IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TUNING PIANOS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR TUNING PIANOS."-A communication from abroad by
Francois Delsarte, of Paris, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th June 1865.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TUNING PIANOS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of improvements in the phonoptic tuning apparatus,
the object of which is to tune pianos without the assistance of the ear. The
phonoptic apparatus by being hooked directly to the string to be tuned causes
it to form a curve, the greater as the string is the less stretched. The desired
degree of tension for the accuracy of the sound which this string ought to
produce is indicated on a gauge plate by a pointer, the base of which rests
directly upon the inflected part of the string. In this manner the eye will
observe the least tension upon the string, that is to say, all the tonal modifica-
tions of which it is susceptible.

page_text: The present improvements relate, firstly, to means of attaching the appa-
ratus directly to the string of the piano; and, secondly, to means of applying
the pointer directly to the string.
The annexed Drawing is a side view of the apparatus. The string is
inflected, and the pointer, in consequence of the oblique position of the
apparatus, is in the centre of the gauge plate. A is the pointer; B, the
body of the apparatus; C, the gauge plate; D, a swan neck, which bears
against the string; E, a hook for taking hold of the string; F, support for
the pointer; G, tail of the pointer, which bears against. the string during the
tuning; I, I, buttons for limiting the play of the pointer when the apparatus
is not at work; f, slit to receive the string during the tuning; P, additional
weight, fitted when the apparatus is applied to strings which are too tight.
The operator places the hook E behind the string to be tuned, and allows the
swan neck to fall, so that the string may lodge in the slit f; the tail G of the
pointer is at once applied to the string owing to the weight of the pointer A.
The apparatus is therefore a lever acting by its whole weight on the string,
which is at the same time a point of support at f and resistance at E; the
more supple the string the more therefore will the gauge plate fall. The
pointer is also a lever, and the string stretching to take up its normal position
raises the part A by acting upon the part G. In some cases I form a toothed
quadrant on the base of the tail G, to gear into a pinion on the axis of the
pointer; an intermediate wheel may be introduced between the quadrant
and pinion.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 80th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators,

page_text: 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 APPARATUS FOR TUNING PIANOS," (com,
municated to me from abroad by François Delsarte, of Paris, France,) upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 immediatley after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:
This Invention consists of improvements in the phonoptic tuning apparatus,
the object of which is to tune pianos without the assistance of the ear. The
phonoptic apparatus by being hooked directly to the string to be tuned causes
it to form a curve, the greater as the string is the less stretched. The desired
degree of tension for the accuracy of the sound which this string ought to
produce is indicated on a gauge plate by a pointer, the base of which rests
directly upon the inflected part of the string. In this manner the eye will
observe the least tension upon the string, that is to say, all the tonal modifica-
tions of which it is susceptible.
The present improvements relate, firstly, to means of attaching the appa-
ratus directly to the string of the piano; and, secondly, to means of applying
the pointer directly to the string.
Figure 1 of the annexed Drawings is a side view of the apparatus ;
Figure 2 is a face view; and Figure 3 a plan of the same; Figure 4 is a view
of the pointer detached. The string is inflected, and the pointer, in con-
sequence of the oblique position of the apparatus, is in the centre of the gauge
plate. A is the pointer; B, the body of the apparatus; C, the gauge plate;
D, a swan neck, which bears against the string; E, a book for taking hold
of the string; F, support for the pointer; G, tail of the pointer, which bears
against the string during the tuning; H, strengthening piece; I, I, buttons
for limiting the play of the pointer when the apparatus is not at work; f, slit

page_text: to receive the string during the tuning; P, additional weight, fitted when
the apparatus is applied to strings which are too tight. The operator places
the hook E behind the string to be tuned, and allows the swan neck to fall,
so that the string may lodge in the slit f; the tail G of the pointer is at once
applied to the string owing to the weight of the pointer A. The apparatus is
therefore a lever, acting by its whole weight on the string, which is at the
same time a point of support at f, and resistance at E; the more supple the
string the more therefore will the gauge plate fall. The pointer is also a lever
and the string stretching to take up its normal position raises the part A by
acting upon the part G. In some cases I form a toothed quadrant on the base
of the tail G to gear into a pinion on the axis of the pointer, as represented in
Figure 5; an intermediate wheel may be introduced between the quadrant
and pinion.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim constructing
apparatus for tuning pianos substantially as herein-before described and repre-
sented in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of December, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.