A NEW OR IMPROVED COMBINED PIANOFORTE AND HARMONIUM
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Lea, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford,
Mill and Forge Manager, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED
COMBINED PIANOFORTE AND HARMONIUM."
Sealed the 10th January 1865, and dated the 19th July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Lea at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th July 1864.
I, EDMUND LEA, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford, Mill and Forge
Manager, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " A NEW OR
IMPROVED COMBINED PIANOFORTE AND HARMONIUM," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a musical instrument in which a pianoforte and
harmonium are so combined that either or both can be played at pleasure by
performing on the same row of keys.
I will describe my Invention with reference to a cottage or upright piano-
forte having an harmonium combined with it, but my Invention can be carried
into effect in connection with any kind of pianoforte. Underneath the key-
board of the pianoforte the vibrating reeds and other essential parts of an
harmonium are fixed, but without the ordinary keys. The keys of the piano-.
forte are made to operate on the valves of the respective reeds in the following
manner: On the under side of the distant end of each key a small staple is
fixed, into which staple the hooked end of a vertical wire connected with the
valve of one of the reeds is capable of engaging, so that when they key is

page_text: pressed down by the performer the said valve is lifted, and air can pass from
the bellows to the said reed, and cause it to vibrate and sound.
As many of
the keys of the pianoforte as embrace the compass of the reeds of the
harmonium are connected in this way with the valves of the reeds, the several
keys being respectively connected with the same note in the pianoforte and
harmonium. The several wires described are not geared permanently to the
staples under the keys, but pass through holes in a horizontal bar, which bar
by being pushed back liberates all the said wires from the staples, and by
being drawn forward makes them engage with the said staples. The said bar
is connected with slides in front of the instrument, by which it can be moved,
and the reeds be connected with or disconnected from the keys of the piano-
forte at pleasure. In order to disconnect the hammers from the keys of the
pianoforte so that the performer may perform on the harmonium alone, a short
piece of wire is fixed in the butt of each of the hammers, and a horizontal rod
capable of a rising and falling motion is situated under the said wires. When
the said rod is raised it raises the said wires, and presses the bammers against
the stretched wires of the pianoforte, and thus holds them without the range
on which the keys can act on them. When the said rod is depressed the
hammers can be acted upon by the keys in the usual way. This rod is
operated upon by slides in front of the instrument. The pedals of the piano-
forte are placed wider apart than usual, and between them the blowers for
supplying wind to the reeds are situated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edmund Lea in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
LEA, of Tipton, in the County of Stafford, Mill and Forge Manager, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edmund Lea, Her special licence that I, the said Edmund Lea, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edmund
Lea, my 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

page_text: 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED COMBINED
PIANOFORTE AND HARMONIUM," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Edmund Lea, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describo
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 Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund Lea, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of a musical instrument in which a pianoforte and
harmonium are so combined that either or both can be played at pleasure by
performing on the same row of keys.
I will describe my Invention with reference to a cottage or upright piano-
forte having an harmonium combined with it, but my Invention can be carried
into effect in connection with any kind of pianoforte. Underneath the key-
board of the pianoforte the vibrating reeds and other essential parts of an
harmonium are fixed, but without the ordinary keys. The keys of the piano-
forte are made to operate on the valves of the respective reeds in the following
manner-On the under side of the distant end of each key a regulating screw
with a hook is fixed, with which hook the eye or loop hole of a vertical rod
connected with the valve of one of the reeds is capable of being engaged, so
that when the key is pressed down by the performer the said valve is lifted,
and air can pass from the bellows to the said reed, and cause it to vibrate and
sound. As many of the keys of the pianoforte as embrace the compass of tho
reeds of the harmonium are connected in this way with the valves of the reeds,
the several keys being respectively connected with the same note in the piano-
forte and harmonium. The several connecting rods described of the valves of
the reeds are not geared permanently to the screw hooks under the keys, but
pass through holes in a horizontal bar, which bar by being pushed back
liberates all the said rods from the regulating screw hooks, and by being drawn
forward makes them engage with the said hooks. The said bar is connected
with slides in front of the instrument, by which it can be moved, and the
reeds be connected with or disconnected from the keys of the pianoforte at
pleasure. In order to disconnect the hammers from the keys of the piano.

page_text: forte, so that the performer may perform on the harmonium alone, a short
piece of wood or wire is fixed in the butt of each of the hammers, and a
horizontal rod capable of a rising and falling motion is situated under the said
wires or pieces of wood. When the said horizontal rod is raised it raises the
said wires or pieces of wood and presses the hammers against the stretched
wires of the pianoforte, and thus holds them without the range on which the
keys can act on them. When the rod is depressed the hammers can be acted
upon by the keys in the usual way. This rod is operated upon by slides or
levers in front of the instrument. The pedals of the pianoforte are placed
wider apart than usual, and between them the blowers for supplying wind to
the reeds are situated.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in which the same
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan, and Figure 2 in transverse vertical section a
combined pianoforte and harmonium constructed according to my Invention,
the keys being omitted in Figure 1, in order to exhibit more important parts;
Figures 3, 4, and 5 represent portions of my Invention separately. The same
letters of reference indicate the same parts in each Figure of the .Drawing.
same.
Underneath the keys a of the pianoforte the vibrating reeds and other
essential parts of the harmonium are fixed. As the said reeds and other parts
are of the ordinary construction I do not consider it necessary to describe the
The valves of the vibrating reeds are situated under the pianoforte
keys a.
One of the said valves is represented in Figure 2, and is marked b.
The other valves are situated under the other keys respectively, and are acted
upon in the same way. On the under side of the key a is a hook c, secured
in the key a by the screwed part c². By screwing the hook c, c, more or less
into the key a the distance between the part c and the key can be adjusted
with the greatest nicety. A portion of the key a with the hook c and screw
is represented of the full size in Figure 3. To the valve by the raising of
which air from the blower is allowed to act upon the reed under the said
valve a connecting rod d is jointed. This connecting rod d with its joint and
a portion of the valve b is represented of the full size in Figure 4. The upper
end of the rod d is made into an eye or loop-hole e.
When the eye is
engaged with the hook c in the manner represented in Figure 2, pressure of
the performer's finger on the end of the key a lifts the valve b, and permits
the reeds to sound. The connecting rods d are thrown into and out of gear
with the hooks c in the following mannerf is a bar (shewn separately in
plan in Figure 5), the said bar having a series of notches made in it, in which

page_text: notches the connecting rods d rise and fall. The connecting rods d are kept
in the notches of the bar f by means of the strip g fixed on the said bar f;
h, h, are sliding rods connected at i, i, to the strip g, and through it to the
bar f. The front ends of the sliding rods h, h, pass through holes in the front
of and under the.keyboard of the pianoforte; k, k, are springs which urge the
bar towards the front of the instrument; l, l, are two handles or levers
jointed at m to the frame of the instrument. When the parts are in the
position represented in the Drawing the harmonium is connected with the
keys a of the pianoforte, and by working the blowers by the footboards n, n,
the harmonium may be played by the performer. In order to disconnect the
harmonium from the pianoforte the handles l, l, are raised, the bar f is thereby
pressed towards the back of the instrument, the eyes or loops e of the con-
necting rods are carried from off the hooks c, and the valves b of the
harmonium disconnected from the keys a of the pianoforte. The motion of
the keys a does not then affect the, harmonium. When the bar f has been
pressed back by raising the handles the free ends of the sliding rods h, h, do
not project out of the holes in which they work under the keys a, and by
turning down the buttons o so as to bring them in front of the said holes the
rods and bar f are fixed in the position last described. By lifting the
buttons o from the front of the holes in which the ends of the sliding rods h, h,
work, the springs k, k, press the bar f forward, and bring the connecting
rods & into connection with the keys a in the manner already described. The
hammers of the pianoforte are thrown into and out of gear with the keys a in
the following manner:-On the butt q of each of the hammers r a short piece
of wire or wood s is fixed, in the manner represented in Figure 2. Under-
neath the pieces of wire or wood & is a horizontal rod t, capable of rising and
falling vertically. When the said rod t is raised it lifts the piece of wire or
wood s attached to the hammer r, and presses the said hammer against the
stretched wires u of the pianoforte. When the hammers are in this position
the keys no longer act upon them. The bar or rod t is lifted by two levers at
opposite ends of the instrument. One of these levers is represented and
marked v in Figure 2. The said levers may be fixed in their depressed
position by the hook or catch w engaging under the projection x.
When it
is wished to perform on the pianoforte the bar t is allowed to fall into the
position represented in Figure 2 by liberating the catch w from the pro-
jection. By the arrangements described and represented the performer can
play upon the pianoforte or harmonium separately, or upon both combined.
The ordinary pedals of the pianoforte are represented at,, in Figure 1.
They are wider apart than the ordinary pedals, in order that the foot-

page_text: boards n, n, for working the blowers of the harmonium may be placed
between them.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated in the
Drawing, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
my Invention; but I claim as my Invention, a new or improved combined
pianoforte and harmonium, in which the mechanical parts are arranged or
combined substantially in the manner herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing, so that the pianoforte and harmonium can be
played separately or together at pleasure by performing on the same row
of keys.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Lea, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
EDMUND LEA. (L.S.)