Year: 1888

page_text: I, EDWARD PRIME, of Barrington, Cambridgeshire, Manufacturer, 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:
This Invention relates to certain improvements in or applicable to pianofortes, the
especial objects of the Invention being to improve the system or means of straining
and Luning the wires and to cause the same to yield more melodious and intense
musical sounds.
The accompanying drawings are intended to be merely illustrative of the principle
of the Invention and not as necessarily representing the actual relative sizes of the
parts, which may vary.
Fig. 1. represents a front elevation of part of a vertical pianoforte frame adapted in
accordance with the present improvements.
Fig. 2. represents a transverse section thereof.
The Invention consists essentially in applying to the pianoforte intermediate of the
bottom pins 5, around which the wires, 6, are strung; and the inning pins, 7, in a
position as nearly as possible adjacent to the wrest plank, 8, or its equivalent, a rod, 9,
formed of steel, iron, copper, brass or other suitable metal, extending from one side
upright, 10, of the pianoforte to the other, the rod being supported in end bearings, 11,
formed of glass or of steel, iron, copper, brass or other suitable metal, and which may
be made in whole or in half paris bolted or otherwise suitably secured (with facility of
being accurately adjusted) to the top of the uprights, the rod being thus suspended
lengthways of the pianoforte without intermediary support.
Around this rod is or are placed one or more snugly fitting cylinders, 12, formed
of glass or of steel, iron, copper, brass or other suitable metal, and which or the series
thereof occupies the rod from end to end thereof between the said bearings, 11.
If a series of such cylinders 12, be used then suitable thin washers, 13, of leather
or other suitable material are or may be placed between the adjacent cylinders to
prevent possibility of any chattering thereof.

page_text: Around such cylinder or cylinders and working loosely thereon is placed a number
(equal to that of the wires of the pianoforte) of rings, 14, formed of copper, brass,
nickel, iron, steel or other suitable-metal, the peripheries of such rings being
cylindrically and helically grooved as at, 15, in order that the wire, 6, in passing from
the pin, 5, to the tuning pin, 7, may be passed once around its relative ring in the
peripheral groove thereof, the said rings-being properly disposed for such purpose and
keeping the wires at their proper distances apart. These rings may also be separated
by washers, 13, as before referred to relatively to the cylinders, 12, on the rod, 9.
According to another modification the rings, 14, may be applied directly to the
rod,-9, without the intervention of the cylinder, 12, and in such case, if required, the
rings may also be made of glass.
The bearings for supporting the rod may, as aforesaid, he adapted with set-scrows
or like means for adjusting their position as required.
The wrest plank, 8, and tuning pins, 7, may be of any ordinary construction; but
I prefer to form the wrest-plank of outer iron platos, 17, with an intermediate
packing, 18, of wood, arranging the same in the usual position vertically above the
rings, 14.
Talso insulate the uprights, 10, and all parts carried by them or connected thereto
from tlie outer case by angular or other shaped blocks, 19, formed of glass or of steel,
iron, copper, brass, nickel or other suitable metal, and which may be screwed or otherwise
suitably secured to the uprights, 10, and to the parts carried thereby or connected
thereto.
The application to pianofortes of the hereinbefore described improvements will be
found to be effective in attaining the objects aforesaid.
The Invention may also be applied with equal advantage to horizontal and oblique
pianofortes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of
my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that
what I claim is,-
1. The hereinbefore described improved means of straining and tuning the wires
of pianofortes and of causing the same to yield more melodious and intense musical
sounds.
2. The application to pianofortes substantially in the manner hereinbefore described,
of the rod, 9, in combination with the cylinders, 12, and rings, 14.
3. The application to pianofortes substantially in the manner herein before described,
of the rod, 9, in combination with the rings, 14.
4. The formation of the wrest plank in the improved manner herein before described.
5. The insulation of the outer case from the parts contained thereby, substantially
in the improved manner herein before described.
Daied this 14th day of December 1888.
DAY, DAVIES & HUNT,
321. High Holborn, London, WC..
Agents for the Applicant.