CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON PIANOFORTES
Year: 1832

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
FREDERIC FISCHER, of Chester Place, Regent's Park, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of September, in the second
year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and.
grant unto me, the said Pierre Frederic Fischer, His especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Pierre Frederic
Fisher, my exors, admiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Pierre
Frederick Fischer, my exors, admors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England; Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON PIANOFORTES," communicated to
me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said Pierre Frederic Fischer, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled
in His said 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

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Pierre Frederic Fischer, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained by the following description, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The advantage of this new kind of pianoforte consists principally of this,
that the hammers striking from above on the strings, against the sounding
board and bridge, the strings receive the blow from the top, so that they cannot
be lifted up by the hammer, and in consequence produce a stronger and clearer
sound. The manner in which the strings are placed tend to prevent their
breaking, and from the nature of the construction it will readily be conceived
that these pianos will keep longer in tune.
Figure 1, square piano.-A, key. B, screw, with two different taps, which
regulates the lever C, D, the center of which passes through the key. This lever
touches under the hook fixed on the lever, which bears the hopper G, and catches
under the nut of the hammer H, in order to raise it. The screw I serves to push
it out of its notch, which effects its escape. K, a winding spring, mounted on a
brass wire, and surmounted by a leather button L, on which the screw M rests,
and passes through the nut of the hammer, and serves to regulate the strength
of the spring in order to raise up the hammer by the same spring. N, the check,
which serves to catch the hammer. The piece E has its centre O, and presses
when in action on a screw P, which is held in another lever Q, the centre of
which is in R; at its extremity is the damper S.
forte in raising the damper by the hole V.
with leather, and dented, placed above the
strings Y, serve, by means of the pedals, to damp one or two strings at one's
will, and dispense the tuner from damping each cord separately. z, the bottom,
on which the key rests.
Two
The hinge piece operates the
moveable pieces X, covered
sounding board, and nearly to the
Figure 2, same piano.-A, key. B, the lever, regulated by a different
tapped screw C. This lever moves in a brass box D, fixed in the piece E,
which bears the hopper F, the centre of which is R. This hopper touches
under the notch G, and lets the hammer escape by means of the screw H
which passes through the hammer I. The piece E is fixed by a screw K to
the hammer rail, has for its central point L, and raises up the damper M, by
pressing on the lever N, the centre of which is O. This piece also is fixed
on the hammer rail by the screw P. T is a winding spring, which serves to
raise the hammer by pressing on the screw Q, as is explained in the first
Figure. The forte is produced by the hinged piece S, as above explained.

page_text: V, check, screwed also in the piece E, serves to catch the hammer after having
struck.
Figure 3, same piano.-A, key. B, double screw, which passes through the
key and the piece E, which is the continuation of the key, and bears the
hopper D, the centre of which is E, and is placed in an opposite inclination to
the first figure, producing its escape by pressing in the button F, mounted on
the screw G, which crosses the hammer rail H. The spring K serves to
push back the hopper. The check I placed in the hopper receives the hammer.
At the extremity of the lever is a piece L, with a centre M that bears on its
extremity. The damper M, which is raised up by the brass wire O, fixed
in the piece C, which is the continuation of the key. P'is a hinged piece,
which operates the forte as before explained, Q, a winding spring, which
serves to raise the hammer R, as already described. S, the centre of the
hammer nut T.
Figure 4, grand pianoforte.-The same mechanism as for the square piano,
except the alterations required by the difference of the form. In this kind of
piano the sounding board is convex at the base, which admits curtailing its
length by eighteen inches, without reducing the quality and power of the
sound. A, key. B, a piece bearing the hopper C. D, a double screw,
serving to regulate its height. E, another screw, passing in the block W, and
producing its escape. Z, check, screwed after the hopper, serving to catch
the hammer when it has struck. F, winding spring, mounted on a brass
wire, and surmounted by a leather button G, on which touches the screw H,
which crosses the hammer nut I, and serving to regulate the strength of the
spring, and for raising the hammer K by the same spring. L is a brass plate
which serves to fix the centre M. ✗, a lever, bearing the damper P, lifted up
by the button Q, and producing its operation by moving on its centre O. S,
a hinged piece, which, being drawn down by the pedal T, produces the forte.
Figure 5, cabinet piano.-A, key. B, the lever which bears the hopper
C, and is regulated in height by the double screw D. This hopper C catches
under the hammer notch, and by raising the hammer F touches the button G,
which effectuates the escape. H, check, passing through the hammer nut Q.
bearing on a small wheel J, fixed to the lever K; by moving on its centre L
lifts the damper M, placed at the other end. N, screw, passing through the
hammer rail O, and bearing a winding spring P, which presses against the
lever to operate the damping.
Figure 6, square piano. This Figure represents the sounding boards with its
carriages on the top, and the rasping block A of cast iron, covered with brass,
the inside of which is filled up with wood, sheathed with brass passing over

page_text: the sounding boards, curtails the length of the strings, and then facilitates the
tuning. B, the great bars of the sounding board, which are usually placed
below, are above, and screwed from belów. By this construction no part of
the belly can get unglued, even when the instrument is exposed to dampness.
Z, the bottom, on which the frame of the key is placed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Frederic Fischer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-two.
PIERRE FREDERIC (L.s.) FISCHER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of September,
in the year of our Lord 1832, the aforesaid Pierre Frederic Fischer caine
before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that j
purpose.
Inrolled the Eighth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.