Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Feb., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 15th Nov., .1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 31st Dec., 1888
I ALFRED GEORGE BROWNE of No. 13. Derringham Street Hull Pianoforte Tuner, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to provide a means or appliance whereby, each note
on the key board of a Piano may be coupled to a note an octave higher in the case
of the treble clef, or an octave lower in the case of the bass clef, at the will of the
performer, thus enabling a musician to perform rapid octave movements with greater
facility than is possible when playing with the full stretch of the fingers.
The appliance according to my invention consists of "trackers" fitted diagonally
beneath the keyboard in such a manner that the front extremity of said "trackers"
will be in position beneath the keys whilst the rear extremities will be under and
actuate the hammers of notes an octave higher or lower as the case may be. Suitable
socket rails are provided, having orifices formed therein bushed with cloth or equivalent,
within which orifices work vertical rods carrying regulating buttons, the lower of
which latter rests upon the rear extremity of the "tracker" aforesaid and the upper
button rests upon a block secured to the extremity of the Piano Key and actuates
the hammer action on the depression of the front extremity of the piano Key. The
Piano Keys are provided at the rear end with forked blocks which are bushed with
cloth, the object of the forks being to allow of removal of the Piano Keys and
"trackers" without disturbing the other parts of the mechanism.
A pedal or pedals is or are provided for bringing the "trackers" into position for
action. One pedal only may if desired, be employed for octave coupling the whole
Keyboard, but I prefer the employment of two pedals, one for coupling the treble
and one for coupling the bass, as in some instances music may be arranged with single
notes in the bass clef and octaves in the treble, and vice versa.
T
Th
1000
JAMES
STEVENSON,
Gray's Inn Chambers,
20, High Holborn, London, W.C.,
Agent for Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Octave Couplers for Pianofortes.
I, ALFRED GEORGE BROWNE of No. 13 Derringham Street, Hull, Pianoforte
Tuner, 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 :-
My invention has for its object to provide a means or appliance whereby each note
on the Keyboard of a Pianoforte may be coupled to a note an octave higher in the
case of the treble clef, or an octave lower in the case of the bass clef or vice versa
at the will of the performer, thus enabling a musician to perform rapid octave move-
ments with greater facility than is possible when playing with the full stretch of the
fingers.
In order that my invention may be the better understood I have appended the
accompanying sheet of drawings in which Figure 1 is a side elevational view of
the Keyboard of a Piano showing my improved octave coupler adapted thereto, and
Figure 2 is a plan of same. Figure 3 is a detached view of the coupling arrange-
ment, and Figure 4, is a plan of a portion of one of the levers referred to in my
Provisional Specification as the "trackers" showing the pivoted pin which allows of
said lever being actuated on the depression of the key.
The appliance according to my invention consists of a number of levers A mounted
diagonally beneath the keyboard B in such a manner that the front extremity of said
levers will be in a position beneath and coincident with the front ends of the keys I,
but the eighth note higher or lower than the rear ends as the case may be.
The rear end of each of the levers has a longitudinal slot & formed therein in which
works a rod C, by means of which the hammer is actuated for striking the Piano wires.
The upper extremity of said rod C is provided with a regulating button c; a second
regulating button c¹ allowing of the rod C being raised by the levers A. A suitable
socket rail d is fitted to the frame of the Piano having holes or orifices formed
therein for the carriage of the rods C in such a manner as, by the removal of a guard
or shield secured to the front thereof, any of said rods may be readily taken out. The
rear ends of the Piano keys are provided with forked blocks D by means of which the
Piano keys may be removed without disturbing the other parts of the mechanism.
At the front end of the supplementary frame E, upon which the levers are mounted,
is fitted a suitable number of curved blocks G, over which latter moves a slotted
rod F, within the slot e of which engage the pivoted pins f. These pins fare pivoted
to the front ends of the levers A and are so disposed as to be capable of axial move-
ment parallel with the longitudinal axis of the Piano keys B. The slotted rod F
aforesaid, is retained in the normal position at the lower part of the curved block G
by means of a spiral spring or equivalent, as shown in Figure 1, and is raised to the
vertical position shown in Figure 3 by a system of levers H, Figure 1 actuated by
a pedal or by pedals.
In order to operate the octave coupler according to my invention the desired pedal
is depressed, and moved sideways so as to engage with a projection in the pedal notch

page_text: of the frame. In this action of depressing the pedal, the crank of the lever presses
against the slotted rod bearing it over the curved block G in the direction of the arrows,
Figures 1 and 3, until the pin has assumed the vertical position as shown in Figure 3.
It will be obvious therefore that when the pin is in the position above mentioned,
any pressure upon the key 1 will impart a corresponding motion to the lever; and,
as said levers are disposed obliquely to actuate notes an octave higher or lower, as the
case may be, musical compositions written in octaves can be readily performed
without necessitating any change in the manipulation of the fingers.
Instead of the pedal or pedals above described for actuating the pivoted pins f
whereby the levers are coupled with the keys, I may, as a modification thereof, employ.
a stop or rod, or stops or rods attached to the slotted rod by means of which said
pivoted pins may be moved to and fro by hand as desired.
The sockets and bearings generally are bushed or covered with cloth, felt, or other
suitable soft material in order to deaden all sound from the movable parts during the
operation of playing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
First In pianofortes the adaptation thereto and employment therewith of levers
arranged diagonally beneath the keyboard in combination with a pivoted pin ƒ by
means of which said levers serving as octave couplers are actuated on depressing
the keys substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Second In combination with the levers herein described and referred to in the
preceding claim the combination therewith of a supplementary regulating button
substantially as herein set forth.
:
Third In the improved octave coupler herein described the combination there-
with of a slotted rod, moving over curved blocks for raising the pivoted pin / to a
vertical position, said slotted rod being raised by means of a pedal actuating a system
of levers substantially as herein set forth and shown.
Fourth-The improved octave coupler for Pianofortes substantially as herein
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this Fourteenth day of November 1800.
JAMES STEVENSON,
Gray's Inn Chambers,
20, High Holborn, London, W.C.,
Agent for Applicant.