US1971A - Vin fobes - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDlVIN FOBES. OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO TIMOTHY GILBERT.

MANNER OF CONSTRUCTING- THE HAMMER-HEADS USED IN PIANOFORTES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 1,971, dated February 10, 184-1.

To all 'whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWIN Forms, of Boston, in the county ot' Suffolk and State of lv/lassachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Hau'nner-Heads of Pianotortes, and that the following is a tull and exact description ot' the same.

The said description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings hereinafter referred to composee my specification, setting forth and exhibiting the principles of construction ot my improvement, (by which itl may be distinguished from other inventions of a like character), and such parts or combinations therein as I claim and for which I solicit an exclusive property to be secured to my assignee Timothy Gilbertot' Boston in the State of Massachusetts.

My invention or improvement consists in constructing the upper portion of the hammer head otl cork, over which the soft butt' leather is to be stretched and glued in the usual manner toi-ming the striking part oi" the hammer.

Figure l, of the drmving exhibits an end View, and Fig. 2 a. side elevation of a hammer head termed on my improved plan.

The cork a, is therein represented as resting on, and glued or otherwise properly confined to the body Y) ot the head. The cork is int-ended to supply the place of the under strips or layers ot leather generally applied to the top ot the hammer and constituting the body, over which the outer layer ot' thick outl' leatherI is stretched and glued. In the drawings this latter is denoted at c, passing over the cork and a sutlicient distance down each of the sides of the wooden part 7) of the hammer as shown in Fig. l. The cork a., is to be shaped as seen in the end elevation or it may be slightly fai-led according to taste and .tancy or as -struct-ion.

circumstances require. The great advantage resulting from this peculiar construction of the hammer head is very perceptible in the loud and soft tones. In a gentle stroke of the hammer cn the string, the stiffness of the cork renders the sound, producedv therefrom, both clearer and sharper, than the entire leather head, while in the heavier blows, the elasticity of the cork vis not only fully suflicient to bring forth the requisite sound, but prevents in a very great degree the harshness or" tone often perceptible in piano fort-es 4with hammers of the old con- Another and material advantage consists in the simplicity of the parts and consequent saving in the labor and expense ot manufacturing the same.

I claim- Forming the top of the hammer heads of piano fortes ot cork, over which the soft buil leather, or striking part ot the head is to be stretched and conned in the usual manner, the whole being arranged substantially as herein above described and shown in the drawings.

In testimony that the within description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, therein referred to, forms a true and correct specification of my imlirovement in the hammer heads or" piano fortes setting forth its principles of construction and operation, iu such full, clear and exact terms, as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it appertains, to make, construct and use the same, I have hereunto subscribed my name, in presence of two witnesses, on the eighteenth day of December in the year eighteen hundred and forty.

EDIVIN FOBES.

TWitnesses R. II. EDDY, Ezini LINCOLN, Jr.

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