IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin George Bruzaud, of Pembroke Road,
Kensington, in the employ of Messrs. Erard and Company, of 18,
Great Marlborough Street, Harp and Pianoforte Manufacturers, for
the Invention of "T
DO
Sealed the 6th May 1862, and dated the 26th February 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin George Bruzaud
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on the
26th February 1862.
I, EDWIN GEORGE BRUZAUD, of Pembroke Road, Kensington, in the employ
of Messrs. Erard and Company, of 18, Great Marlborough Street, Harp and
Pianoforte Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in pianofortes, and consists
combining with the strings of each note, at or near the base end of the
instrument, two dampers, which come in contact with the strings at two points
in their length at a distance the one from the other, by which arrangement
the vibration of the strings is more completely checked than when the strings
are damped at one point only in their length by means of a single damper.
The second or extra damper I employ is arranged in such a manner that it
may be thrown out of action without interfering with the first or ordinary

page_text: damper when the music which is being performed is of such a nature that it
is not desirable to check the vibration of the strings so instantaneously as it
would be by the simultaneous use of two dampers acting on different parts of
the strings.
The following is the manner in which I arrange the apparatus:-On the
opposite side of the strings to that on which the ordinary damper is placed a
rail is fixed, this is carried by the frame and iron bars, and has mounted on it
a series of levers, one to each note, the levers are nearly parallel to the strings,
and are capable of moving freely on pins or axes supported by the rail.
One end of each of these levers is connected by a link to the ordinary damper
of the corresponding note, and to the other extremity of the lever the second
or extra damper is attached, and it is furnished with a spring, which tends to
press it against the strings; when however, the ordinary damper is by the
action of the finger key lifted off the strings, this second or extra damper
moves at the same time off the strings; the connection between the two
dampers being, as before explained, such as to produce this result. In order
that the extra dampers may be thrown out of use when not required, a bar
passes along just in front of the extra dampers and under the ends of their
levers, thus it will be seen that by raising this bar the levers will be lifted so
as to hold their dampers out of contact with the strings. To give this motion
to the bar it is connected with arms hinged to the rail above mentioned; one
of these arms is prolonged beyond the centre, and the end of the prolongation
is connected by a link to one arm of a bell crank, and to the other end thereof
a draw bar is attached, at the further end of which is a stud, which is so
placed in one of the side cheeks of the instrument that the performer can
move it out or in as required. The ordinary damper (together with the extra
damper) can also, when required, be taken off by the pedal, as heretofore.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin George Bruzaud in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
GEORGE BRUZAUD, of Pembroke Road, Kensington, in the employ of Messrs.
Erard and Company, of 18, Great Marlborough Street, Harp and Pianoforte
Manufacturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our

page_text: Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edwin George Bruzaud, Her special licence that I, the said
Edwin George Bruzaud, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Edwin George Bruzaud, 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 and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edwin George Bruzaud, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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 Edwin George Bruzaud, 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 thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in pianofortes, and consists
in combining with the strings of each note at or near the base end of the
instrument two dampers, which come in contact with the strings at two points
in their length, at a distance the one from the other, by which arrange-
ment the vibration of the strings is more completely checked than when the
strings are damped at one point only in their length by means of a single
damper. The second or extra damper I employ is arranged in such a manner
that it may be thrown out of action without interfering with the first or
ordinary damper when the music which is being performed is of such a nature
that it is not desirable to check the vibration of the strings so instantaneously
as it would be by the simultaneous use of two dampers acting on different
parts of the strings.
.
The Drawing annexed shows a section of so much of the action of a piano-
forte with the improvements applied thereto as will enable me to describe the
manner in which the Invention is to be performed.
On the opposite side of the strings B to that on which the ordinary damper
A is placed a rail C is fixed, this is carried by the frame and iron bars, and
has mounted on it a series of levers E, one to each note; the levers E are
nearly parallel to the strings, and are capable of moving freely on pins or

page_text: axes D supported by the rail C. One end E¹ of each of these levers is
connected by a link F' to the ordinary damper A of the corresponding note,
and to the other extremity of the lever at F the second or extra damper A' is
attached, and it is furnished with a spring H, which tends to press it against
the strings; when however, the ordinary damper A is by the action of the
finger key lifted off the strings, this second or extra damper A' moves at the
same time off the strings, the connection between the two dampers being, as
before explained, such as to produce this result. In order that the extra
dampers A' may be thrown out of use when not required, a bar K passes
along just in front of the extra dampers and under the ends of their levers;
thus it will be seen that by raising this bar the levers will be lifted so as to
hold their dampers out of contact with the strings. To give this motion to
the bar K it is connected with arms L hinged to the rail C above mentioned;
one of these arms is prolonged beyond the centre, and the end of the pro-
longation is connected by a link to one arm of a bell crank, and to the other
end thereof a draw bar M is attached, at the further end of which is a stud N,
which is so placed in one of the side cheeks of the instrument that the
performer can move it out or in as required; this stud when drawn out drops
into the notch N', the return motion of the bar K when the stud N is freed
is ensured by the spring O. The ordinary damper (together with the extra
damper) can also, when required, be taken off by the pedal, as heretofore.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to any
of the parts separately; but what I claim is the combined arrangement
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin George Bruzaud, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
E. G. BRUZAUD. (L.S.)