IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Hare, of Hamstead Road, Handsworth, near
Birmingham, Music Smith, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PIANOFORTES,"
Sealed the 3rd February 1860, and dated the 30th August 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Hare at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
August 1859.
I, JAMES HARE, of Hamstead Road, Handsworth, near Birmingham,
Music Smith, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PIANOFORTES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in pianofortes. Heretofore in
constructing pianofortes it has been usual to secure the strings at one end by
hitching them over pins made from cylindrical wire and driven into a metal
plate or bar. Now according to my Invention I make the pins or projections
for receiving the strings in one piece with the plate or bar, and this I do by
producing a rib on the plate or bar from end to end of it in the process of
rolling, and afterwards cutting away the ribs so as to leave only a series of
projections from the plate or bar suitable for receiving the strings, or suitable >
projections may be punched up from a flat bar by means of punches or dies.
In some cases, in place of employing cylindrical pins to receive the strings,

page_text: I employ studs having heads bevilled on the under side, by which means a
better hold on the string is obtained. I also employ pins having heads which
project out to some distance at the back of the pins and rest on the plate or
bar; pins thus constructed are much less liable to become loose than the pins
usually employed. In place of wrought-iron plates or bars, cast-iron plates
or bars, with pins or projections cast on them to receive the strings, may be
employed as has before been attempted; but according to my Invention, in
order that the strength of the pins or projections may be sufficient, I make
them, in place of cylindrical, as heretofore, of greater thickness in the direction
of the length of the string than at right angles to that direction. I also,
according to my Invention, make cast-iron plates or bars with wrought-iron
pins by placing the pins in a mould and then pouring in melted iron around
the pins to fill the mould and produce a plate or bar of the desired form.
My Invention also relates to the various fittings and apparatus usually
known as action work, employed for communicating the motion of the pedal.
to the hammer rail or key board. A portion of this action work consists of a
bell crank or bent lever attached by a rivet, which serves as its centre or axis,
to a suitable plate. In order to cause this lever to work more smoothly on
its centre than when constructed in the manner heretofore adopted, I form a
recess or hollow in the under side of the lever around the centre pin or rivet,
and into this a spring is fitted which presses the lever up to the head of the
centre pin or rivet and prevents any binding or unequal friction of the lever
against the plate which carries it, and by which a smooth and noiseless action
is obtained. I also, according to my Invention, coat the crank and the other
parts of the action work which are made of iron with zinc, by which means
the rusting of the parts is avoided, and they are manufactured at less expense
than when they are filed bright, as is usual.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Hare, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HARE, of Hamstead Road, Handsworth, near Birmingham, Music Smith,
Send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of August, in the year of our Lord

page_text: ·
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Hare, Her special licence that I, the said James
Hare, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said James Hare, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said James Hare, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 James Hare, 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 has for its object improvements in pianofortes. Heretofore in
constructing pianofortes it has been usual to secure the strings at one end by
hitching them over pins made from cylindrical wire and driven into a metal
plate or bar. Now according to my Invention I make the pins or projections
for receiving the strings in one piece with the plate or bar, and this I do by.
producing a rib on the plate or bar from end to end of it in the process of
rolling, and afterwards cutting away the ribs so as to leave only a series of
projections from the plate or bar suitable for receiving the strings, or suitable
projections may be punched up from a flat bar by means of punches or dies.
In some cases, in place of employing cylindrical pins to receive the strings,
I employ studs having heads bevelled on the under side, by which means a.
better hold on the string is obtained. I also employ pins having heads which
project out to some distance at the back of the pins and rest on the plate or
bar; pins thus constructed are much less liable to become loose than the
pins usually employed. In place of wrought-iron plates or bars, cast-iron
plates or bars with pins or projections cast on them to receive the strings may
be employed as has before been attempted; but according to my Invention, in
order that the strength of the pins or projections may be sufficient, I make

page_text: them, in place of cylindrical, as heretofore, of greater thickness in the direction
of the length of the string than at right angles to that direction. I also,
according to my Invention, make cast-iron plates or bars with wrought-iron
pins by placing the pins in a mould and then pouring in melted iron around
the pins to fill the mould and produce a plate or bar of the desired form.
My Invention also relates to the various fittings and apparatus usually
known as action work, employed for communicating the motion of the pedal
to the hammer rail or key board. A portion of this action work consists of
a bell-crank or bent lever, attached by a rivet, which serves as its centre or
axis to a suitable plate. In order to cause this lever to work more smoothly
on its centre than when constructed in the manner heretofore adopted, I form
a recess or hollow in the under side of the lever around the centre pin or rivet,
and into this a spring is fitted, which presses the lever up to the head of the
centre pin or rivet, and prevents any binding or unequal friction of the lever
against the plate which carries it, and by which a smooth and noiseless action
is obtained. I also, according to my Invention, coat the crank and the other
parts of the action work which are made of iron with zinc, by which means
the rusting of the parts is avoided, and they are manufactured at less expense
than when they are filed bright, as is usual.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shows a portion of a bent plate or bar formed with a projecting
rib a on its upper surface, which I prefer to produce by the act of rolling the
iron plate. This rib a is to be cut through at intervals, so as to produce a
series of hook-like or other suitably formed pins to hitch the loops on, which
are at the end of the strings, as shown at Figure 2, which represents a portion
of a plate or bar, the rib a of which is divided and formed into hook-like
holding pins a¹, a¹, of the form which is preferred to be given thereto. In
some cases the portion of the plate or bar on which the rib or projection a is
formed is made separate from the angle plate, and is afterwards fixed thereto
by rivets, or otherwise, as shown at Figure 3, and the plate with its projecting
rib a, before or after such rib has been divided into holding pins, is fixed to
the bent or angle plate or bar; or the plate or bar with the projecting rib ȧ,
when the rib has been formed into suitable holding pins, may be used in a
pianoforte independently of the bent or angle plate; or, in place of making
the plate with a projecting rib thereon, suitable projections may be formed on

page_text: the surface of a plate or bar by punching or forcing the metal from the one
side towards the other side, using a suitable die or plate with holes or recesses
to receive and form the projections as they are forced by suitable punches or
instruments caused to press on the other side of the plate or bar, the iron
being heated before subjecting it to the action of such punches or instruments.
And in like manner I form the pins upon plates or bars suitable for being
fixed to the bridges of the sound boards of pianofortes. The pecularity of
this part of my Invention consists in forming the pins or projections for
receiving and holding the ends of the strings of a pianoforte of one piece
or substance with the wrought plate or bar by which such pins or projections
are fixed in a pianoforte.
Figure 4 shows a portion of a bar or plate having a pin or projection b,
with a head or enlargement, the stem of which is fixed into the plate by
riveting, or otherwise; and Figure 5 shows another form of projecting head
to a pin, the stem of which is fixed to the angular or other formed plate or
bar by riveting. The peculiarity of this part of my Invention consists in the
application of pins with heads or projections at their upper ends to receive
and hold the ends of the strings of pianofortes. The stems of such headed
pins being fixed by riveting, or otherwise, in suitable bars or plates, such
application being in place of the cylindrical pins heretofore driven obliquely
into plates or bars.
Figure 6 represents a portion of an angular plate or bar cast with pins or
projections thereon, the pins being of greater thickness in the direction of the
strain than in the direction at right angles thereto.
The peculiarity of this part of my Invention consists in forming cast plates
or bars with pins or projections for holding the strings of pianofortes, such
pins or projections being cast with the bars or plates, and being of a greater
thickness in the direction of the strain than in the direction at right angles
thereto.
Another part of my Invention consists of applying wrought-iron pins in
combination with cast-iron plates or bars, by running the melted cast iron into a
suitable mould in which the several pins have been previously introduced in a
proper manner to have the fluid metal run into the mould, and thus to fix the
ends of the wrought-iron pins in the plate, and at the same time allow each
of the wrought-iron pins to project in a suitable manner for receiving and
holding the end of a string of a pianoforte.
Figure 7 shows a bell-crank used in the action of a pianoforte, and in order
to cause such lever to work more smoothly than is usually the case with like

page_text: levers in pianofortes, a recess is formed at a, in which a coiled spring is
introduced around the centre pin or rivet, which spring constantly presses the
lever up to the head of the centre pin or rivet, and prevents any binding or
unequal friction of the lever against the plate which carries it; and I coat
such cranks and other metal parts of the action of a pianoforte with zinc.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Hare, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
JAMES HARE. (L.S.)