IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Shepherd Smith, of Charlotte Street,
. Fitzroy Square, in the County of Middlesex, Pianoforte Manufacturer,
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Shepherd Smith
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd August 1854.
I, WILLIAM SHEPHERD SMITH, of Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Pianoforte Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES " to be as follows:-
My said Invention relates, firstly, to a peculiar mode of arranging the strings.
or wires of pianofortes, so as to be quite straight without their ends bearing
on the sounding boards; and, secondly, to an arrangement for bringing the
bearing of the metallic back strapping to screw in front of upright piano-
fortes.
The bridges may be affixed to the sounding board as usual, but rounded at
the top, and having on each side a long narrow plate of metal from end to end,
with cloth interposed, such metal plates rising above the bridge, and screwed
thereto at the sides. A number of holes are drilled in the upper protruding
metal, corresponding to the number of wires, and each wire passed through the

page_text: perforated metal plates on each side of the bridges, thus pressing on the raised
rounded top surface of the wood bridges, so that on screwing up the wires
taught no vibratory jar will ensue. The back metal strapping I arrange
curved forwards at top for upright instruments, by which means I can apply
the screws in front.
The novelty of my said improvements consists in the mode of arranging the
wires, so as to be quite straight without any strain on the sounding board,
and in the method of screwing the metallic strapping in front of upright
pianofortes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Shepherd Smith in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st February 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM-
SHEPHERD SMITH, of Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Pianoforte Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Shepherd Smith, Her special licence that I, the said William.
Shepherd Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Shepherd Smith, 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIANOFORTES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Shepherd Smith, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, tbat I, the said William Shepherd Smith, do hereby.
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-

page_text: My said Invention relates, firstly, to a mode of arranging the strings or
wires of pianofortes by means of peculiar bridges, the strings being quite
straight when wound up for tuning, without bearing or pressing on the sounding
boards; and, secondly, to an arrangement for bringing the bearing of the
metallic back strapping to be made fast in front of the instruments.
And for the better understanding of my said improvements, I will now
proceed to describe the details thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, in which the same letters apply to like parts throughout.
.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan of one arrangement of my improved suspension bridge:
for tightening the strings or wires. Figure 2 is a plan of another arrangement
for applying the same principle.
A, A, is my improved suspension bridge, the strings E passing through
suitable corresponding holes in the two metal plates a, a, a, a, serewed to the
sides of the sounding board bridge A; the wires passing over the rounded top
thereof are at that point pressed upwards, while the wires or strings may be
kept in straight lines, without the usual pressure on the sounding board, from
which pressure it is entirely relieved by this arrangement.
A', A', is another arrangement of my improved suspension bridge, with
hollow spaces b, b, b, on the surface, to allow the strings to be pressed down
below the top ridges of the bridge, by turning the metal studs or screws c, c, c,
thus keeping the strings tight to the bridge, without their tension causing the
bridge to press or bear on the sounding board. I do not in other respects
alter the arrangements common to all pianos, though shown in the Drawings,
which are, B, the sounding board; B', top bridge, fast to rest plank; C, rest-
plank, with tuning pins C'; D, string plate, with pins D'; and E, the strings.
I would here observe that my improved bridges may be fixed to the sounding
board B, as usual, and the wood portion must be rounded at the top when
intended for the construction, Figure 1, A; also, the perforated side metal
string plates, before being screwed to the bridge, should have cloth interposed.
It is obvious that the strings passing through the string plates over the raised
and rounded top surface of the wood bridge, or pressed by screws, as in
Figure 2, will effectually prevent all vibratory jar on screwing up the strings.
Figure 3 is a back elevation of the wood framework and metal strapping of
cottage pianos according to my improvement; and Figure 4 is a vertical
section of the same through L, L, Figure 3, affording a side view of my
improved strapping.

page_text: F, F, F, the wood bracings; G, G, the rest plank; H, H, bottom of frame-
work; I, I, I, metal straps or rods; J, J, J, the top bent or bowed ends of
the metal straps or rods with a screw nut K on cach. For convenience and
strength, I place horizontally along the top framework in front a metal flat
bar, drilled, to receive the several bent screw ends K, which prevents the nuts
injuring the front of the rest plank. K³, screw and nut on each of the lower
ends of the straps I. It will thus be seen that my improved metal strapping,
bending forwards at the top ends K, J, acts as so many bows against the
pull of the strings or wires, causing the instrument, thereby relieved from the
ordinary great pressure on the wood frame, to keep longer in tune and be more
durable than by any other present mode of constructing upright or oblique
pianofortes.
Having thus fully described the several parts of my said Invention, I wish
it to be understood that I do not limit myself to the particular form, dimen-
sions, or materials thereof so long as the mechanical principles applying to my
said Invention are attained; and I do declare that what I claim as my improve-
ments are, namely,
First, the peculiar arrangements of bridges for avoiding all pressure of the
strings on the sounding boards of pianofortes.
And, second, the improved metal bowed bracing straps or rods, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Shepherd Smith, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of February, in the year of
our Lord 1855.