Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 5th June, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 5th Mar., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 18th May, 1889
I HENRY WILLIS of 9 Rochester Terrace, Camden Town in the County of
Middlesex, Organ Builder, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows
-
The chief object of this invention is to give to the organist an increased facility
for producing a crescendo or diminuendo, by bringing under control the whole, or
any desued portion of the stops of an organ through the action of a pedal, pedals, oi
their equivalent
In explaining the nature of my invention, I will assume, for the sake of simplicity,
that one division only of a large organ (say, the swell), has the invention applied
thereto, and I will afterwards refer to its more extended application.
In direct connection with a wind chest, which I will call A, I place a three way
cock, or any other suitable valve. and actuate it my means of a draw-rod, similar to
the ordinary draw stops of an organ. This three way cock or valve has an opening
communicating with the atmosphere, and by means of a pipe it is put in communi-
cation with a pneumatic lever, which serves to actuate a double disc valve fitted to a
second wind chest, which I will call B.
The raising of this valve brings the wind chest B into communication with an air
channel, which leads an from the wind chest through a port formed in the seat of a
slide valve -The seat of this valve is extended to allow of a series of ports being
made in it corresponding in number to the stops in the swell organ which the
invention is intended to control These ports are arranged in rows over which the
slide valve is intended to travel, and thereby to bring the several stops in succession
in communication with the air passage controlled by the double disc valve
ports will connect with the pneumatic levers which respectively actuate the slides of
their several stops, and the advance, therefore, of the slide valve will gradually
open, in a determinate order, the several stops composing the swell organ, or any
required number of those stops
These

page_text: The slide valve I propose to actuate by means of a rocking pedal, which, pressed
in one direction, will cause the drawing of the stops and in the opposite direction the
shutting off of the stops (without moving the draw knobs)
The wind passing from the wind chest B under the shde valve to the port, say,
that connected with the dulciana stop, will follow the tube leading from the port until
it meets a tumbling valve mounted in a valve box provided with two inclined valve
seats This valve box, connecting on one side with the port just mentioned, is also
connected on the same side with the pneumatic lever that draws the slide of the
dulciana stop, and on its opposite side, this valve box connects with a pipe leading to
a valve which is operated by the ordinary draw stop, to bring the pipe into
communication with a third wind chest, which I will call C.
Supposing, now, that it is desired to apply the dulciana stop in the ordinary
manner, the organist will pull out the draw stop, and admit wind to the tumbling
valve box, this will cause the closing, by the tumbling valve, of the pipe leading to
the slide valve seat, and the wind will pass to the pneumatic lever connected with the
slide, and open the stop If, now, a crescendo passage is to be played, the organist
will push in the dulciana draw stop, and thereby cut off communication between the
wind chest C and the valve box. He will now pull out the draw rod before mentioned,
and put the wind chest A in communication with the pneumatic lever which operates
the compound disc valve. Having done this, he will apply his foot to the rocking
pedal, and by advancing the slide valve, bring the wind chest B in communication
with the dulciana stop port By continuing to depress the pedal, he will advance
the slide, and thereby place in succession the several ports, or any desued number
of the ports, in the slide valve seat, in communication with the wind chest B Thus,
as the playing proceeds, the sound will increase as the slide valve advances, until the
number of sounding stops is reached that will secure the maximum crescendo effect
desired
In like manner, a diminuendo is obtained by rocking the pedal in the reverse
direction, which, causing the slide valve to retire, will cut off the communication of
the ports (of the several stops) in succession with the wind chest B, leaving a free
vent for the wind from the pneumatic levers of the slides, which levers will then
collapse under the pressure of their spings or weights
In applying the invention to other parts of the organ, say the Great organ or the
pedal organ, it will only be necessary to enlarge the capacity of the slide valve and
its seat, by bringing the valve into communication with the other organs through
ports formed for the purpose in the valve seat, or the several organs may be fitted
with an independent pedal and slide valve for operating upon them, as described with
reference to the swell organ
I may remark that the pedal generally used for working the louvres of the swell
box may also be employed for moving the slides of the swell organ according to my
invention.
By the means before described, I also propose to draw the slides of a selected
number of stops forming part of a composition, so arranging, for this purpose, the
ports of the louder stops in the valve seat, that they shall be the last for the slide
valve to reach, the remainder of the stops may be used without bringing those into
action. Or means may be provided for closing any number of the ports independently
of the action of the slide valve.
In some cases, I may find it desirable to obtain the above mentioned results
automatically. For this purpose I may apply an arrangement of valvular apparatus,
which will start into action by the sudden touch of a button or knob, and either
actuate the rocking pedal, or act independently of it, to effect the traverse of the
slide. The movement of the slide will be caused by the slow inflation, or slow
exhaustion, of a pneumatic lever, which is put into communication with a wind chest,
or the open air, through the action of valves pendent from balanced levers, and
controlling wind passages suitable for admitting wind to, and cutting it off from the
pneumatic lever. A rolling weight applied to one of these balanced levers, causes it
to tip as the knob or button is touched, and thereby reverse the position of a second

page_text: lever with which it is connected Tlus second lever carries two pendent valves, which
have their seats in a wind chest divided by a horizontal partition, the one valve
commands an opening in the partition, and the other an opening leading to the
atmosphere.-The wind below the partition passes up, on the opening of the lower
valve, above the partition, and escapes by a pipe to the pneumatic lever connected
with the slide, or it may be with the pedal, and by throttling the wind in its passage,
it will slowly inflate the pneumatic lever, making the movement of the slide gradual
to produce the crescendo. A second touch of the knob or button will cause the
reversal of the position of these valves, thereby cutting off the wind, and opening a
passage from the pneumatic lever to the atmosphere
The pressure of a spring applied to this pneumatic lever will force out the air
therefrom, and reversing the movement of the slide, will effect the desired diminuendo.
This return motion of the slide may be effected by the application of a second
pneumatic lever acting in the reverse direction
The traverse of the rolling weight to rock the first mentioned lever, is effected by
two pneumatic levers connected therewith, and acting alternately and in opposito
directions, their inflation being effected through diaphragm pneumatic levers, which
open valves of a wind chest connected with those reversing pneumatic levers
These
diaphragm levers are themselves actuated by wind admitted to them from the wind
chest which the lever with the rolling weight controls
Dated this 5th day of June 1888.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improved Apparatus for Drawing and Shutting off the Stops of
Organs.
I HENRY WILLIS of 9 Rochester Terrace, Camden Town in the County of
Middlesex, Organ Builder do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement
The chief object of this invention is to give to the organist an increased facility
for producing, in organs in which the draw stop action is pneumatic, an increase or
decrease of the volume of sound, by binging under control the whole, or any desired
portion of the stops of an organ, through the action of a pedal, pedals, or their
equivalent
In explaining the nature of my invention, I will assume, for the sake of simplicity,
that one division only of a large organ (say, the swell) has the invention applied
thereto, and I will afterwards refer to its more extended application
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 shews, in partial sectional elevation, the manner of attaining the object of
my invention, when the foot of the player is relied on for initiating and controlling
the increase and decrease of sound
In this Figure, the parts of the organ affected by the invention are displayed, with
a view of illustrating their relations to one anothei.
Two distinct wind chests, indicated by the numerals 1 and 2, provide the motive
force for actuating the slide corresponding to the stop that is drawn, and 3 is the
wind chest which gives the motive force for actuating the crescendo apparatus.
A is the draw rod carrying a button or knob for putting on the crescendo
apparatus, and A is one of the series of stops composing the swell organ. It is by
means of the draw rods A, that the several slides A¹ are moved to bring into use
their respective stops.
The draw rod A* is connected to a three way cock a*, the rocking of which
admits wind to the crescendo apparatus, as will be hereafter more particularly
described, and the rods of each draw stop A are severally connected with a cock or
valve a, like the three-way cock or valve a*. The shells of these cocks are secured
to the wind chest 1, and they receive an therefrom through the passages a¹,
discharging it, when required, into the atmosphere through the openings a³
a is a tube leading from the shell of the cock a to a valve box F, for the purpose
to be presently explained.
The description of the valve a, and its connections, thus far explained, refers
equally to all the draw stops of the organ, but the shell of the valve a*, actuated by
the diaw rod A*, opens into the tube a', which leads to the crescendo apparatus.
When the draw-rod A is caused to pull over its valve a to the dotted position of
Fig 1, air will pass from the wind chest 1, through the tube a³, to the valve box F,
whence it will proceed, by the pipe f¹, as hereafter more particularly described, to

page_text: open a passage for wind from the wind chest 2, to inflate the pneumatic lever
connected with the slide A¹ intended to be drawn
I will now explain the mechanism that is employed in bringing the various stops
into use in succession, to produce an increased volume of sound, and of throwing
them out of use to effect a gradual reduction of sound.
I have said that the tube a' leads to the crescendo apparatus This tube is in
communication with a pneumatic disc lever B. situate below the wind chest 3, and
carrying a double disc valve b, fitted to that wind chest
The raising of the valve 6 brings the wind chest into communication with an air
channel C, leading to a port in the seat E of a slide valve D-The seat of this valve
is extended, to allow of a series of ports e being made in it, corresponding in
number to the stops in the swell organ which the invention is intended to control.
These ports are arranged in rows over which the slide valve D is intended to travel
The slide valve is channelled on its face, and as it is moved forward, it brings the
several ports in succession in communication with the air passage C, controlled by
the double disc valve b These ports e severally connect by means of a tube e¹ with
one of a series of pneumatic levers G, which respectively actuate the slides A¹ of
the several stops The advance, therefore, of the slide valve D, will gradually bring,
in a determinate order, the several ports e (which correspond to the several stops of
the organ) into communication with the air passage C, or any required number of
the ports
The slide valve DI propose to actuate by means of a rocking pedal D', of well
known construction, which, pressed in one direction, will open the ports e to the
wind chest, and, in the opposite direction, cut off the wind therefrom (without
moving the draw stop rods A)-Motion is transmitted from the pedal D', through a
rock shaft D, to the slide valve D.
The wind passing from the wind chest 3 under the slide valve to the port, say, that
connected with the dulciana stop, will follow the tube el, leading from the port e, and
terminating in the valve box F -The interior of this valve box has a V shape in
cross section, thus forming two inclined seats for a tumbling valve f One of these
seats is pierced for the tube e¹ to enter the valve box, and the opposite seat is
Similarly pierced to receive the tube a³, leading from the shell of the valve a--
Connecting with this valve box, above the valve f, is a tube f¹ leading to a diaphragm
pneumatic lever g-The pneumatic lover g controls a double disc valve g¹, mounted
in the wind chest 2, which is intended to supply the series of pneumatic lovers G
with wind. It is to these pneumatic lovers G that the slides A' are respectively
connected, and it is by the inflation of these levers, that the slides are drawn
Supposing, now, that it is desired to apply the dulciana stop in the ordinary
manner, the organist will pull out the draw stop rod, and admit wind to the tumbling
valve box F, this will cause the closing, by the tumbling valve f, of the tube leading
to the slide valve seat, and the wind will pass to the pneumatic lever g, lift the valve g,
and thereby admit air to the pneumatic lever G, and draw the slide A' of that stop.
Stops thus drawn will remain unaffected by the crescendo apparatus, but those that
are closed will be completely under its control.
If, now, a crescendo passage is to be played, the organist will push in the drawn
stops, and thereby cut off communication between the wind chest 1 and the valve
box F. He will now pull out the draw rod A* before mentioned, and put the wind
chest 1 in communication with the pneumatic lever B, which operates the compound
dise valve b-Having done this, he will apply his foot to the rocking pedal, and by
depressing it in one direction, advance the slide valve D, thereby bringing the wind
chest 3 in communication with the several ports e in succession, or any desired
number of these ports. Thus, as the playing proceeds, the sound will increase as
the slide valve advances, until the number of sounding stops is reached that will
secure the maximum crescendo effect desired
In like manner, a diminuendo is obtained by rocking the pedal in the reverse
direction, which, causing the shde valve to retire, will cut off the communication of
the ports (of the several stops), in succession, with the wind chest 3.

page_text: This retirement of the slide valve D, by uncovering the ports e, will remove the
upward pressure from the coresponding pneumatic levers 7, and allow the double
disc valve g¹ to drop into the drawn position of Fig 1.
A free vent will thus be opened for the wind from the pneumatic lovers G, which
levers will then collapse under the pressure of their springs or weights, and withdraw
the slides A¹, and shut off the stops.
As it is important to make the tumbling valve f bed closely upon its seat, to suit
the duties to which it is applied, I propose, instead of using its V edge as heretofore,
to cut away that edge, and insert in the angle of the inclined seats, a piece of round
wire, upon which the valve will bear and rock, as on a fulcrum.
In applying the invention to other divisions of the organ, say the great organ, or
the pedal organ, it will only be necessary to enlarge the capacity of the slide valve D
and its seat E, by bringing the valve into communication with the other organs
through ports formed for the purpose in the valve seat, as shewn in the plan view
Fig. 2, which represents the manner of combining two organs, or the several organs
may be fitted with an independent pedal and slide valve for operating upon them as
described with reference to the swell organ
I may remark that the pedal generally used for working the louvres of the swell
box, may also be employed for moving the slides of the swell organ, according to
my invention, and it is this arrangement which I have illustrated in Fig. 1, the
radius arm keyed to the rock shaft D2 serving to connect the pedal with the swell
louvre.
By the means before described, I also propose to draw the slides of a selected
number of stops forming part of a "composition," so arranging, for this purpose,
the ports of the louder stops in the valve seat, that they shall be the last for the
slide valve to reach, the remainder of the stops may be used without bringing those
into action. Or means may be provided for closing any number of the ports
independently of the action of the slide valve. This is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2,
where the outermost ports are controlled by stop slides, which may be drawn in any
approved manner
In some cases, I may find it desirable to obtain the above mentioned results
automatically. For this purpose, I apply an arrangement of valvular apparatus
which will start into action by the sudden touch of a button or knob, and either
actuate the rocking pedal, or act independently of it, to effect the traveise of the
slide valve The movement of the slide valve in opposite directions will be effected
by a pair of pneumatic levers alternately inflated and exhausted, at a rate determined
by the player, in the manner to be presently describe
Fig 3 is a sectional elevation of the pneumatic apparatus employed for automatically
controlling the action of the crescendo mechanism
In this Figure (which displays the several parts m the most convenient manner
for illustration),-X1 X2 X3 are wind chests charged with compressed air for the
purpose of actuating the pneumatic apparatus
1
A is an index hand under command of the performer, mounted loosely on the
centre of a dial, marked to the purpose of shewing the duration of the complete
operation of the crescendo and diminuendo in seconds, and the direction of the
operation B is a button or knob for starting the valvulai apparatus Cinto action
This apparatus C is connected by a tube c, as shown, to the chest D of a shunting
valvulai apparatus, the office of which is to determine whether the musical effect is
to be crescendo oi diminuendo -The chest D contains 2 valves d d', coupled by a
rocking lever d³, upon which rolls a wheel mounted loosely in a slotted bar or
traco
This bar seives to connect two pneumatic levers 0 0¹ mounted in the
opposite ends of the chest D.
The object of these pneumatic lovers is to alternate the position of the wheel
weight d³ from one side of the fulcrum of the rocking lever ₫ to the other. These
pneumatic lovers are respectively connected, by means of tubes o o', with the wind
chests X2 X3, and their movements are automatically controlled by means of the
valves in the wind chests.-These pneumatic levers also serve to operate a second

page_text: indicator N, which works over the edge of the dial, and is mounted loosely on the
fixed centre pin
The use of this indicator N is to shew the position of the
reversing mechanism
I may here remark that one or other of the valves d d¹ will always be open, and
that the wheel weight d³ should be just heavy enough to alternate the rocking lever d³.
The chest D connects, by means of tubes ƒ ƒ* ƒ¹ ƒ¹*, with small pneumatic
levers F F, F1 F1 of the wind chests X X'.
The drawing shows the valve d of the chest D open, and air can now pass from the
chest D, through the tubes and f*, to the small pneumatic levers F F¹.--The duty
of these pneumatic levers is to rock the beams ¹ which carry the supply and
escape valves of the wind chests X2 X8
These wind chests, by their valves, operate two larger pneumatic levers K K³,
mounted on opposite sides of the chest I, and serving to transmit the required
traverse motion to the slide valve of Fig 1
These pneumatic levers K K are respectively in connection with the valve
chambers S S1, S2 S3, of the chest I, in which chambers are fitted clack valves to
provide for the admission and escape of wind to and from the levers, when moved by
the toot of the player
The chamber S connects, by a tube s, with the wind chest X³, and the
chamber St connects, by a tube s, with the wind chest X².
Leading from the chamber S is a pipes, which connects with a stop cock l, for
supplying wind, through the chamber S, to the pneumatic lever K
Similarly, the pipe conveys wind from the wind chest X³ to the chamber S¹, and
thence the wind passes, by a tube s³, to a cock 1, which delivers the wind into a
chambers, open to the pneumatic lever K¹.
LL' are two arms keyo! respectively to the spindles of the stop cocks of the
chest I-These arms are linked together by the rod M, which is also pivotted to the
index hand A, and consequently moves therewith -The object of these supply cocks
is to restrict the passage for the compressed air flowing to the pneumatic levers K K',
and thus to determine the duration of time required for a complete movement of the
pneumatic levers, and of the slide valve operated thereby.
It will now be understood that if the index hand Å is set to the Figure 5, the
crescendo or decrescendo will be performed in 5 seconds, and the same result will be
repeated as often as the apparatus is set in action (by pressing the knob B), until the
per former resets the index hand
In order that the automatic arrangement may not interfere with the free use of
the foot pedal, provision is made for the automatic arrest of the apparatus -Connected
to the pneumatic lever K, is a horizontal rod P, which couples it, through pendent
arms, with two rock shafts Q Q-These arms early spring buffers R R¹, which
engage with vertical arms on rock shafts H H'. These shatts each carry a beam / h',
the opposite ends of which are connected respectively with the small pneumatic
levers F F F F before mentioned
These beams, in their turn, carry the spindles of the supply and escape valves of
then respective wind chests XX, which valves are alternately opened and closed
by the rocking of tho beams, and thus alternately cut off the supply of wind to the
pneumatic levers in connection with the wind chest
V V are stop springs which stand opposite the tappet U on the connecting rod K³,
their object being to cause the pneumatic levers K K' (one or other) to retire
sufficiently to free the valves of the wind chests X X³ from the controlling action of
the buffers RR', and thereby to permit of the resetting of the valves in the wind
chests X X This enables the performer to adjust the outer index point N by means
of the knob B, if the foot pedal and outer index N are not in their relativo
positions
The drawing shows the buffer R just engaging the arm on the shaft H, and
about to cut off the supply of wind to the pneumatic lever K. This is effected by
raising the escape valve, and closing the supply valve, in the wind chest X'.

page_text: The operation of the apparatus is as follows
The index hand A being set to any required degree denoting the time in which the
increase or diminution of the sound is required to be completed, the performer
touches the knob B, by which is operated the valves of the wind chest X¹; compressed
air immediately passes, by means of the tube c, to the chest D, from thence the
wind travels by the pipes ff* to the diaphragm pneumatic levers F F¹, rocks the
armed shafts H H³, opening at the same time the supply valve of the wind chest X³
and the escape valve of Y³. Compressed air now passes continuously, through the
open valve in X³ through the tube s¹, to the valve chamber S₁; thence, by the
tubes, through the stop cock , to the valve chamber S, and so into the pneumatic
lever K', which, in the pre-determined time, will become fully inflated, and thus
perform the required operation. The pneumatic lovers K K¹ being connected
together by the horizontal tappet rod K³, the pneumatic lever K will be collapsed
whilst K is inflated K will have thus drawn the 10d P with it. rocking the
shafts QQ, and engaging the elastic buffer R¹ with the arm on the shaft H¹-The
beam on this shaft being now rocked, it will close the supply valve, and open
the escape valve of the wind chest X², thereby cutting off the supply of compressed
air to the pneumatic lever K', and leaving it ready for the reverse movement, whether
effected by the foot of the performer or by the automatic apparatus
But compressed air has also passed from the wind chest X² along the tube o' in
connection with the pneumatic lever 01, inflating it, and consequently collapsing the
pneumatic level o The result of this change is to move the rolling weight d³ to
the other side of the fulcrum of the rocking lever d² connecting the two valves in
the chest D, reversing the position of these valves, thus causing the next operation
of the knob B to pass compressed air in such directions, and to perform similar
operations through the wind chest X³, which will now inflate the large pneumatic
lever K and effect the desired diminuendo
It may happen, in the alternate use of foot pedal and knob, that the index N will
point to "diminuendo" when the foot pedal is in the diminuen lo position, and a
crescendo is required As, in this case, the index N should point to crescendo, the
performer by touching the knob, will change the position of the reversing mechanism,
and at the same time adjust the position of the index point N. A repetition of the
pressure on the knob B will then start the desired crescendo movement, through the-
automatic apparatus.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
-
1st. The arrangement of apparatus above described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2
of the drawings, whereby, through the action of a pedal lever or its equivalent, the
stops of an organ, or of one or more divisions of an organ, may be opened in
succession, to produce a gradual increase of sound, and closed in succession to
produce a gradual decrease of sound, agreeably to the will of the performer
2nd. The arrangement of apparatus described with reference to Fig. 3 of the
drawings, whereby the slide valve or valves of the arrangement Figs 1 and 2, may
be moved automatically to produce the desired increase or decrease of sound, the
duration of the operation being determined by the setting of an index hand or
pointer.
Dated the 5th day of March 1980