IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Coope Haddan, of Cannon Row, in the City
of Westminster, and County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES."
Sealed the 29th May 1857, and dated the 1st December 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Coope Haddan
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st December 1856.
I, JOHN COOPE HADDAN, of Cannon Row, in the City of Westminster,
and County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in manufacturing of metal the framing or portion of
pianofortes across which the strings or wires are to be stretched, such framing
having a bridge or bridges, either of metal or wood, combined therewith or
otherwise, and also having a bed or bar, either of metal or wood, (for carrying
the wrest or tuning pins) likewise combined therewith or otherwise, and the
said bridge or bridges being either provided or not provided with nicks,
grooves, or hollows, for guiding or maintaining the strings or wires in position.
And my Invention also consists in loading or weighting the bass strings or
wires of pianofortes constructed as above set forth, or otherwise, with metallic
or other buttons or discs, threaded or otherwise, placed upon them, so as to

page_text: obtain deep notes with shorter lengths of the strings or wires than heretofore.
And, further, in galvanizing, or tinning, or covering with a metallic covering
the strings or wires of pianofortes constructed with framing, as above set forth,
or otherwise, and with strings or wires loaded, as above set forth, or otherwise,
so as to preserve the strings or wires from oxidation, and so as to cause a more
intimate adhesion or consolidation of the mass in the case of my improved
compound, or loaded strings or wires, and in the case of the compound strings
or wires, which are loaded by means of wire coiled round and upon other wire
in the ordinary manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Coope Haddan in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st June 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN COOPE
HADDAN, of Cannon Row, in the City of Westminster, and County of Middle-
sex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Coope Haddan, Her special licence that I, the said John Coope Haddan,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Coope Haddan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PIANOFORTES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Coope Haddan, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Coope Haddan, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what. manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof :-
My Invention consists in manufacturing of metal the framing or portion
of pianofortes across which the strings or wires are to be stretched, as herein-
after described, and also with the upper or wrest plank bridge cast in one
piece or combined therewith, and also in the use and application of such metal
framing in combination with a wrest plank, or bed, or bar of wood (for carry-
ing the wrest or tuning pins); and also in manufacturing the upper or
wrest plank bridge of pianofortes of metal with nicks, grooves, or hollows, for
guiding or maintaining the strings or wires in position.
And my Invention also consists in loading or weighting the bass strings or
wires of pianofortes, constructed as above set forth or otherwise, with metallic
or other buttons or discs, threaded or otherwise, placed upon them, so as to
obtain deep notes with shorter lengths of the strings or wires than heretofore.
And, further, in galvanizing, or tinning, or covering with a metallic covering
the strings or wires of pianofortes constructed with framing as above set forth,
or otherwiso, and with strings or wires loaded, as above set forth, or otherwise,
so as to preserve the strings or wires from oxidation, and so as to cause a more
intimato adhesion or consolidation of the mass in the case of my improved
compound or loaded strings or wires, and in the case of the compound strings
or wires which are loaded by means of wire coiled round and upon other wire
in the ordinary manner.
And having thus ascertained the nature of my said Invention, I will now
proceed to describe the manner in which each portion or division thereof is to
be and may be performed.
The Figure 1 is a front view of a cast-iron framing (of a pianoforte), cast
in one piece, and having combined therewith a bridge of metal, also cast in
one and the same piece with the framing, and also having combined therowith
a bed or bar of wood (for carrying the ordinary wrest or tuning pins). The
Figures 2, 3, and 4, are transverse sections, across the upper limb of the cast-
iron framing and the wrest plank, or bed, or bar, above referred to, taken at
the positions marked A, B, and C, respectively, and shewing particularly the
means of combining or fitting and connecting them together (not represented
in the Figure 1). Figures 5 and 6 are transverse sections, across the other
limbs of the cast-iron framing, taken at the positions marked D and E respec-
tively, in the Figure 1.
The illustration represented by the foregoing Figures is a cast-iron framing,
&c., intended for an obliquely-stringed instrument, to which class or description

page_text: of pianoforte it is apprehended that this portion of the Invention is more
especially applicable, the object being to obtain greater length of the bass
strings within a limited height, together with the necessary strength and per-
manent stability of the framing, which, it is believed, has not been satisfactorily
accomplished in obliquely-stringed pianofortes as heretofore constructed with
framing and bracings of wood.
The Figure 1 also represents certain other parts which are herein-after
particularly referred to. The obliquely disposed converging red lines a-in this
Figuro are intended to explain the arrangement of the strings between-the
upper and lower bridges (a few of them only being shewn), and the horizontal
red lines b and c represent respectively the ground line and the striking line
or position at which the hammer heads are intended to be applied. Ì‚ 9*‚ '9³,
is the upper limb of the cast-iron framing, being in fact a girder, supported at
the two ends; for carrying the load or tension of the strings at their upper ends ;
g being the front plate or face of the girder; g*, its bottom flange; and g³, a
.bridge beading or projection, traced in a particular course along the front face,
and serving the purpose of the ordinary wrest plank bridge. For this object
this bridge is intended to be furnished either with a number of nicks, grooves,
or hollows across it, which are produced by filing or cutting, or else it is to be
furnished with a number of pins screwed or fitted into it. The nicks, or these
pins (whichever may be adopted, but neither of which are represented in. the
Drawing) are to be situate at the proper distances for spacing out the strings
correctly. is the wrest plank, or bed, or bar above referred to, formed with
a rebate, for fitting it on to the top edge of the girder or limb g, and i, i, i, (see
Figures 2, 3, and 4,) are screw bolts connecting them together, (screwed nuts
being let into or sunk within the plank h) and counteracting the tendency to
cant over towards the front which would result from the tension of the strings
upon the wrest or tuning pins, which are intended to be screwed into the
wrest plank in the ordinary manner. It is to be understood that, although
not so represented, the wrest plank may be formed of different pieces and
descriptions of wood glued together, as is ordinarily the case. 1, 1*, is one of
the side limbs of the framing, serving as a strut or post, being the front
1
rib thereof, and * a back flange. m, m*, is the remaining limb of the
framing acting as an arc or bow for receiving the load or tension of the strings
at their lower ends, m being the front plate or face of the limb, and m* a
strengthening rib, at the back. And in order still further to strengthen this
rib, at the weaker portion of the same, a tie rod is introduced, as shewn in the
Figure 1. o, o, are lugs, cast upon the framing, for fixing it to the case within

page_text: which it may be mounted; p is a belly or sounding board, of ordinary con-
struction, varied only to adapt it to the particular cast-iron framing represented;
to which it is fixed by screws passed through the lugs qupon the said framing:
When it is desired to have a belly of larger dimensions, it may be extended as
shewn by the dotted lines p*, for which purpose it may be stepped up so as to
pass over the front of the limb 7, 1*, the parts right and left of the said limb
lying in different parallel planes. The construction of the belly, however;
does not constitute any portion of the present Invention. The belly bridge,
which is of ordinary construction, is not represented, but the position of or line
formed by the pins upon the same is shewn by the dotted lines p². The red
lines at a, a, represent a few of the strings of the instrument extended between
the bridge upon the upper limb of the framing and the belly bridge, and
denote the vibrating lengths, the continuation of the strings upwards and
downwards being omitted. It is, however, to be understood that they extend
upwards to the wrest or tuning pins in the plank h, and downwards to pins
screwed into the face m of the limb m, m*, of the cast-iron framing, in suitable
positions.
I would here remark, that instead of the iron bridge 9 being cast upon
the framing, a separate bridge of iron, brass, or other suitable metal may be
screwed or fixed upon the limb g, or a wooden bridge may be substituted, in
which case I prefer to insert it between two fillets or ribs, which I should then
cast upon the said limb to receive it. Or by somewhat raising or altering the
depth of the wrest plank a wooden bridge may be fixed upon it in the ordinary
manner.
:
:
The Figure 7 is a sectional side elevation, representing the pianoforto action
and damping action which I employ in combination with the construction of
instrument above described, and represented in the Drawings, and the piano-
forte action is that of Frederick Priestley, described in the Complete Speci-
fication of his Patent No. 905, (A.D. 1856,) the damping action being altered
from that described in the said Specification, so as to suit an obliquely-stringed
instrument, but neither the said pianoforte action nor the said damping action
form any part of this Invention. The rail M which carries the butts or rocking
levers N (to which the hammer levers are fixed) also supports a longitudinal
fillet or piece Q, and the fillet has a number of pieces of wood Q*, pegged
and glued into it, one to each damper lever R, forming centres for the said
levers to turn upon. The damping levers have damping or buffing pads
mounted upon them, which are 'pressed against the strings by means of the
springs R2, but when the butts N rock and the hammers fly forward to striko

page_text: the strings a, the heels N* of the butts strike the bottom of the damper levers,
which consequently press back and overcome the springs R2, and remove the
dampers from the strings. The action referred to is explained by the dotted
lines.
The Figure 8 is a front view of certain of the parts represented in the
Figuro 7, the rail M being shewn as partially broken away or removed, in
order to exhibit the skew or oblique position of the damper levers R rendered
necessary by the oblique disposition of the strings. The following additional
referencing is introduced in the Figure in order to explain this oblique action
the more clearly, that is to say, that the butts marked 1, 2, and 3, actuate not
only the hammer heads, also marked 1, 2, and 3, respectively, situate imme-
diately over them, but also the upper ends of the damping levers, likewise
marked 1, 2, and 3, respectively, the said upper ends being situate on the
right-hand side, and somewhat lower than the corresponding hammer heads,
but it is particularly to be noted that every single hammer head, and its
corresponding damper acts against one and the same corresponding string,
three of the strings being marked 1, 2, and 3, respectively, to correspond.
The Figures 9 and 10 are illustrations of the manner in which I weight or
load tho bass strings or wires of pianofortes, as above set forth. For this
purpose I employ ordinary plain wire, and I thread or place upon it the discs,
buttous, or pieces v (either singly or in pairs or picces, combined so as to sup-
port or bear against each other), which I prefer to be of some slightly com-
pressible metal, such as copper or pewter, so as to grip the wire firmly, and to
be disposed at very small distances apart without touching each other.
The methods I employ for galvanizing, or tinning, or covering with a
metallic covering the strings or wires of pianofortes are those ordinarily
employed for the respective processes, such as galvanizing, tinning, electro-
depositing, &c., when operating on other articles, which processes being well
understood are not necessary to be repeated here. But I would remark that,
when electro-depositing copper upon steel strings, I prefer to commence the
process with a solution of cyanide of copper instead of sulphate of copper, and
afterwards to complete the operation with a solution of sulphate of copper.
And I would remark that ordinary plain strings may be coated or covered
according to any of the above ordinary processes, and likewise the discs,
buttons, or pieces v previous to combination, and when combined they may or
may not be further consolidated by again submitting them to one or other of
the said processes.
And I would also remark that I consolidate the mass of ordinary compound

page_text: coil wire by submitting it to one or other of the said processes, as may be
preferred.
The said processes serve not only the purpose of consolidation, as above
explained, but in all of the instances mentioned they are intended to serve the
further purpose of preventing oxidation of the strings or wires. Instead of
plain round wire for covering the strings, I also employ wire of a somewhat
square form, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, one side or face being hollowed.
out, as shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Coope Haddan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of June, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-seven.
J. C. HADDAN. (L.S.)