Improvements in the Mode of and Apparatus for Blowing Organs.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Sept., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 13th July, 1896-Accepted, 15th Aug., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Mode of and Apparatus for Blowing Organs.
I VINCENT WILLIS of Rochester Terrace, Camden Town in the County of
Middlesex, Organ Builder, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The objects of this invention are, firstly, to provide engines of the single-acting
type, which, combined in duplicate with two ordinary organ feeders, can generate
a practically continuous and uniform blast of air, and to improve the reversal of
the ordinary combination of a reciprocating engine with two or more coupled
feeders; and, secondly, to provide the organist with the means of starting engines
noiselessly.
In the Specification of a Patent granted to H. & V. Willis, No. 4382 of 1893,
the engine operates two feeders in such a manner that a quick return stroke enables
them to overlap the blasts, and thus secure a perfectly regular flow of air for a
regular consumption of water. This is accomplished by mechanical means which
I now seek to eliminate, finding a substitute in the peculiar resistance of the organ
feeder, and the tendency of water to select the lighter of two loads.
The resistance of an organ feeder, when commencing its stroke, may be rd more
than the resistance at the completion of its stroke, depending, of course, on the
size of the feeder, the width of the ribs, and the travel allowed, but a piston or
ram has the same power throughout its stroke. It therefore follows, that if two
similar separate single acting engines supplied from one source (especially when
constructed, as I will presently describe, with a long cut-off), coupled to two feeders
supplying one reservoir, are started slowly, they make their first stroke simul-
taneously, but some small inevitable difference in resistance gives one a lead, which
the decreasing feeder resistance enlarges, till they follow each other automatically,
overlapping their blasts, and generating a continuous and regular flow of air.
This condition is maintained as the speed is increased, until a speed is reached at
which the pulsatory momentum of the column of water in the mains, disregards
the correcting influence of the varying feeder resistance (depending of course on
the size and length of the mains supplying the engines), when the feeders move
almost simultaneously, reverting, however, to the desired sequential action as soon
as the speed falls. The range of speed includes that required for organ blowing
with feeders adapted to power, but even if more feeder area is required, the gain
in reliability, due to the use of two separate engines, and the absence of mechanical
connections, is ample compensation for the cost of the extra area.
The engines are preferably arranged to operate square feeders, as described in
the patent above referred to. They consist each of a working cylinder and a
piston, the rod of which extends upwards to the feeder, and is made fast thereto.
The piston rod is hollowed at its lower end, to receive a valve rod, and is fitted
with a perforated cover through which the valve rod passes freely. On this valve
rod, at opposite sides of the cover, are adjusted locked nuts, which acts as tappets,
enabling the piston, in travelling upwards, to draw the valve rod with it, when the
locked nuts engage the perforated cover, and vice versa. Passing through a gland,
this valve rod controls a small central or pilot valve, having a limited travel, and
arranged in the centre of a larger piston valve, which forms the main supply valve.
This supply valve moves in a cylindrical casing, and the pilot valve controls the

page_text: condition of the space below the supply valve. The upper part of the cylindrical
casing is arranged to receive and support the cylinder, and is prepared with two
recesses, which connect respectively with the inlet and openings of the working
cylinder. The upper recess is in connection with the main outlet or discharge,
controlled by a hollow cylindrical double-beat discharge valve, through which an
extension of the piston supply valve passes, and the lower recess is in connection
with the inlet or supply.
The double-beat valve is chosen because of its perfect soundness, and the
small lift required, but part of the main supply valve could perform the same
office.
The supply valve is taper fluted externally, so as to gradually cut off the supply
of water when the valve is drawn upwards, and it is arranged to engage the double
beat discharge valve directly the taper flutes are closed.
Convenient channels lead from the central or pilot valve to the supply and
discharge recesses, and to the bottom of the cylindrical valve casing. Screwed
stops are arranged in the base of the cylinder, to prevent excessive travel of the
discharge valve.
It will now be seen that all the moving parts of this engine are really strung
together, and have one common axis, and that on the screwed stops being removed,
the whole can be withdrawn through the cylinder without breaking a joint.
The action of the engine depends on the air resistance (except actual weight of
feeder &c.), vanishing when the travel of the piston ceases, and to make this
condition certain, I fit the feeders with small relief valves, which act just before
the completion of the stroke.
In
The action is as follows:-' Water being admitted to the inlet or supply recess,
finds the taper flates open, and passing up through the hollow cylindrical double
beat discharge valve into the working cylinder, raises the piston and feeder.
this upward movement, the piston engaging the pilot valve rod tappet, lifts it, and
thereby admits water below the supply valve, which has then an equal pressure
above and below it; further travel of the piston lifts the supply valve mechanically,
and absolutely cuts off the supply. The relief valve on the feeder is now in action,
and completes the exhaustion of the air from the feeder, at which time the water
pressure above the supply valve is only enough to support the weight of the feeder,
whilst the pressure below it, is equal to that necessary to lift the feeder at the
commencement of its stroke. The piston supply valve is consequently forced
upwards, thereby opening the double beat discharge valve, and permitting the
piston and feeder to fall suddenly. This return motion of the piston forces down
the pilot valve by striking its rod. It may be advisable to accelerate the action
of the pilot valve by interposing a small buffer spring. The continued fall of the
piston expels the water from below the supply valve, closing the discharge valve,
and opening the supply valve, and forcing water back into the main till the down-
ward motion is arrested.
The same principle may be advantageously applied to the ordinary reciprocating
toy engine, with its coupled feeders.
"
In the modern forms of this engine, the main supply valve is water shot, and is
so arranged that if water power fails to move the valve, a mechanical effort
follows, which, overcoming the static friction, enables the water to complete the
travel.
One convenient way of applying this principle, is to arrange the pilot valve with
two separate discharge outlets, connecting them respectively with the charged ends
of the main cylinder. This arrangement leaves the supply valve to the mechanical
attack, till the engine is at rest, and the feeder relief valve has operated, and the
pressure in the charged end of the cylinder is sufficiently reduced to enable the
water to complete the travel of the supply valve, as in the single-acting engine
described.
It is required to start water engines silently.
Many patented arrangements attempt this, by slowly opening a starting valve,

page_text: and although any goal engine is noiseless at a very slow speed, it is obvious that
the continued opening of a valve must increase this speel, till noise results.
A by-pass should effect the required result, and it has been tried but a premature
demand for wind arrests the action of the apparatus, when the larger valve remains
shut, and the wind fails.
To avoid this, I propose to put the supply cock under a double control by means
of a floating lever, one end of which is controlled by the bellows, the other by a
small hydraulic ram acting against a weight or spring, the centre being attached
to the lever of the supply cock. Then, as water is slowly admitted to the ram
from a valve at the keyboards, it will open the supply cock, while the bellow, in
rising, will close it, and so prevent access of speed, whilst any premature demand
for wind would not in the least interfere with the continued action of the ram.
Another method is to superimpose two rotating disc valves or slide valves on a
similar seat, one being controlled by the bellows, the other by the starting ram.
Or a piston valve, suitably shaped, may travel longitudinally, under the action of
a ram, in a plug cock or cuter piston valve controlled by the bellows, the essential
principle being a double control of one valve, or the independent control of a
moveable seat or outer valve.
Dated this 13th day of September 1895.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
I VINCENT WILLIS of 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 ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
In the Specification of a Patent granted to me in conjunction with Henry Willis,
No. 4382 of 1893, the engines operate two feeders in such a manner that a quick
return stroke enables them to overlap the blasts, and thus secure a perfectly regular
flow of air for a regular consumption of water. This is accomplished by mechanical
means which I now seek to eliminate, finding a substitute in the peculiar resistance
of the organ feeder, and the tendency of water to select the lighter of two loads.
This invention, moreover, relates to means for enabling the organist to start the
engines noiselessly.
The resistance of an organ feeder, when commencing its stroke, may be 3rd more
than the resistance at the completion of its stroke, depending of course on the size
of the feeder, the width of the ribs, and the limit of travel, whereas a piston or
ram has the same power throughout its stroke.
It is from a consideration of this fact, that the present invention has originated,
for if two similar separate engines, single-acting or otherwise, supplied from a
common source, coupled to two feeders, or pairs of feeders, supplying one reservoir,
are started slowly, they move at first uniformly, but soon some small inevitable
difference in resistance gives one a lead, which the decreasing feeler resistance
enlarges, till they follow each other automatically, overlapping their blasts, and
generating a continuous and regular flow of air.
This result ensure by a special arrangement of parts to be presently described
in detail.
1
The overlapping action of the feeders is maintained as the speed is increased,
until a speed is reached at which the pulsatory momentum of the column of water
in the mains disregards the correcting influence of the varying feeder resistance;..
when the feeders move almost simultaneously, reverting, however, o the desired

page_text: sequential action as soon as the speed falls. The range of speed includes that
required for organ blowing with feeders adapted to power, but even if more feeder
area is required, the gain in reliability, due to the use of two separate engines and
the absence of mechanical connections, is ample compensation for the cost of the
extra area.
In the accompanying drawings,-
Fig. 1 shows in sectional side elevation a pair of single-acting hydraulic engines
fitted to work according to this invention.
Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of valve mechanism suitable for use in connection
with a double-acting high-pressure engine which may form one of a pair for working
two sets of feeders.
These engines are preferably arranged to operate square feeders, as described in
the patent above referred to.
Referring to Fig. 1, the engines consist each of a working hydraulic cylinder A
fitted with a piston B, the rod B' of which extends upwards to the feeder C, and is
made fast thereto. The piston rod B is hollowed at its lower end to receive a
valve rod D, and it is closed at bottom by a perforated cover, through which the
valve red passes freely. On this valve rod D, at opposite sides of the cover, are
adjusted locked nuts d d', which act as tappets, enabling the piston, in travelling
upwards, to draw the valve rod with it, when the locked nuts engage the perforated
cover, and vice versu.
E is the water supply valve, in the centre of which works a small pivot valve Di,
made fast to the lower end of the valve rod D, which works through a gland
carried by the main valve E.
Both these valves E and DI are piston valves, and surrounding the valve E is an
annular exhaust valve F, which is notched at its inner periphery to form water-ways,
and is seated upon the lips of an annular passage Fat the bottom of the
cylinder A.
This annular passage is in communication with the discharge pipe F2, and when
the exhaust valve is lifted, it serves to discharge the water under pressure admitted
to the cylinder.
The supply valve E moves in a cylindrical casing A¹ that forms a longitudinal
extension of the working cylinder A, and closes that cylinder. At the bottom of
this cylindrical extension, and situate in the centre thereof, is a tubular projection a,
which communicates through a passage a¹ with the discharge pipe F2.
The valve E is, at its lower end, bored out to fit this tubular projection a', and
it carries a gland to make a water-tight joint therewith. The pilot valve D' is
designed to control the admission of water under pressure to, and discharge it from,
the space below the supply valve, and thereby through that valve to lift the
exhaust valve.
The cylindrical casing A' is flauged to receive the cylinder A, which is bolted
firmly thereto, and in the upper part of this casing an annular channel a³ is formed,
which communicates with the water-supply pipe G.
The supply valve is taper Huted externally, and receives water from the annular
channel in such wise as to gradually cut off the supply of water when the valve
is drawn upwards, and it is arranged to engage with and lift the discharge valve F
directly the taper flutes are closed.
Convenient channels lead from the certral or pilot valve to the supply and
discharge recesses, and to the bottom of the cylindrical valve casing. Screwed
stops are arranged in the base of the cylinder, to prevent excessive travel of the
discharge valve.
It will now be seen, that all the moving parts of this engine are really strung
together, and have one common axis, and that on the screwed stops being removed,
the whole can be withdrawn through the cylinder without breaking a joint.
The action of the engine depends on the air resistance, vanishing when the
travel of the piston ceases, and to make this condition certain, I fit the feeders
with small relief valves,, which act just before the completion of the stroke.

page_text: The action is as follows :-
Water being admitted from the inlet pipe to the annular channel a², finds the
taper flutes open (see the left hand engine, Fig. 1), and passing up through the
notches on the inner periphery of the discharge valve F into the working cylinder A,
raises the piston B, and feeder C. In this upward movement, the piston B,
engaging the pilot valve rod tappet d, lifts it, and thereby admits water, through
the passage e in the valve E, to the pilot valve, and thence, by the channel d² in
pilot valve, to the space a³ below the supply valve, which valve has then an equal
pressure above and below it. The further upward travel of the piston lifts the
supply valve mechanically, and absolutely cuts off the supply. The relief valve
on the feeder C is now in action, and completes the exhaustion of the air from the
feeder, at which time the water pressure above the supply valve is only enough to
support the weight of the feeder, whilst the pressure below it is equal to that
necessary to lift the feeder at the commencement of its stroke.
The supply
valve E is consequently forced upwards, thereby lifting the discharge valve F (see
right hand engine, Fig. 1), and permitting the piston and feeder to fall suddenly.
This return motion of the piston forces down the pilot valve D¹ by striking the
tappet d' on the rod D. It may be advisable to accelerate the action of the pivot
valve, by interposing a small buffer spring d³. The continued fall of the piston
expels the water from below the supply E, closing the discharge valve F, and
opening the supply valve E, and forcing water back into the main, till the downward
motion is arrested.
d' is a small perforation in the upper part of the main valve E, to permit the water
to escape from behind the pilot valve D'.
The same principle may be advantageously applied in operating the water supply
to the ordinary reciprocating "Joy" engine, with its coupled feeders.
In the modern forms of this engine, the main supply valve is water-shot, and is
so arranged that if water-power fails to move the valve, a mechanical effort
follows, which, overcoming the static friction, enables the water to complete the
travel.
In Fig. 2 of the drawings, I have shewn valve mechanism suitable for a double-
acting high-pressure hydraulic engine, the high velocity of which entails the
employment of special means to effect a sufficiently gradual movement of
the valve.
H is a lever fulcrummed on the alternating ram I. The long end of the lever H is
linked to the rod of a double-acting reciprocating engine (not shown), and the short
end engages alternately with the tappets jj on the rod k of the valves K, of which
there are a pair, for supplying and exhausting the engine cylinder at either end.
Each valve K consists of an upper or pilot valve l, and a lower or supply valve l¹.
The stirrups at either end of the rod k closely embrace the pilot valves l, so that
they move immediately with the rod independently of the supply valves l, which
are more loosely embraced by the said stirrups.
M M are the passages leading to the engine cylinder, and N N are the discharge
passages therefrom.
The action of this arrangement is as follows:-
The engine ram is about to move from right to left in the direction of the arrow.
Water under pressure being admitted to the casing K*, containing the right hand
valve K, it finds its way by the small channel m beneath the supply valve 1, into
the passage M. The ram now begins to move, rocking the lever in the direction of
the arrow.
Towards the end of the stroke, the short end of the lever having
left the tappet j, strikes the tappet j', and pushes the pilot valve forward, so as to
close the channel m, and cut off the water supply to the engine at that end.
At this moment, at the other end of the rod k, water is admitted from the
casing K through the port o in the pilot valve l, which has just been shifted, and
the passage o' to the left hand end of the ram 1. At this moment, the feeder relief
valve comes into action to remove the load, in the manner already explained with

page_text: regard to the single-acting engine. This has the effect of enabling the ram I to
move to the right, thereby still further moving, by means of the lever H, the valve
rod k, and all the valves connected therewith. The ports in the valves on the
right hand are now open to the exhaust N, while, on the left, the channel m bas
been uncovered, to open the water supply from the casing K** to the cylinder at
the other end.
The object of fulcrumming the lever in the alternating ram is to continue
the mechanical control as far as possible. After reversal, the alternating and motor
rams travel in the same direction, and consequently the movement of the main
valve is the result of a compound effort. The speed of the alternating ram is
adjustable by means of choking screws o², and is constant. The speed of the motor
ram varies with the requirements of the organ, and it exerts a counteracting
influence on the effort of the alternating ram, and as its counteracting influence
increases with speed, the reversal at high speeds is or may be more gradual than at
low speeds.
In the illustration the fulcrum is between the points of attack, but where
greater sensitiveness is required, it may be outside them, if the valves are suitably
ported.
The pilot valve must always move first, and to ensure this, the surface of the
main valve exposed to constant pressure must be greater than that of the
pilot valve.
It will be understood that the air relief valve is necessary with this type of
engine. If the feeder valves could be relied on, the engine would reverse without
relief valves, or the relief valves, combined with non-return valves, might discharge
into the retreating feeder, but feeder valves are not reliable, and therefore the
outside relief valve is essential.
To start the engines silently, the organist is provided with mechanis:n, which is
such as to maintain automatically the engines at the speed required, by regulating
the water supply to the engines according to the work demanded, so as to avoid
noise, which immediately results should an excess of speed be attained.
According to my present invention, the supply of water to the engine is, in being
started, put under the joint control of the water admitting device, and the bellows.
In the drawing (Fig. 1) I have shown a method of thus controlling the water,
consisting of the following arrangement, amely :-P is a supply cock having
a valve rod p pendent from a floating lever Q, one end of which is controlled by
the bellows R, while the other end is connected to the piston rod of the starting
ram S, or other starting device. Water under pressure is admitted by the organist
to the ram S by the small pipe s. A slow upward movement of the weighted piston
red s follows, and the lever Q attached thereto is rocked, to lift the valve rod p
jointed to the lever Q at the middle of its length, thereby gradually opening
the valve P, and gently admitting water under pressure by the supply pipe G to
the engines.
The speed of the engines thus set in action is controlled and regulated
automatically in the following manner :-
To the movable portions of the bellows R, is jointed a rock lever r, or its
equivalent, having a fixed fulcrum at . When the bellows begin to by the
pumping of the engines, the lever ris rocked, and caused to operate, by means of a
suitable connection 9, the floating lever Q before mentioned. In this manner,
the
bellows tend to close the valve P, opened by the ram S, and between the two, the
supply of water to the engines is so regulated as to restrict the speed as required,
and in this manner silence of action during filling is ensured.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed: declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. The improved method of blowing organs herein before explained, wherein the

page_text: unequal resistances of two simultaneously started feeders, or sets of feeders, are
utilized for giving a lead to one of a pair of motor engines, so as to produce
overlapping in the feeder's action as and for the purpose above set forth.
2. The arrangement of single-acting engine described with reference to Fig. 1 of
the drawings, comprising pilot and supply valves operating as explained in
conjunction with a feeder relief valve, as set forth.
3. The central valve single-acting engine described with reference to Fig. 1 of
the drawings, wherein the working parts are capable of withdrawal through the
cylinder, without breaking joint, as set forth.
4. The means described with reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings, for actuating
the valves of reciprocating double-acting engines, such means comprising an
intermediate alternating ram, with a lever fulcrummed thereon, as set forth.
5. The means described with reference to Fig. 2, of the drawings, by which
the action of the alternating ram awaits the relief of pressure in the feeder, as set
forth.
6. Restricting the speed of engines for organ blowing as required, by means of
an automatic cut-off connected to the bellows, and operated by the latter, to ensure
a slow and silent admission of liquid under pressure by tending, during the inflation
of the bellows, to close the supply as it is opened by the organist.
Dated this 13th day of August 1896.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.