D. H. Baldwin Company

Baldwin Piano & Organ Company

R. a. Jones Co., Inc.

Walter Munch

Dale M Uetrecht

David R Wade

David A Bunger

Russell L Withington

Randall C Restle

William L Fritz

Joseph L Kappes

A vacuum means for detecting transverse seal areas dividing unsealed areas in adjacent plies of a moving, multiple ply web includes vacuum ports defining a gap through which the web moves. Unsealed web areas are sucked against the ports. When a sealed area enters the gap, it is sucked to one or the other port, uncovering the opposite port. The ensuing pressure differential is sensed to indicate a seal entering or passing the gap. Seal signals are produced and used to control accurate cutting at the seals to separate the web into individual pouches. Control and circuitry apparatus and methods are disclosed.

Intermittent seal sensing apparatus and methods for pouch webs

A microprocessor-based processing system for monitoring the tempo rate and rhythm in an electronic musical instrument having an automatic rhythm accompaniment unit. In a first mode of operation, the monitor displays the tempo of the rhythm accompaniment unit in numeric characters representing the number of beats per minute. In a second mode of operation, the monitor displays a numerical 1 representing the down beat in a first display device, a numerical 2 representing the second beat in adjoining display device, and successively incremented numerical integers associated with successive beats in successive numerical display devices until all numerical integers associated with beats have been displayed, thereby producing a timing display having a motion effect for synchronizing the music being played with the rhythm accompaniment tempo.

Rythm rate and tempo monitor for electronic musical instruments having

Simultaneously played notes on a keyboard are automatically provided with different voice timbres. The assignment of voices to notes is by relative frequency-scale position within the chord. If four or more notes are played, the notes are scanned along the musical scale and the three lowest notes played and the highest note are sounded in different voices with the solo voice assigned to the highest note. Assignment of voices occurs automatically when fewer than four keys are played. Time division multiplex digital logic signals representative of the played keys are applied to a memory circuit and a comparator circuit. If the information stored in the memory from the previous scan cycle is unchanged the comparator provides an enabling signal to a monostable and enable logic circuit. A priority selector circuit provides logic information to the monostable and enable logic circuit which outputs this information and information representative of the total number of keys played. This information is combined with the octave information and the note time slot information in four programmable counter circuits which divide four input frequencies from a rate scaler frequency generator to produce the four tone signals. Also, the four programmable counter circuits provide control voltages corresponding to the played notes which are applied to voltage controlled gates and filter circuits which provide the necessary voicing to produce different orchestral effects on different notes. The resulting orchestral effect can be enhanced from an ensemble standpoint by controlled detuning of the four output frequencies.

Polyphonic electronic music system

A microprocessor controlled electronic capture combination action system for use in an electronic organ for selecting a predetermined combination of stops to define the organ voicing. The system includes a plurality of stop tabs for setting and resetting the stops, a plurality of pistons for setting a desired combination of stops to a predetermined condition, a random access memory for storing data associated with a selected combination of stops, a read only memory containing a permanently stored operating program incorporating a plurality of operating instructions, an indicator light associated with each of the stop tabs and a microprocessor responsive to the operating instructions. The stop tab and pistons are continually and sequentially scanned to detect the contact closures. Actuated stop tabs cause the associated stops to be selected and the indicator lights illuminated. Information corresponding to a selected combination of stops for a selected one of the pistons is stored in the random access memory and may be recalled at will by closing the appropriate piston. The recalled data is used to select the combination of stops and illuminate the associated indicator lights. The system also includes a manually operable crescendo shoe which may be used to actuate a plurality of predetermined combinations of the stops in response to designated positions of the shoe. In a preferred embodiment, a crescendo circuit is used to cause a delayed interrupt signal to the operating program to provide a count which is compared against stored values associated with particular stop combinations. The crescendo shoe also includes a circuit for adding hysteresis to the crescendo shoe position. The operating program incorporates a debounce routine for eliminating false contact closures caused by switch bounce in the stop tabs such that the switch contacts must remain in a particular state for a number of successive scans before the switch closure will be detected.

Capture combination action system for electronic organs

Disclosed is a touch operated capacitance switch which may be used in connection with a digital arpeggio system for an electronic organ that through the use of digital techniques permits arpeggios, note sequences as well as strum, multi, organ, and normal modes of operation to be played automatically. Two counters scan by counting through an 8.times.8 matrix of 64 words covering the 61 notes of an organ in rapid sequence upon the playing of one or more organ keys. Each word is fed to a corresponding one of 61 decoders, one for each note of the keyboard. If a corresponding key has been played, the decoder provides a signal to a corresponding pulser circuit which enables a corresponding keyer to transmit an audio signal from an audio oscillator corresponding to the played key to an output system and loudspeaker. The two counters are stopped by a clock control while the note is sounded and then the counters are enabled by the counter control to continue counting through the matrix until the next actuated key is located. The two counters can be controlled to count up only, or up and down so that both and up and an up-down arpeggio can be sounded. A sequence control is also provided so that the sequence of the sounding of the played notes can be varied by changing the pattern of the words supplied by the two counters so that the notes can be sounded out of their normal chromatic order. The system also permits normal mode of operation so that the notes are sounded as the keys are played, multi mode so that octavely related notes are sounded or a strum mode simulating the strum of a guitar or banjo strings. The touch operated capacitance switch provided is so that the organist can change the mode of operation rapidly during playing by maintaining physical contact with the capacitance touch switch.

Improved touch operated capacitance switch circuit for an electronic

A touch operated capacitive switch for altering electrical signals controlling the mode of operation of an electronic musical instrument. The switch comprises a thin laminate having a non-conducting lamina sandwiched between a conducting touch electrode and a conducting guard electrode, each electrode having an electrical connector for connecting the switch to alternating electrical signals having substantially the same phase and amplitude to reduce the capacitance between the touch electrode and points of ground potential located in or on the instrument for increasing the sensitivity of the switch. The switch is non-conductively secured to the instrument with the guard electrode facing the instrument, such that the capacitance of the switch may be altered by touching the touch electrode.

Touch operated capacitive switch for electronic musical instruments

A transposing electronic instrument wherein the clock frequency applied to control a top octave frequency generator is derived by comparing any single output of the generator with the response of a frequency reference circuit to that output, deriving a dc voltage representative of the difference in frequency of the input and output of the reference circuit and controlling the clock frequency from the dc voltage, thereby transposing all the outputs of the top octave frequency generator.

Key transposing electronic organ

The present system is a capture action system for electronically recording stop tab configurations in an electric organ, and for recalling the stop tab configurations at will, by depressing of a single control piston for each desired configuration of stop tabs. The system includes provision for setting and recalling combinations of stop tabs associated with a single division of the organ, for example, the swell manual, but not affecting tabs in other divisions, and also includes provision for recording and recalling combinations of all tabs on the organ (general stop) without regard to division. The system further includes a divisional or general cancel function, for operated tab switches, resetting these to inoperative position, and reversible stop functions in which a control piston when actuated reverses the position of its associated stop tab, the reversible stops retaining their abilities to function within the divisional and general combinations. The system is capable of accommodating a maximum of 128 stop tabs, divided into five divisions of the organ, each of which may contain any desired fraction of the total number of stops of the organ, provided that the divisional stops are each allocated to only one division. In operation, tabs which are desired to be operable in combinations are actuated and a set piston and a recall piston are then operated, which stores the locations of the actuated pistons in a memory consisting of 23 channels. One of these channels is required for each general piston and one channel is required for one piston in each division. General and divisional cancel functions require no memory. The reversible stop function uses a temporary memory which is not the same as the memory used for combination stop. The present system is capable of cycling in .27 seconds and within .067 seconds of the start of this cycle all stop tabs have initiated motion. When the memory is read out tab actuating coils are multiplexed at a 60 Hz. rate, deriving power directly from a 60 Hz. power line transformer. The multiplexing reduces active drive elements and cabling to a fraction of the normal requirement, while achieving rapid actuation of the tabs. The system is normally in a stand-by condition in which the memory continues to recirculate at a very low rate and certain stand-by elements of the system are energized from batteries. Upon operating the latch for either read out or storage, a mode sequence control applies power from a power supply to all the elements of the system, accelerates the clock rate to a normal rate of 400 KHz., and sequences through the 128 tab positions of the system for one cycle, in the process either recording tab information or reading out tab information and setting the tabs, according as a set piston is or is not operated, the piston latch positions not being multiplexed but only the tab positions being multiplexed and continuous repetitive read-in and read-out not being required, but only a single read-out cycle or read-in cycle.

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Fort Thomas, KY, United States of America

Walter Munch