US1770394A - Automatic musical instrument - Google Patents

Description

Jul-y 15, 1930. s. L; FISHER '1,770,394

AUTOMATIC MUS ICAL l lNSTRUMENT Filed Oct. zo. 1920 5 Sheets-Sheet l July l5, 1930. s. L. FISHER AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Oct. 25, *T1920 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 July l5, 1.930. v s, L FISHER 1,770,394

AUTOMATIC MUS ICAL' INSTRUMENT Filed 001;. 23, 1,920 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 @ff/Mam Patented July 15, 1930 UNITED kSTATES PATENT OFFICE STANLEY L. FISHER, OF CHESTER, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO PRATT READ PLAYER ACTION COMPANY, F DEEP RIVER, CONNECTICUT AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Application led October 23, 1920. Serial No. 418,877.

This invention relates to automatic musical instruments, and particularly tot-hat type of the same which employ a pneumatic action in their operations. It is particularly adapted for use in a player piano or similar type of instrument which employs air under exhaust tension to operate the hammers or keys, but it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the principle of the invention may be i0 appliedrwithout material modification to a piano or wind organ which employs air under pressure. The terms exhaust tension and air under pressure are used to designate 'respectively pressures less than and greater than that of the atmosphere. The invention is particularly concerned with the provision of an improved device for regulating and producing changes in pressure in the air within the wind chest of the instrument.

One object of this invention is to provide a. new and improved expression device for this class of instruments.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved expression device which will produce sudden or step changes in playing intensities, as well as gradual change in playing intensities, whereby certain notes may be accented, if desired.

A still further object of the invention is t0 provide a. note sheet control for the expression devices, which will supplement the manual control of the same. f

Another object of the invention is to provide an expression device which may be controlled by the operator in such a manner that a piece of music may be played with all of the varying changes in expression which` would be produced by a musician playing the same piece manually.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

y In the accompanying drawings: Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a partof a f'pneumatic action, which embodies my invention, certain parts and connections being shown more or less diagrammatically. y Fig. '1^ is a diagrammatic sectional view 5* Online 1*-1Av of Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 is a side view of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 3 of Fig. 1. r

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 8, but showing the expression valve and t-he accent pneumatic in another position.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view through the pneu` matic controlling valve chest on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 6 and 7 are views similar to Fig. 5, but showing the valves in dierent positions.

Musical instruments of this type are usually yprovided with a reservoir, which is in communication with an exhausting device of some preferred type. The reservoir is usually connected with a wind chest which serves to supply the power for operating the playing pneumatics. There is usually located in this connection between the reservoir and the wind chest a regulating valve which will control the communication between the chest and the reservoir and in this way will regulate the dgree of exhaust that is obtained in the wind c est. which I have chosen to show and describe will preferably contain the elements named above.

In Figs. 1 and 3, I have shown a reservoir at 11, a duct l2 leading to a valve chest 13 in which the regulating valve 14 is placed. The `valve 14 may be of any approved type; the one shown, however, being a ap valve which is composed of the two flaps 15 and 16, the flaps having a lost motion connection at 17, so that when the upper flap is raised to any great extent, the lower one will also be raised and will permit the passage of air through the port 18, through which the duct 12 communicates with the valve chest 13. The valve 1 4 is substantially the same as the expression'valve shown and described in my Patent No. 1,404,106, granted January 17, 1922. At its rear end the valve is hinged to the bottom of the valve chest, S0 that the forward end is free to swing upwardly and permit the passage of air through the port 18. There is also in the valve chest an o enng 19, whichcommunicates with aduct 20 The embodiment of my invention extending to the wind chest 21, which supplies the player actions.

lt "ill be apparent that a movement of the valve 14 about its hinged end will control the communication between the wind chest 21 and the reservoir 11, the air from which is exhausted by suitable exhausting means 10, and, therefore, the degree of exhaust obtained in the wind chest will be suitably regulated. he wind chest 21 may be of the divided type, and if so, a similar valve box and expression mechanism will be placed at the other end of the same, and it will be un derstood that in this case the expression mechanism shown in F ig. 1 would be duplicated at the right hand end of the pneumatic action, it being located at the left hand end, as shown.

A link 22 is hinged to the flap 16 of the valve 14 and extends through an opening in the top of the valve chest 13, the projecting end of the same heilig provided with a block which may be adjustably secured to the link by a set screw 24. The position of the valve is controlled by this link.

A. regulating pneumatic 25 is, as shown, also an expression pneumatic, and for this reason I refer to the same as an expression regulator. The movable leaf 26 of this pneu ie is hinged at 2T, the lower end of the same being` free to swing in the usual manner. An accent pneumatic QS lis mounted on the valve chest 13, the movable leaf of which is provided with an arm 29, having b end 29 which receives the link between the forks thereof, d engages the ook Q3. The expansion of the pneumatic .iited by the adjustable stop 30 which cooperates with slotted lug 31 secured to the surface of the movable leaf QG. A l lock 32 is also secured to the movable leaf of the pneumatic and is provided with a rod which extends laterally from the pneumatic under the arm 29 and block 23, which is secured to the link Q2. which serves to control the position of the valve 14. lith this arrangement it will be ai carenti that upon the collapse of the expression regulating pneumatic, the regulating valve 14 will be allowed to be drawn down nearer its seat over the port 13 and upon the expansion of the reg-rulating pneumatic. the valve will be drawn away from the port by the rod and the link 2'2, that a less restricted con'imunication will be permitted between the reservoir and the wind chest, and hence the ex haust tension in the wind chest will be raised.

Tn the lower leaf of the pneumatic 25 is a re icted port 25a, which is in communication with a duct 25", leading to the port 19. The regulating pneumatic is thus in constant communication with the wind chest through this restricted port and the passages 25 and 20.

To control the collapse and expansion of the expression regulator, I have provided a manually controllable lever 34, which may be located in the key slip 35 of the piano or musical instrument with which my invention is to be used. To the lower end of the lever 34 is secured a rock shaft 36, which is more or less horizontally disposed and extends rearwardly beneath the key board of the instrument and has secured to its other end a rock arm 3T. To this arm 37 is secured a link 38, the other end of which is connected to a rock arm 39 secured to a shaft 40, which extends transversely across the instrument, and is provided near one end with a second rock arm 41. The free end of this rock arm 41 is flattened and perforated to receive the threaded end of a link 42, which is provided with a nut 43 to limit the movement of the rock arm with respect to the link. As shown, the nut 43 may be adjusted with respect to the link 42 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. To the end of the link 4Q, which is remote from the rock arm 41, is secured one end of the regulating spring 44, the other end of which is secured to a lever 45, which is connected with the movable leaf of the expression regulator to control the same. It will be seen that if the lever 34 is moved to the left, as shown in Fig. 1 by the operator, the shaft will be rocked in its bearings 40 (only one of which is shown, but it will be understood that a similar bearing is located at the other side of the pneumatic action) and the movable leaf of the pneumatic will be raised about its hinged end through the rock arm 41, the spring 44 and the lever 45. lVhe-n the lever 34 is set at any given position, the degree of exhaust which obtains in the wind chest will naturally be controlled and uniformly regulated by the tension of the spring 44. It is thus seen that when the lever is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the minimum degree of exhaust possible in the wind chest will obtain. This minimum degree may, of course, be regulated by an adjustment of the nut 43 on the stem 42. The instrument will then be playing its softest tones 01' pianissimo. Then the lever is moved to the left, as shown in Fig. 1, the tones which will be produced by the instrument will gradually grow louder, according to the increase in intensity of the exhaust obtaining in the wind chest. rflic loudest tones, of course, being produced when the lever is moved as far to the left as possible.

It has been discovered that if the lever 45 is connected directly to the movable leaf 26 of the expression regulator, the opening of the movable leaf of this pneumatic will exert considerable force to resist the movement of the lever 34 to the left in Fig. 1 at certain times in the operation of the instrument. In order to overcome this difliculty, I have connected this lever to the pneumatic in a novel way. The movable leaf of the pneumatic is provided with a small port 46, which is normally closed by a lia valve 47 itioned et a int'adjacent the hinged len ofthe reguatin pneumatic. To the u per surface of this ap valve is secured the ower end 49 of the lever 45. A screw eye 50 is passed loosely through the flap valve 47 and is screwed into the movable leai' 26. The shank of this screw eye is passed loosely through a perforation in a leaf spring 51, which is bowed, as shown ink Figs. 1 andf2, the two ends resting on the end 49 of the lever 45. A washer 52 may surround the shank of the screw eye between the spring and the head of the screw. The Shank of the screw eye, as shown, passes loosely through the flap valve 47, so that this valve is free to move about the opposite end relative to the movable leaf 26 of the expression regulator, as shown in Fig. 2. The valve 47 is, however, normally kept in contact with this movable leaf by the ressure of the ends of the spring 51, whic reacts against the screw eye 50 and is held in position by a pin 53 which is secured to the flap valve and engages in a slot 54 in one end of this spring.

When the valve 47 is raised out of contact with the movable leaf of the regulating pneumatic, this pneumatic will be fiushed with air through the port 46 and the tension which exists within the same will be immediately lowered. This will result in the pressure within the regulating pneumatic becoming more nearly that of the atmos heric air without the pneumatic and the orce of the air tending to close the pneumatic or to resist its opening will, of course, be reduced. For this reason, when the regulating pneumatic is about to be opened by the lever 34 and a strong resistance to such opening is offered, the valve 47 will be raised, the interior of the regulating pneumatic will be flushed with air, and it willimmediately follow the valve upwardly and its opening will be accomplished with greater ease. With this arrangement the maximum pull which is ever necessary on the lever 34 Will be that which is sufficient to overcome the force with which the spring 51 holds the valve 46 in Contact with the movable leaf of the regulating pneumatic.

The operation of the valve 14 by the expression regulator 25 will produce a gradual change in the exhaust tenslon present in the wind chest and will, therefore, produce only a gradual change in playing intensities. It is some times desirable to accent certain notes, and in order to accomplish this, it is necessa to produce sudden or step changes in the Idiegree of exhaust present 1n the wind chest. In order to accomplish this, I have rovided the small pneumatic 28, which has een previously mentioned. It will be seen by an ins ection of Figs. 3 and 4, that the collapse-o 4the accent pneumatic 28Min raise the expression valve 14 from its seat regardless of the position of the movable leaf of the regulating pneumatic 25. By this means, it will be possible during playing of a piece of music t0 accent a certain note or notes by causing these to be played more loudly than the notes previously sounded, the intensity of the tones of which was controlled by the regulating pneumatic 25.

To control the operation of the accent pneumatic 28, I have provided a pneumatic controlling valve chest 60, which as shown in Fig. 1, is mounted on the pneumatic action just below the valve chest 13. This valve chest contains three chambers 61, 62 and 63, which contain respectively the diaphragm pounch members or pneumatics 64, 65 and 66. In the chamber 61 is a double valve 66a of the primary type, which controls a passage 67 leading from the top of the valve chest to the chamber 61. A duct 68 communicates with the passage 67 and extends laterally to the edge of the block 60. This passage 68 contains a ynipple 69, which is connected to a nipple 70 by the tube 71. The nipple 70 is in communication With the pneumatic 28 through the port 72 in the base or fixed leaf of the pneumatic. The base of the valve 66a rests upon the diaphragm 64 and the part of the chamber 61 which is above this diaphragm is 'in communication with the exhaust through the duct 73. The part of the chamber 61 'below the diaphragm 64 is provided with a bleed opening 7 4, which communicates with the duct 73. The diaphragm 65, which is secured in the chamber 62, carries on its lower side a valve 75, which controls a port 76, from which a duct 77 leads to the chamber 61 below the pouch 64. A stop 78 is provided to limit the movement of the valve 75. A second port 79 lea-ds into the chamber 62 below the diaphragm 65, and this port is, through a nipple 81 and a tube 82, in communication with a valve port 83, which is controlled by a valve 83, manually operated by a push button 84 located in the key i slip 35. It will be apparent that as long as the valve port 83 remains closed to the atmosphere, the chambers 6l and 62 will be exhausted below the diaphragms 64 and 65 through the bleed opening 74, these diaphragme falling to their lower positions and allowing the valve 75 to close the port 76 and the double valve 66 to shut off the air from the duct 68 and will cause the pneumatic 28 to be exhausted through the duct 68, chamber 61 and the duct 73. vThe expression valve 14 will u on the collapse yof the pneumatic 28 be raise fromits seat and a high degree of exhaust will be maintained in the windv chest.

When the button 84 is depressedthus allowin the air to flow into the port 83 through thetu e 82 and the nipple 81, the'diaphr 65 will be raised, carrying withit the va ve 75, so thaty the air will pass through the duct ,of the action; A

77 to the chamber 61 below the diaphragm 6l raising this' diaphragm and the double valve 66a, so that the passage 67 will be eut oi from the exhaust duct 73 and the pneumatic Q8 will be iushed with air through the tube 71 and the passage 68.

To provide a supplemental note sheet control tor the pneumatic 28, the third chamber 63 is provided with a passage 85 extending upward from the chamber through the top of the controlling chest 60. The ends of this passage are controlled by the double valve 86, which rests upon the diaphragm 66, and a duet 87 leads from the passage 85 to the chamber 62 above the diaphragm 65. The chamber 63 is exhausted through a duct 88, which communicates with this chamber above t-he diaphragm 66 and a bleed opening 89, which communicates with the duct 88 and the chamber 63 below the diaphragm 66. The ducts 73 and 83 are in communication with the exhaustport 18 through the duct 97 and the passage 98. This portion of the chamber 63 below the diaphragm 66 is provided with a port 90, which through a nipple 91 and tube 92 is con` nected to a )erforation 93 in the tracker bar 94. The note sheet, a fragment of which is shown at 95, will contain perforations 96 on the margin thereof, which will cooperate with the perroration 93 in the tracker bar.

As has been stated my improvements may be used with a divided pneumatic action and in this case the expression devices shown will be duplicated at each end of the wind chest. lVhile in Fig. 1 only one end of the rod 40 is shown, it is to be understood that in case of the use of a divided action, the other end of this rod will be provided with a similar rock arm L11, which will control a spring 44 and lever 45, together with the expression pneumatic 25 and valve 14, all as is shown and described for use at the left hand side of the instrument. There will also be provided a second controlling valve chest and an accent pneumatic Q8, which will be controlled by a second push button 84a (shown in Fig. 1) and by perforations in the other margin of the note sheet. It will be seen that while the lever 34 will thus control the degree of playing intensities for both the bass and the treble ends of the piano simultaneously, the push buttons 84 and 84a and the perforations in the note sheet will control the accent pneumat-ics separately for the two ends of the instrument. Therefore, a note or notes may be sounded with an accented tone on the treble side of the key board without affecting the degree of loudness with which the notes on the bass side are played. In like manner, a note on the bass side of the instrument may be accented ,without aceenting notes which are simultaneously played by the treble end The operation of my device is as follows:

' u `When theV exhausting dev fices areA set into operation, the position of the lever 34 is usually that shown in Fig. 1, and the valve 83a is usually closed. At this time, the expression regulator 25 will be in a collapsed condition and the valve 14 would, if solely under the control of the regulator, be practically closed, which would be its position for soft playing. As the valve 83, is closed, however, pouch chambers 61 and 62, below diaphragms 64 and 65, would be exhausted through the bleed opening 7 4, and the valve 66 would be allowed to assume the position Shown in Fig, 5. ln this position the expression pneumatic 28 would be exhausted through the duct 68 and the valve 14 would be raised from its seat, as shown in Fig. 3. This would be th Y, position assumed for loud playing or for accenting certain notes. The corresponding positions of the controllin valves are shown in Fig. 5. It soft playing is now desired by the operator, he places his linger upon the push. button 84@ and depresses the valve 83a. Air is now admitted through the port 83 below the diaphragm 65, which is forced upward due to the preponderance of the pressure of the atmosphere below the diaphragm over the exhaust tension above it. The air will now fiow from the duct 79 through the port 76 and duct 77 to the chamber 61 below the pouch 6l and raise the double valve 66, which will flush the pneumatic Q8 with atmosphere and allow it to expand and the valve 1l to descend towards its seat. The valve 14 will now be atircly under control of' the expression regulating pneumatic 25. Should the operator at this time, desire loud tone eilects, such maybe secured by the manipulation of the lever 3*-1, the accent pneumatic 28 containing air under atmospheric pressure will move freely under control of the rod 33. The position of the controlling valves in the chest 60 when the valve 3 is opened is shown in Fig. 6.

lith the alves in the position shown in Fig. 6, suppose new the note .sheet cut to accent a certain note or notes as to make them stand out individually above the other tones. In such a case a perforation 96 in the note sheet will register with the perforation 93 in the tracker bar and admit air to the tube 92 and the passage underneath the diaphragm 66. This will cause the valve 86 to be raised and will admit air to the duet S7 above the pouch 65. It will now be seen that there will be air both above and below the pouch 65. The pressure which exists within the chamber 62 below the diaphragm 65 will, however7 be reouced through the bleed opening 7 4, so that the valve 7 5 will descend from its raised posit-ion, shown in Fig. 6. and close the port 76, as shown in Fig. 7. lThen in this position` the duet 77 will be exhausted through the .bleed hole 7-1 and the diaphragm 64, and valve 66 will drop, and the pneu- A1natic28 will again be exhausted through the lduct 68. The expressionvalve will nowbe raised from its seat and an accenting effect will be obtained. When the perforation 96 has assed beyond the perforation 93 in the trac er board, the valve 86 kwill drop down to its normal position, due to the exhaust of air through the bleed hole 89 and the chamber 62 above the pouch 65 will be exhausted through the duct 87, the pouch 65 will again be raised by the air being admitted through the valve 83, which is still open. The position of the valves shown in Fig. 6 will now be restored, the playing again being under control of the expression regulating pneumatic 25. With the use of my improved expression controlling devices, I am enabled, While the instrument is being played With soft tone effects, as it will be with the parts in the position shown in Fig. 6, to gradually raise the degree of exhaustin the wind chest by the use of lever 34, and hence obtain a tone of gradually increasing loudness or crescendo. In like manner,'by allowing the lever 34 to return gradually toits normal position diminuendo effects ma be secured. At the Same time, the accentmg pneumatic 28 will respond to the perforations ,in the note sheet and will produce step changes in playing intensities to accent any note or notes which it might be desirable to accent. This step change will be superposed upon any gradual change which might be produced manually by the lever 34. f While I have shown a specific embodiment of my invention as applied to a pneumatic musical instrument of the exhaust type, it will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details shown, but is susceptible of many changes and of various embodiments which will fall Within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appending claims, and that with but slight modifications familiar to those skilled in the art, the same may be readily applied to pneumatic musical instruments of the pressure type.

I do not in this application make any claim to the provision of a regulating valve located Within a valve chest and a regulator without the chest, nor to my improved expression regulator perse andthe novel connection of the controlling lever thereto,` as such claims have been reserved for my copending application Serial No. l418,876, tiled Oct. 23, 1920, now Patent No. 1,546,223 granted July 14,y 1925; neither do I claim my improved valve control device, per se, which controls the accent pneumatic as this pneumatic control device is claimed in my copending application, Serial'No.y 418,878, filed Oct. 23, 1920, now `Patent No. 1,626,192 ,granted April 26, 1927.

VVha't I claim is: l. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, said valve having a normal position to l,produce ltone el'ectsfanda certain intensity, means for moving said valve from said position to vary said tone effects, controlling means to cause the actuation ofsaid moving means, and means independent of said controlling means to cause said moving means to restore the valve to its normal osition While said controlling means is stil in a position to cause actuation of said moving means.

2. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, a pneumatic to move said valve to vary the regulation thereby, controlling means to actuate said pneumatic, and means independent of said controlling means to restore said pneumatic and valve to its original position While said controlling means is still in operative position.

3. In an expres-sion device, an expression regulating valve, a pneumatic to move said valve to vary the regulation thereby, a second valve to control the admission of atmosphere or exhaust to said pneumatic, a pneumatic to operate saidv second valve, a duct leading to said last named pneumatic to control its position and the position of the valve controlled thereby, a port to admit atmosphere to said duct, and means to close oli said duct between said port 'andsaid pneumatic to negative the effect of the admission of atmosphere through said port.

` 4. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, a pneumatic to move said valve to vary the regulation thereby, a second valve to control the admission of atmosphere or exhaust to saidv pneumatic, a pneumatic to operate said second valve, a duct leading to said` last named rpneumatic to control its position and the position of the valve controlled thereby, a port to admit atmosphere to said duct, note sheet controlled means to close off said duct between said port and said pneumatic to negative the effect of the admission of atmosphere through said port.

5. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, a pneumatic to move said valve to vary the regulation thereby, said pneumatic being capable of rbeing placed in a condition of collapse or expansion and being normally in one of such conditions,

means for changing said pneumatic from said one condition to the other, and pneumatically operated means for restoring the original condition of the pneumatic While said changing means is still in operative position.

6. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, a pneumatic to control said valve, said pneumatic being capable of being placed in ka condition of collapse or expansion and being normally in one of such conditions, means for changing the pneumatic from one condition to the other, and pneumatically operated means for momentarily restoring the original condition of the pneumatic.

, 7. `Inan expressmn device, an expression regulating valve, a pneumatic to control said valve, said pneumatic being capable of being placed in a condition of collapse or expansion and being normally in one of such conditions, means for changing the pneumatic from one condition to the other, note sheet controlled means for restoring the original condition of the pneumatic, and means for returning said pneumatic to its changed condition When said note sheet controlled means becomes inoperative.

S. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, means to move said valve to vary the regulation thereby, and separate note sheet controlled means to restore said valve to the position from which it was moved While said moving means is still in regulation varying position.

9. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, manually controllable means to move said valve to vary the regulation thereby and note sheet controlled means to restore said valve to the position from which it vvas moved While said manually controllable meansis still in its regulation varying posit-ion.

10. In an expression device, an expression regulatingl valve, means including an air port, and a manually operated member to open the same to move said valve to vary the regulation thereby, and means including a second port and a member to open the same to restore said valve to the position from which it ivas moved.

1l. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, means including an air port, and a member to open the same to move said valve to vary the regulation thereby, and means including a second port and a member to open the same to restore said valve to the position from which it Was moved While said first. port it still open.

12. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, means providing an air port normally closed, and a manually operated member to open said port to move said valve to vary the regulation thereby, a tracker bar having an aperture therein, and means including a note sheet to admit air into the opening in said tracker bar to restore said valve to the position from which it Was moved.

13. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, controlling means for said valve to cause said valve to move to vary the regulation thereby, and pneumatically operated means to momentarily return said valve to the position from which it Was moved.

11i. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, controlling meansfor said valve to cause said valve to move to vary the regulation thereby, and note sheet operated means for temporarily returning said valve to the position from which it Was moved, said valve again assuming its controlled position at the end of the operation of said temporarily acting means.

15. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, controlling means for said valve to cause said valve to move to vary the regulation thereby, and means to return said valve to the position from which it was moved during the passage of a perforation in the note sheet over the tracker bar, said valve thereafter assuming its operated position.

16. In a tension graduating device, a valve chest, a tension graduating valve therein, an accent pneumatic connected to said valve, and a regulating pneumatic having a one-Way engagement with said connection, said accent pneumatic being actuable to move the valve independently of the position of the movable leaf of the regulating pneumatic.

17. In an expression device, a valve chest, a tension regulating valve therein, an expression regulating pneumatic and an accent pneumatic Without said chest, and a common one-way connection between both said pneumatics and said valve for moving the valve by said accent pneumatic independently of and Without changing the position of the movable leaf of the regulating pneumatic.

18. In an expression device, a valve chest, a tension regulating valve therein, an Acxpression regulating pneumatic and an accent pneumatic without said chest, a. member connected to said valv and extending through a wall of the chest, and connections between said member and both of said pneumatics for moving said valve by said accent pneumatic Without changing the position of the movable leaf of the regulating pneumatic.

19. In an expression device, a valve chest, a tension regulating valve therein, an expression regulating pneumatic and an accentl pneumatic Without said chest, a member connected to said valve, said accent pneumatic having a part engaging said member and said expression regulating pneumatic engaging said part of the accenting pneumatic, the movable leaves of said accent and expression regulating pneumatics being structurally independent whereby one may move Without the other.

20. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, an expression regulating pneumatic having a movable leaf, an accent pneumatic having a. movable leaf, a member connected to said valve, the movable leaf of said accent pneumatic having an arm connected to said member, and a part connected to the movable leaf of the expression regulating pneumatic and engaging said arm, the movable leaves of said accent and expression regulating pneumatics being structurally independent whereby one may move Without the other.

. 21. In an expression device, an expression regulating valve, a regulating pneumatic, an accent pneumatic, a member connected to said valve and provided with an adjustable block, said accent pneumatic carrying an arm engaging said block, and a rod attached to the' movable leaf ofthe regulating pneumatic and engaging said arm, said accent pneumatic being actuable to move the valve Without changing the position of the movable leaf of the regulating pneumatic.

22. In combination, a source of exhaust, a Wind chest in communication therewith, a valve to control said communication to vary the degree of playing intensity in the wind chest, manually operable means to produce gradual changes in playing intensities, and

l note sheet operated means to produce sudden changes in playing intensities, both said means acting upon said valve, said manually operable means comprising a pneumatic connected to said valve and constantly exposed to the exhaust in the Wind chest, and means to exert an opening pull on the movable leaf of said pneumatic. t

23. In an expression device, a tension graduating valve, a regulating pneumatic operatively connected thereto to hold the valve in vopen position, an expression pneumatic connected to said valve, said expression pneumatic when operated moving said valve beyond control of said regulating pneumatic.

24. In an expression device, a tension graduating valve, a link connected thereto, a regulating pneumatic operatively engaging the link to control the valve, an expression pneu-y matic connected to said link, said expression pneumatic when operated moving said link out of engagement with said regulating pneumatic.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 20th day of October, 1920. STANLEY L. FISHER.

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