IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ORGANS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henty Willis, of Albany Street, Regent's Park, in
the County of Middlesex, Organ Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ORGANS."
Sealed the 25th March 1862, and dated the 8th October 1861.
PROVISIONAL
SPECIFICATION
left by the said Henry Willis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
October 1861.
1, HENRY WILLIS, of Albany Street, Regent's Park, in the County of Middle-
sex, Organ Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ORGANS," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates, firstly, to the employment of means for overcoming
the inconveniences arising from the pressure of the air upon the valves of the
organ and reducing the noise occasioned by their closing, the object being at
the same time to retain the simplicity of action of the ordinary valve. To
accomplish this I prefer to take an ordinary solid valve and to hollow out the
surface which is to receive the leather packing, leaving only that portion of its
face which laps its seat, I then bore a hole through the valve at any convenient
To prevent this packing
part, and cover the valve with leather as usual.
from being blown into the chamber or groove in the form of a sack, by reason
of the air from the wind chest pressing on its back surface it will be necessary
to place a grating over the opening which the valve covers, and it will greatly
enhance the effect if the bars of the grating be cambered so as to press the

page_text: packing into the excavated portion of the valve. The mode of operating the
valve will be the same as usual. Its action will be as follows:-When the
performer touches the key that commands the valve, the rigid portion will
first rise from its seat, being scarcely affected by the pressure of the air: this
will allow the compressed air to pass the valve in sufficient quantity to relieve
the pressure remaining on the flexible portion of the valve. As the valve is
opened the packing leather will become inflated, and form a convex surface.
On the closing, therefore, of the valve, the flexible sack will first meet the
grating and strike it silently like an air cushion. The air will then escape
out at the hole in the back of the valve. In very large valves such as those
used in pedal organs, 1 may find it advisable to apply some simple means to
this hole at the back of the valve, for the purpose of regulating the escape of the
air from the expanded sack. In cases where the air is required to pass the
valve in uniform quantity, I may secure the foregoing advantages by placing
in some convenient position (by preference in the board enclosing and forming
the wind chest,) a flexible air-tight diaphragm which covers a hole in the
board. Through it the pull down passes, instead of through the usual brass
plate or purse, the diaphragm is secured on the inside of the wind chest in
such a manner as to enable the compressed air therein to expand it in the
form of a sack, and thereby assist in pulling open the valve. This diaphragm
I back by a disc, cone, of its equivalent, fixed by regulators upon the pull
down or wire used for opening the valve, and by this means as the diaphragm
is drawn down it will leave the disc, and thus a diminishing opposing influence
will be presented to the pressure of the air on the opening valve. All chance
therefore of the valve being held open by pressure from the diaphragm after
the first impulse is overcome will be removed. Sometimes it may be necessary
to bush the centre of the diaphragm for the purpose of allowing the pull down
to work beyond and through the sack, in which case the disc or cone will leave
the sack and only return when the pressure of air upon the valve requires
counteracting. As by the aforesaid contrivances the penumatic lever will
often be dispensed with altogether or very much reduced in size, I purpose to
apply this flexible diaphragm to supersede the inflating reservoir or bellowз
of that machine and also to apply it sometimes for guards and pneumatic
springs.
My Invention relates further to certain means for facilitating the opening
of the shutters of the swell box. In order to enable the performer to operate
the swell, when his feet are fully employed on the pedals, I provide a mouth-
piece attached to a flexible tube leading to a pneumatic apparatus.
By the
performer blowing with his mouth into this tube he will open one or a series

page_text: of valves contained therein which will admit air from the organ bellows to a
small bellows such as is now employed for moving the stops. The amount of
air thus admitted to the bellows may be regulated according to the amount
of power it is required to put forth. On the player ceasing to maintain the
pressure of air upon the open valve or valves, the action of the swell will
cease.
SPECIFICATION
in pursuance of the conditions of the Leiters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Willis, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 8th
April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WILLIS, of Albany Street, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex, Organ
Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Willis, Her special license that I, the said Henry Willis,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henry Willis, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
Invention for
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF ORGANS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Willis, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Willis, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates firstly, to the employment of certain means for

page_text: overcoming the resistance caused by the pressure of the air upon the valves of
the organ, and for reducing the noise occasioned by their closing, the object
being at the same time to retain the simplicity of action of the ordinary
valve.
Attempts have already been made to secure these results, but only
partial success has attended them; thus, in the arrangement known as
"Barkers," a double pallet, one overlying an opening in the other is employed.
as shown in the accompanying Drawing at Figures 1. Another arrangement,
in which also the pallet is divided into two parts, and shewn at Figures 2, is
known as "Holts," but in both of these the inconveniences complained of are
but partially remedied. In order, however. fully to accomplish the desired
end, I adopt the arrangement shewn in longitudinal section at Fig. 3, and in
cross section at Fig. 4, where A is the wind chest, and B the groove or
chamber intended to receive the compressed air on its passage to the pipe
intended to be sounded; C may be supposed to be an ordinary solid valve
hollowed out on that surface, which is to receive the leather packing to such
an extent as to leave only that portion of its face which laps the valve seat.
The valve is then covered with leather D as usual. Through the back of the
valve at any convenient part holes are bored to admit the compressed air to
the back of the leather; and to prevent this packing from being blown into
the chamber or groove in the form of a sack (by reason of the air from the
wind chest pressing on its back surface) a grating E is placed over the
opening which the valve covers. It will greatly enhance the effect if the bars
of the grating be cambered so as to press the packing into the excavated
portion of the valve. The mode of operating the valve will be the same as
usual; its action will be as follows:-When the performer touches the key
that commands the valve, the rigid portion or frame of the valve will first rise
from its seat (being scarcely affected by the pressure of the air,) and carry.
with it the outer parts or edges of the packing leather. This will allow the
compressed air to pass the lip of the valve in sufficient quantity to relieve the
pressure remaining on the still stationary portion of the valve covering. As
the valve is opened the packing leather will become inflated and form a
convex surface, as shewn at 1, Fig. 4. On the closing, therefore, of the
valve the flexible sack will first meet the grating, and strike it silently like an
air cushion. The air will then escape out at the holes in the back of the
valve, and the packing will then lie upon the grating, as shewn at 2 of the
same Figure. In very large valves, such as those used in pedal organs, I may
find it advisable to apply some simple means such as a sliding or swing cover
to the hole or holes at the back of the valve for the purpose of regulating the
escape of the air from the expanded sack. Fig. 5 shews a modification of this

page_text: arrangement for neutralizing the pressure of the air in the wind chest upon
the valve. In this example, the valve C, instead of being scooped out,
consists simply of a hollow frame packed with leather, covered at it's back
with a flexible diaphragm D. A cross bar E* connected to the sides of the
valve frame is applied to receive the pressure of the closing spring. Pendent
from the top of the groove or channel B are rods which carry a curved
board E that performs the office of the grating in the first described arrange-
ment, and takes the pressure of the greater portion of the flexible diaphragm.
The valve, therefore, as it is pulled down, will offer a resistance equal only to
the closing spring, and the pressure of the air on that portion of the valve
covering not resting on the board, and when this is overcome, the valve
will readily open to the full extent. In cases where the air is required
to pass the valve in uniform quantity. I propose to secure the foregoing advan-
tages by the arrangement shewn in the longitudinal section, Fig. 6. Attached
to the board enclosing and forming the wind chest, is a flexible air-tight
diaphragm F, which covers a hole G in the bottom board; through this
hole and through the diaphragm the pull down wire passes instead of
through the usual brass plate or purse. The diaphragm F is secured on
the inside of the wind chest in such a manner as to enable the compressed
air therein to expand it in the form of a sack, and thereby assist in pulling
open the valve; this diaphragm I back by a convex disc H or its equivalent
fixed by adjustable nuts upon the pull-down wire. When the valve is shut
this disc serves to sustain the flexible diaphragm against the pressure of the
air, and the pressure of the air on the valve will be in great part neutralized;
but as the disc is drawn down it will leave the diaphragm, and thus a dimi-
nishing opposing influence will be presented to the pressure of the air on the
valve, the diminution being in the same or a slightly quicker ratio than the
pressure of the air on the opening valve; no chance, therefore, will exist of
the valve being held open by pressure from the diaphragm. Sometimes it
may be necessary to bush the centre of the diaphragm by the insertion therein
of a kind of metallic eyelet hole for the purpose of allowing the pull-down to
work beyond and through the sack, in which case the disc or cone will leave
the sack, and only return when the pressure of air upon the valve requires
counteracting. This arrangement is shewn in cross section at Fig. 7, and
will require no further explanation.
My Invention relates further to certain means for operating the "swell,"
the object being to enable the performer to obtain with facility a crescendo and
diminuendo when his feet are already fully employed on the pedals. To this
end, I provide a mouth-piece attached to a flexible tube leading to a pneumatic

page_text: apparatus in connection with the organ swell, and I so arrange the pneumatic
apparatus, that the performer, by blowing into the tube, will be enabled to
set it in action, and cause it to open the shutters of the swell to any required
extent.
At Fig. 8, the means which I prefer to employ, in carrying out this object,
is shewn in sectional elevation; but it will be obvious that the novel means
which I propose for operating the organ swell through the medium of
pneumatic apparatus may be modified in various ways. In this Figure, a is
a mouth-piece shaped similar to those used for smoking tobacco, and screwed
to a cylinder b open at both ends, and containing a ball-valve c. This cylinder
is formed with a branch pipe d, to which is attached the flexible tube c. The
valve c is moved by the breath of the performer into the position of the dotted
valve, where it will close the outer end of the cylinder, and open a way for
the wind from the mouth to pass along the flexible tube e into a channel e*
formed in the side of the wind chest A, and thence to a small pneumatic
lever ; this lever bears upon the bowle of a rock lever g, the opposite ends
of which are coupled to roller valves h, h¹, somewhat similar to those described
in the Specification of my Patent of One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one,
but having openings of a taper form, as shewn in Fig. 9, for the entrance and
exit of the air. These valves are placed the one in the wind chest A and the
other in the chamber B beyond the former, being intended to supply a small
bellows i with wind from the wind chest, and cause it to expand and thereby
operate the swell, and the latter to permit of the escape of the wind when a
diminuendo is required. This small bellows i may be connected by any proper
mechanical contrivance to the swell action or to the pedal in connection
therewith according to circumstances, and its action may be vertical or hori-
zontal. The valves h, h¹, are so connected with the rock lever g, that they
will open alternately, there being a dead point between them, as shewn by the
dotted circles of Fig. 8.
It will now be understood that the performer, on blowing into the
cylinder b, will inflate the pneumatic lever f. and by that means open the
supply valve h (the escape valve being simultaneously closed). Air will thus
be admitted to the bellows i, which will operate upon the swell apparatus to
produce a crescendo. When this is accomplished, the performer may, by
pressing his tongue against the aperture of the mouth-piece a, close that
aperture, and maintain the swell in its open state; when, however, he desires
to produce a diminuendo, he has merely to draw the air from the mouth-
piece, and the valve c will move back to the position shewn in the Drawing.
'The wind from the pneumatic lever will escape up the channel e' and pipe e,

page_text: and discharge at the open end of the cylinder b into the atmosphere. The
supply cylindrical valve will then close, and the escape valve open, and the
swelling apparatus will return to its closed position.
I provide for the exit of
the condensed breath by a discharge opening at in the flexible tube and an
opening in the pneumatic lever f closed by a swing cover 1; the lever is
furnished with a weight to giye the cylindrical valve the necessary bias, and
to drive out the air from the pneumatic lever f.
The covers of the valve h, h', will be best made of waterproof silk or other
very flexible and air-tight material, and the pneumatic lever should also be
constructed of waterproof materials, such as gutta percha, ebonite, with folds
hinged with flexible waterproof material; m is a valve which as the bellows
rises closes the air passage to the bellows.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "Improvements in the
Construction of Organs," and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, I claim,-
First, facilitating the action and reducing the noise of valves by constructing
them hollow, and so that the compressed air may act against their elastic
coverings, for the purpose above described.
Secondly, compensating for the pressure of the compressed air on the back
of valves by means of a flexible diaphragm acting as above set forth.
Lastly, I claim the use of a mouth-piece in connection with suitable
pneumatic apparatus, as above described, for operating the louvres or equi-
valent devices of the "swell" in organs.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Willis, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
C. WINTERSGILL,
66, Chancery Lane.
HENRY WILLIS. (L.S.)