IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Tolkien, of the City of London, and Joseph
Middleton, of Finsbury; both in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES."
Sealed the 10th November 1857, and dated the 13th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Tolkien and Joseph
Middleton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition; on the 13th May 1857.
We, HENRY TOLKIEN, of the City of London, and JOSEPH MIDDLETON, of
Finsbury, both in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," to be as follows
(that is to say):-
Our Invention, which has reference to obtaining greater permancy and
brilliancy of tone in pianofortes, by giving additional strength and rigidity to
the bracings than hitherto, consists in employing in place of the ordinary.
method a truss convex bracing of wood, for which purpose we cause one or
more openings to be made in each of the said bracings, and a hard wedge or
wedges to be inserted therein in any convenient manner, so as to truss up the
upper front portions thereof, and render the same more or less convex pro-
portionately to the thickness and form of the wedges employed.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Tolkien and Joseph Middleton, in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 13th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
TOLKIEN, of the City of London, and JOSEPH MIDDLETON, of Finsbury, both
in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Henry Tolkien and Joseph Middleton, Her special licence that we,
the said Henry Tolkien and Joseph Middleton, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Henry Tolkien and Joseph
Middleton, our 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 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PIANOFORTES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Henry
Tolkien and Joseph Middleton, our executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Henry Tolkien and Joseph Middleton,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, and the Drawings therein referred to (that is to
say):-
:―
Our Invention, which has reference to obtaining greater permanency and
brilliancy of tone in pianofortes, by giving additional strength and rigidity to
the bracings than hitherto, consists in employing in place of the ordinary
method a truss convex bracing of wood, for which purpose we cause one or
more openings to be made in each of the said bracings, and a hard wedge or
wedges to be inserted therein in any convenient manner, so as to truss up the
upper front portions thereof, and render the same more or less 'convex pro-
portionately to the thickness and form of the wedges employed.

page_text: But in order that our said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, we now proceed to describe it by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures thereon
marked (that is to say):-
:
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation, partly in section, of a pianoforte with our
improvements attached; Fig. 2, a side view of the bracing, separately shown;
Fig. 3, à front view of the same; Fig. 4, a side view of the bracing, showing
a modification of the above; Fig. 5, a corresponding view thereof, showing
the several parts of which the same is composed; Fig. 6, wedge for trussing
the bracing; Fig. 7, a side view of a bracing on our improved principle, with
metallic back and wedge omitted; Fig. 8, a front view of the same, and
Fig. 9, a side view thereof, composed wholly of wood. In each Figure the
same letters of reference denote similar corresponding parts.
A, A, case or body of the instrument; B, B, truss bracing, forming
the wooden framework or skeleton, upon which the wires are held in a state
of tension; C, C, wedge for trussing up the bracing, and rendering the front
portion thereof convex, for the purpose of securing greater rigidity and resist-
ance to the strain upon the strings, and maintaining greater uniformity of
tone than by the wooden bracings at present in use; D, D, rest plank; E, E,
hitch pin block; F, F, tightening bolts; G, G, metallic heel plate; H, H,
sounding board; I, I, strings or wires; J, J, tuning pins;; K, K, rest plank
bridge; L, L, belly bridge; M, M, angular joint; N, N, stay, or back portion
of the bracing; 0, 0, the same, formed of metal. Bracings formed in accord-
ance with our improvements may be constructed in one or more parts, with
or without the employment of metallic substances, and the said parts united
or held together by bolts, pins, screws, or otherwise; bracings in like manner
may also be formed with convex front surfaces, as above mentioned, by sub-
stituting in place of the wedge the requisite angular joint, as represented at
L, L, Figs. 7, 8, and 9.
In conclusion to the foregoing description we would here briefly note, that
the construction of the bracings may be effected in various ways, such as being
sawn partly through when in one piece, as at Figs. 1, 2, and 3, or united
when in two parts through the medium of a metallic back, as at Figs. 7 and
8, but we prefer the mode of forming them of several parts, as represented at
Figs. 4, 5, and 6, in which case we cause the back portions to be bent to the
requisite angle, by placing the centres thereof over a saddle or fulcrum so as
to depress the ends, or by any other suitable method, by which means the two
front portions may be readily bolted or secured thereto, and the wedge
inserted so as to maintain the whole in its flexed or angular position; and we

page_text: would further note that our said. improvements are applicable to all the various
descriptions of pianofortes of the usual construction.
Having now fully described the nature of this our said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to performed and carried into effect, we
would have it clearly understood that we do not by any means confine our-
selves to the precise details herein-before set forth and described, as the same
might be varied without departing from the general princple of these our
said improvements; but that which we do claim as new and of our said
Invention is, the general construction and arrangement of truss convex
bracings in the manner and for the purposes herein-before set forth and
described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henry Tolkien and Joseph Middle-
ton, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirteenth day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-seven.
Witness,
(L.S.)
HENRY TOLKIEN.
JOSEPH MIDDLETON. (L.S)
F. R. DARKIN CAMPBELL,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,
77, Chancery Lane.