CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS UPON PIANOFORTES
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ALLEN, of Catherine Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Pianoforte
Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth day of July now last
past, did give and grant unto me, the said William Allen, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William
Allen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I the said
William Allen, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter '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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS UPON PIANOFORTES ;" s
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
William Allen, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particu-
Jarly 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
His said Majesty's High Court of. Chancery within two calendar months next

page_text: and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by
the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Allen, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say):-
In the said Drawing, Figure 1 is a front view of a cast-iron frame A, A,
with two dovetailed grooves B, B, formed in it, as are likewise shewn in the
edge view of it, Figure 2, and still better in the enlarged section of a part of
it, Figure 3, which is taken at the dotted lines C, C, in Figure 1. Into these
grooves B, B, dovetailed bars of wood are to be tightly driven, and secured by
means of glue or other proper cement, and then veneered in the manner to be
described hereafter; and the use of which said wooden bars is to receive into
them the ordinary wrest pins, which are to be tightly driven into holes formed
to receive them in the usual manner, but which pins, owing to the confining of
the wood in the said grooves, will be much more firmly held in their holes,
and be much less liable to slip or move, than hitherto, and consequently the
pianofortes to which they may be applied will be kept more properly in tune.
And I hereby claim the application of my said cast-iron frame with either
one, two, or three grooves formed in it to every description of pianoforte.
As, however, it is desirable to afford an instance of the manner in which the
said grooved cast-iron frame is to be applied in the construction of a pianoforte,
I shall proceed to do so by a description of the other parts of the said frame
A, A, and of the other Figures contained in the said Drawing.
D, D, in Figure 1, is a cast-iron brace (shewn also by dotted lines in
Figure 2), for the purpose of affording additional strength to resist the pull of
the strings; E is a groove to receive the bridge F into it, as shewn in the
enlarged section. Figure 4, G, G, is a recess or rebate formed in the face of
the frame A, A, to receive iron pins driven into holes made in the rebate, and
to which pins the opposite ends of the wire strings are hung, as shewn in
Figures 4 and 5. The other bridge H, Figures 4 and 5, is affixed upon the
sound board I, I, and this sound board is secured to the iron frame A, and
the external case J, J, of the pianoforte, in the manner shewn in section in
Figure 6, which section is taken at the dotted line K, K, in Figure 5. I, I,
is the sound board, which is fitted partially into the iron frame A on each side,
and is secured by means of two beads L, L, which are affixed to the inside of
the case I, I, and it is further supported behind by the cross brace M and the
two other beads N, N, which are affixed to the inside of the case J, J, the

page_text: brace D being also received into a gap O made in the brace M to receive it.
The bars P, P, Figure 4, into which the wrest pins Q, Q, are driven, are
covered with a veneer R, R, Figure 4 and Figure 5, and the remaining parts
around the iron frame A and between the case J, J, may be filled up or not,
at pleasure. A number of oval or other shaped apertures may be made in
the solid parts of the frame A, to lighten it.
Figure 7 is a side view of the pianoforte, but as there is nothing different
in its construction from others, saving in the application of my said cast-iron
grooved frame, so I shall not enter into any details thereon. Neither dó
I need to describe the construction of the keys, grasshoppers, stickers,
hammers, or dampers, they not necessarily differing from those of other
pianofortes.
And although I have thus given an example of a method of carrying
my Invention into effect, yet I do not mean or intend thereby to limit or
confine myself to that mode of applying it; but on the contrary, I hereby
claim the power of varying the form of the said cast-iron grooved frame,
and the manner of adapting it so as to suit any kind of pianoforte, whether
upright or horizontal.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Allen, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twentieth day of September, in the year of our
Land One th
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