AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE PROPER ACTION OF THE HANDS OF PLAYERS UPON THE PIANO, ORGAN, HARMONIUM, OR LIKE KEYED INSTRUMENTS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Tighe Hamilton, of Upper Rathmines,
in the County of Dublin, in Ireland, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE PROPER ACTION OF THE
HANDS OF PLAYERS UPON THE PIANO, ORGAN, HARMONIUM, OR LIKE KEYED
INSTRUMENTS."
Sealed the 11th July 1865, and dated the 9th March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Tighe Hamilton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition; on the
9th March 1865.
I, WILLIAM TIGHE HAMILTON, of Upper Rathmines, in the County of
Dublin, in Ireland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE PROPER ACTION
OF THE HANDS OF PLAYERS UPON THE PIANO, ORGAN, HARMONIUM, OR OTHER LIKE
KEYED INSTRUMENTS," to be as follows:-
The principle of the Invention is, that the wrists of the player should be
obliged to move in the arc of a circle, rather than in the usual mode along a
fixed rail.

page_text: The apparatus is thus constructed-1st, a frame of one or more bars,
tubes, or rods of wood or metal is elevated over the instruments at any desired
height, and attached to its top ends or sides by means of another expanding
foot frame provided with tongue, and grooved, rebated, or tubular slides, and
an adjusting screw or screws, by which it is fitted and fixed to different sized
instruments. 2dly, a horizontal bar or rod at the top of the frame gives a
fixed position for two springs at any desired distance apart (that of two octaves
on the piano being preferable) carrying the centres of the radial cords, which
thus lengthen as the centres shift with the hands, and perfect the horizontal
motion of the rings. 3dly, from these centres two rings or loops of any
material are suspended nearly at the level of the keyboard, by means of two
radial cords or rods of any material; cord being preferable, from its elasticity
and the facility of adjusting it to its proper length. The wrists being placed
in these rings or loops are thus supported at a proper level in front of the
keyboard, but allowed free movement sideways and forwards in a plane nearly
horizontal, and the player is thus induced to strike the notes solely by the
use of the wrist and finger joints, which is the desired end.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Tighe Hamilton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TIGHE HAMILTON, of Upper Rathmines, Dublin, Ireland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Tighe Hamilton, Her special licence that I, the said William Tighe
Hamilton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Tighe Hamilton, 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 "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE PROPER ACTION OF
THE HANDS OF PLAYERS UPON THE PIANOFORTE, ORGAN, HARMONIUM, OR LIKE KEYED
INSTRUMENTS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William

page_text: Tighe Hamilton, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their bands 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 William Tighe Hamilton, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 apparatus is called the "radial hand guide," its distinctive principle
being that it provides for the guidance of the hands by suspending them, so
as to move freely at the extremities of radii rather than as in the usual methods
along a fixed rail.
The apparatus consists of an upright frame of any rigid material elevated
over the keyboard, and resting upon a foot frame provided with slides, and a
screw or screws, by which it is fitted and fixed to the top, ends, or sides of
different sized instruments. A small horizontal frame hinged to a cross bar
at the top of the upright frame hangs at a height of four or five feet over the
keyboard, and affords a position for the centres of the radii at any desired
distance apart, that of two octaves being preferable. This cast frame contains
two systems of compound levers (one for each hand) intersecting each other,
and articulated together by pivots at the several angles, upon the principle of
what is commonly known as the "grape scissors." The uppermost angle of each
system is attached by a pivot to the lever frame, whilst its lowest angle is the
centre from which a ring or loop is suspended, at the level of and a few inches
in advance of the keyboard by a radial cord or rod. The wrists being placed
in these rings or loops are supported in their proper position vertically, but
free to move either forward or laterally. When the movement is lateral the
upper side angle of the system comes in contact with the lever frame, and
the whole is elongated, the centre being carried downwards and sideways in
proportion to the extent of the lateral movement. Upon the return movement
the system gradually resumes its original form, bearing up the centre by force
of a spring composed of several indian-rubber elastic bands, which pass from
a book at its middle angle over two pullies at its two upper side angles. The
action of the levers is to compensate the increasing tension of the springs, as
well as to shift the centres. Their number, size, and angular placement may
be varied as thought best to convert the circular into the parallel motion.
The apparatus thus continually maintains the hand in a fitting horizontal

page_text: position, whilst the player can only strike the notes by exercising the joints of
the wrist and fingers, which is the desired end. Like loops may guide the
fingers.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tighe Hamilton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of August, in the year 5
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred, and sixty-five.
WILLIAM TIGHE HAMILTON. (L.S.)