in York
"LETTERS PATENT to William Alfred Waddington, of 44, Stonegate, City of York, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, Pianoforte Maker, for the Invention of “CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOUNDING BOARDS FOR PIANOFORTES AND OTHER LIKE STRINGED INSTRUMENTS.” Sealed the 13th October 1854, and dated the 1st May 1854. PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Alfred Waddington at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st May 1854. I, WILLIAM ALFRED WADDINGTON, of 44, Stonegate, York, in the West 5 Riding of Yorkshire, Pianoforte Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOUNDING BOARDS FOR PIANOFORTES AND OTHER LIKE STRINGED INSTRUMENTS” to be as follows, that is to say : - My Invention has simply for its object a different arrangement of the ribs 10 for strengthening the sounding board, which ribs are placed according to my Invention on the front of the sounding board instead of placing them at the back thereof, whereby I obtain increased strength and resistance to the tension of the strings. Waddington's Impts. in the Construction of Sounding Boards for Pianofortes, &c. SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by the said William Alfred Waddington in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st November 1854. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM ALFRED WADDINGTON, of Stonegate, York, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, 5 Pianoforte Maker, send greeting. WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of May, 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 Alfred Waddington, Her special licence that I, the said William Alfred Waddington, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Alfred Waddington, 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 “CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SOUNDING BOARDS TOR PIANOFORTES AND OTHER LIKE STRINGED INSTRUMENTS,” upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Alfred Waddington, 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 WE, that I, the said William Alfred Waddington, 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 thereof (that is to say) : My Invention has simply for its object a different arrangement of the ribs 30 for strengthening the sounding board, which ribs are placed according to my Invention on the front of the sounding board instead of placing them at the back thereof, whereby I obtain increased strength and resistance to the tension of the strings. In order that my Invention may be more fully understood, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed, on which similar letters denote corresponding parts. Waddington's Impts. in the Construction of Sounding Boards for Pianofortes, &c. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS. Figure 1 represents the front elevation of a sounding board for an upright pianoforte constructed according to my Invention. a, a, is the sounding board ; b, b, the ribs or strengthening bars; and c, the strings. It will therefore ba seen, by an inspection of the Drawing, that instead of placing the ribs or bars b, b, on the back or posterior side of the sounding board, as heretofore, I glue or otherwise attach them to the front or anterior side of such sounding board immediately behind the strings, whereby greater resistance to the tension of the strings is obtained. In Figure 2, which represents a plan of a sounding board for a horizontal or grand pianoforte, it will be observed that the ribs are on the top side of such board immediately below the strings, instead of the under side, as heretofore. I would also observe that I do not confine myself to the manner or direction 15 in which such ribs are placed, as they may be either in parallel or converging lines ; but that which I do claim as of my Invention is, the placing such ribs or strengthening bars on the anterior side of sounding boards for pianofortes and other like stringed instruments, as herein-before described. In witness whereof, I, the said William Alfred Waddington, have here20 unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four. WILLIAM ALFRED WADDINGTON. (L.s.) LONDON: Printed by GEORGE EDWARD EYRE and WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. 1854." English Patents of Inventions, Specifications: 1854, p. 3-6
"May 1, 1854. - W. WADDINGTON. The ribs or bars in front, instead of at the back, of the sounding-board." The history of the pianoforte, 1870, p. 78
Patents for Inventions: Abridgments of Specifications : Class ..., 1893, p. 30
By the same means the rod g sets in motion the levers h, h, thus releasing the valve from the reed box k. The bell m is struck by the head of the hammer I connected to the key a and pivoted on the block 1. h represents a swell shutter actuated by a pedal. By elevating or removing the levers h, h, the hammer d, or the lever respectively, their action is suspended." Patents for Inventions: Abridgments of Specifications : Class ..., 1893, p. 30
WADDINGTON
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Patent of 1845,
