IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIANOFORTES.
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip John Smith, Frank William Smith, and
Herbert George Smith, all of No. 1, Royal Promenade, Queen's
Road, Bristol, in the County of Gloucester, and Andreas Pappen-
berger, of Lodge Street, Bristol, aforesaid, for the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIANOFORTES.'
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philip John Smith,
Frank William Smith, Herbert George Smith, and Andreas
Pappenberger at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 11th February 1869.
We, PHILIP JOHN SMITH, FRANK WILLIAM SMITH, and HERBERT
GEORGE SMITH, all of No. 1, Royal Promenade, Queen's Road, Bristol,
in the County of Gloucester, and ANDREAS PAPPENBERGER, of Lodge
Street, Bristol, aforesaid, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIANOFORTES," to be
as follows:-
Our Invention consists in an improved arrangement of metal bars
or struts for resisting the tension of the strings, more particularly in

page_text: -upright and oblique pianofortes, but which arrangement is also
applicable to grand or other horizontal pianofortes and pianofortes
of any form or construction.
It has been the practice to resist such tension in grand piano-
fortes by means of metal bars passing over the sound board from the 5
wrest plank to the bass plate and bent side, which arrangement
necessitated the unequal spacing of the strings and action work and
the cranking of the keys in order to escape such bars, thus adding
considerably to the expense of construction of the pianofortes, which
increased expense and numerous attendant difficulties have prevented 1
this arrangement from being generally used in upright pianos, and
consequently also prevented the use in these instruments of strings of
the same weight and tension as are used in grand pianos.
Now our present Invention has for its object to give the same direct
support to the wrest plank and bass plate and bent side in upright 1
pianos as is afforded by the said metal bars in grand pianos without
any of the above-named disadvantages. For this purpose we employ
one or more metal bars or struts which pass underneath the sound
board and at the ends are cranked or bent up so as to riso above the
surface of the sound board and take a direct bearing against a metal
bar laid in the wrest plank at the one end and against the bass plate
and bent side or plate covering the same at the other end. Thus these
bars or struts, while they do not in any way interfere with the strings
and action, directly take the strain between the wrest plank and bass
plate and bent side, thereby preventing all leverage upon and pulling
over of these parts, and enabling strings of the same weight and tension
to be used in upright pianos as have hitherto been used in grand pianos.
Such bars or struts may be variously formed and arranged in carrying our
Invention into practice; thus they may either be separate from each
other, by preference lying alongside of the bracings forming the back,
to which they may be bolted, the cranked ends bearing at the one end
against a metal plate on the edge of the wrest plank and at the other
end being formed with notches bearing against the edges of the bass
plate and bent side or plate covering the same, and the ends bearing
against the wrest plank are, by preference, formed with a bevil to enable
wedges to be driven in so as to obtain the firmest possible joint; or
each bar may be formed with T heads at the ends for taking a bearing,
or the bars or struts may all be connected together by or cast or forged

page_text: in one with a framing at each end. They may also, but less
advantageously, be cranked up only at the one end, the other and being
secured in any other manner at or to the wrest, plank, the back, or
the bass plate or beach bottom. The crank bars may either be formed
in one pieco or be jointed at any convenient part, or the cranked ends
may be formed separate from and fixed to the straight part.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Philip John Smith, Frank William Smith,
Herbert George Smith, and Andreas Pappenberger in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 11th August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, PHILIP
JOHN SMITH, FRANK WILLIAM SMITH, and HERBERT GEORGE SMITH,
all of No. 1, Royal Promenade, Queen's Road, Bristol, in the County of
Gloucester, and ANDREAS PAPENBERGER, of Lodge Street, Bristol,
aforesaid, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Philip John Smith,. Frank William
Smith, Herbert George Smith, and Andreas Papenberger; Her special
licence that we, the said Philip John Smith, Frank William Smith,
Harbert George Smith, and Andreas Papenberger, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Philip John
Smith, Frank William Smith, Herbert George Smith, and Andreas
Papenberger, our executors, administrators, 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 THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIANOFORTES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that we, the said Philip John Smith, Frank
William Smith, Herbert George Smith, and Andreas Papenberger, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or
their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or

page_text: them, 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Frank William Smith, on behalf
of myself and the said Philip John Smith, Herbert George Smith, and
Andreas Papenberger, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thercof,
reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, and to the
figures and letters marked thercon, that is to say :-
Our Invention consists in an improved arrangement of metal bars or
struts for resisting the tension of the strings, more particularly in upright
and oblique pianofortes, but which arrangement is also applicable to
grand or other horizontal pianofortes and pianofortes of any form or
construction. It has been the practice to resist such tension in grand
pianofortes by means of metal bars passing over the sound board from
the wrest plank to the bass plate and bent side, which arrangement
necessitated the unequal spacing of the strings and action work and the
cranking of the keys in order to escape such bars, thus adding con-
siderably to the expense of construction of the pianofortes, which
increased expense and numerous attendant difficulties have prevented this
arrangement from being generally used in upright pianos, and con-
sequently also prevented the use in these instruments of strings of the
same weight and tension as are used in grand pianos.
Now our present Invention has for its object to give the same direct
support to the wrest plank and bass plate and bent side in upright pianos
as is afforded by the said metal bars in grand pianos, without any of the
above-named disadvantages. For this purpose we employ one or more
metal bars or struts which pass underneath the sound board and at the
ends are cranked or bent up so as to rise above the surface of the sound
board and take a direct bearing against a metal bar laid in the wrest
plank at the one end and against the bass, plate and bent side (or plate
covering the same) at the other end. Thus these bars or struts, while
they do not in any way interfere with the strings and action, directly
take the strain between the wrest plank and bass plate and bent side,
thereby preventing any pulling over of these parts and all leverage upon
E

page_text: the back (or bracings) of the instrument, and enabling strings of thẻ
same weight and tension to be used in upright pianos as have hitherto
been used in grand pianos. Such bars or struts may be variously formed
and arranged in carrying our Invention into practice; thus they may
either be separate from each other, by preference lying alongside of the
bracings forming the back, to which they may be bolted, the cranked ends
bearing at the one end against the metal plate on the edge of the wrest
plank and at the other end being formed with notches bearing against the
edges of the bass plate and bent side or plate covering the same, and the
ends bearing against the wrest plank are, by preference, formed with a
bevil to enable wedges to be driven in so as to obtain the firmest possible
joint; or each bar may be formed with T heads at the ends for taking a
bearing, or the bars or struts may all be connected together by or cast
or forged in one with a framing at each end. They may also, but less
advantageously, be cranked up only at the one end, the other end being
secured in any other manner at or to the wrest plank, the back, or the
"bass plate or beach bottom. The cranked bars may either be formed in
one piece or jointed at any convenient part, or the cranked ends may be
formed separate from and fixed to the straight part or to the bracings.
Having thus set forth the nature of our Invention we will now proceed
more particularly to describe the manner of performing the same, for
which purpose we shall refer to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
Figure 1 shews a plan of the bracings A, A, of a pianoforte with the
wrest plank B, bass plate C, and bent side D; Figure 2 shows a plan of
the same parts with the sound board E covering the bracings; and
Figure 3 shews a section on line X, X, Figure 2. Between the
bracings A, A, are arranged the before-described metal bars or
struts F, F, F, which pass across from the wrest plank B to the bass
plate C and bent side beneath the sound board E, and at the ends are
cranked or bent up so as to rise above the sound board, which is notched
for this purpose, as shewn at Figure 2, and take a bearing against the
edge of the bass plate C and bent side D at the one end and against a
plate G let into the edge of the wrest plank at the other end. The
cranked ends of the bars are notched for this purpose, as shewn at
Figure 3, and the ends bearing against the wrest plank are formed with
a bevil in order to enable wedges H, H, to be driven between them and
the plate so as to obtain a perfectly firm bearing for them. The bars or
struts are bolted against the sides of the bracings as indicated so as to

page_text: strengthen them against giving way laterally. The strut F may cither
bear against the bent side D, as in Figure 1, or it may bear against the
plate I covering the bent side, as shewn at Figure 2. Instead of bolting
the bars or struts F to the bracings they may stand free between these, as
shewn in plan and side elevation at Figures 4 and 5, being made
sufficiently strong for this purpose, and as there shewn the struts may
have ends formed or fixed thereon bearing against the wrest plank
and bass plate; they may also be jointed at the middle or any other part
of their length, as at f¹. The cranked ends may also be continued and
fixed on the surface of the wrest plank and bass plate, as indicated
at f, Figures 4 and 5. Furthermore it will be evident that the separate
cranked ends fmight also, but less advantageously, be bolted against the
sides of the bracings, which then serve as a substitute for the middle
straight part of the struts or bars. Figure 6 shews a side view of another
modified form of the struts F, in which they are cranked up only at the
one end so as to bear against the wrest plank B, the other end being
made to bear against the beach bottom J. As before stated the struts.
may also be cast or forged together in one framing instead of being
separate from each other.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we
do not limit ourselves to the precise arrangements thereof shewn on the
accompanying Drawing, as these may be variously modified without
departing from the essential feature of our Invention, which consists in
tlic employment of metal bars, or struts passing across beneath the sound
board from the wrest plank to the bass plate and bent side and cranked
up at one or both ends so as to rise above the sound board and take a
bearing against the upper or facial edges of the wrest plank, bass plate,
and bent side or plate covering the same, or any of these parts, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frank William Smith, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Seventh day of August,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine