GB990164A - Piano with electric playing means therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

990,164. Pianofortes. L. L. VON GUNTEN. April 11, 1961, No. 12966/61. Heading G5J. A piano has an auxiliary keyboard 5 like the bass keyboard of an accordion for playing chords in a control octave (B 11 to B 1 ). The keyboard may have additional keys for playing chords or single bass notes in other bass octaves. A.second auxiliary keyboard 6, when wiped by the fingers, produces an arpeggio of the treble notes that bear octave relations with the notes of a chord key 20 depressed in keyboard 5. Depression of one of the pedals 196 sustains a chord played by a key 20 and enables arpeggios to be repeated. The control octave may be coupled electrically to the higher octaves. Chord keyboard, 5, Each key 20 is mounted on a shaft 22, Fig. 8 carrying fingers 23, 24, 25, 26 which on depression of the key, engage fingers 28, 29, 30, 31 on some of the twelve switch operating members 33 which turn to operate switches 37a, Fig. 11. An additional finger 27 engages finger 32 on switch operating member 40 to operate switch 41, after the appropriate contacts 37a have been closed. Each switch 37a controls a solenoid 44, Fig. 7, for operating one hammer in the control octave. The armature 46 is coupled to the wipper 49 by an aluminium link 47, a spring finger 50 and a feet pad 51. When the solenoid is energized, the jack 48 operates the hammer. When the solenoid is unenergized, the action can be operated by the normal key unhindered by the pad 51. Some of the keys 20 may control switched 94 to operate single bass notes instead of chords, the solenoids being connected to the switches over leads 89, 90, 91 &c. Arpeggio keyboard 6, and electric action Figs. 1, 2,10,13. Each arpeggio key 66 controls a pair of spring contacts 67, 68. Playing keys 3, 4 pivoted on the usual manner carry armatures 60. A solenoid 59 associated with each armature enables the playing keys to be operated electromagnetically. All the contacts 67, 68 may be closed simultaneously by an insulating bar 98 raised by an electromagnet 102. The treble keys are then coupled to the control octave. Circuitry. A transformer 10, Fig. 12 has three tappings 16, 17, 18 feeding a rectifier 13 which accordingly gives three different output voltages on lead 19. One tapping is selected by a three position switch 97 to control the loudness of tone. The chord control unit 5a Figs. 11, 12 operates the appropriate solenoids 44 over leads 70, 71 &c. whenever a chord key 20 is depressed, voltage being supplied over lead 42 to switch 41. As shown in Fig. 5, depression of a playing key 3 closes a switch 75, and as shown in Fig. 12, connects voltage to switches 66 for the same note in higher octaves. If switches 66 are already closed by the coupling bar 98, as described, the same notes sound simultaneously in the control octave and in higher octaves. When switch 86 is operated against a spring bias, (as by a pedal 196), any key depressed in the control octave is held down by its own coil 44. Specification 990,165 is referred to.