CERTAIN NEW IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ACTION OF UPRIGHT PIANOFORTES
Year: 1802

page_text: TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
LOUD, of Hoxton, in the Parish of Saint Leonard, Shoreditch, in the County
of Middlesex, Musical Instrument Maker, send greeting."
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Ninth day of March,
in the forty-second year of His reign, give and grant to me, the said Thomas
Loud, His especial licence, that I, the said Thomas Loud, during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully night use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of CERTAIN NEW IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ACTION OF UPRIGHT
PIANOFORTES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said Thomas Loud, by an instrument in writing under my.
hand and and seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within one calendar month after
the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same (relation
being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Loud, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described in
manner following, that is to say :-
First, as portability is the leading intention and feature of the present
Invention, I observe, the instrument in its inside measure need be no more
than six feet three inches high. The width of the keys is sufficient for the

page_text: width of the case; one foot is sufficient for depth from front to back, except
that part of the case that contains the keys, which project nine inches, more
or less. The sides of that part that thus projects are framed and screwed into
the sides of the case, and may be taken out at pleasure for the conveniency
of small staircases. The front end of these sides are supported by two legs,
into which they are framed; the front rail and bottom on which the action
stands is framed into these legs and sides. Eleven inches is a convenient
depth for these sides, three inches of which for front rail, two inches for the
keys and key frame, and six inches for name board, which slides into groves
in the sides. The case thus described may be made of any wood and other
necessary material, and of any degree of elegance expedient. The body of the
case doth not (as is usual) stand on a frame, but goes down to the floor,
stands on its own base, which affords the opportunity that is embraced to
carry or put the sound board and strings thus low, from which circumstance
arises the portability of the instrument without demunition of sound board, or
of length of strings, or of tone. One end of the rest pin block is fixed into
the sides of the case near the top to preserve length for bass strings, the other
end of the block is fixed into the other side of the case, with its top edge four
feet three inches from the bottom, which leaves an angle space above it for
shelves for books, &c. Nine inches is a convenient width for this block to
receive the small bridge and and rest pins. Six inches below this block, at the
trebble end, is fixed one end of a strong piece of wood two inches thick, and
six inches wide. The other end of this piece is fixed into the bottom, a foot,
more or less from the bass side of the instrument, from which place to the
bass side is fixed on the bottom another piece of the same dimentions. From
these pieces to the rest pin block the instrument is braced to resist the force
of the strings in the same direction as the rest pin block, and near to it is
fixed a rail to receive one end of the belly or sound board; the other end is
fixed in a rebate made in those strong pieces just described. These pieces
also receive, on pins drove in them, ouc end of all the strings, which are fixed
nearly upright. The surface of the sound board must be so far back from
-the-front-edge-of-the-instrument as will allow room for the action. The form
of the sound board being thus described, may nevertheless be varied at plea-
sure, provided it be always more or less below the keys. The form of the
bridges on the sound board are determined by the scale of the tuning length
of the strings from the small bridge on the rest pin block.
The above-described instrument is rendered yet more portable by fixing the
strings and sound board in an angular direction, that is, by fixing the first bass
strings from the left-hand upper corner to near the right-hand lower corner of

page_text: the instrument, and the rest of the strings in a parallel direction. By this
means an instrument, standing only five feet high, and four feet wide in front,
will admit of the bass strings their full length, which is five feet two inches.
-N.B. I call this the above-described instrument, because it retains its lead-
ing principle, which is the carrying the sound board and strings below the
keys, by which means portability is obtained, and length of sound board and
strings preserved. The action in both instances is the same, differing only in
dimensions, the principle of which is now to be described. The keys are on the
same principle as is usual. From the back end of each arises a standard or leader
to the block of the hammer, and bottom of the crank or square, that draws back
the damper; in playing, this leader goes into a mortice in the key, and is kept
down by a small button screwed on the key, and turned into a notch cut in the
leader, by turning of which button the leader is taken out of the key with ease,
or the leader may be kept from rising by a wire spring fixed in the key, and turned
with a square to pass through a hole in the leader close to the key, which spring
thus fixed becomes a center pin for the leader to act on, and may be turned aside,
and the leader taken out with ease. The top end of the leader is rebated that
the shoulder may lift the hammer in playing and the top of the leader lift the
horizontal part of the crank which draws back the damper that is hung by a
joint of leather or parchment to the top of the perpendicular part of the crank,
and passes between the hammer and slides in a rail or socket behind the
hammers; near to the top of each leader is fixed a spring that passes through.
a hole in the bottom of the crank, by which spring the shoulder of the leader
is thrown under the block of the hammer in its return. This effect may also
be produced by hinging a small piece of wood either to the leader or to another
piece of wood, and that fastened to the leader, and the joined part thrown off
froni the leader by a spring, which piece must go up to the crank, and be
received in a mortice or rebate. The same effect may also be produced by
fixing a small weight of any materials to the back part of the leader, which
weight being behind the center pin of the leader in the key, inclines it to fall
under the block of the hammer. The hammer being made on the usual prin-
ciple, is hung to a small block or piece of wood of it's own width, and about
four inches long, by a parchment hinge or a center pin; if by a center pin,
the piece of wood is then made at it's upper end as a fork to receive the
hammer, and the hammer made thin to go between the fork. This block is
screwed to the front. or back of a rail, called a hammer rail, that goes across
the instrument, and is fixed in two pieces of wood called cheek pieces, which
are fastened to the key frame. To these cheeks in also fixed the socket of the
damper's rail on which the hammers rest, and a rail to which the cranks are

page_text: hung at their angles by a parchment hinge. If the small blocks to which the
hammers are hung are screwed to the front of the hammer rail, then two pins,
by way of socket for the leader, are drove in them, and a wedge block must
be fixed to them, against which a button acts that is fixed to a pin screwed
through the leader, by turning of which the leader is regulated; so that in
playing, the wedge block removes the leader from under the block of the
hammer, and gives it liberty to return to the rest rail of the small block to
which the hammers are hung are fixed to the back of the hammer rail; then
the wedge block and socket must be fixed to the front of the hammer rail.
All the rails to which the action is fixed are put in a direction conformable to
the possition of the rest pin block, so that the leaders are much longer in the
bass than the trebble.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Loud, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord One

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
Lord, of Hoxton, in the Parish of Saint Leonard, Shoreditch, in the County
of Middlesex, Musical Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Ninth day of March,
in the forty-second year of His reign, give and grant to me, the said Thomas
Lond, His especial licence, that I, the said Thomas Loud, during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might use, exercise, and vend,
Invention
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
of "CERTAIN NEW IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND ACTION OF UPRIGHT
PIANOFORTES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said Thomas Loud, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and and seal, to cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within one calendar month after
the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same (relation
being thereunto had) may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Loud, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described in
manner following, that is to say:
First, as portability is the leading intention and feature of the present
Invention, I observe, the instrument in its inside measure need be no more
than six feet three inches high. The width of the keys is sufficient for the

page_text: width of the case; one foot is sufficient for depth from front to back, except
that part of the case that contains the keys, which project nine inches, more
or less. The sides of that part that thus projects are framed and screwed into
the sides of the case, and may be taken out at pleasure for the conveniency
of small staircases. The front end of these sides are supported by two legs,
into which they are framed; the front rail and bottom on which the action
stands is framed into these legs and sides. Eleven inches is a convenient
depth for these sides, three inches of which for front rail, two inches for the
keys and key frame, and six inches for name board, which slides into groves
in the sides. The case thus described may be made of any wood and other
necessary material, and of any degree of elegance expedient. The body of the
case doth not (as is usual) stand on a frame, but goes down to the floor,
stands on its own base, which affords the opportunity that is embraced to
carry or put the sound board and strings thus low, from which circumstance
arises the portability of the instrument without demunition of sound board, or
of length of strings, or of tone. One end of the rest pin block is fixed into
the sides of the case near the top to preserve length for bass strings, the other
end of the block is fixed into the other side of the case, with its top edge four
feet three inches from the bottom, which leaves an angle space above it for
shelves for books, &c. Nine inches is a convenient width for this block to
receive the small bridge and and rest pins. Six inches below this block, at the
trebble end, is fixed one end of a strong piece of wood two inches thick, and
six inches wide. The other end of this piece is fixed into the bottom, a foot,
more or less from the bass side of the instrument, from which place to the
bass side is fixed on the bottom another piece of the same dimentions. From
these picces to the rest pin block the instrument is braced to resist the force
of the strings in the same direction as the rest pin block, and near to it is
fixed a rail to receive one end of the belly or sound board; the other end is
fixed in a rebate made in those strong pieces just described. These pieces
also receive, on pins drove in them, one end of all the strings, which are fixed
nearly upright. The surface of the sound board must be so far back from
the front edge of the instrument as will allow room for the action. The form
of the sound board being thus described, may nevertheless be varied at plea-
sure, provided it be always more or less below the keys. The form of the
bridges on the sound board are determined by the scale of the tuning length
of the strings from the small bridge on the rest pin block.
The above-described instrument is rendered yet more portable by fixing the
strings and sound board in an angular direction, that is, by fixing the first bass
strings from the left-hand upper corner to near the right-hand lower corner of

page_text: the instrument, and, the rest of the strings in a parallel direction. By this
means an instrument, standing. only five feet high, and four feet wide in front,
will admit of the bass strings their full length, which is five feet two inches.
-N.B. I call this the above-described instrument, because it retains its lead-
ing principle, which is the carrying the sound board and strings below the
keys, by which means portability is obtained, and length of sound board and
strings preserved. The action in both instances is the same, differing only in
dimensions, the principle of which is now to be described.. The keys are on the
same principle as is usual. From the back end of each arises a standard or leader
to the block of the hammer, and bottom of the crank or square, that draws back
the damper; in playing, this leader goes into a mortice in the key, and is kept
down by a small button screwed on the key, and turned into a notch cut in the
leader, by turning of which button the leader is taken out of the key with ease,
or the leader may be kept from rising by a wire spring fixed in the key, and turned
with a square to pass through a hole in the leader close to the key, which spring
thus fixed becomes a center pin for the leader to act on, and may be turned aside,
and the leader taken out with ease. The top end of the leader is rebated that
the shoulder may lift the hammer in playing and the top of the leader lift the
horizontal part of the crank which draws back the damper that is hung by a.
joint of leather or parchment to the top of the perpendicular part of the crank,
and passes between the hammer and slides in a rail or socket behind the
hammers; near to the top of each leader is fixed a spring that passes through.
a hole in the bottom of the crank, by which spring the shoulder of the leader,
is thrown under the block of the hammer in its return. This effect may also
be produced by hinging a small piece of wood either to the leader or to another
piece of wood, and that fastened to the leader, and the joined part thrown off
from the leader by a. spring, which piece must go up to the crank, and be
received in a mortice or rebate. The same effect may also be produced by
fixing a small weight of any materials to the back part of the leader, which
weight being behind the center pin of the leader in the key, inclines it to fall
under the block of the hammer. The hammer being made on the usual prin-
ciple, is hung to a small block or piece of wood of it's own width, and about
four (inches long, by a parchment hinge or a center pin; if by a center pin,
the piece of wood is then made at it's upper end as a fork to receive the
hammer, and the hammer made thin to go between the fork. This block is
screwed to the front. or back of a rail, called a hammer rail, that goes across
the instrument, and is fixed in two pieces of wood called cheek pieces, which
are fastened to the key frame. To these cheeks in also fixed the socket of the
damper's rail on which the hammers rest, and a rail to which the cranks are

page_text: hung at their angles by a parchment hinge. If the small blocks to which the
hammers are hung are scrowed to the front of the hammer rail, then two pins,
by way of socket for the leader, are drove in them, and a wedge block must
be fixed to them, against which a button acts that is fixed to a pin screwed
through the leader, by turning of which the leader is regulated; so that in
playing, the wedge block removes the leader from under the block of the
hammer, and gives it liberty to return to the rest rail of the small block to
which the hammers are hung are fixed to the back of the hammer rail; then
the wedge block and socket must be fixed to the front of the hammer rail.
All the rails to which the action is fixed are put in a direction conformable to
the possition of the rest pin block, so that the leaders are much longer in the
bass than the trebble.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Loud, have hercunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
THOMAS LOUD.
(L.S.)
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eighth day of April, in
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Thomas Loud came before our Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also the
Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute in
that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Eighth day of April, in the year above written.
SETRATWALIO