AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF PIANOFORTE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
inan, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF PIANOFORTE."
-A communication from abroad by John Winter Jones, of the City and
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
..
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th April. 1864.
"I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON; of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF PIANOFORTE,"
to be as follows:
The object of this Invention is to manufacture horizontal pianofortes of
small size which shall give out a body of sound sufficient for small apartments:
This is effected by arranging the action in the front of the instrument, the
hammers.being situate below instead of in advance of the keys; plenty of
room is therefore provided for. the sounding board. The strings are. fastened
at the front on an iron, frame as usual, so that the stroke of the hammer is
made on them sufficiently near their bearing. Pendent from each key is a
stem of: wood of peculiar form, which bears upon a curved face on the heel of
the hammer: The hammer is kept in its elevated position by means of a
gum-elastic band secured to a fixed part of the instrument. A projection

page_text: from the hammer butt bears upon the damper lever to throw it out of action
at the moment the hammer strikes the string. The whole damper action is
raised when required by the rocking of a longitudinal pivoted bar'; this bar is
held in a raised position by elastic bands, and is depressed to throw the
dampers out of action by a band or rod connected with a pedal. The face of
the stem which is pendent from the key is slightly hollowed. When the key
is struck the stem presses down the hammer sliding on the curved upper
surface of the heel thereof out to the end. The hammer being thus released
rebounds from the string, and the point of the heel rises a little into the curve
or hollow of the stem, where it rests until the pressure is removed from the
key; the stem then moves past the hammer heel, and the gum-elastic raises
the hammer to its former quiescent position.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Alfred, Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years 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 "AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF. PIANOFORTE," a communication
to him from abroad, upon the condition. (amongst others) that. I,. the. said
Alfred Vincent. Newton, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondent, is to manufacture horizontal pianofortes of small size which
shall give out a body of sound' sufficient for small apartments. To this end
the action is brought to the front of the instrument, and the hammers are
placed below instead of in advance of the keys. By this arrangement, the
area of the frame of the instrument admits of being materially contracted,
while ample room is still provided for an efficient sounding board.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 shews in front elevation a horizontal
instrument constructed according to this Invention; Fig. 2 is a plan of the
same shewing the iron frame and one string attached thereto; Fig. 3 is a
vertical section (full size) through the front part of the piano, shewing a key
and the construction and arrangement of the action and parts which form the
subject of the Invention.
A is one of a series of keys which are kept in position by guide stems B,
and work upon pivot stems B¹; C is the front or name-board, against the
bottom of which rises the key, flannel or proper stuffing being interposed to
prevent jar or sound in the contact; D is a gum-elastic band upon the rear
end of the key to restore it to its position after depression by the finger of the
performer; E is a stem of wood of peculiar form which bears directly upon
the curved heel or butt of the hammer; F and G are the two ends of a
gum-elastic band, the former attached to the hammer butt and the latter to a
hammer pivot bar or "hammer rail," its use being to restore the hammer to
its elevated position above the string; H is the point of contact of the stem E
with the curved hammer butt at the commencement of the stroke, and H¹ the
distance or reach of the stem when the key is depressed. I is a screw for
connecting the hammer rail to the framework of the instrument; K is a curved
recess in the side of the stem E; L is a toe or projection on the hammer butt,
its office being to raise the damper N from the string at the time of the
stroke; M is a lever carrying and intended to operate the damper N; O is
the pivot of the hammer, and P the stem pivot of the damper; Q is a gum-
elastic band for giving to the damper N the required downward pressure on
the string; R is a rocking bar lying along the interior of the front of the
nstrument, under the edge of which all the levers M of the dampers are
eld; S is a gum-elastic band which holds in position the bar R, and restores

page_text: it to its place after being depressed; T shews the pivot of the bar, and V a
leather band attached to the bar R, and reaching to the pedal action, by
which all the dampers are simultaneously lifted; Z shews the position of the
strings.
In this instrument the strings are fastened at the front upon an iron frame
as usual, and the stroke of the hammer is made on them from above and suffi-
ciently near the bearing. The operation of the "action" is peculiar in some
respects. The impulse upon the key through the stem E causes the hammer
to give a sudden and quick blow to the string. The stem E pássing down to
'the point E, having slidden on the curved upper surface of the hammer butt
out to the end (where it is at the time that the hammer, carried still further
by its momentum, strikes the string), is here released, and the hammer recoils
from the string, the point of the heel rising a little into the curved recess K
in the stem E. At this point the hammer rests until the key is relieved of
pressure; the stem E then draws past the heel, and the gum-elastic band F, G,
coming into action elevates the hammer to its former position. The result
of this arrangement is to impart a quick sharp stroke to the hammer, and to
catch the recoil by means of the curve K in the stem, leaving a pure and
untrammelled sound of the string.
The movement downwards of the hammer presses the toe L upon the
lever M, and lifts the damper at the proper time from the string, and holds it
there until the key is relieved of pressure; then the hammer rises to its place,
and the damper falls on the string, and is held there with a-force proportioned
to the tension of the gum-elastic band Q.
To regulate the effect of the stem E on the hammer, and thereby to render
the stroke lighter or heavier as desired, the screw I which connects the
"hammer rail" or bar that carries the hammer with the framing of the
instrument is fitted into a slightly elongated hole which admits of a slight
change or shifting of the binding screw to a more forward or back position,
and thus allows of an earlier or later escapement or disengagement of the
propulsive force through the stem E from the heel of the hammer.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of an improved con-
struction of pianoforte, and explained the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I wish it to be understood that, under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, I claim,—
First, arranging the hammers beneath the keys at front of the instrument
to leave room for the sounding board, in the manner substantially as above
described.
"
Second, the arrangement of the stem E with the curved heel of the hammer

page_text: for producing a quick stroke upon the string and catching the recoil of the
hammer, as above described.
Third, the means described for raising the damper by the action of the
hammer.
And, fourth, sustaining the hammer in its position ready for the stroke, in
the manner described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)