IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ACTION OF PIANOFORTES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Jackson, of Orchard Street, Portman.
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Pianoforte Manufacturer, for the
Invention of 16 TurnA YAY
A amzax
Scaled the 26th February 1858, and dated the 3rd September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Jackson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd September 1857.
I, THOMAS JACKSON, of Orchard Street, Portman Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Pianoforte Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the.
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ACTION OF PIANOFORTES," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the action of pianofortes..
For these purposes the lower end of the sticker rests on the key, and it gives
motion to the damper by means of a rod, the lower end of which rests. on a.
step formed on the sticker, and such. end of the rod is kept in position on the:
step by a spring; the other end of the rod is pin-jointed to one end of a lever
which actuates the damper, and such lever is regulated by a stop or button
and an adjusting screw. The sticker gives motion to the hammer by means,
of its upper end acting in a notch or projection formed in the hammer butt..
The hammer butt is also formed with an adjustable projection. and catch,

page_text: which, together with a notch on the upper part of the sticker, produce the
requisite check to the hammer butt in the rebound of the hammer, and by
such means also the repeat is accomplished. In upright pianofortes the
hammer is pressed back by a spring acting on the hammer butt.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Jackson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JACKSON, of Orchard Street, Portman Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Pianoforte Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Jackson, Her special licence, that I, the said Thomas Jackson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Jackson, my executors, administrators, 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 THE
ACTION OF PIANOFORTES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Jackson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain 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 immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Jackson, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in forming or applying a projection at the hammer
butt, and combining it with a catch, in such manner as to produce the requisite
check to the hammer in its rebound, and also by such combined means to
accomplish the repeat more advantageously.

page_text: fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews mechanical parts combined according to my improvements,
and Figure 2 shews the combination as applied to an upright pianoforte. In
each of these Figures the same letters are used to indicate the same parts.
a is one of the keys; 6 is the sticker or jack, the lower end of which rests
on the key by means of the bent piece of wire fixed at the lower end; c is
a spring, which, by pressing on the projection at the lower end of the sticker
or jack, causes it to have a tendency to move in a direction towards the front
end of the key. The upper end of the sticker or jack gives motion to the
hammer by acting in a notch or projection d, formed on the under side of the
hammer butt e. The hammer butt has a projection f; this projection works
with a catch g, in such manner as to produce a check to the hammer, and
also in such manner as more advantageously to obtain a repeat. The catch g
is carried by a wire stem g¹, which has a tendency to spring back towards the
sticker or jack, and its position with respect to the sticker or jack and the
projection is adjusted by the screw and stop g². The stem of the catch g
works within a notch formed at the upper part of the sticker or jack, as
shewn. The sticker or jack rises and falls between two wires i, one on each
side, and such wires are covered with short tubes of vulcanized india-rubber.
The upper part of the sticker or jack is controlled in its movement by the
wire j, together with the adjustable button or stop k, which screws on such
wire. is an ordinary check. I have not thought it necessary to shew or
describe apparatus for actuating the damper, as the same forms no part of my
Invention, and may be applied in any convenient manner.
Figure 2 shews a modification of my Invention, in order to apply my
Invention to an upright pianoforte. a is the key; b, the sticker or jack, the
lower end of which rests on the key, and such lower end is kept in position
by the connection 6. There is a screw in the key where the end of the
sticker or jack rests, which adjusts the height of the sticker or jack. c is a
spring, which by pressing on the sticker or jack tends to force it back. The
sticker or jack by its upper end gives motion to the hammer by acting in a
notch or projection d, formed in the hammer butt e. The hammer butt has
a projection f, which is adjustable by screwing on the projecting stem f¹; and
g is a catch, which is fixed to the upper end of the sticker or jack. The
hammer butt is pressed back by a spring m; and n is a damper which comes
against the upper end of the wire, but to which I make no claim. The action

page_text: of the sticker or jack is controlled in its movement by the wire j and the
screw stop k; or this arrangement may be as shewn at Figure 3, where the
wire or link is at one end attached to the sticker or jack, and at its other
end to the lever, which has an adjustable screw stop k. The sticker or
jack moves between two pins i, which are covered by short tubes of vulcanized
india-rubber. o is a piece of vulcanized india-rubber against which the upper
end of the sticker or jack comes as it rises..
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to
any of the mechanical parts separately; but what I claim are the modes
herein described of combining the mechanical parts of pianoforte actions.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Jackson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
THOMAS JACKSON. (L.s.)