Keyboard Wind Instruments.
Year: 1885

page_text: Keyboard Wind Instruments.
I VINCENT 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:-
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The present invention relates to a novel construction of "balanced or com-
pensated" valve suitable for controlling the passage of air, gas, steam or other
fluid through pipes or air trunks, and is especially applicable to wind instruments
such as organs; the object in view being to prevent leakage when the valve is
closed, and to obtain a rapid response and a wide aperture with a minimum of
effort and a slight range of movement of the valve actuating mechanism.
To this end the invention consists in making the pallet or valve proper, and the
valve seat, co-operative in effecting the complete and rapid opening and closing
movements of the valve; that is in mounting and connecting the said parts in
such a manner that when the valve is pulled or thrust off its seat, the seat will
simultaneously recede from the valve, and when the valve moves to reseat itself,
the seat will be advanced to and firmly pressed against the said valve.
The advantage of such an arrangement is that it affords provision for
automatically making good the unsoundness of many ordinary valves due to the
expansion or contraction, or deterioration of materials and the wear and tear of
the valve seats.
The valve proper, and its seat, may be coupled or connected according to my
invention by any convenient mechanical movement compelling the valve and its
seat to travel in opposite directions, the soundness of the valve seating being
secured by a flexible diaphragm for air and gas, and by metallic packing or other
suitable means for steam.
As an example, the valve proper may take the form of a simple well-known
organ pallet or valve, and its seat the form of a small hinged bellows with an
aperture in each board, the pallet or valve proper being hinged to one board so as
to cover the aperture therein, and the other board of the bellows-like seat, being
fixed with its aperture over the channel through which the air is to pass.
The valve proper, and the advancing and retiring valve seat, are connected
by link rods to opposite ends of a rocking lever suitably fulcrumed at or near its

page_text: centre, the link rods being so proportioned and arranged that the bellows-like or
moveable seat is nearly, but not fully distended or advanced when the valve
proper is close to or seated upon it.
On the rocking lever being mechanically operated, it will pull the pallet in one
direction and thrust the moveable seat in the contrary direction, thus parting the
valve and its seat and producing for a given length of movement of the rocking
lever an opening double the area of a simple hinged valve having an ordinary
fixed seat. A reverse movement of the lever closes the opening or aperture by
causing the mutual approximation of the valve and its moveable seat.
If the respective areas of the valve and its moveable seat are correctly
proportioned the effort necessary to operate the lever, and open the valve against
the air or fluid pressure will be very small; the valve may in fact be balanced
exactly, or be mounted with a bias to remain open or closed, as may be necessary.
In the valve just described I arrange that the pressure on the valve proper shall
be slightly greater than the pressure on the moveable valve seat, and hence when
coupled as described the valve proper effects by its owing closing movement, a
movement of the moveable seat in the opposite direction, tending to ensure
perfectly air tight or sound closure between the valve and its seat.
For steam or water, the valve seat might take the form of an annular piston
suitably packed and moveable in a cylinder, the valve being of ordinary con-
struction having guides formed on it and fitting the moveable seat, and the two
parts of the valve may be coupled in the manner above described or be simul-
taneously moved in opposite directions by a pair of levers or equivalent device.
Any convenient device may be used for coupling the valve and its moveable
seat, so long as it ensures the contrary movements of the valve and its seat when
opening and closing.
Freedom from unsoundness is secured by the valve and its moveable seat
meeting each other directly, no delicate adjustment being necessary to secure this,
as is the case with ordinary double beat valves.
The invention is very suitable for controlling the admission of air to the pedal
pipes in organs, and enables the valves to be opened to a sufficient extent to admit
of the passage of a considerable volume of air, by pneumatic levers of considerably
less size than heretofore, while at the same time ensuring complete soundness and
increased durability of the valves.
The valve and its moveable seat may assume many forms, circular, square or
rectangular, and they may be hinged or mounted so as to maintain their parallelism
when advancing or retiring in respectively opposite directions.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Keyboard Wind Instruments.
I VINCENT 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:-
This invention relates to a novel construction of "balanced" or "compensating"
valve, suitable for controlling the passage of air through pipes or air trunks, and
is especially applicable to keyboard wind instruments, such as organs; the object
in view being to obtain a rapid response to the movement of the organ keys, and
a wide opening for the passage of the air, with a slight range of movement of tho
valve-actuating mechanism, that being secured by a minimum effort of the player.
To this end the pallet valve and the valve seat are caused to co-operate in
effecting the rapid opening and closing movements of the valve. This co-operative
action is obtained by mounting and connecting the said parts in such a manner;
that as the valve is pulled or thrust off its seat, the seat will simultaneously recede
from the valve, and when the valve moves to re-seat itself, the seat will be
advanced to and pressed against the said valve.
An incidental advantage of such an arrangement is, that it automatically provides
for the soundness of the valve,-a desideratum in many compensating valves, their
defect being due to the expansion or contraction or deterioration of materials and
the wear and tear of the valve seats.
The valve or pallet and. its seat may be coupled or connected according to my
invention by any convenient mechanical movement suitable for securing the
synchronous action of the moving parts.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 shews in side elevation, and
Fig. 2 in end elevation, my improved construction of compensating or balanced
valve, as applied to the wind chest of an organ, the valve being in its normal or
closed position.
In these Figures, A is the pallet valve, and B the valve seat. C is the wind
chest in which the valve is placed for controlling the delivery of the compressed
air therefrom.
The valve seat B is formed by one side of a small bellows, the other side being
secured to the wind chest, and both being pierced centrally to correspond with a
hole leading into the pipe groove (over the wind chest) through which the air is to
be passed to the organ pipe above. D is the leather of the bellows connecting its
two rigid sides together after the manner of constructing pneumatic levers.
The pallet or valve A, which is of the usual construction, is secured to its seat
by a leather hinge, and it is steadied in its movements by guide pins projecting
from the valve seat.
E is a rock lever pivotted on a post F, which stands up from the floor of the
wind chest, and is adjustable lengthwise in its supporting socket, for the purpose to
be hereafter mentioned.
Jointed to one extremity of this lever is the tracker G, which is in communication
with its corresponding finger kev

page_text: To this lever E, near the tracker end, a link H, pendent from the pallet A, is
jointed.
I is a similar link pendent from the valve seat, and jointed to the opposite end
of the lever E to that which connects with the tracker.
When, therefore, by the depression of a key by the performer, the tracker G is
caused to rock the lever E, the pallet will be drawn from its seat, and through the
mechanical connection just described, the valve seat B will be thrust in an opposite
direction.
Thus, if the pallet be drawn down from the normal position of Fig. 1, say, three
eighths of an inch, an opening double that in width will be presented for the passage
of air from the wind chest, the valve seat moving in an equal degree from its normal
position, as indicated at Fig. 3, where the tracker is supposed to have been drawn
down by the player to sound the pipe controlled by the opened pallet.
K is a spring bearing on the back of the pallet, and serving to return the pallet
from its open to its closed position. This spring is, however, unnecessary when the
weight of the valve seat is superior to that of the closed pallet.
To understand the compensating property of this valve, it must be borne in
mind that the pressure of the air which keeps the pallet to its seat, also tends, by
pressing the leather coupling D inwards, to draw back the scat from its pallet, and
by this tendency, to force, through the link I, rock lever E, and link H, the pallet
away from its seat.
To adjust the valve, therefore, so as to secure the exact amount of compensation
required, it will only be necessary to raise or lower the fulcrum of the rock lever E,
and thereby to enlarge or contract the area of the leather D exposed to the pressure
of the compressed air in the wind chest, and it is for this reason that the post F is
made adjustable in the direction of its length as above mentioned.
In some cases it may be found desirable that the valve and its seat shall, in
moving to and from each other, retain their parallelism, as a larger area of opening
for the passage of the air will be thereby secured, without changing the size or
increasing the motion of the valve.
One mode of obtaining the parallel motion is indicated in the diagram Fig. 4,
which shows a duplication of the mechanism illustrated at Fig. 1 for connecting
together the valve and valve seat, and ensuring their synchronous motion when
brought into action.
From the foregoing it will be understood that the invention is specially suitable
for controlling the admission of air to the pedal pipes of organs, as it provides for
the opening of the valves to a sufficient extent to admit of the passage of a con-
siderable volume of air, by the aid of pneumatic levers of comparatively small size,
while at the same time ensuring complete soundness and increased durability of
the valves.
· 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
Constructing compensating valves as described, whereby the valve and its
adjusted seat will be compelled to move from each other to open a passage for the
air, and advance towards each other to close the opening.
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