Link Piano Company Roll Mechanisms

(Photograph courtesy of Rusty King)

Link early music roll mechanism in a Style R, with chain drive "fingers" to move the folds or loops of music roll along the music roll storage cabinet. Notice that the gear driven feel roller is up high in the roll frame, so as to provide space for the paper-pusher fingers underneath it to flip up and engage the paper folds. The link chain at far right and going downward and out of the picture connects with the cone-drive variable speed transmission, which is located near the bottom of the case and to the right of the feeder pump. The music roll paper is pulled over the top and down the backside of the roll frame, then over a wooden roller and over the brass tracker bar, whereupon it is next pulled over a gear driven rubberized roller, with the paper held tightly against the rubber by a heavy metal "gravity" roller (located) at the top front of the roll frame. After passing through the rubberized roller the paper is forcefully expelled out into the music storage cabinet, where it folds and loops as it snakes its way along the music cabinet.

(Photograph courtesy of Rusty King)

Link cone-drive variable speed transmission for regulating the tempo of the music as the endless music sheet is pulled through the roll mechanism. Obviously the machine must be turned off in order to safely adjust the music tempo, which is done by loosening the thumbscrew on the leather wheel and sliding it back or forth on the shaft. Moving it toward the larger end of the tapered cone increases the music speed or tempo, while moving the leather wheel toward the small end of the cone reduces the music tempo. The tapered cone is connected by a chain to the backside of the pump. Another chain goes from the shaft with the leather wheel on it up to the roll mechanism. Note that the shaft for the cone rests in bearings that can slide in a slot, and that are held in tension against the leather wheel by strong coil springs.

(Photograph courtesy of Rusty King)

Link chain-drive speed transmission for the Movie Player, Jr. (MP Jr.), which employed four separate roll mechanisms, which could be electrically controlled from the projection booth. Instead of an easily variable cone-drive system the Link Piano Company elected to use a positive three speed chain drive device that was guaranteed not to slip, albeit not easily adjusted. It is speculated that this kind of "direct drive" was used due to the loading of four roll mechanisms all powered by the same speed control unit.

(Photograph courtesy of Rusty King)

Late Link roll mechanism in a Style 2B (Link #6418) cabinet style piano with the music roll, two wood guide rollers, and the heavy metal gravity roller removed, so as to show the otherwise hidden tracker bar.

(Photograph courtesy of Rusty King)

Late Link roll mechanism in a Style 2B (Link #6418) cabinet style piano, with a music roll installed and as viewed from the front side. The end of the tracker bar is barely visible through the crescent shaped hole. The metal gravity roller can be seen with its end bearing shaft riding in the vertical slot just above and to the left of the large brass spur gear. This Link has a sloping music roll storage cabinet, rather than the older style horizontal type with chain driven fingers to move the music roll loops and folds along the flat tray bottom. Without the elaborate chain and finger mechanism the gear driven feed roller could be placed lower and more centrally located within the roll frame.

(Photograph courtesy of Rusty King)

Late Link roll mechanism in a Style 2B (Link #6418) cabinet style piano, with a music roll installed. The music roll folds can be seen bunching up against a "sliding finger (or paddle)." The precise reason for installing such a sliding "finger" in a sloping music roll cabinet, although it is mentioned in late Link music roll changing instructions, remains unclear. The finger does not seem to move gracefully along on its own as suggested by Link instructions, but usually needs to be manually moved along to the end of the music roll cabinet. This odd feature has only been observed on one or two late Link instruments, and so seems to have dropped soon after its ill-fated introduction.

(Photograph courtesy of Rusty King)

The rare sliding "finger" or paddle installed in in a Style 2B (Link #6418) cabinet style piano. It may have been intended to be some sort of aid in the installation or removal of music rolls, perhaps to facilitate the proper folding of the paper. However, its usefulness is doubtful, as this odd paddle arrangement has been observed in only one or two similar surviving Link cabinet style instruments, suggesting that it was quickly dropped as something unnecessary or maybe even more of a problem than cure when loading or removing music rolls in Link automatic pianos.