Improvements in Sounding Boards for Pianos and like Instruments.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 11th June, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 13th Mar., 1899-Accepted, 10th June, 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Sounding Boards for Pianos and like Instruments.
We, HERBERT SAMUEL READING, trading as W Reading, of 16, Albion Road,
Tunbridge Wells, in the County of Kent, Furniture Dealer, and PERCY ARCHIBALD
READING, Pianoforte Tune, and OWEN ELCOME READING, Manager of Paper
Mills, both of 16, Albion Road, Tunbridge Wells aforesaid I do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows;-
Pianofortes & like instruments possess sounding boards of wood or other sub-
stances instead of which I propose to make such sounding boards of aluminium
or aluminium alloy or any other metal.
Improvements in Sounding Boards for Pianos and like Instruments.
We, HERBERT SAMUEL READING, trading as W Reading, of 16, Albion Road,
Tunbridge Wells, in the County of Kent, Furniture Dealer, and PERCY ARCHIBALD
READING, Pianoforte Tuner, and OWEN ELCOME REAPING, Manager of Paper
Mills, both of 16, Albion Road, Tunbridge Wells aforesaid, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement.—
This invention relates to an improvement in the construction of pianofortes
whereby the desideratum of longer tone-sustaining power may be obtained and
the instrument is rendered less susceptible to atmospheric influences
The invention consists in constructing the soundboard of the instrument of a
sheet or plate of rolled aluminium or alumunium alloy instead of making it of
wood, as it has been discovered that aluminium possesses resonating and other
qualities heretofore unrecognized and which, contrary to general expectation,
render it eminently suitable when applied under proper conditions, as hereafter
described, for the purpose of imparting volume and quality of tone as well as long
sustaining power to the instrument.

page_text: The invention 18 applicable both to the horizontal or grand and to the upright
forms of instrument, and it will be described with reference to the accompanying
drawings forming part of this specification wherein Figure 1 represents a front
elevation of the soundboard of an upright pianoforte and so much of the frame
and accessories as is necessary for the purpose of explanation Figures 2 and 3
aie vertical sections on lines 2-2 and 3-3 Figure 1, respectively. Figure 4 18 a
longitudinal section of a portion of the joint between the soundboard and frame,
drawn to an enlarged scale Figures 5 and 6 are enlarged sectional views of a
belly bar and bridge, respectively The same letters of reference indicate the
same parts in all the figures
a is the soundboard formed of a sheet or plate of aluminium rolled of about
one-eighth of an inch in thickness. It may be of the usual shape and dimensions
or it may, if desired, be extended somewhat beyond the usual dimensions at the
treble part of the board where it is cut away on an oblique line approximately
parallel to the treble bridge The metallic soundboard a is secured to rebates
or ledges 6 sunk in or fixed to the flaming of the instrument as usual, except
that in order to enable the soundboard to resist the downward pressure of the
strings on the bridge, the board is cambered or bellied at the bass portion by
making the rebate at that end slightly curved in longitudinal profile, as shewn in
Figure 2, that is to say with a rise in the middle of about seven-sixteenths of an
inch. In order to ensure a firm connection of the soundboard with the frame, the
rebates b to which the soundboard is fixed may be faced with a strip or strips
of iron or steel c (see detail view Figure 4) secured at frequent intervals to the
wooden rebate or ledge b by countersunk screws d the stripe being tapped with
screw holes to receive screws e passing through holes formed in the margin of the
soundboard a whereby the latter is firmly fixed to the frame, a strip of felt, leather,
or other non-resonant materialf being interposed between the soundboard and the
metal facing strip c of the rebate so as to avoid any liability of jarring; felt or
leather washers being placed beneath the heads of the screws e with the same
object The facing strip of iron or steel c is not however absolutely necessary in
all cases provided that the rebates b are made of sufficiently hard wood to prevent
the screws e from canting or yielding sideways or otherwise to the down pressure
of the strings on the board
In order to obtain a good result it is necessary that the fixing of the edges of
the soundboard should be as nearly continuous as possible, and with this object
the screws e should be as close together as practicable, for example at a pitch of
say, not more than two inches apart The fixing of the soundboard is similar
around all four edges, except that the rebates at top and bottom and at the treble
end have no longitudinal camber that is to say are perfectly flat or straight and
except also that the portion h of the soundboard between the top rebate and the
extremity of the bridge at the treble end is left wholly unsecured in order to afford
greater freedom of vibration The soundboard may or may not be provided with
the usual wood bars at the back to support it at the middle under the downward
pressure of the strings and these bars may be tenoned at the ends into the top and
bottom members of the frame and bear with the requisite pressure against the
back of the board; or the bars may be attached to the back of the board a by
screws as illustrated in cross-section in Figure 5, k being a strip of felt and ?
being a washer of the same material interposed between the soundboard a and
the bar, and between the latter and the head of the screw respectively.
The bridges m would be of the usual form and would be fixed in the same manner
as the bars by screws n and interposed felt strip and washers o p, as shown in
Figure 6.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is.
In a manoforte, a sounding-board consisting of a plate on shoot of aluminium

page_text: or aluminium alloy applied and secured to the frame of the instrument substantially
in the manner and for the purpose herein specified
Doted thie 13th day of March 1899
A M & WM CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.