IMPROVEMENTS IN PEDALS AND DAMPING APPARATUS FOR PIANOFORTES.
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Wirth, of the Firm of Wirth & Company,
Patent Agency, in Frankfort, % (Germany), for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PEDALS AND DAMPING APPARATUS FOR PIANOFORTES.".
A communication from Edward Zachariae, residing at Löhnberg, in
the Kingdom of Prussia.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Francis Wirth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 27th February 1868, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
WIRTH, of the Firm of Wirth & Company, Patent Agency, in Frankfort,
% (Germany), send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PEDALS AND DAMPING APPARATUS FOR PIANOFORTES," and have petitioned
Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Decla-

page_text: In order to give a distinct explanation I will describe at first the
outside of the mechanism and its manifold effects, and then I will give
an exact description of the interior parts.
We begin by examining the pedal steps; there are four of them, two
for the right foot and two for the left one; these steps are so formed
that their fore parts offer a broad plain and border quite near upon
each other. Under the steps lies a step board D which is fastened to
the lyre, and is so arranged with adjusting screws that it can be lowered
or raised at pleasure according to the size of the performer's feet, or to
his habit. (See Drawing No. 1 and No. 2 at o.)
In my system both feet are usually put under the pedals, the top of
the right foot standing under the steps A and V, the top of the left
foot under the steps B and T. The lower plains of the steps are stuffed
with felt, and are moved by the foot top at first upward in the
following manner :-
The motion of every step from below amounts to about 5 centimeters,
and is divided in 3 divisions, I call "stations," which make themselves
well felt to the foot, its top raising every step easily a little more than

page_text: 1 centimeter, then it feels a light resistance, the first station has been
arrived at. The foot top by a little increasing its force raises the step
again of 5 centimeters, a greater resistance is felt, the foot has arrived
at the second station. One forceful pressure yet and this third motion
leads to station 3. The step itself strikes against a little board u, going
forward from the lyre, and its motion is firmly stopped here. Adjusting
screws which go from above through that little board and have stuffed
heads below serve to regulate this limitation exactly.
That small board juts out of the lyre but a little, leaving the pedal
steps quite free in front, so that the foot is not hindered when it has to
move down the step instead of raising it, for the pedal steps have also
a motion downward, which is likewise divided in several stations.
The shape of the steps makes it easy to the foot to take also 2
steps at once if it is required, and to move them at the same time and
measure upward as well as downward.
In order to make the reader understand the effects which are produced
by the various motions of the pedal steps be it said that my system
divides all the dampers in the following 8 parts :-
La Mi; Fa-Si; ut-mi; fa-la;
la ré; ré-sol; sol-it; it #-mi.
The performer can remove these 8 parts from the strings as he
pleases, single ones all at once and one after another in the following
manner-
When pedal B has been raised to the first station (B 1) in con-
sequence of this motion 27 dampers, viz., those from La-Si, have
lifted themselves from the strings up to the common distance.
Do we move pedal B to the 2d station (B 2), then the whole row of
dampers sol-mi have separated themselves from the strings (likewise
at the common distance) while the dampers, raised at first to station 1,
remain quietly in their position.
B 3 (that is, pedal B in the 3d station) sets a moving the rest of the
dampers from ut-sol, while the dampers sōl -mi, raised to the 2ª
station stand unmoved, just so as those raised at first.
By station 3 of the pedal B therefore all dampers are removed from
the strings, all standing in an equal line and equidistant from the
strings.

page_text: In the common (therefore in most) cases the musical requisite will be
of such a kind that if the pedal B is used the whole row of dampers
from La-Si is removed from the strings. This is therefore done by
B 1, that is, by pedal B raised to the first station.
Yet in all those cases where it is desirable to limit the number of
strings which are to be freed of the dampers the aid of B takes place,
raising but little the pedal B by the top of the foot (indeed only by a
light motion of the toes) till half of the distance to B 1, only the dampers
La- -Mi rise from the strings (half the common distance); the 7 others,
Fa-Si, remains till lying firm on the strings; but if the top of the foot
advances to station 1, making the remaining half of the way till station 1,
those 7 dampers which had before remained lying leap from the strings
in a motion twice as quick, and stand in the moment where station 1
has been arrived at in a line entirely equal with the other dampers
risen farther to the usual distance from the strings.
Station is only found in the pedals B and V, and works in pedal V
the same way it does in B, only with the difference that by pedal V
only 5 dampers remain at first behind, and then overtake the others
most speedily by a double quick move, viz., the dampers sōl #-ūt.
As to pedal B moving downward there is only one station, B Î that
is, pedal B pressed down one station effectuates the dislocation of the
keys to the right ("una corda" called in note writings) in the same
manner it was hitherto done by pressing down one step. Yet there is
something peculiar here too. During such cases when the "una corda"
lasts a longer time to give liberty to the left foot to produce fine pedal
effects by pedal T, I have made an arrangement to fix the dislocation,
that is, to keep the pedal B after having been pressed down by the foot
in this position, so that the performer is not obliged to keep his foot
upon the pedal step. In that little board u, namely, which juts out
of the lyre a little over the pedal steps, moves in front on the edge of
it a brass lath m, which at its left end m' has a head, below which is
fastened in an adjusting screw; this head stands close at the left of
pedal B, and is so made that it, when pedal B has been pressed down
by the foot, can move to the right, placing itself above this pedal and
preventing it to go back as soon as the brass lath has been moved
by the right foot to the right about 2 centimeters. For this purpose

page_text: dampers are raised from the depth (that is, beginning with the keys at
the left) as this is done by B1 in order to proceed toward above (the
right); but if the dampers are raised from the middle strings at first
(for instance by T1) adding then B1, and so proceeding toward the
depth, in this case it is not desirable at all that the said 7 dampers
Fa-Si delay at first to rise from the strings in order to follow afterwards
speedily, rather it would certainly be a preference of the mechanism if
now a delay of the 7 dampers would not take place, but the whole set
La Si be equally put in motion.
-
And so it is indeed, the mechanism answers this requisite exactly.
As often as that part of the dampers which from Si lies next towards
above (viz., ut-la, or ut-sōl, or ut- -mi) already by another pedal
has been removed from the strings, then the whole set La-Si appears
in motion even by a gentle raising of pedal B; the effect of B which
now, as you want to proceed toward the depth is to no purpose, has
disappeared completely, and to remove the set La-Si from the strings
you need not to raise pedal B quite to station 1, but only a light motion
of the foot suffices, because as has been said the effect of B does not
exist in this case. Exactly the same is to be said of V.
If we had removed, for example, by T 2 the dampers till sōl from the
strings by the left foot, and we wanted then the left foot holding T 2
irremovably to free the other part of the strings also off its dampers with
the right foot by V 1, in this case where we proceed from below to above
the effect of V would have entirely disappeared, and already by softly
raising pedal V the whole set sōl -i would be put in motion equally.
Analogal is the case in which both pedals A and V like a whole are
raised at the same time by the right foot, or both pedals B and T are
raised by the left foot at the same time, where then a delay of the
7 dampers Fa-Si, or of the 5 dampers sōl -ut scarcely can be
observed, so that even by a light rising of the pedal steps the whole set
of the dampers comes in motion.
We proceed now to consider those cases in which 2 pedals, lying next
to each other like a whole one, are taken by one foot. A new series of
effects are formed here which are produced with 2 pedals moved by the
foot at a time. The motion of B1. (B roman I., that is pedal B raised
at the same time with pedal T which lies next to the right of it;
therefore B 1.=B1 with T1) raises at once about half of all the dampers

page_text: of the wood lever and causes the motion of the iron angle relative to the
dislocation of the keys while the wood lever b stays quietly in its
position.
The brass bar connected with the pedal step T goes likewise through a
notch of the wood lever t, has also a cross piece above lying upon the
wood lever, but it finds no further continuation upward. But a one-
armed iron lever f lays itself immediatly upon the head of this brass
bar at f. This iron lever has its axis before the lyre on the bottom of
the piano chest, passes closely over the brass bar and the wood lever t
toward behind, and sets with its end at f' under the lath S. (See the
side view of the lyre, Tab. I., No. 2).
If the brass bar of the pedal T moves now downward the fore part of
the wood lever t is pulled down while the iron lever of stays without
moving, but if the brass bar is pressed upward then its moving does not
influence the wood lever t, in the meantime the iron lever frises. The
brass bar joined with the pedal step A is so inlaid in the wood lever a
'that it has its axis here and takes along the wood lever a in ascending as
well as in descending (sce Drawing No. 1).
With the brass bar belonging to the pedal V it is exactly so as with
pedal T.
A second one-armed lever ff lies precisely beside the iron
lever before the lyre in the axis, and passes over the head of the
brass bar at backward, where its end p places itself under the lath P.
As now the brass bar is either ascending or descending it lets partake
in its motion either the wood lever v or the iron lever ff.
To obtain further a plain idea of the other parts of the mechanism,
first of all see Drawing No. 3. It represents the mechanism from
below, that is, seen from the floor, and shows in which direction the
.4 wood levers b, t, a, v, go asunder from before to behind. At the
same time it shows that these levers are double-armed ones, which
have their axis at x. Drawing No. 2 shows us the lever v and the
hind end of the lever a from the side, and explicates at the same time
in which manner the levers work.
The levers operate namely upon a big lever lath H cut in 6 parts,
which is seen in Drawing No. 2 from the side, in No. 3 and upon
Table II. No. 4 from below, and in No. 6 from the front.
This lever lath H consists of 2 little boards h and h¹ (Drawing
No. 2), which are united behind by joints, are pressed asunder in front

page_text: By the aid of the little iron staffs, therefore, the lever laths catch
one another and take along each other alternately a piece on their
way.
Looking further at Tab. II., No. 3 and No. 4, in front of the lever
lath H I., a longer iron bar E is so put in that the same runs on the
anterior edge of the other lever laths and reaches over to the lever
lath H VI., see also Drawing No. 6, where the lever laths are represented
from the front. On the staff E at w there is a small iron angle piece,
which has to give a point of taking hold to the wood lever b.
If the pedal step B is raised now by the foot, and in consequence of
that the hind part of the wood lever 6 moves also upward, then this wood
lever which stands exactly under the small iron angle piece w presses
with the aid of a small staff which mediates the action upon the little
iron piece w, the iron bar E rises and the lever lath H I. too, to which
the iron bar is fastened. In continuing the motion the iron bar
catches the lever lath H VI. In this moment the first station has
been arrived at, the lever lath HI. has now passed the interval between
h and the bottom piece of the piano chest (Drawing No. 2) and the
upper part of the lever lath HI., that is, has been stopped and
cannot move any farther upward.

page_text: If now the iron bar E is still farther to be raised by the wood lever b,
then it is needed to overpower the pressure of the spring, by which
at HI. h is kept away from h¹ the foot has to use a little more force;
then the lever lath H I. compresses itself, that is, the small board h
approaches to the unmoved little board h¹. At the same time the iron
bar E takes up H VI., until also here the upper little board h¹ strikes
the bottom board of the piano. Station 2 has been arrived at. A
farther motion finds a greater resistance for the lever lath H VI. must
compress itself now too; but now the iron bar gripes at once the
outstanding edge of the 4 middle lever laths (Tab. II., No. 6), viz.,
H II., III., IV., v., and these go up at the same time. The course
has been finished, a stopping hook c hinders the lever b to move
farther.
Looking now at the wood lever t in No. 3, we see how this lever
by the mediation of a small staff acts upon a by-lath L, which is
placed exactly under the 2 lever laths H II. and III., and again
by the help of 2 staffs and so takes the 2 lever laths H II.
and H III. (that is, that by-lath L takes them) that these must rise
like a whole one as soon as the by-lath L is moved by the lever t.
Thinking now the two by-laths HII. and III. had, pedal T having
been raised by the foot, at first ascended so high that their upper
little boards ', h', lay on the bottom of the chest, then we had the
first station again.
If now on account of farther moving the springs inlaid at Hш.
and III. give way, and the said lever laths press themselves in, then
the action continues in the following manner :-II II. takes now (the
first station having been arrived at) by the little, iron staff e screwed
to the lower small board h leftward the lever lath H 1., and raises it
upward with itself; at the same time H III. with a small iron bar e,
which is a little longer and is fastened in a similar manner, catches
not only the lever lath H rv., but also reaching farther the lever
lath H v., both of which (H Iv. and H v.) therefore are caused to rise
equally with H 1. The 2d station has been come to as soon as these
three lever laths H I., IV., and v., with their upper small boards h¹
strike the chest bottom.
Now these three lever laths are pressed in yet while at the same
time the lever lath HII. from which the motion begins must impress
itself still deeper. Therewith H v. reaches with a little iron bar e¹

page_text: over to H VI., and takes also this lever lath upward. So we come to
station 3. Representing to the mind at station 3 now the position of
all the lever laths, H. II. and III. are quite pressed in, for hand h¹ almost
touch themselves, H I., IV., V. are half pressed in, H vi. is not pressed
in at all but raised only to the chest bottom.
Returning again to Drawing No. 3, we see here that the lever a there
where it stands under the lever laths Hrv. and v. has a cross piece q,
one side of which is a little longer than the other one; this cross piece q
serves to receive two staffs at n and o, which impart the motion of
the lever a at the same time to the 2 lever laths H IV. and v. So
rise at the first station when pedal A is raised, H IV. and v. at the same
time like a whole one. Then H v. reaches with a little iron staff e¹
to the right and lets H VI. partake in the farther motion, while Hrv.
at the same time with a little to the left directed iron staff e¹ moves
HIII.; this is the 2d station. At the 3d motion H III. by the small
staff e takes also H II. along.
The position of the lever laths moved in such a manner by the
pedal A is now the following:-H IV. and v. you find quite pressed
in; H VI. and III. half, HII. you see only raised to the chest bottom
without being pressed in.
The lever works with the aid of a staff v¹ upon the
lever lath H vI.;
this can be seen very well in Drawing No. 2 and 3. Drawing No. 3
and 4 indicates further how H VI. after the first station by el takes
along H v., and how H v. after the second station by e¹ takes along
HIV., all by the help of the small iron staffs.
The Drawings No. 1 and 2 show very clearly how the mechanism
below the chest behind the lyre transfers his actions into the inside of
the chest and to the dampers themselves. The 6 lever laths HI I.,
II., &c., which lie on the outside of the chest bottom, answer just as
many lever laths in the inside; they are given in Drawing No. 1 by
H1, H2, H3, H 4, 5, 6. In Drawing No. 2 you see how on every
lower lever lath sits a staff i, which goes upward through a hole in the
bottom, and puts in motion the corresponding interior lever lath.
Immediatly above the 6 interior lever laths think, what the Drawing
does not contain, the dampers' jacks, which in the usual manner raised
by the lever laths move the dampers by wires.

page_text: When, therefore, the interior lever lath H 1 rises it takes the 27 jacks,
that is, those which belong to the dampers of the tones La-Si. On
the lever lath H 2 rest 5 jacks, ut-mi; on H 3 again 5, fa-la; upon H 4,
also 5, la ré; on H 5 again 5 jacks ré -sol; upon H 6, finally 21
jacks as far as you think the row of dampers continued till mi (as it is
commonly done).
The 6 interior lever laths H1-H6 rest on their staffs i, i, and con-
sequently on the corresponding lower lever laths H I.-H VI., because
of a greater precision, yet they are particularly so arranged by adjusting
screws Z, Z, that they cannot sink deeper, and stand always exactly
under the jacks.
A peculiar attention requires the arrangement of the lever laths
H1 and H 6. We examine in Drawing No. 1 the lever lath H 6, where
the mechanism has been accurately represented.
We see here indeed 2 lever laths, one of which K (the smaller one)
reaches from sōl -ut, while the other one extends only from ut-mi.
Yet this smaller one K is united with the larger one (both forming a
whole) behind, being connected with it (the bigger one) by a joint and
resting in a hole of the same, so that the upper plain of K does not
stant in one and the same line with the upper plain of the other part
of H 6, but lies a little deeper. K appears like a sort of a valve, which
can be raised, can be put in a line exactly with the other lever laths, and
can be lowered too.
This rising and lowering is done by 2 small iron levers, which are
placed under K; the one (a) has been fastened to the lever lath H 6 itself,
the other one (6) lies at the side of the first one a little deeper, & is fixed
to the bottom of the chest. The equal armed lever a has at its left
end above a pin j, which going through a hole puts itself to the lower
plain of K. At the right end of the lever a there is below a small
hook 8, in which the bending end of a wire spring fastened to ẞ so
gripes in that a small room remains between the hook & the spring,
& one seizes the other one only then, when by the rising of the lever
lath H6 the hook has gone up a little too. If we represent to our mind
this case then the hook is held by the spring, & in consequence of that
the lever a makes a little motion, the left arm rises & by the pin the
valve K is so raised that it puts itself quickly in one line with the
surface of H 6. The 5 jacks sol-ut, which are untouched at the
beginning, rise of H 6 (because that hole is under them) are now

page_text: quickly seized and overtake the other jacks which have already risen by
a double quick motion.
The lever B, which with the bending of its spring must take & hold
back the hook of the lever a cannot give way, since it on its left side
where it likewise has its wire spring by means of this spring is in
connection with a hook ô, which is screwed in the lever lath H 5.
Let us put now the following case:-H5 is (with about some other
lever laths lying to the left) at first raised; then the lever ẞ must make
a motion, so that the right arm goes down, seizing the hook à of the
lever a,
& causing this lever a also to partake in its motion. In con-
sequence of that the valve K rises forthwith & puts itself in the line.
That hole has disappeared. If now H6 is also raised forthwith by
pedal moving the 5 jacks, sol #-at remain not behind at first in order
to follow hastily the others, but they rise equally with the others, & the
valve K is not observed at all, since the compensation was already
prepared ere the motion of H 6 began.
Finally, the case is yet to be considered in which H 5 & H6 (by the
union of pedals A & V) rise at the same time. As here the lever B
comes in motion forthwith, the room between the hooks à of the lever a
& the wire spring of the lever B is most speedily removed, & the
valve K rises forthwith, so that the eye here also scarcely observes it, &
the 5 dampers sol-ut lift themselves with the other ones from the
strings as simultaneously as possible.
Quite the same arrangement is found at H 1, where there in Drawing
No. 1 the place at R has been left free.
It remains relative to the mechanism to consider those cases yet in
which the pedals are not raised by the foot, but moved down. Pedal B,
that is, B1 (Tab. I, No. 5) needs no explanation. The dislocation of
the keys is effected in the usual manner. Peculiar is here only the
holding of pedal B by the aid of the brass bar inlaid in the lyre, an
object of which has been already spoken. We come to pedal T, as has
been already said, upon the head of the brass bar (at t, Drawing No. 1.);
belonging to this pedal rests an iron lever f, which (after Drawing
No. 2) reaches under a lever lath S. This lever lath S is (as the Drawings
No. 2 & 5 show) furnished with strong wire springs d, which fastened
behind at the lath are in front in a different distance from the same,
& stand terrace-like at the side of each other. Then the lever lath

page_text: with the springs has been so directed that as soon as it is moved upward
by the iron lever the highest standing springs (Drawing No. 5, d 1-6)
take at first the exterior lever laths HI I. & II. by the lower plain of the
upper little board / (Drawing No. 2) & raise them equally to station 1.
Now these springs press themselves in, & while the lath S rises higher
other springs (d, 7 & 8, No. 5 of Tab. II.) become active & take
along H. III. These springs must give way too as soon as H III. strikes
the chest bottom of the piano, & now the lowest standing spring dg
comes in its turn to raise finally Hrv.; now the motion has been finished.
(In Drawing No. 5 you see the lath S in a vertical direction, &
you find
here easily how the springs d, 1-9 have been stopped. The general
lever lath P, which appeared vertical in Drawing No. 4, is entirely put
back here in No. 5.)
In Drawing No. 2 & 3 we recognise that the wood lever a is a piece
longer backward, & that through the end of it at 9 a wire goes that
unites the lever with a lath G placed farther above. Is the lever a
raised behind the said uniting wire moves freely to & fro without
producing an effect, but if by pressing down pedal A the fore part of
the lever a is moved upward & its hind part is moved downward, then
the uniting wire lets the lath G partake in its motion. This lath G
has its axis in the middle at g" (Tab. I. and II., No. 2 & 3) works
therefore like a double-armed lever. It (the lath) consists of 2 parts
G&G lying at the side of one another (Drawing No. 3), which behind
where there the wire (coming up from the lever a) is placed, are so
joined with one another that the part G', when it is drawn down by.
the wire by means of some springs reaching over to G, which have
been made visible on Tab. II., No. 4, by gg by omitting the one part G
takes along also this part.
Think now the matter being thus: G & G" are brought in motion
together, that is, pulled down behind. The part rising in front takes at
first by G at the place y, where there the 2 lever laths H III. & IV.
border upon one another those 2 lever laths at once, & moves them
up to station 1. By a stopping hook c¹ G is now hindered to move
farther. If now, nevertheless, from the lever a G is pulled on still
stronger by the wire, then (since the springs gg uniting G₁ with G
give way) Galone makes still a motion & presses hereby also the lever
lath H v. at y upward.

page_text: Most easy to explain is the rest, viz., the effect of V î, the old ped.
See Drawing No. 1 & 2. The pedal V is moved down, consequently the
iron lever indicated by points is raised, which reaches at p (No. 2) under
the general lever lath P. The fore part of this lath bears (answering
the 6 lever laths H I.-VI.) 6 heads, a (Tab. I., No. 2, & Tab. II.,
No. 4 & 5), & every head stands under a little iron plate b, which
juts from every one of the 6 lever laths H 1.- VI. toward the front.
The lath P must, therefore, in rising take at the same time all the
lever laths opposite to it & move them upward. We have, of course,
only one station, the old whole pedal.
Concluding this description I remark that the "great pedal of artists"
has been already applied to several pianos, & accordingly the mechanism
represented here by words & Drawings has been successfully realized.
To pianinos & table claviaries the mechanism will find its application
by certain modifications & in a manner simplified. In the "great.
pedal of artists" are completely contained the "simplified pedal of
artists" & the "little pedal of artists," in reference to the principle
as well as to the mechanic construction.
As to obtaining the Patent in favour of the construction of the great
pedal of artists there are the following peculiar points of a funda-
mental importance, in regard to which therefore the Patent is asked:-
=
1. The division of the whole damping in many sections, & the
variety of motions of these sections indicated in the tables & effected
by the means spoken of.
2. The 4 pedal steps B, T, A, V, & their moving upward & downward.
=
3. The motion of the pedal steps divided in stations upward as well as
downward.
=
4. The peculiar form & position of the pedal steps by which it is
possible without changing the position of the heels to govern 2 steps
with every foot, & to take also 2 steps at once like a whole with
one foot.
5. The small stepping board D by which the position of the feet
relative to the pedals is accurately regulated.
6. The brass staff m by which the pedal step B after having carried
out the dislocation of the keys is held fast.
===>