CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ACTION OF HORIZONTAL PIANO- PORTES
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES STEWART,
of No. 21, Osnaburgh Street, in the Parish of Saint Pancras, in the County of
Middlesex, Pianoforte 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 West-
minster, the Eleventh day of November, in the fifth year of Her reign, did;
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Stewart, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said James Stewart, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Stewart, my exors, adiñors, 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 and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of " CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ACTION OF HORIZONTAL PIANO-
PORTES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me,
the said James Stewart, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal;
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent;
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Stewart, do hereby declare that my said new invented improvements
are as follows:-
First, in the mode of constructing and applying what I call a second check
or rest to horizontal pianofortes, which I effect in the following manner :-To
the front of the lever E (see annexed Drawing, Figure 1) I glue a small
block of wood A, about seven eighths of an inch from its upper extremity.
This small block of wood has a vertical hole bored through it, which is lined
with cloth so as to form a socket. B is the second check or rest, which is formed
of a wire bent at the upper extremity to about an angle of forty-five degrees,
with a small block of wood covered with soft leather on the side facing the
centre block of the hammer G, fixed to the bent extremity. The vertical or
lower part of the wire passes through the socket in the block A into another
small block of wood below, marked C, wherein it is fixed with sufficient
firmness to make it steady, but so that it may be drawn more out or pressed
farther in without difficulty, in order to regulate the check to its proper height.
The block C has a bit of leather or cloth on its upper extremity to prevent
any noise from its touching against the lower part of the block A. At the
lower extremity of the block Ca piece of soft leather is glued, and to the
under surface of this leather is glued a small wooden nut or button D, the
leather thus forming a slightly moveable hinge between the block C and the
button D, which prevents any constraint in the vertical movement of the
check B. In the button D is fixed one end of a metal spring X, which
passes through a mortice cut in the vertical part of the lever E, and is again
fixed by its other extremity in the horizontal limb F of the lever E, as will be
seen by the Drawing. The mortice through which the spring passes is about
three. eighths of an inch long, to allow free space for the motion of the spring,
and is lined with cloth to prevent any noise from the spring touching the sides.
The front of the centre block. of the hammer G. must be bevilled so as to
correspond with the angle formed by the head of the check B. So that when
the key is pressed down and the hammer has struck the strings, the hammer
will be checked or arrested in its descent from the strings by the check B,
when it has only traversed about one third of the distance towards its original
place of rest; and from this point, that is to say, where the hammer is arrested
by the check B, the hammer will, by a slight pressure on the key by the finger,
be again thrown back on the strings, so as to cause a rapid repetition of the
note with the greatest certainty, which is a thing of great importance in
musical passages of rapid. articulation. By the free motion of the spring
fixed in the button D, and in the horizontal limb F of the lever E, all locking

page_text: is effectually prevented between the check B and the hammer block G. The
mode of constructing and applying the second check or rest herein-before
described I claim as my Invention.
Another mode of constructing and applying a second check or rest to the
lever E, for the purpose of arresting the hammer in its descent, is shown in
Figure 2 of the Drawing. This I effect in the following manner:-
I make a mortice in the upper part of the lever E, commencing about five
eighths of an inch from the upper extremity, and continuing downwards for
about. three eighths of an inch. This mortice I guard with leather or cloth,
and through it I pass a spring Y, in the form of an S, made of brass wire;
one end of this spring I fix in the lever E, at Z in the Drawing. To the other
or outer end of this spring I fix a small block of wood. B, guarded with
leather, on which the centre block of the hammer G, Figure 1, descends; and
the hammer is thus arrested with the like effect, as is shewn by the mode of
applying the second check or rest, firstly herein-before described and represented
in the Drawing, Figure 1..
The mode of constructing and applying the second check or rest lastly herein-
before described I also claim as my Invention..
Both the modes of constructing and applying a second check or rest herein-
before described may be used, and applied to horizontal pianofortes, either with
the escapement described in a Specification enrolled in Her Majesty's High
Court of Chancery, in compliance with the proviso contained in certain Letters
Patent granted to me by IIis late Majesty King William the Fourth, bearing
date the Fifteenth day of January, in the fifth year of the reign of His said
late Majesty, or with my newly invented and improved moveable escapement
herein-after particularly described.
My last improvement is in the mode of constructing and applying a move-
able escapement to horizontal pianofortes, having levers of the construction
shewn in the annexed Drawing at E, Figure 1, which I effect in the following
manner:-
I fix, by its upper extremity in the hammer rail O, Figure 1, a wooden fork,
commonly called a flinge, shewn in the Drawing, Figure 4, 1.. In the sides of
each of its two projections or prongs, towards the lower extremity, a hole is
drilled and lined with cloth, to receive a metal pin or centre, which is fixed in
the escapement fly 2, the upper extremity of which is placed between the
prongs or projections of the wooden fork 1. This escapement fly is a small
block of wood about an inch long and a quarter of an inch square, moving
easily on its centre in the prongs of the fork. To the lower extremity of this
escapement fly a wooden button 3 is fixed by a regulating screw, so as to

page_text: extend or contract the distance between the button and the limb F of the lever
E, represented in Figure 1 of the Drawing; and thus, when the, key is pressed
down, the limb F comes in contact with the button 3, and causes the lever E
to escape from the centre block of the hammer G at a proper distance before
the hammer head reaches the strings. The lower part of the button 3 is
guarded with cloth, to prevent any noise when it comes in contact with the
limb F. A portion of the upper part of the limb F is reduced in thickness to
obtain more space for the regulation of the button 3, as the Drawing shews.
Fixed to the hammer rail O, and within the escapement fly 2, is a thin wooden
rail S, guarded with cloth, to prevent the escapement fly from making any noise
on touching it; and a like thin wooden rail T, guarded with the cloth, is placed
in front of the escapement fly 2, to prevent its motion outwards beyond the
distance allowed for its free action.
In the front of the escapement fly 2 is screwed in a horizontal direction a
piece of wire 4, for the purpose of giving so much additional weight to it as to
bring it back readily to its original position after being put in motion by contact
with the extremity of the limb F of the lever E. This construction of a move-
able escapement avoids great part of the friction which would arise from a
fixed escapement, and thus adds facility to the general movement. This con-
struction of a moveable escapement I claim as my Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Stewart, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-two.