Lamp Switching Device in the
Wurlitzer Style 40 Mandolin PianOrchestra
Philipps Pianella Model 40 (Celesta)
(Nethercutt collection, 1998)

View of animated scene's drum operated electrical switching device.
At right is the triangle and its reiterating type action. Note the slide valve (as seen centered in the triangle) that controls the reiterating action. This slider is pneumatically interconnected with a ventil type valve in the body of the triangle action. The interaction between these two valves enables long perforations in the music roll to cause the triangle to continually ring. Short "single-punch" perforations supply vacuum power only long enough to sustain a single strike of the triangle.

The round-belt driven, drum operated, electrical switching device for the animated scene's lighting effects is in the center of the photograph. As the wood drum, fitted with three rows of randomly placed pins, rotates, the three metal levers projecting out the backside are alternately raised. Prongs at the back of the levers dip into mercury pot switches, controlling several levels of lighting behind the animated scene.

The belting around the small pulley, which is in turn connected to the pulley at the top left, is used to operate a back-lit "endless" cloth strip of netting (dabbed with opaque black splotches). This moving band of cloth gives the effect of water flowing in the animated scene.

Go-Back