The Talking Machine Patent Archive

Patents you could hear

Pneumatic action

Technical patent drawing showing a complex pneumatic player-piano mechanism with labeled keys, ducts, a large flywheel, crank handle, and perforated music-sheet chamber, alongside smaller detail figures of valve components.IMPROVEMENT IN MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTSMerritt Gally · November 26, 1878Patent drawing showing a piano's internal mechanism including key-levers, hammers, dampers, a large pin-barrel cylinder N with crank y, wind-chest H, small piston cylinders K, and connecting rods and levers labeled B through R, with inset figures 2 and 3 detailing the cylinder and piston arrangement.MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTCesare Donadoni · January 6, 1885Patent drawing showing a rectangular wooden frame housing a fan-shaped array of thin rod-like note-levers converging toward a central perforated music card mechanism, with rows of upright key-striking arms labeled G* extending outward, and control rods and gearing at the base of the frame.KEY-BOARD ATTACHMENT FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.Robert Hodges Bishop and William Down · February 10, 1885Cutaway front elevation of an upright piano cabinet revealing the pneumatic player mechanism, including vertical striking bellows, valve-board, tubing to a tracker bar, paired music rolls in a lower drawer, and a flywheel-driven exhaust pump at the base.AUTOPNEUMATIC PIANO-PLAYERFred R. Goolman · February 1, 1898Patent drawing of a self-playing piano attachment showing a row of vertical key-levers with pneumatic bellows, an exhaust trunk system, and a tracker-board with radiating air-ducts, alongside a side-sectional view of the case with bellows, treadles, and adjustable key-lever bar.SELF-PLAYING ATTACHMENT FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTSTheodore Parker Brown · October 17, 1899A detailed mechanical patent drawing showing a long rectangular casing mounted over a piano keyboard, containing rows of numbered valves, plungers, rollers, cog-wheels, and a governor mechanism connected by tubing to an external air compressor and tank.SELF PLAYING ATTACHMENT FOR KEY MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.Harry M. Salyer · July 10, 1900Cutaway mechanical drawing of a player-piano pneumatic mechanism showing the vacuum chamber, key-pneumatics, tracker board with a perforated paper music roll passing over it, feeder bellows, and pedal linkage, alongside detail views of the tracker board slots and a music-sheet with rows of numbered perforations.AUTOMATIC PIANO-PLAYERErnest M. Skinner · May 7, 1901Patent drawing showing a boxed pneumatic mechanism with bellows chambers, diaphragms, valve spindles, and a lever rod connected to a piano key, alongside a wheel-driven motor variant for advancing the music roll.MECHANICAL PIANO-PLAYERCharles L. Davis · June 11, 1901Cutaway side-view engineering drawing of an upright piano-player cabinet showing the adjustable finger mechanism, guide rods, standards, tracker bar, bellows chest, and pedal-driven pump linkage inside the case.AUTOMATIC PIANO-PLAYERFrank C. White · April 8, 1902Patent drawing of an upright piano with a separate adjacent cabinet housing the pneumatic tracker-board and paper roll mechanism, with detailed cross-section views of the internal pneumatic bellows and key-lever linkages.AUTOMATIC PLAYING ATTACHMENT FOR MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.Theodore P. Brown · March 31, 1903Patent drawing of a player-piano cabinet's internal pneumatic mechanism, showing tracker board, choker valve boxes, operating pneumatics, and pedal-actuating rods, with detail insets of the choker valve and control lever assembly.ACCENTUATION MECHANISM FOR AUTOPNEUMATIC MUSIC-PLAYING INSTRUMENTS.Nelson D. Hosley and Stillwell R. Harcourt · August 18, 1903Patent drawing of a player-piano expression-control attachment showing a gated box with multiple air passages, a pivoting operating handle with a dynamics scale from pianissimo to fortissimo, and linked rods and springs connecting to a supplemental valve.ATTACHMENT FOR EXPRESSION OR ACCENT CONTROLLING MECHANISMS FOR MECHANICAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.Robert W. Pain · February 23, 1904Patent drawing of a player-piano mechanism showing a paper music roll, tracker board, divided wind-chest with valve casings, and two pivoted hand levers positioned near an indicating scale for controlling bass and treble tension independently.MEANS FOR CONTROLLING THE TENSION IN WIND WAYS OF MECHANICAL-MUSICAL-INSTRUMENT PLAYERSJoseph H. Dickinson · January 17, 1905Patent drawing showing a player-organ mechanism with a tracker-board, rows of pneumatic bellows, exhaust chests, wind ducts, and electromagnetic switch contacts connecting to organ pipes.PNEUMATICALLY-ACTUATED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTEdwin S. Votey · March 6, 1906Exploded mechanical drawing of a player-piano expression mechanism showing a paper music roll feeding over a tracker-board connected via tubing to a bank of pneumatic bellows, valves, and levers that operate the piano's hammer-rail and damper system, with a foot-pedal lever at the bottom.EXPRESSION MECHANISM FOR SELF-PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.John J. Healy · April 16, 1907An exploded perspective drawing of the upper interior of a player piano, showing the sliding door and roll receptacle above the keyboard, rows of numbered pneumatic bellows and wippen-engaging arms, and a side detail of the governor and valve assembly for the paper-roll drive motor.SELF-PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.Harry M. Salyer · June 18, 1907Technical patent drawings of a player-piano pneumatic action showing stacked metal headers, valve casings with numbered valve disks and rods, a vacuum chamber casing, and a hinged motor pneumatic with a striker bar bracket, along with detail views of individual valve components and wedge blocks.PNEUMATIC ACTION FOR SELF PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTSMorris S. Wright · March 6, 1917A technical line drawing of a player-piano mechanism showing a hammer-and-key action linked by rods and springs to a horn-shaped pneumatic bellows, a coil spring, a secondary tilted pneumatic labeled 24, and a small valve cylinder with a manual button labeled 34 at the bottom, all connected by numbered ducts and levers.AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTCharles F. Stoddard · January 21, 1919