IMPROVE- MENTS IN PIANOFORTES
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
ERARD, of Great Marlborough Street, in the County of Middlesex, Pianoforte
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Fifteenth day of
November (One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one), in the fifteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Pierre Erard, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Pierre Erard, my
exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Pierre Erard, my
exors, adñors, or 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 England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PIANOFORTES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Pierre Erard, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in

page_text: and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Pierre Erard, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto attached, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say :-
The comparison made in regard to pianofortes of all nations at the Great
Exhibition has established more fully than ever the reputation and superiority
of my pianofortes over those of the old principle. My original repetition-
action, my new proportions in stringing the instruments, and the more solid
construction of the frame have rendered the modern pianofortes so perfect as
to leave nothing to be wished for in mechanical action, tone, and durability.
There is, however, one point which, in my mind, may leave room for improve-
ment; that is, the pressure of the wires on the sounding board. It has been
hitherto a general practice in pianoforte making to lay the strings or wires on
the bridge of the sounding board with a pressure tending to press away the
sound board; and it follows, that in course of time, the power of resistance
which the sounding board is capable of opposing to that pressure of the wires
upon it becomes lessened, and its power to produce free and pure vibrations
reduced. These alterations from the original construction obviously prove
injurious to the vibrations of the sounding board, and consequently tend to
alter the quality of the tone of the instrument. In order to remedy such
defect, I adopt a different principle of laying the wires on or against the
sounding board, such principle consisting in making some of the wires or
strings to press with a tendency to force the bridge in one direction, and an
equal number of others to force the bridge in an opposite direction. And I
would here state, that I am aware that it has before been proposed to have
wires on either side of the bridge, with a view to counteract or balance the
pressure on either side of the bridge; but such plan, in addition in some cases
having a double quantity of strings or wires, has other objections, and I con
sider the plan of construction employed hitherto is inefficient. An explanation
of such former mode is shewn by the Diagram No. 1, the strings being in two
planes 6 a, b c. The Diagram No. 2 shows the principle of my improved plan
in which all the strings between the points of vibration 6 and a being in one
plane, the mechanical arrangements for adjusting the pressure of the wires
towards and away from the sounding board according to my Invention may
.be varied.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING
Figure 1 shows a plan view of strings a belonging to four notes in the sixth
octave of a grand pianoforte. d are metal studs (originally patented by me)
through which the strings pass to be fixed on the wrest plank. Instead of
applying pins so arranged or fixed into the bridge on the sounding board as
to cause the strings to be bent sideways, as shewn at Figures 3 and 4, I so
apply studs f, e, c, or suitable instruments, that the wires shall be bent in a
direction to and from the bridge, so that in drawing them tight to tune them they
shall exert their force partly to draw the bridge, and consequently the sound
board, towards the strings, and partly to force the bridge, and consequently the
sound board, away from the strings, and so as to keep the vibrating parts of
the strings c, d, in one plane. The middle stud e on the bridge stands higher
or lower than the front one c and back one f, and serves to give to the string
passing through the perforated holes in these studs a bent or an angular
direction, either towards or away from the bridge, as may be required' to
adjust or equalize the pressure of the strings on the bridge of the sounding
board. The stud f is kept on a level with the one c, so as to give to the
string the due tension on the bridge, and insure a pure intonation when the
string is put in vibration. These respective positions of the studs and of the
wires on the bridge will be more readily understood by reference to Figure 2,
representing two sections taken through Figure 1 at the dotted lines 1, 1, and
2, 2, respectively. In order to adjust or equalize the pressure of the wires on
or against the bridge of the sounding board, the bends or angles of the three
wires of one note are caused to be towards the bridge,-see section taken at
2, 2, whilst in the next note the bands or angles of the wires are caused to
be away from the bridge. See section taken at 1, 1. The studs may be fixed
into the same board by screws or otherwise, and they may be formed as
shewn, or in any convenient manner, so long as the construction is such that
each string or wire may be bent in a direction towards or from the bridge and
sound board, and so as to admit of the vibrating parts of the strings to be in
the same plane. And I would remark, that although the Drawing shows the
Invention applied only to part of a grand pianoforte, a workman, from the
above description, will readily apply the improvements to other construction
of pianofortes.
Figures 3 and 4 show a plan and section of a new screw apparatus for tuning
the wires of a grand pianoforte. In Figure 4 the tuning end of the string a
is represented as passing through a groove or hole, and coming out at b, then
turning round the stem of a screw c, and also round the stem of the screw d.
These two screws c and d, by the pressure of their heads, keep the wire down

page_text: tight upon the surface of the metal slides g in the guides or sockets h, h, and
passing under a bridge or rest i. Behind each of the slides g is a screw j
abutting with a shoulder against a metal standard 7, forming part of the
socket h. The screws ; may be turned
heads, shewn in the end.view, Figure 5.
into the sliders g, draw them under the
tune up the string to the proper pitch.
the wires can be slackened at pleasure.
with a key fitting on their square
These said screws j, by screwing up
bridge i towards the standard l, and
By a contrary motion of the screws
Figures 6 and 7 shew a plan and a side view of a newly-invented hammer
butt for "Erard's Patent Action," with the improvement of a regulating screw
m to every separate hammer centre. This arrangement is of great importance,
inasmuch as it admits of every separate hammer centre being regulated with
the requisite degree of tightness, one screw only being required for each butt.
Another advantage in these improved hammer centres is, that they may be
left very free when finishing the instrument. This greatly facilitates in pro-
ducing a light touch. The screws m are also useful to tighten the hammers
should they become too free from, the effects of a warm atmosphere, or to
loosen them should they become too tight from the effect of a moist atmo-
sphere. is a slit in the butt in which the pin o is inserted at the end, and
is of sufficient size to give the slit n a tendency to open...
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Erard, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty time