CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON CABINET PIANOFORTES
Year: 1821

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SOUTHWELL, of Gresse Street, Rathbone Place, in the County of Middlesex,
Pianoforte Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster,
the Fifth day of April, in the second year of His reign, give and grant unto
me, the said William Southwell, my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,, the said William
Southwell, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON CABINET PIANOFORTES;" in which said Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso that if I, the said William Southwell,
shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent,
and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly
cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the same, relation being
thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Southwell, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof, that is to say:
The Drawing is composed of all the different parts of the action of one key,
and as numbers of the said parts are not new, it is only necessary to mark' the
distinction by specifying the new parts only.
First, Letter A, marked on the Plan or Drawing, is a sticker, in front
similar in appearance to those in other cabinet pianofortes, but very preferable
in its advantages, as it can be taken off and put on in an instant, by means
of a small screw and steady pin, which fixes it to the butt of the hammer at B,
going through a small piece of wood at C, which piece of wood and the
sticker A are connected together by a single leather joint. The said sticker A
has at its upper end a small part left square, about the sixteenth part of an
inch, which raises the hammer up with greater powers when power is given to
the key, there must be a small piece of cloth or other soft substance in that
part, as in the Drawing, to prevent noise. D is a back sticker, one quarter of
an inch from the strings, a little more or less, and on the end is put leather
or other soft material to prevent noise in raising the damper E. At the same
end is glued a block of wood F to receive a wire G, which is turned square
at the upper end to raise the check lever H. The said wire works in a
socket I to keep it steady; and to prevent noise, it must be bushed with a soft
material. The lower end rests as a dead weight on the key, guided by a rack
or socket in the leaver rail K, with a piece of cloth or leather stretched along
the leaver rail. It may be either tacked or glued. Another piece of the
same stretched along the tops of the round pins L, with a fine tack in each
of the said pius; they must be glued in round holes made in the said rail.
When the key is put in motion, it raises the check lever H, and puts down
the other end of the check M, and receives the end of the hammer after the
stroke is given, which completely prevents the hammer from doubleing or
rebounding against the strings. The said hammers may be longer than what
can be used in any other cabinet pianofortes; by that means the blow is more
powerfull and clear.
Letter N is a ruler, going from side to side of the instrument, and fastens
to the uprights at each side by bolts, hooks and eyes, or in any more con-
venient manner, so as to take off and on with ease. The said ruler should
have an iron bar, either back or front, or any other method that may be
lighter, to keep it from altering. There should be end wood groved in along
the ruler, which is to receive a wire, and is the center that the catch acts
upon. The hole must be bushed with cloth or other suitable material,

page_text: leather and small wires screwed or otherwise fastened in at as many parts as
are found necessary, with a small turn at the end to keep down the wire in
the
grove
which is marked O in the Drawing. P is a piece of lead to keep
the lever always down at that end, the said lever to be three eighths of an
inch or thereabouts wide, which leaves room for the fastenings between them.
Although in the above description I have mentioned certain sizes, shapes,
and materials, yet I do not confine myself, as these may be varied at the
pleasure of the workman, and any other substituted that will effect the
same end.