AN IMPROVED PIANOFORTE ACTION
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Chappell Holman, of London Street, Fitzroy
Square, in the County of Middlesex, and Edward Walter Holman, of
Grafton Street, Fitzroy Square, in the same County, Pianoforte Manu-
facturers, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PIANOFORTE ACTION."
Sealed the 1st April 1859, and dated the 2nd October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Chappell Holman
and Edward Walter Holman at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 2nd October 1858.
We, JOHN CHAPPELL HOLMAN, of London Street, Fitzroy Square, in the
County of Middlesex, and EDWARD WALTER HOLMAN, of Grafton Street,
Fitzroy Square, in the same County, Pianoforte Manufacturers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PIANOFORTE
ACTION," to be as follows:-
According to this Invention, which has reference chiefly to upright piano-
fortes, the "dampers' are placed so as to act immediately beneath the
hammer heads, and are connected with the keys in such manner as to afford
greatly increased facility for adjustment, and to maintain the same weight of
touch whether the loud pedal be in action or not.
For this purpose the dampers are carried by levers acted upon directly by

page_text: the cushioned ends of suitable screws tapped or screwed into, and carried by
pieces or projections formed upon or attached to the "sticker levers" which
sticker levers bear upon "hopper flys" attached to the keys, and communicate
motion through suitable "stickers" to the "hammer butts" in the ordinary
_manner. The cushioned screws, whereby the damper levers are acted upon,
pass through holes formed in the stickers (of sufficient size to allow the screws
to clear) or otherwise, between the stickers to the front of the action where
their ends project, and thus enable the screws to be turned, and consequently
moved either forward or backward so as to adjust the amount of pressure
against the damper levers as required without its being necessary for that
purpose to remove or disturb any part of the action.
Light springs are made use of for the purpose of keeping the damper levers
in contact with the cushioned ends of the screws, and act at the same time to
assist in carrying back the hammers after the notes have been struck.
The act of striking a key or note causes the cushioned end of its screw to
press against the lower part or arm of the corresponding damper lever, and
thereby to remove the damper attached to its upper end from the string, in
which (removed) position it remains until the key is released, when the action
of the spring before mentioned upon the damper lever at once carries it back,
and causes the string to be again "damped."
The "damper rail" to which the fulcrums of the damper levers are attached
is made moveable, and connected with the loud pedal in such manner as to be
drawn backward when the pedal is pressed upon, thereby removing and keeping
the whole of the dampers from contact with the strings until the pedal is
released, but allowing the damper levers to be operated upon and moved by
the cushioned screws when the keys are struck as before, thereby maintaining
the weight of touch unaltered, notwithstanding that the dampers have ceased
for the time to act upon the strings.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Chappell Holman and Edward Walter Holman in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 2nd April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
CHAPPELL HOLMAN, of London Street, Fitzroy Square, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, and EDWARD WALTER HOLMAN, of Grafton Street, Fitzroy Square, in
the same County, Pianoforte Manufacturers, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said John Chappell Holman and Edward Walter Holman, Her special
licence that we, the said John Chappell Holman and Edward Walter Holman,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
John Chappell Holman and Edward Walter Holman, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "AN IMPROVED PIANOFORTE ACTION," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said John Chappell Holman and Edward Walter Hol-
man, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our,
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 we, the said John Chappell Holman and Edward
Walter Holman do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
According to this Invention, which has reference chiefly to upright pianofortes,
the "dampers" are placed so as to act immediately beneath the hammer heads,
and are connected with the keys in such manner as to afford greatly increased
facility for adjustment, and to maintain the saine weight of touch whether the
loud pedal be in action or not. For this purpose the dampers are carried by
levers, acted upon directly by the cushioned ends of suitable screws tapped or
screwed into, and carried by pieces or projections formed upon or attached to
the "sticker levers," which sticker levers bear upon "hopper flys" attached
to the keys, and communicate motion through suitable "stickers" to the
"hammer butts" in the ordinary manner. The cushioned screws, whereby
the damper levers are acted upon, pass through holes formed in the stickers
(of sufficient size to allow the screws to clear) or otherwise, between the
stickers, to the front of the action, where their ends project, and thus enable
the screws to be turned, and consequently moved either forward or backward,

page_text: so as to adjust the amount of pressure against the damper levers as required,
without its being necessary for that purpose to remove or disturb any part of
the action. Light springs are made use of for the purpose of keeping the
damper levers in contact with the cushioned ends of the screws, and act at
the same time to assist the carrying back the hammers after the notes have
been struck.
The act of striking a key or note causes the cushioned end of its screw to
press against the lower part or arm of the corresponding damper lever, and
thereby to remove the damper attached to its upper end from the string, in
which (removed) position it remains until the key is released, when the
action of the spring before mentioned upon the damper lever, at once carries
it back, and causes the string to be again damped."
"
The damper rail" to which the fulcrums of the damper levers are
attached is made moveable, and connected with the loud pedal in such manner
as to be drawn backward when the pedal is pressed upon, thereby removing
and keeping the whole of the dampers from contact with the strings until the
pedal is released, but allowing the damper levers to be operated upon, and
moved by the cushioned screws, when the keys are struck as before, thereby
maintaining the weight of touch unaltered, notwithstanding that the dampers
have ceased for the time to act upon the strings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a section at
right angles through the lever, hammer, and damper rails, and hammer rest
of a pianoforte action constructed according to our said Invention ; the
various parts in this figure being shewn in their normal position, or in other
words as they would appear before being acted upon by the performer; Fig. 2
is a similar view shewing the position of the various parts after the key has
been struck, and while it is yet held; Fig. 3 is a front elevation of part of
the action with the keys in section; and Fig. 4 a sectional view similar to
Figs. 1 and 2, shewing the position into which the daniper rail is moved by
the loud pedal, for the purpose of taking the dampers out of action as re-
quired. The same letters of reference are made use of to indicate similar
parts throughout.
a represents the key working upon the fulcrum b, and carrying the hopper c,
acting upon the sticker lever d, to which is connected the sticker e acting upon
the butt of the hammer f in the ordinary manner. The screw 9 is tapped into
the piece or projection h, formed upon or attached to the sticker lever, and

page_text: passes so as to clear through a hole formed in the sticker e, to the front of the
action, for the purposes of adjustment as before-mentioned. The inner end
of the screw g carries a cushion or pad i, acting against a projection j attached
to the lower end of the damper lever k, having its fulcrum at 7 upon the rail
m, and carrying the damper n. The lever rail p, carries a spring 9 which
acts against the lower end of the damper lever k, and keeps, the projection j
attached to or formed thereon, in contact with the padded end of the screw g
in all positions of the action. The damper rail m is supported at each end
by means of a pin r passing through the style s. These pins form centres
upon which the rail may, by means of the arm or levert be slightly turned,
and caused to assume the position represented at Fig. 4, thereby drawing
back the entire series of dampers, and withholding them from contact with
the strings, the arm or levert being moved by the pedal action in the usual
manner.
The act of striking a key operates upon the hammer in the ordinary way,
and at the same time causes the cushioned end i of the screw g to push back
the lower end of the damper lever, and thereby to remove the damper n from
the string as shewn at Fig. 2, thus allowing the vibration of the string to
continue unchecked until the key is released, when the parts will immediately
fall back into the position represented at Fig. 1.
Fig. 5 is a front elevation of part of an action, shewing the mode of applying
our Invention to that description of upright instrument known in the trade as
oblique, from the circumstance of a part or the whole of the strings being
carried obliquely across the vertical plane in which they are situated.
In this case the heads of the hammers f are set upon their stems or shaped
to angles corresponding with those of the strings u upon which they are to act.
The dampers n are carried by levers k as described with reference to the pre-
vious Figures, but with this difference, that as, owing to the obliquity of the
strings, the dampers are not situated in a vertical line beneath the hammer
heads, the lower ends only of the damper levers are opposite to the stickers e.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same may be performed, we would remark that we do
not limit ourselves to the precise details represented, as the same obviously
admit of being more or less modified without departing from the leading
features of our Invention; with reference to which we claim,-
Firstly, the mode described of operating upon the damper levers.
And, secondly, the use or employment of a screw passing through or
between the stickers to the front of the action, whereby the amount of
$

page_text: pressure of the dampers upon the strings may be regulated as described, with-
out its being necessary for that purpose to remove any part of the action.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Chappell Holman and Edward
Walter Holman, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Second
day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-nine.
Witness,
JOHN CHAPPELL (L.S.) HOLMAN.
EDWARD WALTER (L.s.) HOLMAN.
FRANCIS WISE, Patent Agent,
108, Fleet Street, London, E. C.