Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Jan., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 5th Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 16th Nov., 1888
and to Apparatus therefor.
We, FELIX TONNAR of Dülken, and WILHELM SCHOUREN of Bracht, Rhenish
Prussia, German Empire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to an improved method of, and apparatus for, ringing the
bells of bell-towers.
According to the method heretofore usually employed for ringing the bells of bell-
towers, it was necessary to impart a reciprocating swinging movement to the bells
themselves which required a belfry of substantial and costly construction, but even then
it sometimes happened, particularly in the case of bells of extraordinary weight and
size, that rather dangerous oscillations were imparted to the belfry.
Now, in order to obviate such difficulty and at the same time to allow of ringing
the bells even more regularly and with a better result than heretofore, we impart a
reciprocating movement to the clapper only whilst the body of the bell is kept in a
perfectly stationary position. Our said invention moreover comprises improved
apparatus for use in carrying our improved method into effect.
According to our method the bell is suspended rigidly in the belfry, and the clapper
forms no part of the bell but is pivotally fastened between the upper ends of two arms
which enter the bell so that the free end of the said clapper, on being swung to and
fro, will strike against the inside of the stationary bell at or near the lower rim of the
latier, that is near the same point at which the bells were heretofore struck by their
clappers suspended freely within, and forming part of, them.
The ends of the said arms opposite to those carrying the. pivot and the clapper
hanging loosely thereon, are fixed upon an oscillating shaft journalled in suitable
bearings on top of a stand or frame-work below the bell and provided with a double-
armed lever rigidly fastened to the said shaft and having a hook or other fastening
device applied to each of its lever ends for the reception of two ropes or chains the
other ends of which are attached to the two webs of a cranked shaft rotated by means

page_text: of a hand-wheel or handle. The webs being arranged opposite each other will on
being rotated, act to pull downward first the one rope and then the other, and,
consequently, first the one end of the double-armed lever and next the other thus
transmitting an oscillating motion to the said shaft carrying the fixed arms and
thereby causing the latter and the clapper pivoted between their upper ends, to be
swung regularly first in the one and next in the opposite direction, the clapper moving
onward and striking the bell every time that, or somewhat after, the oscillating shaft
and its fixed arms have arrived at their dead point position.
Instead of attaching a rope to each end of the said double-armed lever, one end of
the same may be provided with a weight to counteract the strain of the rope attached
to the opposite end of the said lever, the said rope having its other end attached to an
eccentric rotated by a handle or in any suitable manner, the said eccentric pulling the
rope and the end of the said lever to which it is attached downward whilst the said
weight will act to raise the rope again and to bring its own end of the lever down
thus causing the required oscillating motion of the said shaft carrying the said fixed
arms with the clapper.
To ensure a steady and regular motion, the said oscillating shaft carries a suspended
pendulum rigidly attached to the shaft and provided with a bob capable of being
adjusted and filled with ponderous material, for the purpose of regulating or
controlling the said motion and, for assisting in overcoming the dead-points in the
return movement of the clapper.
In some cases, we dispense with the means stated for imparting oscillating motion
to the said shaft by hand, and produce the said motion quite automatically. In such
case we arrange below the shaft to be oscillated, another shaft suitably journalled in
the frame-work below the bell and provided with two fixed ratchet wheels and a fixed
pulley, the latter being acted upon by a rope carrying, at its free end, a weight by the
strain of which it is unwound from a drum so that it will turn the said pulley and
thus impart rotary movement to the said lower shaft and to the said ratchet wheels
rigidly mounted thereon but in a reversed manner. During their rotation the
hollowed teeth of the said ratchet wheels will alternately come in contact with two
pawls fixed upon the said shaft to be oscillated, the said pawls projecting therefrom in
opposite directions, so that first one wheel strikes against one pawl and throws it forward,
whereupon the other wheel will act upon the other pawl and vice versa. The said pawls
on coming in contact with their ratchet wheels act, at the same time, to limit the extent of
the oscillating movement thus produced of the shaft and its arms and clapper, the said
movement being likewise controlled in this arrangement by a pendulum applied as
before stated. We do not confine ourselves to the means mentioned herein for
producing the oscillating motion of the shaft and the reciprocating swinging
movement of the clapper carried thereby.
Dated this 6th day of January 1888
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: and to Apparatus therefor.
We, FELIX TONNAR of Dülken and WILHELM SCHOUREN of Bracht, Rhenish
Prussia, German Empire do hereby declare the nature of the said invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:
This invention relates to an improved method of, and apparatus for, ringing the
bells in bell towers.
According to the method heretofore usually employed for ringing the said bells it
was necessary to impart a reciprocating swinging movement to the bells themselves
which required a belfry of substantial and costly construction but even then it some-
times happened particularly in the case of bells of extraordinary weight and size, that
rather dangerous oscillations were imparted to the belfry.
Now, in order to obviate such difficulty and at the same time to allow of ringing
the bells even more regularly and with a better result than heretofore I impart a
reciprocating movement to the clapper only, whilst the body of the bell is kept in a
stationary position.
Our said invention moreover comprises improved apparatus for use in carrying our
improved method into practice.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is an end view of our improved apparatus partly in section.
Figure 2 is a side view thereof.
Figure 3 shows a detail.
Figure 4 is an end view partly in section illustrating modified means for imparting
reciprocating motion to the clapper.
Figure 5 is a side view of Figure 4.
Figures 6 and 7 are views similar to Figures 4 and 5 respectively, showing a
modified arrangement in the suspension of the clapper.
In carrying the said invention into practice as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the
drawings the bell A is suspended rigidly in the belfry, and the clapper B forms no
part of the bell but is pivotally fastened by means of a bolt d between the upper ends
of two arms C which enter the bell so that the free end of the said clapper on being
swung to and fro will strike against the inside of the stationary bell A at or near the
lower rim of the latter, that is near the same point at which the bells were beretofore
struck by their clappers suspended freely within, and forming part of them.
The ends of the said arms opposite to those carrying the pivot d and the clapper

page_text: hanging loosely thereon are fixed upon an oscillating shaft D journalled in suitable
bearings e on top of a stand or frame-work below the bell, and provided with a
double-armed lever G rigidly fastened to the shaft D and having a hook or other
fastening device applied to each of its lever ends for the reception of two ropes or
chains the other ends of which are attached to the two webs J of a cranked shaft J 5
journaled in bearings J and rotated by means of a hand-wheel J and handle J.
The webs being arranged opposite each other will on being rotated act to pull
downward first the one rope J and then the other and consequently first the one end
of the double-armed lever G and next the other, thus transmitting an oscillating
motion to the shaft D carrying the fixed arms C and thereby causing the latter and
the clapper B pivoted between the upper ends to be swung regularly first in the one
and next in the opposite direction, the clapper moving onward and striking the bell
every time that, or somewhat after, the oscillating shaft D and its fixed arms have
arrived at their dead point position.
Instead of attaching a rope to each end of the said double-armed lever G, one end
of the same may be provided with a weight J Figure 3 to counteract the strain of
the rope J, attached to the opposite end of the said lever, the said rope having its
other end attached to an excentric (not shown) rotated by a handle or in any suitable
manner such as in Figure 3, the said excentric pulling the rope J and the end of the
lever G downward whilst the weight J will act to raise the rope again and to bring
its own end of the lever G down thus causing the required oscillating motion of the
shaft D carrying the said fixed arms with the clapper B as heretofore described.
To ensure a steady and regular motion, the oscillating shaft D carries a suspended
pendulum E rigidly attached to the shaft and provided with a bob F capable of being
adjusted and filled with suitable ponderous material, for the purpose of regulating or
controlling the said motion and for assisting in overcoming the dead-points in the
return movement of the clapper.
In some cases we dispense with the means stated for imparting oscillating motion
to the shaft D by hand, and produce the said motion quite automatically. In such
case which is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawing we arrange below the
shaft to be oscillated another shaft L suitably journalled at L' in the frame-work below
the bell A and provided with two fixed ratchet wheels KK and a fixed pulley N,
the latter being acted upon by a rope O carrying at its free end, a weight O' by the
strain of which it is unwound from a drum (not shown) so that it will turn the
pulley N and thus impart rotary movement to the lower shaft L and to the ratchet
wheels K K rigidly mounted thereon in a reversed manner. During their rotation
the hollowed teeth of the ratchet wheels K K¹ will alternately come in contact with
two pawls m, m' fixed upon the shaft D to be oscillated the said pawls projecting
therefrom in opposite directions so that first the wheel K strikes against the pawl m
and throws it forward whereupon the other wheel K will act upon the other pawl m¹
so that the said pawls on coming in contact with their ratchet wheels will act at the
same time to limit the extent of the oscillating movement thus produced of the
shaft D and its arms C and clapper B the said movement being likewise controlled in
this arrangement by a pendulum E applied as before stated.
It will be seen that the pawl mon striking against one of the teeth of the ratchet
wheel K will arrest the rotary motion of the latter for a moment but is then thrown
forward again by the said wheel K under the strain of the weighted rope O so that
the shaft and the pendulum E will oscillate in an opposite direction until the
pawl m by coming in contact with one of the teeth of the ratchet wheel K' will stop
this oscillating motion of the shaft D and pendulum E again. The position of the
ratchet wheel K' on the shaft D being reversed to that of the ratchet wheel K
the teeth of the former under the strain of the weighted rope O will raise the pawl m
at once again so that the pendulum E will swing back and oscillate the shaft D in at
opposite direction until the pawl m will strike against the next tooth of the ratche
wheel K whereupon the same play just described will be repeated. It will be noticed
that the pendulum E after having come into its dead point position by the pawl m

page_text: being arrested by the ratched wheel K₁ will by means of its gravitation assist in
raising the said pawl m³ out of contact with the said wheel K so that it will be free
to swing back again and bring the pawl m in contact with the ratchet wheel K
imparting a fresh impulse to the said pawl, shaft D and pendulum.
The modification of our invention as illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 of the drawings
shows that, in lieu of the straight shaft D a cranked shaft may as well be applied and
the pendulum E suspended from the web r of such shaft.
In this modification which illustrates a preferable arrangement and combination of
parts in accordance with our present invention the motion of the pendulum is
transmitted to the clapper B in the following manner that is to say —
Upon the foundation plate carrying the bearings e of the pendulum-shaft D are
fixed the two standards (* in the upper ends of which is journalled the shaft & to
which are fixed the arms B' of the clapper B and the two levers d'. It will be
noticed that in order to obtain an easier movement of the clapper B the latter is
hinged to its arm B at s, and further that the levers d' may be regarded practically
as one two-armed lever connected by the intermediate portion of the shaft d to which
they are rigidly secured. The ends of this lever d' are linked by means of the links C
to the ends of similar levers d² fixed upon the pendulum shaft D. Both the levers d¹
and assume a horizontal position when the arm B₁ of the clapper B is in its vertical
position, or at rest. The oscillating motion of the pendulum E and the rocking notion
of the shaft D thereby produced as hereintofore described caused by means of the
levers fixed to the said shaft and by means of the links C2 reciprocated by the latter
the lever to be likewise raised and pulled downward alternately and thus to transmit
a rocking motion to the shaft d carrying the fixed arm B with the clapper B so that
the latter will strike the bell A alternately.
The means for imparting the required oscillating motion to the shaft D carrying
the pendulum E, are not illustrated in this modification for the sake of clearness and
for the reason that they are the same as, and do not differ as regard their function
from those shown in the preceding figures and as heretofore described.
It will be noticed that in this modification the desired length of the stroke of the
clapper B in proportion to the length of the stroke of the pendulum E allows of being
regulated readily and nicely by choosing the length of the lever arms d' in the proper
proportion to that of the lever arms as it will be seen that by making the length
of the arms as compared to the length of the arms in a proportion of 1 to 2, the
angle of motion of the clapper B will be twice the size of the angle through which
the pendulum E moves, so that by these means a long and powerful stroke of the
clapper can already be obtained even if the pendulum E is reciprocated only through
a relatively small field of oscillation.
The pendulum system herein before described can moreover be modified in such a
manner that the clapper has its point of suspension not on the upper part situated
within the body of the bell as before described, but upon the oscillating shaft D
itself. The turning point of the pendulum system is in this case placed higher but is
still in the perpendicular central axis of the body of the bell. This modification has
been devised for such cases in which the construction of the belfry prevents the
arrangement of a sufficiently long pendulum below the existing bells as necessitated
by the mode of arranging the ringing apparatus herein before described if for this a
sufficiently large room for the pendulations does not exist.
A ringing apparatus carried out according to such a modification is illustrated in
Figure 8 in section and in Figure 9 in side elevation.
Below the body A of the bell which remains in the given position of repose the
clapper B is pivotted with its rod b upon the shaft D. The latter is supported in
bars D which are carried by cross rods Q of the two pendulums E. These pendulums E
are suspended in the perpendicular central line of the body A of the bell to the
beam of the hell upon which they will oscillate as soon as an arm E¹ of the same
is set in motion by traction. In order to maintain the clapper B in the vertical
position its rod b is provided at the end opposite the clapper B, with a ball B' and a

page_text: pin B around which is slung a strap B provided with a load-box B³. The said strap
is guided between two rollers P2 arranged in a frame P¹ of the bars P whilst the
box B³ has received rollers B³ the cheeks of which engage with the bars P.
For the purpose of ringing the bell the pendulum E is set in oscillation through
the medium of the arm E. The clapper B oscillating with the said pendulum and
being loaded by the box B3 remains at rest until it strikes against the wall of the bell.
When this occurs, the clapper B is thrown back and lifts the box B8 by which it is
then moved to the original position of rest in the backward oscillation. The load-
box B³ therefore, has for its object not merely to hold the clapper but also to enable
the latter, on striking the bell, to be thrown backward.
The bell ringing apparatus as herein described allows of being constructed at a
relatively small cost as compared to the means heretofore employed and compares
favourably with the latter in respect of simplicity of construction and appliance and
require by far less power for being put and kept in operation whilst the body of the
bell cannot practically be worn away since the same after years may be turned slightly
on its vertical axis so as to bring other portions of its inner surface in contact with the
swinging clapper.
We wish it to be understood that we do not intend to confine ourselves to the means
mentioned herein for producing the oscillating motion of the shaft and the reciprocating
swinging movement of the clapper carried thereby.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is
First. The method of ringing bells of bell towers consisting in arranging the said
bells in a fixed position and imparting a reciprocating controllable motion to a
clapper by means of a pendulum system oscillated by a rocking shaft which receives
its motion by the descent of ropes acted upon by mechanical power substantially as
set forth.
Second. In an apparatus for ringing bells a two-armed pendulum fulcrumed in the
vertical axis of and below the body of the bell the upper arm of said pendulum
arranged to oscillate within the body of the bell forming the centre of oscillation for
the clapper in combination with means for imparting reciprocating motion to the said
pendulum substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Third. In an apparatus for ringing bells of bell-towers the combination with the
arms or standards C forming part of a pendulum system and the clapper journalled in
the upper ends thereof of the rocking shaft D substantially as set forth.
Fourth. In an apparatus for ringing bells the shaft D carrying a fixed two-armed
pendulum the upper part of which extends within a fixed bell in combination
with a two-armed lever G having the two suspended ropes J substantially as set
forth.
Fifth. In an apparatus for ringing bells the shaft D carrying a fixed two-armed
pendulum the upper part of which extends within a fixed bell in combination with a
two-armed lever G having the two suspended ropes J, the lower ends of which are
fastened to webs projecting in opposite direction from a cranked shaft and means for
rotating the latter substantially as set forth.
Sixth. In an apparatus for ringing bells the shaft D carrying a fixed two-armed
pendulum the upper part of which extends within a fixed bell in combination with a
two-armed lever G having the two suspended ropes J the lower end of one of which
is attached as described whilst the lower end of the other rope carries a counter-
weight, substantially as set forth.
Seventh. In an apparatus for ringing bells the shaft D carrying two pawls and a
fixed two-armed pendulum the upper arm or arms of which extend within a fixed bell
in combination with two ratchet-wheels arranged and rotated substantially as set
forth.
Eighth. In an apparatus for ringing bells the shaft D carrying rigidly secured

page_text: hereto the suspended pendulum E and the horizontally projecting levers or two
armed lever in combination with the links C and the levers or two-armed lever d¹
fixed upon the shaft d carrying the clapper substantially as set forth.
Ninth. In a bell ringing apparatus the modification of the pendulum system
constructed in such a manner that upon the shaft itself arranged in the pendulum
system, is pivotted a clapper which is loaded by a weight, while the turning point of
the pendulum system is on the beam of the bell in the perpendicular centre line of
the body of the bell, substantially as described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.