JP2902248B2 - Grand piano mute device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mute device for a grand piano, and more particularly to a mute device of the type in which the volume between a hammer and a string is reduced by shortening the distance between a hammer and a string like an upright piano. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a soft pedal mechanism for shifting a hammer position sideways and a muffler mechanism for interposing a muffler felt between a hammer and a string have been employed as a mute device for a grand piano. However, the soft pedal mechanism is not used to reduce the tone, but rather is used to change the timbre and expand the range of expression in the performance. In addition, the muffler mechanism can weaken the sound in the high frequency range, but it is difficult in the low frequency range.

[0003] For these reasons, in recent years, there has been proposed a device for reducing the tone by shortening the distance between the hammer and the string (hereinafter referred to as a string striking distance), such as a weak tone device of an upright piano, even in a grand piano. (For example, JP-A-4-34497). In the mute device described in this publication, as shown in FIG. 4, a leaf spring 101 is provided in the back of the key, or a load arm 103 is provided in front of the capstan button 15 so that the key Load applying means for preventing the pressure from dropping.

[0004]

However, since there are various components such as an action mechanism above the key, in the method in which the leaf spring 101 is disposed behind the key 5, the leaf spring 101
It was necessary to remove the action mechanism in order to finely adjust the load applied to. In addition, since the space inside the key depth is narrow, the mounting restriction of the leaf spring 101 is large.

On the other hand, when the action mechanism is extracted from the load arm 103, the load arm 103 must be removed. In addition, the load arm 103 hinders various adjustment operations of the action mechanism such as adjustment of the capstan button 15. Therefore, the present invention
In a grand piano, the sound is weakened by the same mechanism as the upright piano, the load received by the key is guaranteed to be reduced by the weakening, and a load is applied that does not hinder disassembly, assembly and adjustment of the action mechanism It is an object of the present invention to provide a muffler device having means.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION To achieve the above object, the grand piano mute device of the present invention completed by raising the support position of the hammer when it is not struck by a predetermined distance from the normal time. A weak tone of a grand piano, comprising: a weakening means for suppressing a force of a hammer striking a string to reduce a volume at the time of performance; and a load applying means for ensuring a load applied to a key by the operation of the weakening means. In the apparatus, the load applying means is provided below the key on the front side of the rotation center of the key, and is a means for securing the load by supporting the key from below.

[0007] According to the mute device for a grand piano of the present invention, since the load applying means supports the key from below on the front side of the center of rotation of the key, the key can be lowered even if the hammer is raised by the muffler. When the key is depressed, the player feels the same load as in normal times. Moreover, since the load applying means is provided below the key on the front side of the rotation center of the key, it does not prevent the action mechanism from being taken in and out at the time of assembling, and does not hinder the adjustment of the action mechanism in the assembled state. No.

[0008]

Next, in order to clarify the contents of the present invention, an embodiment will be described below. In the grand piano of the embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the hammer shank 1 is supported at a position elevated by a predetermined distance to the string 3 side from the normal position, thereby shortening the striking distance to mute the sound. 20 and the key 5 when the muting means 20 is activated.
And a load applying means 30 for supporting the key 5 from being lowered by supporting the key 5 from below.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the muting means 20 supports the hammer rail 21 at both ends with arms 23 , and pushes up the lower surface of the arm 23 with a push-up member 25 to hold the hammer shank 1 in a predetermined position. It is configured to increase the distance. That is, the hammer rail 21 is screwed and fixed to the arm 23 at both ends, and is not fixed to the hammer rail receiver 9. The hammer rail receiver 9 is left to play the role of supporting the hammer rail 21 from below at normal times and defining the normal position of the hammer shank 1.

The arm 23 includes a hammer shank rail 1
1 is rotatably fixed to the upper end of the first member via a hinge block 27. The push-up member 25 is fixed to a rotating shaft 29 provided along the wipen rail 13.
The rotation shaft 29 is rotated 35 degrees clockwise in the figure to push up the arm 23 by operating a sound attenuation instruction member (for example, a pedal) not shown. Then, the arm 23 rotates upward around the hinge block 27 and pushes up the hammer shank 1. Thus, the string striking distance is shortened, the force with which the hammer 2 strikes the string 3 when a key is struck is suppressed, and the sound is muted. When the sound attenuation indicator is returned to its original position, the push-up member 25 returns to its original position, and the arm 23 and the hammer rail 21 are lowered by their own weight to a position where they come into contact with the hammer rail receiver 9. In addition, reference numeral 41 in FIG.
It is a hammer rail felt , and reference numeral 43 is artificial leather.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the load applying means 30 corresponds to a shaft 31 having a semicircular cross section extending in the width direction along the lower surface of the key 5 and each of the 88 keys 5. This
A leaf spring 33 made of phosphor bronze disposed on the upper surface of the shaft 31,
And a lever 35 for rotating the shaft 31. The axis 31 is
Both ends are rotatably supported by a block 37 provided on the shelf board 19. Each leaf spring 33 has a spring constant adjusted for each key 5 corresponding to the load of the action mechanism that each key 5 normally receives. When the lever 35 is pulled toward the user, the shaft 31 rotates counterclockwise in the drawing, and the leaf spring 33 supports the lower surface of the key 5. The lever 35 is operated at the same time as the operation of the attenuation unit 20.

By the operation of the load applying means 30, the hammer load which is no longer applied to the key 5 when the key is released due to the weakening of the sound is guaranteed, and the key 5 does not lower. Further, even if the performance is performed in a weakened state, the touch of the key is the same as that in the normal state, and the performance can be performed without discomfort. Further, the load applying means 30 does not hinder the adjustment of the capstan button 15. In addition, the load applying means 30 does not hinder when the entire action mechanism is taken in and out and the key 5 is attached and detached. Then, when finely adjusting the load applying means 30 itself, it is only necessary to remove the key 5, and the fine adjustment can be performed very easily.

In addition, in this embodiment, the load applying means 30 can be made not to function at normal times by operating the lever 35, so that the keys do not feel heavy during normal performance. Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this, and various embodiments can be adopted without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[0014] For example, in the embodiment, a weak sound means 20 and the load applying means 30 is configured as being operated separately and independently, it is more preferable to keep the like can be operated in conjunction with each other. In addition, the load applying means 30 is not limited to a leaf spring and may use a coil spring.

Further, the present invention can be applied not only to an acoustic piano but also to a grand piano having an automatic performance function. In this case, even when the tone is weakened to automatically play in the BGM style, the key moves as usual and the key operation during the automatic performance can be enjoyed without discomfort that is unique to the automatic performance piano. Are particularly preferred. In the automatic performance piano, even if a load is applied to the key during normal automatic performance, it does not matter much.Therefore, in order to prevent the load applying means from functioning at normal times by lever operation as in the embodiment. It is not necessary to have the above mechanism.

[0016]

As described above, according to the grand piano mute device of the present invention, the grand piano can be muted by the same mechanism as the upright piano, and the load received by the key can be reduced by the muted sound. It is possible to ensure that the sound is reduced, and to prevent a drop of a key or a sense of incongruity of a touch when the sound is weakened. In addition, the load applying means,
Disassembly / assembly / adjustment can be easily performed without hindering disassembly / assembly or adjustment of the action mechanism.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a main part of a mute device for a grand piano according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a sound attenuation unit employed in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a load applying means employed in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a main part of a conventional mute device for a grand piano.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Hammer shank, 2 ... Hammer, 3 ...
・ String, 5 ・ ・ ・ Key, 7 ・ ・ ・ Balance pin, 9 ・ ・ ・ Hammer rail receiver, 11 ・ ・ ・ Hammer shank rail, 13 ・ ・ ・Wepen rail , 15 ・ ・ ・ Capstan button, 20 ・ ・ ・Sound attenuation means, 21: hammer rail, 23: arm, 25: push-up member, 27
... Hinge block, 29 ... Rotating axis, 30 ...
Load applying means, 31 ... shaft , 33 ... leaf spring, 35
... Lever, 37 ... Block, 41 ... Hammer
-Rail felt , 43 ... artificial leather.

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A weakening means for lowering the volume of a hammer when playing by suppressing the force with which the hammer strikes a string by raising the support position of the hammer when it is not struck by a predetermined distance from the normal time, A load applying means for ensuring a load that is no longer applied to the key due to the operation of the keying means, wherein the load applying means is provided below the key on the near side of the pivot center of the key, from below. A mute device for a grand piano, which is a means for securing the load by supporting a key.