IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OR PIANOFORTES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Thompson, of the Firm of Thompson and
Shackell, of Guildhall Square, Carmarthen, in the County of Car-
marthen, Pianoforte Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OR PIANOFORTES
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Thompson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 24th
April 1866.
I, SAMUEL THOMPSON, of the Firm of Thompson and Shackell, of Guild-
hall Square, Carmarthen, in the County of Carmarthen, Pianoforte Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIANOFORTES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements upon an Invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to me in conjunction with Henry Thompson,
dated 11th November 1857, No. 2844, the object of the said Invention
being to increase the effectiveness of such musical instruments, and to

page_text: facilitate the performance thereon by enabling the performer to produce an
octave or chord at will by merely striking a single key.
In the present Invention the whole of the additional apparatus is connected
to the keyboard, without in any way interfering with the action, and by its
arrangement in this position the Invention can be applied readily to grand
or other pianofortes, to which the former Invention was not applicable.
My Invention consists principally in placing a series of diagonal levers
under the ordinary keys, and connecting them thereto in such a manner
that (at the will of the performer) they shall strike the octave above or below
simultaneously with the note answering to the key that has been struck
without bringing down or moving the key of the said octave.
In carrying out this Invention the "hopper" is not mounted on the key
proper but upon a lever, so that it can either rise with or without the key.
In one modification of the Invention the hopper is fixed to a short lever
mounted on the key. When the key is struck its backward end rises and
carries the lever and hopper with it, but when the short lever is acted upon
by the diagonal lever it throws up the hopper without depressing the key.
In another modification the hopper is fixed on the end of the diagonal
lever, and the end of the key proper acts against a projection from the front
of the hopper, the result being the same, namely, that the key will act upon
the hopper direct, but in the event of the hopper being raised by the diagonal
lever it will not act upon the key. The diagonal levers are thrown into or
out of gear with their respective keys, so as to sound the octaves or not as
desired by means of a pedal acting upon a bushed rail or other suitable
arrangement.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
THOMPSON, of the Firm of Thompson and Shackell, of Guildhall Square, 8
Carmarthen, in the County of Carmarthen, Pianoforte Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto

page_text: me, the said Samuel Thompson, Her special licence, that I, the said Samuel
Thompson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Samuel Thompson, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIANO FORTES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Thompson, my executors or
administrators, 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 Samuel Thompson, 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 in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to improvements upon an Invention for which
Letters Patents were granted to me in conjunction with Henry Thompson,
dated the Eleventh day of November One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
seven, No. 2844, the object of the said Invention being to increase the
effectiveness of such musical instruments and to facilitate the performances
thereon, by enabling the performer to produce an octave or chord at will by
merely striking a single key.
In the present Invention the whole of the additional apparatus is connected
to the key-board without in any way interfering with the action, and by its
arrangement in this position the Invention can be applied readily.to grand
or other pianofortes to which the former Invention was not applicable.
My Invention consists principally in placing a series of diagonal levers
under the ordinary keys, and connecting them thereto in such a manner
that at the will of the performer they shall strike the octave above or
below simultaneously with the note answering to the key that has been struck
without bringing down or moving the key of the said octave.
In carrying out this Invention the "hopper" is not on the key proper
but upon a lever, so that it can either rise with or without the key.

page_text: In one modification of the Invention the hopper is fixed to a short lever
mounted on the key. When the key is struck its backward end rises and
carries the lever and hopper with it, but when the short lever is acted upon
by the diagonal lever it throws up the hopper without depressing the key.
In another modification the hopper is fixed on the end of the diagonal
fever, and the end of the key proper acts against a projection from the
front of the hopper, the result being the same, namely, that the key will
act upon the hopper direct, but in the event of the hopper being raised by
the diagonal lever it will not act upon the key. The diagonal levers are
thrown into or out of gear with their respective keys, so as to sound the
octaves or not as desired, by means of a pedal acting upon a bushed rail or
other suitable arrangement.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improvements
in the Construction of Pianofortes," I will now proceed to describe more in
detail the manner in which the samo is to be or may be performed or carried
into practical effect, and in order that the same may be distinctly understood
I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have
marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those
in the following explanation thereof, that is to say :-
In the annexed Drawing Figure 1 is a plan view of the keyboard of a
pianoforte, showing in dotted lines the positions of the diagonal levers;
Figure 2 shows the application of my Invention to the mechanism of a grand
or other horizontal pianoforte, and Figure 8 shews a modification thereof, as
applied to the mechanism of an upright pianoforte.
In Figure 2, a, a, represents one of the ordinary keys of a horizontal
pianoforte, and b, b, is the diagonal lever (or lower key as it may be called);
c, c, are ordinary pin frames or blocks, and d, d, are the key rulers; e, e, is a
a projection or snout piece attached to the lower side of the ordinary key near
to its front end. Immediately beneath this is a short "sticker "f, f, hinged
at its lower end to an elbow 9, 9, attached to the forward end of the diagonal
lever or lower key b, b; f*, f*, are guide wires attached to the upper pin block
for the purpose of guiding the "stickers" and preventing them coming into
contact with each other; h, h, is the pedal rail, and i, i, is a bushed rail
attached thereto and embracing the whole of the short stickers f,f. When
this rail is in its ordinary position (shown in dotted lines) the short stickers are
out of the way of the projections e, e, and consequently the depression of the
key a, a, will have no effect upon the diagonal lever or lower key b, b, and the
action will be merely that of an ordinary pianoforte; but as soon as the foot

page_text: is placed upon the pedal it forces the pedal rail h, h, (and with it the bushed
rail i, i, and all the stickers f, f,) forwards into the position in which they are
drawn, and consequently the depression of the forward end of the key a, a,
will cause a similar depression of the forward end of the diagonal lever b, b,
the result of which will be described hereafter; j, j, is a hopper lever sup-
ported on pins on a metal plate k, k, and having jointed to its backward end
the hopper 1, 1; m, m, is the hopper spring; n, n, is a regulating screw, by
means of which the motion of the diagonal lever b, b, is communicated to the
hopper lever.
It will now be evident that if the key be struck whilst the
stickers are in the position shown by dotted lines, the rear end of the key
a, a, will raise the rear end of the hopper lever j,j, without producing any
effect upon the diagonal lever b, b, and only its respective note will be sounded,
but as soon as the stickers f, f, are moved into the position in which they are
drawn in lines the depression of the key a, a, will cause a similar depression
of the forward end of the diagonal lever thus throwing up the rear end of the
same, which acting against the screw n, n, will at the same time raise the
hopper lever j,j, of the octave above or below (as the case may be), and
hence the two notes of the octave will be sounded simultaneously. At the
same time it will be seen that the motion of this second bopper lever,
(whether of the octave above or below) will not communicate any motion
whatever to its own key.
In Figure 3 the same description applies, and the letters of reference (as
far as the letters i, i.) indicate the same parts, but in this arrangement, which
is specially applicable to upright pianofortes) the hoppers j, j, are fixed
on the rear ends of the diagonal levers b, b, and the end of the key a, a,
acts upon a projection k, from the front of the hopper; 1, 1, is the escapement
rail.
The effect of this arrangement is precisely the same as that of the
previously described combination, namely, that when the stickers are in the
dotted position the action is that of an ordinary pianoforte, but when the
stickers are in the position in which they are drawn in lines the diagonal
levers sound the octave above or below simultaneously with their own
notes without communicating any motion whatever to the keys of such
"
octave.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
Improvements in the Construction of Pianofortes," together with the manner
in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect,
I would remark in conclusion that I claim as my Invention the arrangements of

page_text: mechanism shown in the Drawings annexed and above described, or any
mere modification or imitation thereof, constructed and operating substantially
as and for the purposes herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Thompson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
SAMUEL THOMPSON. (L.s.)