CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Walenn, of 46, Regent Street,
London, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES."-A communication from Spencer Bartho-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Walenn
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1855.
I, WILLIAM HENRY WALENN, of 46,. Regent St, London, County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN.
IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," being a communication from Spencer Bartho-
lomew Driggs, United States of America, to be as follows:
This Invention has for. its object the relief of the case of the instrument
from the strain of the strings to such an extent as to enable the sides &
.bottom of the case to be made so. light as to be a mere shell, which with the
sounding board constitute a structure having nearly the same character. as
the body of a violin or violoncello, the bottom of which tends to assist the
vibrations of the sounding board, instead. of to absorb or check themi, like

page_text: It
the solid heavy bottoms of the pianoforte cases as at present constructed.
also has in view the dispensing with all other obstacles to a free vibration &
purity & brilliancy of tone.
This Invention consists of five distinct parts, which will be named as follows
in the herein-after set forth description :-
1st, the bottom frame, partly of wood & partly of cast iron, to sustain the
tension of the strings.
2nd, the shell-like case, or outward casing of the instrument, made as
distinct as possible from the bottom frame.
3rd, the sounding post, connecting the vibrating bottom of the instrument
with the sounding board in the treble portion of the sounding-board bridge.
4th, the sounding board frame of cast iron, which is constructed with a
raised rim all round its edge to hold properly the sounding board.
5th, the metallic saddles applied to the sounding-board bridge, in order to
enable the strings to vibrate truly in a plane at right angles to the sounding
board.
A square pianoforte with the above improvements will be considered, but it
will be evident that the same principles can be as easily applied to a pianoforte
of any other form.
The object of the bottom frame is to enable the shell-like case to act as
nearly as possible in all its parts like a sounding board, & to have as few
parts to absorb the sound of the strings as possible; for that purpose it consists
of scantling of about two & a half inches in depth, made into a strong
square framing, to which is attached by means of narrow strips of wood the
sides & bottom of the case; to this wooden framing is bolted (by horizontal
bolts) a strong & well-braced iron framing, which is only as high as the
scantling where the action of the instrument works, & fits neatly into
the interior of the wooden frame, but which under the wrest plank &
hitch plate has feathered uprights, which support the whole of the stringed
portion of the instrument; thus the twofold object of preserving the tension
of the strings & of detaching the case of the instrument at all unnecessary
points is obtained.
In order to enable the vibrating bottom to aid as much as posible the
sounding board in catching the vibration of the strings in the treble, there
is placed directly under the sounding-board bridge a post of wood, so as to
be vertical, & make the conduction of sound tolerably perfect between the
vibrating bottom & the sounding board. The sounding board is also confined
in a light cast-iron frame in such a manner as to give convexity to its centre,
& make it respond more perfectly than it otherwise could to the tone of the

page_text: strings struck. This is effected by making a rim round the cast-iron frame,
into which the sounding board tightly fits.
The vibrating bottom is made convex externally by barring it, & is about
three-eighths of an inch thick; thus the proper action of the sounding board
& vibrating bottom, as perfect reflectors of the sound emitted by the strings,
is ensured.
The light cast-iron sounding-board frame on the side of the hitch plate fits
the interior of the case, but on the other side of the instrument it narrows
off to allow room for the hammers to rise between it & the wrest plank.
In this description of pianoforte the wrest plank is of the usual form, & is
covered by a metallic top plate, like many pianofortes heretofore made, the said
plate forming a continuation of the hitch plate, & being strengthened in
front by a brace, such as is commonly employed to resist the tension of the
strings.
To enable the strings to vibrate in such a manner that the sound is most
reflected & vibrated from the sounding board & vibrating bottom, there is
a metallic saddle piece to each string screwed fast on to the sounding-board
bridge. This saddle piece has two flat ridges of metal rising at right angles
to the string, & ridge nearest the hitch plate is the highest, & has a
hole in it thro' which the string passes; the string when tightened is by
this arrangement strained over the ridge furthest from the hitch plate, & is
constrained to vibrate in a vertical plane, which according to the ordinary
method of "side bearing" it does not, it then by the compound blow &
reaction having a circular vibration imparted to it.
Instead of an iron frame within a wooden one to form the bottom frame,
the wooden frame may be constructed with braces of hard wood, arranged in
a similar manner as those of the iron frame. This is another means for
enabling the bottom to be left free to vibrate with the sounding board.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Walenn in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM, THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY WALENN, of 46, Regent Street, London, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year. of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Henry Walenn, Her special licence that I, the said William
Henry Walenn, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Henry Walenn, 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 för CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," 'a communication from
Spencer Bartholomew Driggs, United States of 'A'merica, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Walenn, 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.
66
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Walenn, 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:
The object of this Invention is mainly to dispense with the wooden blocks
and all wooden supports for the sounding board and wrest plank, and also with
the heavy wooden bottom with which the case is commonly constructed; and to
support and sustain the strings independently of the case, which is to be made
so light as to be a mere shell, enclosing the instrument, and with a thin
bottom board, which is connected by a sounding post with the sounding board,
to strengthen and increase the vibratory power of the latter. In order to
accomplish this, one important feature of the Invention consists in securing
the sounding board within an independent metallic frame, which holds it in an
arched form. Another feature consists in the employment of an open metallic
base frame of a peculiar construction, with upward extensions to support the
wrest plank, and an upper metallic frame or hitch plate. In connection with
the above features, a third feature consists in the connection of the sounding
board with the thin bottom board, as above named. A fourth feature consists
in a certain method of applying the thin bottom board in combination with the
metallic base frame. And another feature consists in supporting the strings
upon metallic saddles of peculiar construction, which stride the bridge of the
sounding board' and" rest on 'the said bridge, by which the vibrations of the

page_text: strings are conducted more directly to the sounding board than when the
strings rest upon it and are confined thereto in the usual way.
In the accompanying Drawing which illustrates the Invention, Fig. 1 is a
longitudinal vertical section of a square pianoforte, in the line x, y, of Figs. 2,
3, and 4, the striking action being omitted; Fig. 2 is a plan of the interior of
the case below the stringed part, which as well as the action is all supposed
to be removed; Fig. 3 is a plan of the interior with the stringed part in place;
Fig. 4 is a plan of what I call the sounding-board frame, detached from the
instrument; Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the piano; and Fig. 6 is a full-
sized section of one of the metallic saddles n, which are placed astride the
sounding-board bridge to receive and confine the strings. Similar letters of
reference indicate corresponding parts in the several. Eigs.
A is a framework of scantling, of about two to two and a half inches in
depth, and from four to six inches in width, occupying and filling the lower
part of the case, and serving to sustain the .sides a, a, and bottom b, b, thereof,
which are secured to the frame by glueing or otherwise. The sides a, a, of
the case are made of wood, of about half () an inch in thickness, with the
grain running up and down. The bottom b is made of wood, of about three
eighths () of an inch in thickness, and should be put on so as to be slightly
concave internally, said concavity being preserved by putting bars or ribs
across it. It does not bear against the whole surface of the frame A, but
against narrow strips c, c, see Fig. 1, put between it and the said frame, for
the purpose of allowing the bottom the greatest possible amount of vibrating
surface. Between this vibrating bottom of the case and the sounding board ;
in a position directly under the sounding-board bridge. k,. I place a sounding
post of wood, for the purpose of enabling the vibrating bottom-to aid the
sounding board' to catch or meet the vibrations of the strings, where they are
short and so very rapid that the sounding board can hardly feel them without
such aid, as the vibrations of the strings cease before the sounding board can
give them much aid to produce tone,. and..leave but a sort of husky echo
instead of a prompt and purely musical sound.
To the frame A is secured a cast-iron base frame B, B, which supports the
wrest plank C, the metallic hitch plate D, 'and all the stringed part of the
instrument. The iron frame B, B, which fits snugly within. the frame, A,:A,
is cast with transverse braces'd, d, running from back, to front, and with
oblique braces e, e, running in 'the same directions as the strings. The part
of the iron frame B, fitting within the wooden frame A, is made only of.the
same depth as the wooden frame; in order to allow room for the striking action;
but under the wrest plank it has raised arms f.f, which form a continuation

page_text: of the braces e, e, and stand high enough to support and serve as a bed for
the wrest plank, the said arms extending over the frame A, A, so as almost
to reach the left-hand end and back of the case. At the right-hand end of
the case some of the braces e, e, extend over the frame A, A, as shown at f', f',
and rise high enough to support the hitch plate D. This cast-iron frame is
secured to the frame A by bolts g, g, passing horizontally through the two.
The wrest plank C is of the usual form, and is covered by a top plate F, like
the wrest plank of many pianos heretofore made; the said plate forming a
continuation of the hitch plate, and being strengthened in front by a brace G,
such as is commonly employed to resist the tension of the strings. The wrest
plank and top plate D, F, the cast-iron frame B, B, and the wooden frame
A, A, are bolted together by bolts h, h, passing through the whole. By the
above iron frame B, B, I am enabled to dispense with a quantity of blocking
and woodwork, commonly employed to sustain the strings, every portion of
which absorbs some of the vibrations or tones evolved by the strings.
The sounding board H is fitted to a light metal frame I, shown in Figs. 1
and 4, which is of proper form at the right-hand end to fit the interior of the
case; but towards the left-hand end it narrows off, to allow room for the
hammers to rise between it and the wrest plank to strike the strings. The
form of this frame is best shown in Fig. 4, but its position is shown in
dotted outline in Fig. 3. It is supported at the right-hand end on a ledge i,
see Figs. 1 and 2, secured to the side a of the casing and partly on the
wrest plank, and at the left-hand end it is supported by the wrest plank.
This frame I, which I call the sounding-board frame, has a narrow raised rim r,
into which the sounding board, which is somewhat larger than the space
within the rim, is sprung, and by which it is held with its upper side in a
slightly convex condition when placed within the said rim. This convexity is
not sufficient to be visible unless drawn on a very large scale, and therefore
has been considerably exaggerated in Fig. 5. By fitting the sounding board
to a frame in this manner to hold it in an arched form, I am enabled to give
any desired amount of stiffness, without making it too thick, or barring it, in
the usual manner, which detracts from the brilliancy or deadens the tone of
the instrument. The edges of the sounding board are clamped by screws
between this frame I and the top plate, but narrow strips of wood m, m. are
placed round the edges of the sounding board between it and both the top
plate and sounding-board frame. Another very important advantage resulting
from the securing of the sounding board within the metallic frame is, that it
enables the whole board to vibrate freely, with the exception of about one
inch from its extreme edge; whereas sounding boards secured in the ordinary

page_text: way, by being glued to the blocks and to the front bar, have their vibrating
area reduced to the extent of one-fourth or one-fifth of the entire surface.
In order to connect the vibrations of the strings with those of the sounding
board more directly than it is possible to do by any of the plans now in use, I.
employ for the strings of each note a metallic saddle n, which strides over the
sounding-board bridge k, and is secured both to the said bridgo and to the
sounding board by screws o, p, on both sides of the bridge in all except
the extreme treble notes, where it is attached to the sounding board only behind
the bridge. This saddle has two transverse projecting ribs s, t, on its upper
side, the strings passing from the hitch pins through holes in the right hand or
back rib s, and resting on and vibrating from the front or left hand rib t. By
the employment of these saddles all "side bearing" for the strings (which is
indispensable to prevent rattling and jar with the ordinary mode of connecting
the strings and sounding board) is dispensed with. This side bearing I consider
to be objectionable, as it acts as a spring, whose power is applied at right
angles to the power of the hammer, and thereby causes a string to have a
circular motion when put in vibration, which greatly detracts from its power
to act upon the sounding board, as the vibrations to be fully effective should be
in a direction perpendicular to the sounding board. With the employment of
the above saddles, I make the sounding-board bridge thinner and lighter than
usual, particularly towards the base end.
By means of the thin shell-like case having no surplus wood to absorb the
tones, the metallic frame for the bottom, to aid in sustaining the tension of the
strings, and avoid the necessity of a quantity of wood blocking, the metallic
frame for the sounding board to prevent any wasting of the tones, the sounding
post to aid the vibrations of the sounding board to meet those of the strings in
the treble part, and the metallic saddle on the sounding-board bridge to con-
nect the vibrations of the strings with those of the sounding board more
intimately, I am enabled to produce a continued vibration in the treble part of
my pianoforte sufficiently prolonged to play a more perfect degree of harmony
than has ever before been reached in any pianoforte. These several improve-
ments all tend to one and the same object, viz., to produce more free, prompt,
brilliant, and prolonged tones in all parts, particularly the treble of the
instrument. These improvements are equally applicable to grand or upright
pianofortes, only varying the arrangement of the parts from that shown in the
Drawings, as far as is rendered necessary, by the difference in form between
those and the square pianoforte.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of the said improve-
ments in pianofortes, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not confine

page_text: myself to the precise details herein described,' as such may be varied or
modified without departing from the principle of action thereof. Likewise, I
do not confine myself to the strict figure or form of any apparatus or portions
of apparatus herein described; but I claim as new and of my. Invention,―
1st, securing the sounding board within a metallic frame I, or its equivalent,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth."
2nd, the metallic. base frame constructed as described, with upward pro-
jections to support the wrest plank and hitch plate, and applied within. a
shallow wooden frame, in the manner substantially as herein set forth.
3rd, in connection with the combination of the upward projections from the
open metallic base frame with the metallic sounding-board frame, the wrest
plank, and the upper metallic frame, I also claim combining a thin bottom
board with the shallow wooden frame A, which encloses the said open
metallic base frame, substantially as herein set forth.
4th, in connection with the enclosure of the thin sounding board within a
metallic frame, I claim the combination of the said enclosed sounding board
with the thin bottom board b. of the instrument by means of a sounding post,
substantially as herein described, for the purpose of adding additional stiffness
and vibrating power to both of the said boards.
5th, supporting the strings upon metallic saddles n, n, which stride the
sounding board bridge, and are combined with the said bridge and with the
sounding board, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein.set
forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Walenn, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
WILLIAM HENRY WALENN.
L.S.)