IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF PIANOFORTES
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SQUIRE, now of High Holborn, but late of George Street, Euston Square, both
in the County of Middlesex, Pianoforte Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirty-first day of January, in the fifteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Squire, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Squire, my exors, admors, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said William Squire, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION
OF PIANOFORTES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said William Squire, 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: William Squire, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon
(that is to say):
:-
This Invention has reference,
Firstly, to an improved repeating check action, applicable with slight modi-
fications to pianofortes, of both the horizontal and upright or vertical con-
struction; and,
Secondly, to improved constructions of metallic bracings for pianofortes.
In carrying out the object to which the first part of my Invention relates,
I avail myself of the principle of gravitation in lieu of employing springs as
heretofore for effecting the return of the moving parts of the repeating
check action to their quiescent position, and I am thereby enabled to simplify
the construction of the action, and render it applicable as well to horizontal
as to upright instruments.
In Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings, the manner of carrying out my
Invention with reference to upright pianofortes is shewn in several views.
Fig. 1 is a vertical cross section of a cottage pianoforte, and Figures 2
and 3 are partial sections on an enlarged scale, shewing the improved action
in various positions. a, a, is one of the finger keys of the clavier mounted in
the usual manner, and capable of communicating the motion which it receives
from the finger of the player to the jack, and through it to the hammer, by
which the strings commanded by the hammer are put into vibration. On the
inner end of the key rests a lever b, which is hinged to the lever rail; and to
this lever 6 the jack c is jointed. This jack is weighted so as to give it a
tendency to fall forwards towards the strings d of the pianoforte, and bear
against the butt of the hammer. e is a set-off lever jointed to the hammer
railf. The movement of this levere is limited by two stop pieces affixed to
the jack, and in the space between these two stops the head of the lever is
intended to remain. Near its upper end the jack is provided with a check
piece g, against the padded side of which a check button h, projecting from the
butt of the hammer i, is made to bear for the purpose of causing the end of
the jack to engage in the notch in the tail of the hammer butt immediately it
has escaped therefrom after driving the hammer into contact with the strings.
The hammer is jointed to the hammer rail f, and on the inner side of the
hammer butt the lower end of a weighted damper k bears. This damper is
jointed to the damper rail l, and is free to move with the hammer. The form

page_text: of the abutting surfaces of the hammer and damper is such that as the
hammer is driven up to strike the strings the loss in its sensible or appreciable
weight due to its change of position will be compensated for by the
increasing sensible weight of the damper, and thus a uniform pressure will be
upon the key. This compensation is effected by the surfaces rolling against
each other, as will be readily understood upon an inspection of the Drawings.
Having now pointed out the nature of the parts which go to form my
improved repeating check action, I will proceed to describe its working. In
Fig. 2 the parts are shewn in their quiescent position, but when the key a is
depressed by the player its inner end will rise and lift the lever 6 into the
dotted position of Fig. 2, or the drawn position of Fig. 3. The rising of
this lever will throw up the jack c, and the lower stop piece of the jack will
lift the set-off lever e, causing it to drive back the jack, as shewn. The effect of
this sudden movement of the jack will be to throw up the hammer i, and cause
it to strike the strings d. In rising to its striking position the hammer butt
will force forward the lower end of the damper, and draw the damper head
out of contact with the strings; but as soon as the pressure of the player's
finger is removed from the key the weighted damper will press back the
hammer. The check button h of the hammer will now come in contact with
the check piece g, and thereby transfer the pressure of the damper to the
upper end of the jack, by which means the jack will be driven forward to
re-engage itself in the notch of the hammer butt; and in making this move-
ment its upper stop will cause the depression of the set-off lever e, and thereby
allow of the jack returning to the proper position for repeating its action upon
the hammer at the next depression of the key. It will be understood that the
value of a repeating check action depends upon the speed with which the jack
or other contrivance for lifting the hammer can be returned to its lifting
lifting position; and on referring to Fig. 8, which shews by dotted lines
the position of the hammer when the re-engagement of the jack is effected,
it will be seen that this action will take place in the present instance as soon
as the hammer has passed through about one third of its return movement,
and consequently the key will not be required to rise more than about one
third of the distance it has been depressed by the player to enable the jack to
reinstate itself in the notch of the hammer, and effect a repetition of the note
last sounded. From the foregoing description it will be also understood, that
the weight of the action is upon the inner end of the key; when therefore
a light touch is required it will only be necessary to furnish the key with a
counterpoise at its outer end, or at the opposite end to that at which the key is
usually weighted, and the desired object will be attained.

page_text: In Sheet II. of the Drawings my improved repeating check action is shewn
as applied to a horizontal pianoforte. Fig. 1 shews the parts in their quiescent
position, and Fig. 2 the position they would take immediately after striking a
note. Instead of the lever 6 being hinged to the lever bar it is in this
arrangement mounted on a fulcrum pin m, on which it rocks. This pin m
is carried by the damper rail 2, which is borne up to its required position by a
spring n, and is capable of being depressed as usual by means of a pedal.
The lever 6 carries at one end the jack c, and at its other end the damper k;
the connection of the lever with the jack is effected by means of a centre pin,
and a leather hinge is used for connecting the damper and the lever together.
In this instance also a confined space is provided in the side of the jack in
which the set-off lever è plays, in the manner and for the purpose before
described, and this lever is rendered adjustable by being hinged to a piece e*,
which is capable of being slidden in a guide (as shewn in the detached cross
section, Fig. 3*,) attached to the under side of the hammer rail f. Into a nut
affixed to and projecting from the face of this sliding piece an adjustable
screw o takes, and this screw also passes through a fixed piece f* attached to
the hammer rail. By turning this screw o the set-off lever may be adjusted
to its required position. Instead of the hammer being jointed, as in the
former arrangement, to the hammer rail, it rocks on a pin held by metal
clips p, which are bolted to that rail. The action of the parts will be readily
traced, as the same letters of reference are used to denote the like parts in this
and the first-described arrangement. It will be understood that the rising of
the hammer, and the depression of the damper will be simultaneous, and that
the weight of the hammer instead of the weight of the damper will be
employed to effect the re-engagement of the jack with the notch in the
hammer butt for producing the repeat. A minor advantage attendant on
the use of this improved action, when applied to horizontal pianofortes, is,
that as no connection further than that of contact exists between the key
and the action, any key may be readily removed from the instrument
(when such is required) without interfering with any other parts of the
instrument.
The second head of my Invention, which refers to improvements in metallic
bracings for pianofortes, is shewn in Sheet II. as applied to a grand pianoforte.
Fig. 3 is a plan view of so much of the pianoforte as will explain this part of
the Invention, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical section shewing the whole
of the improvements applied thereto. In this arrangement of instrument it will
be seen that the springs pass under instead of (as is usual) above the wrest
plank, which is shewn at q, q. Immediately over the strings, and in lines

page_text: parallel thereto, any required number of metal bars r, r, is placed. These
bars are bolted at one end to the lining of the case, which carries the string
plates, 8, and near their other ends they are provided with a shoulder which
abuts against the edge of the wrest plank q, q, or rather against a strip of
angle iron that forms a projection to the edge of the wrest plank. The bars
extend across this plank, and are firmly secured thereto, as shewn, whereby
the wrest plank is effectually prevented from being drawn out of shape by the
pull of the strings. Another advantage offered by this arrangement is, that
the tension of the strings being sustained by what is virtually a metallic
framing, possessing the same tendency as the strings to expand by heat and
contract by cold, there will at every change of temperature be a sympathetic
influence in operation between the strings and the resisting medium, and
thereby the pitch of the instrument will be maintained, or but little affected,
when subjected to a variable temperature. This principle of resisting the
pull of the strings is likewise applicable to upright pianofortes, and in Sheet 1
it is shown applied to an instrument of that construction. The sectional view,
Fig. 1, exhibits the metal bars r, r, in side view, and Fig. 4, which is a front
view of the instrument with the action removed, shews them in edge view.
In this instance the bars are provided with two shoulders, which pass through
the sound board, so as to get a fair abutment against the angle iron that
protects the edge of the wrest, plank q, q, and against the string plate s, s,
respectively. The bars extend across the wrest plank in the manner and.
for the purpose before described, and they are secured thereto by bolts which
pass through a strip of angle iron running along the upper edge of the wrest
plank. The lower ends of the bars extend to the bottom of the block which
carries the string plate, and the bars are secured thereto by bolts passed
through both the plate and block, as shewn in the Drawings.
Having now explained the nature of my Invention of Improvements in the
Construction of Pianofortes, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the use of the precise means described for carrying out the first
part of my Invention, but I claim under the above in part recited Letters
Patent,―
First, the mode (as described in reference to the upright arrangement) of
compensating for the varying sensible weight of the hammer, or of that weight
which is appreciable by the touch of the performer.
Secondly, availing myself of the sensible weight of the damper for reinstating
the jack or hammer lifter in the notch of the hammer, as explained with
reference to the upright action.

page_text: Enrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.