IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO CLAVICHORD INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO
CLAVICHORD INSTRUMENTS."- A communication from abroad by John
Winter Jones of the City of New York United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st June 1864.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO
CLAVICHORD INSTRUMENTS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to place within or connect with a pianoforte
or any clavichord instrument a piece of simple machinery operating a trip
hammer, which shall at the will of the performer strike a drum or any
sonorous thing. The apparatus may be mounted upon the framework or on
the sounding board of the pianoforte. It is connected with the pedal by
means of a wire or cord, so that the works may be set free by the depression
of the pedal by the foot of the performer, and thus strike distinct blows or a
rapid succession of blows like the roll of a military drum. The trip hammer

page_text: when not in action is held down in contact with the drum head by a curb strap,
which passes under a fixed stud pin and thence upwards to a sliding bar to
which it is secured. The wire or cord from the pedal of the instrument is
also attached to this sliding bar, which constitutes a brake, and is held by an
elastic strap in contact with one of the wheels of the clock movement by which
the trip hammer is operated. When pressure is put on the pedal the slide is
drawn forward free of the wheel, and the clockwork spring then drives a stud
wheel, which acts upon the butt of the trip hammer, and sets the hammer in
action. The hammer being, however, limited in its movement by the curb
strap, it gives a series of rapid-strokes, producing the roll. On the further
depression of the treadle the sliding bar iscaused to slacken the curb strap,
and thus permit of the hammer rising higher and giving a decided blow. By
removing the pressure from the treadle the elastic strap will return the sliding
bar to its normal position, and arrest the action of the apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st December 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
1
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE APPLIED TO CLAVICHORD INSTRUMENTS," a com-
munication to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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

page_text: 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the. Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is to place within or connect with a pianoforte
or other clavichord instrument, a piece of simple machinery operating' a trip
hammer, which shall at the will of the performer strike a drum or other like
sonorous instrument.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a side elevation, with one of the
sido plates removed, of an arrangement of mechanism which is capable of
delivering a rapid succession of blows upon a tambourine or drum, it being
actuated by the force of a spring like that of a clock; and Fig. 2 is a plan
view of the same. The same letters refer to like parts in both Figures..
A is the hammer; B, the place of the tambourine or drum. The sounding
board alone can be substituted for the drum and produce a good effect. C is
a coiled spring for operating the mechanism; D, D, are pins on. the side of
a rotating spur wheel for striking the heel E of the .hammer, and thus pro-
ducing either the "roll" of the drum or a sudden and distinct blow; E is the
heel of the hammer; F is a fly to regulate the motion of the mechanism; G
is a cord reaching to the pedal of the instrument, to which the apparatus is
attached. This cord by drawing a slide H sets the mechanism in operation.
At its upper part this slide is formed with a straight part J and a rear shoulder
and forward shoulder K and L. In the slide H two slots M and N are made,
through which screws are passed to hold the slide in place. P is a spur wheel,
against the periphery of which the shoulders K and L of the slide Hare
pressed to make the friction necessary for holding the mechanism still. Qis
part of a curb strap; and R is a fixed point on the frame at which this strap
is secured. S is a point of attachiment upon the slide H for the curb strap V,
which holds the hammer down firmly upon the drum until by the action of the
pedal upon the slide it is set free. W shews the loose end of the curb strap,
which loose end is capable of being drawn tight by the pedal and serves to
limit the movement of the slide. X is an elastic strap beneath the slide H
for bringing it to its place when the pedal releases the slide; T is a'spring
under the heel of the hammer for giving force to its blow on the drum; and
U is the spring which lifts the hammer from the drum during the "roll"
movement.

page_text: This apparatus may be mounted upon the framework or on the sounding
board of the pianoforte, and being connected with the pedal by means of a
wire or cord, it may be set free by the depression of the pedal by the foot of
the performer, and thus strike distinct blows or a rapid succession of blows
like the roll of a military drum as may be required.
For giving the requisite motive power to the apparatus it is preferred to
use a clock spring, that being most compact and manageable, the motion
being multiplied upon the last wheel so that a strong spring may be used and
its action maintained throughout an evening performance.
The drum, or rather tambourine, as it would be if placed in the instrument,
would be best applied beneath the sounding board, through which a hole
would in that case have to be made to permit the hammer to strike. Or the
skin or parchment might be stretched on a boop united firmly to the sounding
board. This is the simplest way, and admits of the drum application to many
instruments in use, and constructed without reference to the present Invention.
A separate pedal is required to operate the hammer through the string or
wire G moving the slide H, which sets against the cogs of the wheel P, and is
held there by the spring X, thus keeping the mechanism quiescent. As long
as the pedal is pressed by the foot the hammer will repeat its blows upon the
drum with a force commensurate with that of the spring, but the instant the
pedal is released the hammer ceases to strike.
To produce the "roll" of the drum followed and ended by a sudden blow,
as in ordinary drum playing, the foot is pressed lightly upon the pedal, whereby
the slide H is so moved that it will not touch the wheel P. The strap V, Q,
is thus slackened, and the hammer is no longer curbed down upon the drum.
The machinery operates to strike the heel of the hammer E, and lift the
hammer a little, and it strikes in rapid succession, but being curbed cannot
strike a hard blow. To finish the "roll" by a heavy blow on the drum, the
foot is pressed harder on the pedal, and the slide is then drawn forward; the
curb V, Q, is thus further slackened, and the hammer being allowed to rise is
enabled to strike with increased force. By the action of the slide and curb on
the hammer the degree of force given to the blow may be regulated to a
nicety, and a succession of hard blows or a faint succession of strokes, making
genéral roll, or a mixture of these, may be produced at pleasure, and any
roll can moreover be begun or ended with a heavy blow.
a
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improved apparatus to
be applied to clavichord instruments, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent

page_text: I claim the application to a clavichord instrument of mechanism constructed
as above described for operating upon a drum or other like sonorous instru-
nient, in the manner substantially as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (LS.)