IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES."
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Samuel Nosworthy, of Coleman Street,
in the City of London, Pianoforte Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Samuel Nos--
worthy at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.
on the 29th May 1860.
I, WILLIAM SAMUEL NOSWORTHY, of Coleman Street, in the City of London,.
Pianoforte Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention.
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," to be as follows:-
The improvements relate to forming the rest plank or beam of two plates or-
bars of metal; also to forming the sounding board so that it may extend and
vibrate beyond the striking point and pass-detached under the bridge, which I..
form of metal, with its bearings from the bracings, or tubes, or bars.
Also, the improvements relate to obtaining the escapement of the action from
or upon the butt, by the application thereto of a screw button, or from or upon.
the lever of the action, by the application to such lever of an arm or abutment.
upon which a button acts from the hopper or jack.
Also, the improvements relate to-forming pianofortes inclining in a diagonal.

page_text: direction from front to back, by which facility is given for length of wires and
other parts without increase of height, and which will give the performer
an elevated position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Samuel Nosworthy in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th November 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SAMUEL NOSWORTHY, of Coleman Street, in the City of London, Pianoforte
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Samuel Nosworthy, Her special licence that I, the said William
Samuel Nosworthy, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Samuel Nosworthy, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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," upon the condition (amongst
others), that I, the said William Samuel Nosworthy, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 William Samuel. Nosworthy, 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 :-
The improvements relate, first, to forming the rest plank or beam of two
plates or bars of metal.
The improvements relate, secondly, to forming the sounding board so that
it may extend and vibrate beyond the striking point and pass detached under

page_text: the bridge, which I form of metal, with its bearings from the bracings, or tubes,
or bars.
Thirdly, the improvements relate to obtaining the escapement of the action
from or upon the butt, by the application thereto of a screw button, or
from or upon the lever of the action, by the application to such lever of an arm
or abutment upon which a button acts from the hopper or jack.
Fourthly, the improvements relate to forming pianofortes inclining in a
diagonal direction from front to back, by which facility is given for length of
wires and other parts without increase of height, and which will give the
performer an elevated position.
But that the nature of these improvements and the means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect may be fully understood, I will proceed, aided by
the accompanying Drawing, to explain the means pursued by me.
Figure 1 shows a section of a pianoforte with some of my improvements
applied thereto. According to the first part of my improvements the wrest or
rest beam, in lieu of the ordinary wrest or rest plank, I form of two plates or
bars of metal d, d, which are arranged at a distance from each other by shoulder
bolts and screw nuts e, e. This wrest or rest beam is fixed to the top of flat-
sided metal tubes or bracings f,f, by means of metal plates g, fitted by prefer-
ence to the said wrest or rest beam by a kind of "dovetail," and which is also
supported by back stays h, which pass through and bear upon the said plates g
with a kind of shoulder, and descend into the tubes or bracings, also by metal
brackets i, fitted to the front of the tubes or bracings. There is also a bolt or
stay j, which passes through the bracket i, the tube or bracing f.f, and the
end of the back stay h, which is within the tubes or bracings, into a screw nut
j', which takes its purchase upon the back of the tubes or bracings.
The sounding board, according to the second part of my improvements, is
arranged to effect increased resonance, and for this purpose I form it on an
enlarged plan, according to the size of the instrument, as will be seen by com
parison of Figure 2 with Figure 3, where a in each case represents the sound-
ing board; both Figures are of the dimensions of a small-sized ordinary
cottage pianoforte; also by comparison of Figure 4 with Figure 5, both of
which are of the same dimensions lengthwise as an ordinary semi-grand; but
in Figures 3 and 5, as well as in Figure 1, it will be seen the sounding boards
a, a, are extended beyond the striking point, and carried detached under the
treble portions of the "wrest plank" bridge. The bridge, as seen by Figure 1, I
form to pass detached over the sounding board a in lieu of the ordinary treble
"wrest plank" bridge, and it is by preference composed of two bars of metal,

page_text: one b, grooved or concave, the other. 6' convex, to correspond with it. The
strings or wires pass between the said bars 6, 6, which form the bridge, and the
stops or bearings of the strings or wires are effected by one portion of the bridge
being pressed into the other; this pressure I effect by screw nuts fitted to bolts
or stays, the ends of which pass through both portions 6, 6', of the said bridge,
and through, but without touching the sounding board, and then take their
purchase or bearings upon the flat-sided metal tubes or other bracings, and are
there held by means of screw nuts c, c.
I will now describe the third part of the improvements. The escapement of
the action of ordinary pianofortes is more or less affected by the effects of
climate and the variation of the atmosphere, which cause the expansion and
contraction of the parts in connection therewith. The expansion of the parts
producing the non-escapement or "blocking" of the hammers which checks
the vibration of the strings or wires, and produces the muffled tone and imper-
fect touch so apparent to the performer; the contraction of the parts draws the
hopper or jack from the desired point of action upon the butt or lever, which
causes a want of power or "touch," the consequence of which is a diminished
quantity of tone. According to this part of my improvements, the hopper or
jack depends for its bearings and escapement upon the butt or lever, which it
sets in motion.
Figure 6 shows one arrangement. a is a key; b, the hopper or jack; and
c, the hammer "butt," to which is applied the screw button d. Figure 7
shows a modification of this part of the improvements, in which the button d
is applied to an arm e¹ from the lever e, upon which the "sticker" rests; the
other parts are marked with the same letters referred to in the previous
Figure. Figure 8 shows a modification of Figure 7, by the screw nut & being
affixed to the hopper or jack b; the result is, that the escapement is not dis-
arranged by change of climate or variations of the atmosphere, for the hopper
or jack maintains its original position in connection with the lever or butt not-
withstanding the expansion or contraction of the other parts.
Figure 9 shows an arrangement of pianoforte according to the fourth part
of the Invention, the object of which is to obtain increase or extension of the
sounding board and strings or wires without proportional increase of space
being occupied by the instrument. Figures 10 and 11 show modifications on
a smaller scale.
In each of these Figures it will be seen that that portion of the instrument
containing the sounding board and strings is inclined from the front to the
back, and by preference I form that part of the case covering the lower part

page_text: of the sounding board and strings, so that it may serve as a rest for the feet of
the performer. This arrangement also affords facility for giving an elevated
position to the performer, by raising the position of the key board. I, for
the sake of distinction, call instruments thus constructed "diagonal orchestral
pianofortes."
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the means which
I adopt in carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that what
I claim is,
First, the forming the rest plank or beam of two parts, as described.
Secondly, I claim the method of giving extension to the sounding boards of
pianofortes.
Thirdly, I claim the means of obtaining the escapement.
And, fourthly, I claim forming pianofortes so that the sounding board and
wires may be inclined from the front to the back, substantially as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the William Samuel Nosworthy, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
WILLIAM BROOKES,
78, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agent.
W. S. NOSWORTHY. (L.8.)