(Photograph courtesy of Dana Johnson.)

Vacuum pump and reservoir on backside of an early Peerless Style D piano, No. 37715. The pump arrangement, consisting of only two vacuum producing bellows (three in later pianos), is partially obscured by a fragment of the original protective canvas cover used to conceal and probably help quiet any noise emanating from the bellows when in motion. Below the two bellows, near the bottom of the image, is the pump crankshaft protruding out through the piano soundboard. On the end of the shaft is a 3-step belt pulley used to power the endless roll mechanism (not installed when this photograph was taken). Of the two vacuum bellows, only one is visible, with the upper one safely concealed behind the remaining fragment of protective canvas covering.

The original canvas cover would have, in its entirety, extended down to the bottom end of the back post, with a cutout to accommodate the crankshaft and pulley. The button fasteners for the canvas cover are still visible along the channel created by the case and back post. The two metal straps in the area of the bellows, and that curve outward, held the protective canvas cover safely away from any moving parts, these being the connecting pitman rods and vacuum bellows at the upper end. Notice that the pitman rods are firmly and inflexibly attached to each of the two vacuum bellows, there being no provision for counteracting the wobble imposed on the moving half of each bellows due to the rotation of the crankshaft. The black horizontal tubing leading away from the top of the pump area connects to a vacuum reservoir located on the other side of the attachment bracket area for the endless roll mechanism.

(Photograph courtesy of Dana Johnson.)

Vacuum pump and reservoir on the backside of a Peerless Style D piano, No. 51414. For this beautifully restored Style D piano, the customary canvas cover for the vacuum pump bay has not been replaced, although the two curved metal straps that would hold the canvas cover away from the moving parts are present, as are the button attachment points that are still visibly intact. And, unlike the above pictured early Style D, this later production piano has three vacuum bellows, instead of two. This larger 3-stage pump would provide a steadier vacuum supply, as well as much greater capacity to overcome the vigorous and repetitive playing of multiple piano notes, and to offset the inevitable air leaks that sooner or later develop within the player system. And, like the above earlier Style D example, the horizontal tube leading away from the top of the pump bellows area connects to the vacuum reservoir on the opposite side of the cumbersome endless roll mechanism.

With the endless roll mechanism and roll storage bin in place, it provides some perspective of how inconvenient it was to change music rolls, and how far the piano had to be out from a wall to accommodate the bulky roll mechanism and its associated storage bin.

(Photograph courtesy of Dana Johnson.)

Vacuum pump bellows pitman rod attachment on the backside of a Peerless Style D piano, No. 51414. This picture of the not yet restored vacuum bellows assembly shows the inflexible attachment method for the bottom bellows unit and its pitman rod. Here the vacuum pump assembly has been completely removed from the piano and is sitting upside down on the floor, so that what you see here is the bottom of the bottom or lowest bellows unit. Each of the three bellows is similarly attached to its respective pitman rod, another of which is visible in the background. The other two pitman rods are bent to go around any lower bellows unit, so that each pitman rod is of a different length, as well as bent in a specific manner to avoid any contact with lower bellows units.

The non-moving half of each bellows is firmly attached to a framework, while the floating or moving half is self-guiding, meaning that with the pitman rod attached, the individual bellows must hopefully more or less travel up and down in a straight line, without rubbing against the framework or anything else. Complicating matters, as the crankshaft moves through its rotational arc, the pitman rod’s wood bearing will—depending upon the tightness or looseness of the wood bearing—exert some bit of sideways force on each bellows unit, including a slight wobble depending upon the crank position. And so, while these perhaps odd-looking vacuum pumps are simple, it is not so simple to have them function perfectly over many years, the moving bellows half drifting out of alignment as age and wear and tear soften and weaken the bellows cloth rubberized fabric.

Astride the pitman attachment point, the two original leather flap atmospheric exhaust valves are still usefully intact. These flap valves exhaust air within a bellows unit when the two bellows halves are being forced together or closed, when they are then ready to create a partial vacuum when the bellows halves are alternately forcefully pulled apart or opened. Each leather valve is made of a sturdy but flexible strip of leather that is simply tacked at each end to the movable wooden face of the bellows unit. Below each leather valve flap are a series of large holes bored through the wood, so that air can be pushed out or exhausted from the bellows as they are closed.

(Photograph courtesy of Dana Johnson.)

Vacuum and wind-pressure pumps and associated reservoirs on the backside of Peerless (Engelhardt) Arcadian, No. 56392. This Peerless has both vacuum and wind-pressure pumps, so as to accommodate a rank of wooden violin pipes. As was traditional for pumps mounted between the piano’s back posts, the vacuum bellows were located on the treble end of the piano, while the pressure bellows, when required, were placed on the bass end of the piano. Both types look and operate similarly, each type having a total of three bellows. The rather long and large vacuum reservoir is situated between the back posts adjacent to the vacuum bellows. The wind-pressure reservoir is located directly above the pressure bellows assembly. The cast iron fuse box at center houses two Edison base (Type T) screw-in fuses.

Obviously, there is no endless roll mechanism and its bulky storage bin, because this piano is equipped with the new rewind roll mechanism, which is located inside the piano case above the keyboard, next to the rank of violin pipes. However, an old-fashioned stack attached underneath the keybed hangs down and occupies so much space that there is insufficient room to install a more modern combination vacuum/pressure pump. Because of this, there was only enough room for a clunky, belt driven, high maintenance pulley system to drive both crankshafts for the old fashioned "behind the piano" type vacuum and wind-pressure pumps. And so, this instrument is a good example of old and new player technologies being intermixed, which may have been functional, but not up to date with the latest and more easily maintained equipment.

(Photograph courtesy of Dana Johnson.)

Self-contained vacuum pump and attached reservoir in Peerless Elite, No. 37715. With the introduction of the Peerless Style RR in 1910, the new reroll or rewind roll system came into widespread use. Now, the music roll mechanism could comfortably fit inside the piano case, either above or below the keyboard, and so a new pump system was needed, one that was also self-contained and that easily could fit within the lower part of the piano case. What you see pictured here is that new style vacuum pump, which is a self-contained, mechanically more rugged and reliable, more easily maintained upside down version of the old-style vacuum bellows stuffed behind the piano between the treble end back posts. The crankshaft is above the three larger sized vacuum bellows, and by means of a large cast iron spoked pulley the pump is directly belt driven by the electric motor. All of the vacuum pump parts are easily accessible and securely held together within one sturdy wooden framework. The pitman rods attach firmly to the bellows as before, with two pitman rods carefully bent to fit around a higher set of bellows. Attached to the left side of the framework is the vacuum reservoir—the whole thing in one neat and easy to install package.

However, no matter how sweet seeming the improvements over the older “behind the piano design” might seem, the new pump style still suffered from some of the same old bellows misdirected forces and wobble problems. There was nothing to keep the bellows from misalignment and rubbing along the sides of the wooden framework but the strength and integrity of the bellows cloth itself, which was subject to wear, stress, and tearing at areas of constant flex.

(Photograph courtesy of Dana Johnson.)

Horizontal vacuum pump and attached reservoir in a Peerless (Engelhardt & Sons) Model A piano, No. 23787. The next step in the evolution of Peerless pumps is this self-contained horizontally oriented unit pictured above. It consists of three vacuum bellows mounted in an upright position, each affixed firmly to a mounting platform that is internally channeled to pneumatically connect the three bellows and the vacuum reservoir to the large tubing fitting (or connection point) at the top left end of the mounting platform. The top end of the three upright bellows are additionally firmly held in place by a rugged steel bracket that wraps around the end of the bellows next to the vacuum reservoir, and then down the opposite or back side of the bellows, with each of the three stationary bellows boards being securely screwed to the robust metal bracket. This bracket also supports the crankshaft bearings, which in turn supports a crankshaft that operates each bellows some 33 1/3 degrees out of phase, thereby delivering a steady and reliable source of vacuum. This pump is a great improvement over the earlier vertically oriented pump design, and thoroughly eliminates the misdirected forces and wobble imposed on the moving half of the bellows.

Curiously, the black colored metal spoked drive pulley has an inner flat surfaced section that is suitable for driving a friction drive wheel that could be adjusted toward or away from the center shaft, so as to adjust the tempo of the music. This potential feature is not used for this piano.

(Photograph courtesy of Dana Johnson.)

Horizontally oriented combination vacuum/wind-pressure pump and attached vacuum reservoir in Peerless (Engelhardt-Seybold) Wisteria, No. 19538. The horizontally oriented combination feeder pump is similar to the above-described vacuum only version, the difference being that this combination pump supplies both a vacuum for the player actions, and wind-pressure to accommodate one or two ranks of pipework. Moreover, the bellows cloth or leather covering on this pump unit must be reinforced with internal stiffeners, to prevent the cloth or leather from puffing or ballooning out due to the internal wind-pressure being developed. Such internal stiffeners are not necessary for vacuum only bellows. Additionally, where the bellows cloth or leather is glued to the sides of the wooden bellows boards, wooden strips are screwed down tight to the sides of the boards to keep the cloth or leather from pealing back and coming loose along the edges due to the pressure buildup inside the bellows. The vacuum reservoir is fastened to the first bellows (next to the crankshaft) and all bellows are affixed firmly to the mounting platform, which is extended on the left end and internally channeled to distribute both vacuum and wind-pressure.

Notice that the actual crankshaft for this combination pump is quite different than the one in the vacuum only unit described above, which appears to have been at least partially machined on a lathe, and clearly used very different manufacturing techniques. The crankshaft in the combination pump is either cast iron or it has been forged, with the support bearing surfaces and three crank throws individually machined. And, like the vacuum version, each set of bellows is 33 1/3 degrees out of phase with the others, providing a steady source of vacuum and wind-pressure.

Note that the cast iron spoked drive pulley has an inner flat surfaced section that is suitable for driving a friction drive wheel that could be adjusted toward or away from the center shaft, so as to adjust the tempo of the music. From the wear pattern on the friction surface area, it looks as though this speed adjustment feature was used for this Wisteria orchestrion.

(Photograph courtesy of Paul Horgan.)

Rotary vacuum pump in Peerless (Engelhardt Piano Company) Model A coin piano, No. 52019. The front or pulley side is what is normally seen when a rotary pump is installed in a coin piano, although a National Electric Colonial Elite Style H Theatre Orchestrion has been observed where the opposite is true, with the back side of the pump is facing forward instead of the pulley side. This makes changing or servicing the drive belt rather more difficult than when the pulley side is facing forward.

The rotary pump was the last major technical innovation in coin piano pumps, and by the early 1920s it was the popular choice for most progressive coin piano manufacturers. Furthermore, it is probably the simplest to install and/or remove for servicing. It’s basically a square frame, with each side holding a single bellows unit, The four boards making up the square frame have internal channeling to connect each of the four simple bellows to a common vacuum inlet. When a technician detaches any external components, such as the vacuum reservoir (shown attached on the left side of the pump), the framework comes apart into four separate and easily handled boards, each with its own attached bellows. This makes rebuilding a rotary pump comparatively easy and straightforward.

The crankshaft is central to the rotary pump, and it is supported by cast iron end-plates on each side that are also fastened securely to the sides of the four boards making up the square pump frame. This design gives great strength to the pump frame. The four individual bellows are connected to the crankshaft by four split hardwood connecting rods, which can be adjusted by through bolts to properly clamp down and grip the crankshaft and bellows connection bracket bearing surfaces lightly, and the bolts can be tightened to take up wear on bearing surfaces as may be necessary.

The accessory control chest on top of this rotary pump is specific to what is needed in the Model A piano. Rotary pumps in other piano models may have a different type of control chest on top, or perhaps nothing at all.

(Photograph courtesy of Paul Horgan.)

Rotary vacuum pump in Peerless (Engelhardt Piano Company) Model A coin piano, No. 52019. This backside view shows the internal structure and component parts of the rotary pump without the drive pulley getting in the way. The square framework and how the crankshaft end brackets strengthen the whole structure can now be much more clearly seen and understood from this viewpoint. Please refer to the above front or pulley side description for more technical details regarding the rotary pump.

The accessory control chest on top of the rotary pump is specific to this Engelhardt Model A coin piano, and is fitted with what appear to be eight Simplex type control valves, but for exactly what control functions is unknown to this writer. Rotary pumps in other piano models may have a different type of control chest on top, varying widely from what is pictured here, or perhaps they will have nothing at all.