Bellows

For the writer, see Saul Bellow

The bellows is a device for delivering pressured air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location. At its most simple terms a bellows is a container which is deformable in such a way as to alter its volume which has an outlet or outlets where one wishes to blow air. A bellows differs from a fan in that it exerts much greater control in where it delivers the air.

Several metallurgical processes require such heat that they could only be developed after the invention of the bellows.

See also sylphon for uses of metal bellows in experimental physics and engineering.

In musical instruments, such as the reed organ, the bellows is often employed as a substitute or regulator for air pressure provided by the human lungs.

The bellows is the pleated expansible part that rides on an optical bench in a large- or medium format film camera. The bellows provides a flexible dark enclosure between the film plate and the lens plate. This way you can change the angle the light hits the film providing a way to correct for vanishing points and perspective. There are 2 common kinds of bellows: Bag bellows, which are for when the focal length is lower than an accordion bellows', and accordion bellows which can extend farther than bag bellows.

The bellows can also refer to a length or direction adjustable tubular element; in collapsible devices or applications that require as good sealing as possible, or that cannot accommodate other methods of achieving those aims.

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