IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1855

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Pape at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1.22nd January 1855..
"
I, JOHN HENRY PAPE, of Paris, do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES " to be.as follows:- i.
My Invention' consists of employing tuned forks or instruments in the nature
of forks in combination with, or in addition to, the ordinary strings. These
forks may be single or double, and may be used through the whole extent of
the instrument together with strings, .or. they may be used in one part of the
instrument and strings in the other part. of the. instrument. The sounding
board is placed behind the braces, and the strings are fixed at one end, each on
two pins, one of which is a spring pin:so. as-to: maintain: an equal tension of
the strings, and the Stringspass through brass; forked, staples fixed on the
bridge, instead of the pins heretofore employed.
The Invention also consists of. using one or two double-motioned. hammers
when strings and forks are combined, one of the hammers..striking .the string,

page_text: and then moving backward, and damping with its back the sound of the fork
which has been struck by the other hammer, while the other hammer, having
struck the fork, moves backward, and damps with its back the sound of the
string which has been struck by the first hammer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Pape in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY PAPE, of Paris, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Henry Pape, Her special licence that I, the said John Henry
Pape, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Pape, 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 John Henry Pape, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, 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 John Henry Pape, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say) :-
:-
Figure 1 represents a new instrument, in which the tone is produced partly
by metal forks and partly by strings. This instrument has seven complete
octaves in a much smaller and lighter case than that of the ordinary piano-
fortes, keeping almost constantly in tune and not so expensive. A, strings; B,
tuning pins; C, brass staples, through which the strings pass, and receive the

page_text: side bearing, which they generally receive by means of the double pins. These
staples are placed on the bridge D. E, spring staples, which are placed on
the tuning pin block F, instead of bridge and pins, usually employed. These
spring staples are to maintain an equal tension of the strings; they are repre-
sented in Figure 10. A small bridge G communicates in the bass by means
of small wooden pillars H to the sounding board I, which is behind the braces.
The spring staples are placed in the bass on this small bridge. This arrange-
ment has the advantage of a good deal shortening the body of the instrument.
The bridge D receives also in the treble a sheet of iron K, on which are fixed
the forks and double forks L, or vibrating springs instead of strings. This sheet
of iron can be regulated by the screws N for the part of the belly necessary;
it is fixed on an iron rod O. The forks can be disposed either one, two,
three, or four in number; in the latter case, two of them sound by communi-
cation when the two others are struck by the hammer. These forks can be
made of different shapes. Those represented, Figures 2 and 3, have this
advantage, that they can be tuned by loosening the screw P, and by lengthen-
ing or shortening the reed on the little bridge Q.
Figures 4 and 5 represent different other systems of forks for the bass.
Figure 6, plan, represents a horizontal piano of an oval form, also partly
strings and partly vibrating springs. The arrangement of the strings and
of the iron plate being on the same principle as in the instrument repre-
sented, Figure 1, I think all further description on this subject unnecessary.
A, strings; B, pin block; C, tuning pin block; D, bridge, on which is fixed
the iron plate; E, the sounding board; F is here placed over the braces; the
finger board can also have seven octaves. Figure 7, section of the action.
A, key of the finger board; B, balance; C, hopper; D, nut of the hammer E,
which has its centre F; G, check; H, second hammer, put in motion by the
screw I, and serving at the same time to strike the string J, and by returning
to its place to damp with its back K the fork L, which has been struck by the
first hammer E and simultaneously. Figure 8, view of the instrument
standing; Figure 9, brass staples of the bridge. The string A passes through
the holes B, bored in a slanting manner, so that the string side bears itself.
Figure 10, spring staples, fixed on the tuning pin block, instead of the bridge
and the pins usually employed, for the purpose of maintaining an equal tension
of the strings. A, string; B, brass piece, having its centre C. In this brass
piece is made a little saw carve D, through which the string passes, and is
squeezed by the little knob E, left on the brass piece against the pin F. This
brass piece is kept down by the spring G and the screw nut H, which serves
to regulate I, brass pin, used as a mark for the point J to bring the string into

page_text: When the string has become flat the point J is below, and when it is
sharp the point is above, and in that case the tuning pin is to be turned a
little until such time as the point comes to its right place. Figure 11,. the same
system on the horizontal side.
In witness whereof, 'I, the said John Henry Pape, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of March, in the year of
"our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
THOMAS, PICKFORD,
Her Britannic Majesty's Consul
J. H. PAPE. (L.S.)
..
at Paris.