IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES."-A Communi-
cation from abroad by Auguste Desiré Bernard Wolff, of the Firm
of Pleyel, Wolff, et Compagnie, of Paris, France.
Sealed the 9th November 1875, and dated the 13th May 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Newton
-
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 13th May 1875.
I, HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," to be as
follows:-
Pianos are usually constructed with two pedals, one of which is
termed the loud pedal and the other the soft pedal. The loud pedal
raises the whole of the dampers of the piano off the strings at once; as
goon as the foot is taken off the pedal the dampers drop again on to.

page_text: .
the strings. It results from this that the performer is obliged, while
retaining in certain passages the vibration of the strings harmonically
just, to hold at the same time a considerable number of false notes.
The object of this Invention is to obviate this inconvenience, and to
enable the performer to give greater expression to the music he is per-
forming by leaving open only those special notes which he wishes to
continue in vibration. To this end a row of stops, which are made black
and white to correspond to the notes in an octave, is adapted to the front
of the piano. These stops are connected by means of a lever and rod to
bars, to which are fixed small metal plates, which are divided up so as to
represent any convenient number of notes. These plates carry small
wedges, which are caused to interpose between bars attached to an extra
pedal and the base plates of the damper rods. On pushing in a stop the
parts connected therewith are brought into position, and by pressing
down the pedal the dampers of that section of the instrument are raised
off the strings, and the notes are allowed to vibrate as long as required.
When the stop is pushed in it is retained in that position by a catch,
which holds it until it is relieved by pushing in either the stop for
another set of notes or a special stop provided for the purpose, when it is
brought back into a position of repose by means of a spring. In this
way any number of notes may be relieved of the dampers, while the
remainder of the notes of the instrument will be acted upon by the
dampers in the usual way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patont 25
Office on the 13th November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 80
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Edward Newton, Her specialū

page_text: licence that I, the said Henry Edward Newton, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Edward
Newton, 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 PIANOFORTES," being a communication to me from
abroad by Auguste Desiré Bernard Wolff, of the Firm of Pleyel, Wolff,
et Compagnie, of Paris, in the Republic of France,) upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Edward Newton, 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 Henry Edward Newton, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, refcrence being had to the
Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say) -
The improvements which form the subject of the present Invention
relate to a novel construction or arrangement of pedals. The Invention
is equally applicable to all kinds of pianofortes, whether of the cottage
or grand forms.
A great source of annoyance to all pianists is the continuous vibration
of all notes that are struck while the grand or loud pedal is in use, thus
causing not only an increase of sound in any harmonious chords that
have been struck, but also at the same time creating a discord by the
continuing vibration of other notes or chords that may have been pre-
viously struck while the dampers are raised.
"
The object of the present Invention is to provide a novel arrangement
• of mechanism whereby all after vibrations of notes, except those having
an equivalent value, that is, eighths or octaves, or those connected with
the chord that has been struck, may be prevented. To this end the pedals
are made to act in sections instead of throughout the whole length, or

page_text: "
nearly so, of the instrument. This arrangement of mechanism therefore
will only act upon those notes which form part of the harmony, or the
chords upon which the performer wishes the vibration to take place.
The mechanism employed, and to which I give the name of the tonic
pedal, is of a very simple nature and easy to use, and the effect produced
fills a void and obviates an inconvenience to which the manufacture of
pianofortes, already so perfect, is subject, and which it has hitherto been
unable to overcome.
The accompanying Drawings will perfectly explain the nature of this.
Invention, and in order to show the improvements in the clearest
possible manner I have drawn the ordinary parts of the piano in red,
and my improvements connected with the loud or grand pedal in
black ink.
Fig. 1 is a transverse section of a grand piano on the line 1, 2, of
Fig. 2; Fig. 2 shews the little finger board by which the apparatus is 1
worked, and which is attached to the front part of the piano; and Fig. 3
is a plan of the whole system of the tonic pedal.
The apparatus consists of a row of thirteen black and white knobs or
stops placed in front of the piano, and forming a kind of small keyboard
of the space of about an octave placed above the large or proper key- 2
board of the piano. By pressing with the finger upon one of these knobs
the horizontal portion of the bell-crank lever C will be depressed by one
of the rods B pressing against it. The vertical portion of the bell-crank
lever is furnished with a metal rod D, at the other end of which is a
small block d, to which is attached the extremity of a rigid metallic 2
wire e.
The opposite end of the wire e is attached to a thin wooden
plank E, which carries thin blades F placed about an octave apart and
under the sixty-four dampers of the piano. A block f is also attached
to each blade F. It is easy to see the effect that will be produced on
the blade by pressing down one of the stops. The movement of the stop 3
will be communicated to the bell-crank lever, and from thence by means
of the rods D and e to the block f, which will then be moved in a hori-
zontal direction. On the rear end of this block f bears the bottom of
the damper rod g. Under all the blocks f belonging to each blade F is
a long rocking bar H, which is supported on a pin i forming part of a 3
pivotted frame I, which may be raised by the rod J connected to the
pedal K. As the lever I and pin i is lifted by the pedal K, so it in turn
communicates motion to the rocking bar H, and should all the blocks f

page_text: be in their places the movement of the rocking bar H would have no
effect, as it could not touch them, but if, on the contrary, one of the
stops of the keyboard A be depressed the blocks of corresponding there-
with will be displaced and be brought into contact with the rocking
bar H (should the pedal K be moved), and the rocking bar would raise
them and cause a corresponding motion to their respective dampers. The
strings or wires of the piano being thus freed from the dampers will
continue to vibrate should they be struck by the hammers.
be in their places the movement of the rocking bar H would have no
effect, as it could not touch them, but if, on the contrary, one of the
stops of the keyboard A. be depressed the blocks f corresponding there-
with will be displaced and be brought into contact with the rocking
bar H (should the pedal K be moved), and the rocking bar would raise
them and cause a corresponding motion to their respective dampers. The
strings or wires of the piano being thus freed from the dampers will
|continue to vibrate should they be struck by the hammers.
This improved pedal arrangement will usually be placed between the
two ordinary pedals of the piano.
The thin planks E to the number of twelve can easily slide one over
the other. Each one corresponds to one of the semitones of an octave
of the piano, and when they are drawn out of place by the rods D and e
they press against springs N (which are adapted to each of their extre-
mities), and make them give way. They are also furnished with a series
of thin blades F, one to every tonic scale, and to the octaves of the tonic
scale. The first plank E therefore will raise the dampers of the A or
"la," the second those of the A# or "la," the third those belonging to
the B or "si," and so on to the end of the scale.
When the performer has displaced one of the planks E (by pressing
one of the stops on the keyboard A), and thus freed the corresponding
wires, it is evident that the damper would again fall upon the wire.
directly the stop became free and before another noto could be struck,
thus virtually rendering the Invention useless. This however is pre-
vented by the following simple arrangement: The blocks d have a.
small spur or heel which bears against a similar spur or heel on a
pivotted plank beam L, which is kept in its proper place by a spring M.
The action of the mechanism is easy to understand. When one of the
stops is depressed the spur of the block d is displaced horizontally, then
makes the rocking lever L give way, and finally bears butt end or heel to
heel against it. The new position of the parts is indicated by dotted lines.
By pressing down another stop the same movement takes place, but then
the block d which was held back becomes freed, and the springs N, which
press upon each of the ends of the planks E, bring the block d back into
its normal position. By this combination the performer can either keep
down one set of notes until he pushes down another stop, or he may press
down two or three together and allow them to act at the same time.

page_text: Finally, a third stop is specially used for disengaging at one stroke all
the other stops without engaging any new one, and is constructed so as
to act only on the plank beam L, but has no connection whatever with
the dampers.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent as aforesaid, and having explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent, the arrangement of pedal mechanism
above described and called the "tonic pedal," the principle of which
consists in combining with a series of stops (placed in front of the
instrument for the convenience of the player), levers, rods, movable
blocks, and other mechanism in connection with the damper rods
belonging to the several strings, as herein set forth, so that by moving
one or more of the stops certain of the dampers may be acted on by
depressing the loud pedal, while the dampers of the other parts of the
instrument are allowed to remain quiescent, thereby allowing the pro-
longed vibration of certain of the notes according to their harmonic
value, and avoiding the inevitable discord which results from the use of
the ordinary pedal when all the strings that are struck will continue to
vibrate.
For the purpose of illustrating this Invention I have chosen a grand
piano, as shewn in the Drawings, but this system may be applied with
equal facility to upright or cottage pianos, and as its application will
only entail some trifling modifications in the form of the apparatus and
no alteration in the principle, I claim the application of the "tonic, 2
pedal" above described to all kinds of pian ofor tes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.