IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ACTIONS OF PIANOFORTES
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Herrburger of No 16 rue de l'évangile, Paris, in
the republic of France, Piano-forte Actions Manufacturer for an Invention of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Herrburger at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th May 1883.
JOSEPH HERRBURGER of N° 16 rue de l'evangile, Paris in the Republic of
France, Pianoforte actions Manufacturer "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ACTIONS OF
PIANOFORTES
"
My invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of pianoforte actions.
The butt of the hammer is prolonged and jointed and so terminates as to form a
back check and carries a regulating screw passing into an oval hole made in the
jack and serving to regulate the repetition. The jack resting on the key is jointed
to a guide which is itself jointed to a fork fixed on a bar. A spring which connects
the jack to the guide serves to draw this jack under the nose of the butt and to
ensure at the same time its support on the key. The jack also carries the check
fixed at the end of a rod which passes through a second oval hole made in the jack.
The object of this arrangement of check thus fixed on the jack by means of a
curved flexible rod is to communicate to the hammer at the moment of contact of
the back check and the check a slight recoil movement obtained from the form and
position of the rod. A knob mounted on a screw screwed through the jack effects
the release of the hammer when by reason of the movement of the butt the face of
the butt comes in contact with the knob.
On this jack is fixed a piece serving to operate the damper
In place of connecting the jack to the guide and to the fork, the jack can be
connected directly to the key by a piece provided with a regulating screw and a
spring the object of which is to draw the jack under the nose of the butt. In this
manner I am able to dispense with one of the joints.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Joseph Herrburger in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th August 1883.
JOSEPH HERRBURGER of 16 Rue de l'Evangile, Paris in the Republic of
France, Pianoforte Actions Manufacturer "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ACTIONS OF
PIANOFORTES"
My invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of pianoforte actions.
In order to enable my invention to be fully understood I will proceed to describe
the same by reference to the accompanying drawing in which figure 1, represents a
sectional elevation of a pianoforte action constructed according to my invention
and figure 2, represents a modification of the arrangement,
The butt of the hammer prolonged to C, and jointed at B, terminates at D, in
such a manner as to form a back check and carries a regulating screw F, passing
into an oval hole H made in the jack G, and serving to regulate the repetition.
The jack G resting on the key at the point I, is jointed at J to the guide K, which
is itself jointed to the fork L fixed on the bar M. The spring N which connects
the jack to the guide serves to draw this jack under the nose E, of the butt and to
ensure at the same time its support on the key. The jack G, also carries the
check O fixed at the end of 'the rod P, which passes through a second oval hole R,
made in the jack. The object of this arrangement of check thus fixed on the jack
by means of a curved flexible rod is to communicate to the hammer at the moment
of contact of the back check and the check a slight recoil movement obtained from
the form and position of the rod. The knob S mounted on the screw T screwed
through the jack effects the release of the hammer when by reason of the movement
of the butt the face V of the butt comes in contact with the knob S.
On the jack is fixed the piece X, serving to operate the damper Y.
In place of connecting the jack to the guide K and to the fork L, I can employ
the arrangement shewn in figure 2, in which I have shewn the jack as being con-
nected directly to the key by the piece d, provided with the regulating_screw_f,
and the spring r, the object of which is to draw the jack under the nose E, of the
butt. In this manner I am able to dispense with one of the joints.
Having thus described my invention and the manner of performing the same I
wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein
laid down and shewn in the accompanying drawing as the same may be varied
without departing from the principle of my invention but what I do claim is :--
Firstly. The combination of the hammer provided with a regulating screw, the
prolonged butt of which serves as a back check, with the system of jack herein-
before described, connected at its lower part by means of a spring, to the guide with
which it is jointed, furnished with the check herein before described with, an oval
hole for the passage of the regulating screw and with a jack knob substantially as
herein before described and represented in the annexed drawing.
Secondly. The system of jack hereinbefore described consisting in the com-
bination of a jack connected at its lower part, by means of a spring to the guide
with which it is jointed provided with an oval hole for the passage of the regulating
screw and with a jack knob, with the check hereinbefore described mounted on a

page_text: curved flexible rod, having for object to communicate a slight recoil movement to
the hammer substantially as herein before described and represented in the annexed
drawing.
In Witness whereof I the said Joseph Herrburger have hereto set my hand
and seal this eighth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and eighty three.
J. HERRBURGER (L.S.)