IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
HANDELL BURKINYOUNG, of Baker Street, in the County of Middlesex, Gen-
tleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of June,
in the ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Frederick Handell Burkinyoung, my exors,
adiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Frederick Handell Burkinyoung, my exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Handell Burkin-
young, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said Frederick Handell Burkinyoung, should cause a par-
ticular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part

page_text: recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Frederick Handell Burkinyoung, do hereby declare that the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates in the first place to the construction of a harmonic
string board to be affixed to the sounding board and case of a pianoforte, and
to which harmonic string board the strings are to be affixed, either to the
string board only or to the string board and sounding board conjointly, as
the manufacturer may consider best calculated to answer the purposes
required.
Secondly, my Invention relates to the construction of the mechanical
movement, commonly called (by pianoforte makers) the action, which is to be
placed above the strings, so that the hammer is made to fall on the strings,
instead of the ordinary method by which the hammer is made to rise to the
strings.
Thirdly, my Invention relates to the construction and application of a screw
and nut to the purpose of tuning or regulating the tension of the strings of a
pianoforte.
I effect these improvements, in the first place, by preparing a board
of oak, mahogany, or deal, or of any other wood which an experienced
manufacturer may consider best adapted to the purpose required, of such a
length and width as may be suited to the instrument for which it may be
required, and of one inch more or less in thickness. This board, which I call
the harmonic string board, of which Drawing No. 1, A, shews a section, must
be then marked and laid out to shew the places for the strings, in the same
way in which the same thing would require to be done in the ordinary
pianofortes (what is called or known by the rest plank bridge is to be placed
relatively on the board in the same place that it usually occupies in the
ordinary pianoforte (see letter B). The other bridges (of which there is to be
one for every semitone or note, as it is usually called), are to be placed within
an inch more or less from the opposite end of the board, so as to give the
required length of the string from bridge to bridge. The rest plank bridge
may be made and pinned in the usual way. The bridge at the other end of
the string may be made of brass studs driven into the board or small plates
secured with a screw (see letter C). Neither of these bridges need exceed

page_text: one tenth of an inch in height, as the nearer the strings are to the board the
less will be their tendency to bend it. In order to allow the strings to vibrate
freely the board must be grooved in semicircular, square, or angular grooves,
from bridge to bridge, of one inch wide and half an inch deep, more or less,
under every two semitones or notes, as they are usually called (see letter D).
The board at the opposite end to the rest plank bridge must be cut, notched,
or indented so as to adapt it to the various lengths of strings required, and to
enable the string to pass over it an inch more or less from the bridge at the
same time, and underneath these bridges and under the board is to be placed
a wooden foot or bridge extending the whole width of the board from bass to
treble, of such a height and thickness as the distance of the string board from
the sounding board may require (see letter E). To the side of the board
opposite to that on which the strings are fixed, and to compensate for the
tension of the strings, are to be fixed metal straps or ties of iron or brass at
intervals of six inches asunder, more or less, according to the length of the
board (see letter F). These straps or ties are to be seven eighths of an inch
wide, more or less, and one tenth of an inch thick, more or less, and to be
firmly secured at both ends to the board, one or both ends having a screw and
nut for the purpose of tightening them in the first instance (see letter G).
At or about the middle of these ties or straps are to be inserted screws and
nuts (see letter H) for the purpose of regulating their tension, and to act on a
strap of metal fixed across the board, and corresponding with the place of the
screws, for the purpose of keeping the board always straight. This being
effected the tension of the strings can never alter except from defective work-
manship. This screw must pass through the sounding board, where requisite,
without touching it. To strengthen the board A in its width, at the end where
the tuning pins in ordinary pianos are placed, pieces of wood A', A2, something
longer than the whole width of the board, half an inch thick and three inches
wide, more or less, are to be glued, and screwed one on each side of the board A.
The actual size of these pieces must be determined by the manufacturer, as it
will depend on whether the strings are to be tuned with pins or screws, and
whether they are to be placed above the hammers or under them. The object
to be effected is to make the board at that end two inches thick or more, and
to afford the means of screwing on to that end of the board a brass or iron
plate A, one eighth of an inch thick, to prevent the board from bending
across the grain from its natural tendency to do so, or from the consequence of
driving in the tuning pins, which, acting like so many wedges, have a tendency
to cause it to do so. The string board being thus far completed, it is to be
fitted into the case of the intended pianoforte with its foot on the sounding

page_text: board (see letter I), and secured there with a slight pressure by means of iron
or brass screws passing through the sounding board without touching it,
except with the wooden nut, which serves to attach the string board to the
sounding board (see letter J). These screws must be placed in such number
and position as the size of the instrument may require, having a due regard to
the firmness of the string board and the free vibration of the sounding board;
or the string board may be attached to the sounding board by means of a
On the under side
bridge a placed across the strings from bass to the treble.
of this bridge are to inserted studs or small brass bridges a¹ similar to those on
the string board. This bridge is to be fitted to the strings, and then to be
fastened to the sounding board by means of screws at intervals of six, eight, or
ten inches, and which screws are to pass through or over the string board
without touching it (see letter a). This may be termed the sounding board
bridge; that part of the string board which is behind what is termed the rest
plank bridge is to rest on the bar or rail which is placed across the case to
frame the sides together, and to which rail or bar it is to be fixed securely,
and no part of the edge or ends of the string board are to be fixed to the sides
of the case except the ends of the two pieces A1, A2, glued across the end of
the board to which the metal plate A³ before mentioned is fixed. I shall here
mention that the strings may be affixed to the board A in several different
ways, that is, either through the string board and sounding board or through
the string board only, or only on the string board, with pins in the ordinary
way, or otherwise. To effect the first method there must be cut a small
groove or saw kerf in the end of the board, and down the edge of the foot,
corresponding with the place of each string, one eighth of an inch deep, and of
a size sufficient to admit the string. A hole is to be made through the
sounding board immediately in a line with this groove, and through a thin
brass plate screwed on the opposite side of the sounding board, and extending
under the whole range of that part of the foot through which the strings are
intended to pass.
A knot is then to be made in the string at one end, the
other end is then passed through the hole in the sounding board, through the
foot and string board, over the small brass bridge C, and secured by a tuning
pin or screw at the other end of the board, the knot on the opposite
side of the sounding board holding it secure. Through the end of the
string board, and under the strings of each note, is inserted a brass or iron pin
A, to prevent the strings from cutting into the wood, see Figure 1. If the
strings be required only to pass through the string board, then the foot should
be fixed three fourths of an inch from the end of the string board. On the
three fourths of an inch so left behind the foot there must be fixed a thin piece

page_text: of brass secured with a screw. A saw kerf is to be cut as before through the
board and brass, the string is to be passed through it, and secured with a know,
as before, or the string may be fixed in the ordinary way on the board, viz., with
a hitch pin at one end and a tuning pin or screw at the other. I reserve to
myself the right of adopting or rejecting either of these methods, or any
other that may be found more adapted to the purpose. I also reserve to
myself the right of dispensing with the suspension straps before mentioned,
for the purpose of keeping the board A straight, and enabling it to resist the
tension of the strings, and I reserve to myself the right to effect this object by
means of bars of wood, metal, or otherwise, as I claim an exclusive right to the
use of the harmonic string board in the construction of pianofortes of every
description, in contradistinction to the ordinary and usual method of applying
the strings in the construction or manufacture of pianofortes.
With regard to the second and third parts of my Invention, the Drawings
Nos. 1, 2, and 3, with reference to the letters, will clearly explain their nature
and object, and at the same time shew how they are effected. K, Figure 1,
shews a section of what is known to pianoforte makers as the key frame, to be
supported at each end by the case, and in other parts by blocks on the string
board. L is the key; M is a horizontal slide or lever; N is the inside spiral
spring, which causes the tongue M' of the slide to resume its proper place
under the hammer block when required; O, a shifting block, to receive the
check, secured by a screw and leather washer, to enable it to be drawn back
when a key is required to be removed; P, the check, inserted in the hammer
block; Q, a vertical lever, with an opening for the check under a spring R,
and horizontal lever Q', by which the hammer is made to return to its place;
R' the spring block, made to move backwards or forwards, and by which the
hammer may be accurately balanced; S represents the damper socket, with a
groove through which the wire U₁ passes, by which the damper is raised,
T, the upper socket; U, the damper; W, the hammer; ✗, a section of what
is known to pianoforte makers as the hammer rail, to be fitted to the key frame
in the usual way, and in which the hammer acts on a centre. Y represents
the mortices in the string board, with the tuning nuts and screws inserted.
Figure 2 is a section of part of the string board, shewing the relative size of the
nuts and screws, and their mode of action, at the same time their exact size
must be determined by the scale the manufacturer may adopt in laying out
the places for his strings. It will be seen that two of the three strings are
held in tension by the points of the screws z, z, acting on pieces of brass y,
inserted in the mortices, and the third or middle string is held by the shoulder

page_text: of the tuning screw, acting against the metal plate As before mentioned.
The strings pass along a groove cut in the nuts x, and are held by a knot,
which is secured in its place by another groove in the nut at right angles to
the first, but the string may be fixed to the nut by any other method, such
for instance as an eye to the string, and a pin or hook to the nut. Figure 3.
represents a simplified arrangement of the down shifting action, represented in
Figure 1, by which the spring and lever for raising the hammer, the check,
the check block, and spring slides are dispensed with, and their object accom-
plished by the key L, the slide or lever and spring, only in this second
method the key is made to balance and raise the hammer, and which must be
sufficiently heavy to raise the hammer with as much velocity as it would
acquire were it to fall by its own gravity. The double spring f on the top of
the slide or lever serves to prevent the hammer shaking or striking the key a
second time without the will of the performer, and keeps it in a position for
constant repetition. b is a nut to regulate the required place of the slide c by
means of the wire d.
e, a piece of wood or leather, with a screw and nut to
regulate the pressure of the spring on the hammer. 9, another of the same,
with the nut under the spring to raise it off the hammer when required.
I claim as my Invention the application of what I have called harmonic
string boards in the manufacture of pianofortes.
With respect to that part of my Invention which is called the action or
movement of the pianoforte, I claim as new the horizontal lever or slide
that acts from the key to the hammer in Figures 1 and 3. I also claim as
new the general combination of the other parts to the end required, but I
disclaim the parts taken separately as my Invention, except the horizontal
levers or slides before mentioned.
I claim as new the method by which the whole is made in combination to
produce the effect required.
With repect to my new method of tuning or adjusting the tension of strings
of pianofortes, I disclaim both the nut and the screw, taken together or sepa-
rately, as any Invention of mine, but I claim as new and my Invention the
method by which I have adapted them to the purpose of adjusting the tension
of the strings of pianofortes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Handell Burkinyoung, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
FREDERIC HANDELL (L.s.) BURKINYOUNG.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid Frederic Handell Burkinyoung
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.