IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Henry Brockbank, of Great College Street,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PIANOFORTES."
Scaled the 29th April 1864, and dated the 12th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Henry Brockbank at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th November 1863.
I, GEORGE HENRY BROCKBANK, of Great College Street, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PIANOFORTES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in pianofortes. For these
purposes a plate is interposed between the sound board and the strings, in
such manner as to aid in resisting the strain of the strings. This plate
extends over the whole surface of the sound board, and is made of metal, with
numerous holes through it, so that the air between it and the sound board
may circulate freely, and some of the holes through the plate are arranged in
such manner as to follow the line of the bridge, which is above or in front of
the metal plate, and the bridge is as heretofore fixed to the sound board, but
at intervals, so that the parts of the bridge which are attached to the sound
board pass through the holes in the plate. The wrest plank may be formed
with or separate from the plate, and the hitch pins are fixed in the plate.
The plate is fixed near its edges to the framing of the piano by screws, hence
great stiffness is obtained in the whole structure.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Henry Brockbank in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HENRY BROCKBANK, of Great College Street, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Henry Brockbank, Her special licence that I, the said
George Henry Brockbank, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Henry Brockbank, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 PIANOFORTES," upou the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Henry Brockbank, 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 George Henry Brockbank, 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. For these
purposes a plate is interposed between the sound board and the strings in
such manner as to aid in resisting the strain of the strings. This plate
extends over the whole surface of the sound board, and is made of metal,
with numerous holes through it, so that the air between it and the sound board
may circulate freely, and some of the holes through the plate are arranged in
such manner as to follow the line of the bridge, which projects above or in
front of the metal plate, the bridge being, as heretofore, fixed to the sound
board, but it is made in short lengths, and applied at intervals, so that the

page_text: parts of the bridge pass through the holes in the plate. The hitch pins are
fixed in the plate. The plate is fixed to the framing of the piano by screws,
and thus great stiffness is obtained in the whole structure.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto
annexed
Figure 1 is a front view of parts of a piano constructed according to my
Invention; and Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section of the same taken at
the line A, B, in Figure 1.
a is the metal plate interposed between the sound board 6 and the strings c.
The plate a extends over the whole surface of the sound board, and is made of
metal, it is fixed all round its edge to the framing, and also at intervals to the
upright bracings at the back of the sound board, but the screw fastenings are
not allowed to come in contact with the sound board, holes being made for
the clear passage of those in the middle of the plate, and tubes or ferrules
are placed on the screws to keep the plate at the proper distance from the
bracing. Numerous holes a¹ are formed through the plate a to allow of a free
circulation of air between it and the sound board b; other holes formed in the
plate a, and marked a³, are arranged so as to follow the line of the two parts
d, d, of the bridge, which, as will be seen, is made in sections or parts, and
projects through the holes above or in front of the metal plate a. The sections
or parts of the bridge d are fixed to the sound board b, as heretofore; e is the
wrest plank, the tuning pins of screw into it through holes made to fit them
in the plate a; 9, 9, are the hitch pins.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
interposing a metal plate between the sound board and the string of a piano-
forte, in such manner as to aid in resisting the strain of the strings, as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Henry Brockbank, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
GEORGE HENRY BROCKBANK. (L.8.)