1 may be afiiXed to the ends of the 70 levers p.

The solo attachment hereinbefore described, is not necessarily limited in its application to the sub-bass, but such an apparatus may obviously be connected also with the treble part of the keyboard register for the purpose of picking out and emphasizing the melody in the soprano. In such a case the position of the air inlet (Z1 would be at the right hand end instead of the left, and all the valves a would be reversed, the device being what is seen by viewing Fig. l in a mirror, so as to reverse each part. Then always the topmost note of the chord in the treble register is the one to be sounded by the solo coupler apparatus which might be for instance a voiX celeste. It this and the sub-bass are used in the one instrument, there must be two separate casings Z2, one for the sub-bass and the other for the solo soprano, the second being` arranged preferably in front of the first because they are both rather long. Of course there may be more than two such sets of apparatus for different solo effects. It the organ has only one manual, the division between the two solo couplings is best made between the middle B and C notes of the keyboard, where the usual division of the organ register occurs. The levers which operate the valves a of the second solo attachment (for the soprano) must then be arranged for the most part crosswise beneath the levers p of the sub-bass solo attachment. If there are two manuals, or a single manual and a .set of pedals, the two solo attachments (bass and soprano) can be extended over any range of the keyboard (or pedals) without any limits.

I claim l. A solo attachment for reed organs, comprising a set of note producing devices, and a set of pneumatic motors in connection therewith adapted to control the note producing devices, a set of pivotal valves for controlling the supply of wind to said pneumatic motors, each valve having a lower face and a lateral face set at an angle to the lower face, the lower face normally closing the wind aperture of the respective pneumatic motor, a channel with partitions therein forming compartments each containing one of said valves, and with apertures in the partition walls near to the lateral faces of the valves and in such relation thereto as to be closed by said lateral faces when the valves are turned through a small angle, means for admitting wind to one end of the channel, and means for actuating the valves from t-he keys of the organ.

2. Solo attachment for reed organs, comprising a set of note producing devices, a

set of pallets for controllinp' the supply of Wind to each of said note-producing devices, a corresponding` set of chambers and loosely` fitting pistons therein, and flexible connections between said pistons and the pall-ets whereby the pistons are normally held up While the pallets are closed, and mechanism operated by the keys of the organ adapted to admit Wind to one only of the piston chambers corresponding with one note of a chord when a chord is struck on the organ keys, While automatically cutting,` oil' the Wind from all the other piston chambers correspondiiig` With all other notes of the chord.

3. Solo attachment for reed organs, comprising a set of sub-bass reed boxes and pallets .for controlling the Wind supply thereto,

` a set of double valves and means for actuating them from the keys of the bass portion of the keyboard, a Wind channel controlled by said valves and elosed by the Valve nearest to the left hand end in any set of valves actuated simultaneously, a set of pneumatic motors in communication with said Valves and Wind channel, and connections between the pneumatic motors and the pallets aforesaid Whereby a pallet is opened corresponding,` with the valve nearest to the left hand end in any set of valves actuated simultaneo-usly.

In Witness whereof l have hereunto set my hand in presence of two Witnesses.

ERNST DALIIG.

1Witnesses FRIEDRICH DALLWIG, M. HAUNKE.

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

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