IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ACTION OF CABINET PIANOFORTES
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
LAMBERT, of Albany Street, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex,
Musical Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifteenth day of January, in the fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Lambert, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said Thomas Lambert, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas Lambert, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ACTION OF CABINET
PIANOFORTES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,
the said Thomas Lambert, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited

page_text: Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Lambert, do hereby declare that tho nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
In constructing the action of upright or cabinet pianofortes it is well known
that certain of the parts are combined together by having pieces of leather
glued between them, commonly called leather hinges, to which arrangement
or mode of combining parts of a pianoforte action there are many objections;
amongst others, such mode of connecting the parts offers no ready means of
readjustment when required, and the leather is found to be much acted on
by the varied temperature state of the atmosphere, and it is diflicult when
making the action for an instrument, to arrange and adjust the parts with
equality, owing to the different thickness and different strengths of several
pieces of leather, even when cut from the same piece. Now the object of my
Invention is to dispense with the using of leather at certain parts of the action
of a cabinet pianoforte, and to substitute wire joints, such wiro joints having
the means of adjustment by there being a screw formed on the stem of each
of the wire forming the joints, as herein-after explained.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood I will describe
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the figures and letters marked thereon.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents the action of an upright or cabinet pianoforte, various
parts of which are combined by leather hinges, as heretofore practised.
Figure 2 shows the action of an upright or cabinet pianoforte, certain of the
parts of which are connected by means of wire joints or hinges, according to
my Invention.
In each of the Figures the same letters of reference are used to indicate
similar parts. a, a, is the key frame. b is a key. c is what is called the grass-
hopper lever. d is what is called the under lever. e, the under lover rail.
f, the sticker connected with the hammer butt. g, wire for lifting damper.
h, the hammer rail. i is the hammer butt. j is the rest rail for the hammers.
is the hammer head, and is the damper rail. These parts are of the
ordinary construction, and are the same in Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing.
In Figuro 1 tlio stickerf is attached at its lower end by means of a piece of

page_text: leather m to the under lever the piece of leather m being glued to the lower
end of the sticker f, and the upper end of the stickerf is attached to the pro-
jecting surface of the "hammer butt" by means of the piece of leather m²,
which is glued to the upper end of the sticker f, and to the projection of the
"hammer butt;" hence it will be evident, that any want of correctness in the
length of the sticker f, between the lever d and the "hammer butt" cannot
readily be adjusted, either in the first making nor when the parts have
been put out of order by use. The wire g, for working the damper in
Figure 1, is shewn to be attached to the lever n by means of a piece of
leather o, such piece of leather o being glued to the upper surface of the levern
and to the lower end of the piece of wood g', into which the wire g is screwed;
hence the wire g depends on the pliability of the leather for movement in
respect to the lever n. The sticker p, which works the cheek, and the damper
part of the action, is attached to tho under side of the lever n, by means of the
piece of leather q, which is glued to the upper end of the sticker p and to the
under side surface of the lever n, as is shown.
"
The above described mode of connecting of the parts mentioned by means
of the pieces of leather m, o, q, has heretofore been resorted to.
My improvements have for their object to dispense with the use of the
pieces of leather m, o, and q, and to connect the parts of the action by means
of wire joints, which I will now describe, by reference to the parts shewn in
Figure 2. The sticker f is connected to the under lever d by means of the
wire joint r, such wire consisting of the screw stem of wire r, which is
screwed into the lower end of the sticker f; the lower end of the wire
is bent at right angles so as to pass through a hole formed in the pro-
jection d' of the lever d, as is shewn, the hole through d' being lined with
woollen cloth. By this arrangement it will be evident that the sticker f may
be adjusted to the length desired with the greatest nicety and with facility,
and the joint at r will give freedom of movement to the parts. At the upper
end of the sticker f I apply a leather hinge joint, but in place of affixing the
hinge piece s to the hammer butt, as heretofore, I use a screw to affix the
hinge pieces to the hammer butt, whereby the sticker f can readily be
removed and adjusted. In applying the wire g to the lever n I affix a pro-
jecting piece of wood to the lever n, as is shewn, and I bend the lower end of
the wire at right angles, so as to pass through the hole formed in the pro-
jecting piece of wood t, the hole of which I line with woollen cloth; and in
order to obtain adjustment I apply a piece of wood g' at the upper end of the
In connecting
wire the upper end of the wire g being formed into a screw.
9,
the lever n with the sticker p I apply a similar wire r to that described

page_text: Inrolled the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two.