IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Shaw, Pianoforte Manufacturer, of
Hatton Garden, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES."-A communication.
Sealed the 20th June 1854, and dated the 22nd December 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Shaw at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd December 1853.
I, JOSEPH SHAW, Pianoforte Manufacturer, of Hatton Garden, 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):-
My improvements, which have reference to an arrangement or
arrangements of mechanism for pianofortes, consist, firstly, in the
employment of a lever, which I call the "simplex lever," which is con-
nected with the hammer, and serves to bring it back to its rest after
the blow is struck, the said simplex lever being applicable to upright

page_text: pianos, as shown in Fig. 2 of the Drawings, or to square or grand
pianos with the ordinary action, or with the down striking action,
shown in Fig. 1.
Secondly, in the employment of a damper, which is connected to the
said simplex lever by a silk cord or cords, by which its distance there-
from may be regulated.
Thirdly, in a method of superseding the ordinary lever and hopper
in pianos with the common action by causing the sticker to rest directly
on the key or key block, as in Fig. 3, producing an improved stroke
and a simple and durable action.
Fourthly, in the employment of a metallic strengthening bar, which
is connected with the bracings, as in Fig. 4, in such a manner that its
expansion or contraction may not produce upon them any strain by
which the tone of the instrument may be injured.
Fig. 1 is a transverse section of a piano, showing the simplex lever
with a down striking action; Fig. 2, a similar view, showing the
same lever with the action of an upright piano; Fig. 3 shows the
mode of superseding the ordinary lever and hopper by the sticker
resting directly on the key or key block. In each Figure the same
letters of reference denote similar corresponding parts. a, a, key
of the instrument; b, b. hopper; c, c, simplex lever; d, d, lever rail;
e, e, hammer; ff, hammer rail; g, g, sticker; g', g', regulating screw;
h, h, damper; i, i, intermediate motion link connecting hammer with
damper k, k, silk cords for regulating the fall of the damper; 1, 1,
string; m, m, reacting springs; n, n, wooden bracings. Fig. 4 is an
elevation of part of the bracing detached, furnished with my metallic
strengthening bar, which I call the harmonic vibratory strengthening
bar O, O, on which are projecting stays o', o', which maintain the
rigidity of the wooden bracings, and are susceptible of a sliding motion,
allowing for the expansion and contraction of the metal.
I claim the general construction & arrangement of the parts above
described, as shown in the Drawings.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Shaw in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd June 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I
JOSEPHI SHAW, Pianoforte Manufacturer, of Hatton Garden, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Shaw, Her special licence
that I, the said Joseph Shaw, ny executors, administrators, and arsigns,
or such others as I, the said Joseph Shaw, 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 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 I, the said Joseph Shaw,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 montlis
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Shaw, 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:-
My improvements, which have reference to the construction and
arrangement of the actions and bracings of pianofortes, consist, firstly,
in substituting for the ordinary lever of such pianofortes one which I
call the simplex lever, which is connected with the hammer, and serves
to bring it back to its rest after the blow is struck, the said simplex

page_text: lever being adjustable to all descriptions of pianos, either upright or
with a down striking action, as will herein-after be described.
Secondly, my said improvements consist in a contrivance for regu-
lating the set of the dampers in pianos with a down striking action
furnished with the said simplex lever.
Thirdly, in a method of superseding the ordinary lever and hopper
in upright pianos, by causing the sticker to rest directly on the key
or key block.
Fourthly, my improvements having reference to the bracings of
pianofortes consist in the employment of metallic strengthening bars
furnished with projections, or in some cases of tie rods, in such a man-
ner that the expansion or contraction by atmospheric changes may not
produce upon them any strain which would be injurious to the tension
of the strings or the tone of the instrument.
But in order that the above improvements may be more fully under-
stood and more readily carried into effect, I proceed to describe them
by the aid of the accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the
letters and figures thereon marked, that is to say:
Fig. 1 of the annexed Drawings represents a transverse section of
a grand or semi-grand pianoforte action, as referred to under the first
head of my said Invention; Fig. 2, a top or plan view of a portion
thereof; Figs. 3 and 4, side and front elevations of an upright piano-
forte action; Fig. 5, a top or plan view thereof; Figs. 6, 7, & 8, front
and side elevations and a top or plan view of the action referred to
under the third head of my Invention; Fig. 9, a transverse section of
an upright pianoforte; Fig. 10, a front elevation of a portion of a
sounding board and rest plank; & Figs. 11, 12, & 13, front, side, and
back elevations of the metallic strengthening bar or bracing separately
shown. In each Figure the same letters of reference denote similar
corresponding parts. A, A, case or body of the instrument; B, B, key
board or bed; C, C, key; D, D, hopper; E, E, simplex lever; F, F,
hopper buffing affixed to the underneath part of the simplex lever, on
which the head of the hopper acts; G, G, sticker; 1, II, hammer;
I, I, hammer but; J, J, intermediate motion link for raising the
damper: K, K, pedal lever, working on hinge or centre L, L, attached

page_text: to the hammer rails M, M; N, N, silken cord or twist for regulating
the fall of the damper by means of the stud or knob O, O; P, P, pivot
joint on which the simplex levers work; Q, Q, damper; 'R, R, wires or
strings; S, S, damper springs; T, T, (in Figs. 6, 7, &.8,) buff' guide
pins for steadying tlie 'action of the sticker; U, U, screw for adjusting
it to the action of the key block; V, V, adjusting screw rail; W, W,
wire spring for controlling the vertical movement of the sticker;
X, X, (in Figs. 11, 12, & 13,) metallic strengthening bar furnished
with projecting stays X', X', & adapted, for sliding up the wooden
bracings Y, Y, so that the expansion or contraction of the metal may
not produce any injurious strain upon them. In Figs. 8 and 9, b, b,
represents a wooden bracing; c, c, bridge rests; d, d, rest plank; e, e,
hitch pin plate; ff, lower framing; g, g, tic rod in upright pianos
passing transversely through the instrument, and serving to brace it by
means of the tightening nut and screw h, h. Of the, parts which
undergo modification in the improvements described under my second
and third heads, C, C', is a key block; D', D', hopper head; G¹; G',
right and left handed screw for the purpose of adjusting the sticker to
any required length; M', M', simplex lever rail; M, M, hammer but
and damper rail; O', O', small set screw for regulating the damper;
P, P, pivot bearing; M³, M³, sticker guide and spring rail;
M, M, damper rail. In the action shown at Fig. 1, on motion being
imparted to the simplex lever through the ordinary intervention of the
key and hopper, a simultaneous movement of the hammer is effected,
the sticker G, communicating the necessary action to the hammer but
to which it is pivoted, while the intermediate motion link raises
the damper from the strings at the same time that the blow from
the hammer is given. The cord or twist which serves to regulate the
distance of the damper from the strings is also the means of raising it
from off them by the action of the pedal, the aforesaid lever diverting
or bending the cord out of a straight line until the removal of the
pedal. The modifications of the simplex lever action required in.
upright pianos will be readily understood from Figs. 3, 4, & 5.
Figs. 6, 7, & 8, show how the direct action is communicated from the
key through the key block in the manner referred to under the third

page_text: head of my Invention; and the mode of employing the right and left
handed screw, and the improvements under my fourth head, have been
elucidated in the description of Figs. 9 to 13 inclusive.
Having now fully described the nature of this my said Invention,
and the manner in which I prefer that it should be carried into effect, 5
I would have it clearly understood that I do not by any means intend
to confine myself to the precise details which have been herein-before
shown and described, as the same might doubtless admit of various
modifications without departing from the general principles of these
my said improvements; but that that which I do claim as new and of 1
my said Invention is,―
Firstly, the construction and arrangement of the simplex lever, and
the mode of adapting it to upright pianos or to pianos with a down
striking action, in the manner herein-before shewn and set forth.
Secondly, the mode of regulating the set of the damper in pianos 1
having a down striking action furnished with my simplex lever by the
method shown and described of connecting the said damper therewith
by means of a silk cord or twist.
Thirdly, the method of superseding the ordinary lever and hopper
in upright pianos by making the sticker rest directly on the key or
key block, and by the employment of the right and left handed
adjusting screw.
And fourthly, the employment of the metallic strengthening bar,
and of the tie rod connected with the bracings, in manner as herein-
before described and shown.
In witness whereof, 1, the said Joseph Shaw, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
WEATHERDON & Co.,
JOSEPH SHAW.
Agents for the Patentee. (L.S.)