US1028544A - Base-shield for pianos. - Google Patents

Description

C. COLEMAN.

BASE SHIELD FOR PIANOS.

APPLIoATIoN FILED JAN. 24,1912.

Patented June 4, 1912.

T16. 5. I f,

IN VENTUR wlrNEssEs.- JMW 7n y LIVaENcE @LEMAN coLUMBlA PLANQCRAP" CO, WASHINGTON, n. c.

CLARENCE COLEMAN, 0F NEWCASTLE, INDIANA.

BASE-SHIELD ron rIANos.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented J une 4, 1912.

Application filed January 24, 1912. Serial No. 673,018.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, the undersigned, CLARENCE COLEMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newcastle, in the county of VHenry and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Base-Shieldsfor Pianos, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in shields or protector guards for pianos.

In the business of handling pianos, including that of moving and transporting the pianos in the shipping room and freight depots, and of shifting same for demonstrating and for displaying purposes in sales rooms, and in the cleaning of thefloor surfaces about them, the polished surfaces of the bottom or base portions of the-legsV and of the piano body are subjected to scratches and to bruises, and to being soiled with dirt and dust, or to being spotted with moisture or other deleterious substances. Such injuries to the said highly finished and polished surfaces must be fully repaired and the evidences thereof entirely removed.

The work of doing this class of repairing calls for the best and mo-st painstaking skill in scraping, rubbing, patching, oiling off and re-polishing; and besides the fact that the services of artisans competent for the work are not readily obtainable, the work of said repairing is expensive and is a serious inconvenience to the manufacturer, as well as to the wholesale and to the retail merchant.

To provide a guard shield or protecting guard capable of being practicably attached to the piano, and which will effectively prevent the liability of the inflicting on the lower portions of the piano body and legs, of injuries of the character above referred to, are the general objects of this invention.

More specific purposes of the invention are to provide a guard of the character above referred to which will be simple and economical of construction, rugged and durable, and which may be used for pianos of the minimum as well as the maximum width.

With the foregoing objects in view my present invention consists of the new construction, combination and arrangement of parts described in this specification and defined in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein the several parts of the invention are designated by similar characters of reference throughout the different views, in which- Figure l is a plan view, and Fig. 2 is a perspective view of my improved base shield for pianos. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a piano, the base shield being attached to same. Fig. 4 is a view showing the relative position of the intermediate member of the shield frame when the device is attached to a piano of minimum width.

The present invention contemplates the providing of a frame rectangular in form and havinga movable member connected thereto, the several parts being so combined and arranged that the device is capable of being practicably secured to, and of serving as a shield for pianos of different widths. This frame may be made of stout wood of any kind and stained to imitate ebony, oak, or mahogany or any other kind of wood or nish, and comprises the end pieces A and A1 whose ends are mortised, doweled, and glued to the ends of the side pieces B and B1. At suitable locations near the ends of the piece B1 are offsets B2 which afford a clearance for the free play or movement of the casters at the rear side of the piano body. Screws B3 in the side piece B1 and near the offsets B2 reinforce the piece B1. Holes B4 and B5 are provided in the side pieces B and B1 respectively and their functions will presently be referred to.

An intermediate member connected loosely to and constituting a part of this improved shield consists of a bar C to whose end portions the heads C1 of the peculiar construction shown in Fig. l, are connected by screws C2. The tongues C3 of these heads engage loosely the longitudinal slots A2 of the end pieces A and A1 of the frame.

A shield of the construction-shown is applicable to use on the bases of pianos of the maximum or the minimum width. Applied to a piano of the maximum width the shield appears as sho-wn in Fig. 3. The shield may be attached to the piano at the factory, or at the sales room. Before the piano is let down onto its casters, from the rocker, tip-over, or other style .of truck upon which it may have been transported, the shield is attached to its bottom. To so attach or fasten the shield in place, screws are passed through the holes B5' and through the holesB4, the former being screwed into the rear side of the base or bottom of the piano frame, and

the latter being screwed into the bottom of the toes K K of the piano legs. The intermediate member being then slipped forwardly until the bar C is in Contact with the side piece B there is ample room for the feet of the operator at the pedals L and L, .and by virtue of the curvature C4 of the heads C1 there is ample room for the free play or turning of theV casters secured to the toes K and K.

The mode of applying the device to pianos having less width-that is to say,-having toes extending not so far forwardly as do those of the wider class of piano, is identical with that just described, except that in the last named width o f piano, the connecting screws are passed through the holes C5 in the heads C1 and screwed into the bottoms of the toes K1, and the shield is held fast to the bottom of the piano with the several parts in the relative positions as shown in Fig. il.

The advantages afforded by this invention are obvious. With the edges of the side pieces and of the end pieces of the shield projecting beyond the rearside, and beyond the ends of the body portion, and beyond the ends of the toes of the piano, possibility of injury by contact of articles of furniture or other objects, or of the broom or mop splashing water or dirt against the polished surfaces of the piano or its toes or legs, is avoided. There being free play of the casters, the attachment of this shield at position as shown, does not interfere with or hinder the usual shifting or moving about of the piano. It will be observed that there is ample room between the bar C and the face board M of the piano body for the feet of the person seated at the piano, so that use of the pedals while the shield is in use as shown, is notinterfered with. In manufacturing this improved shield in different lengths no change in the construction shown, other than merely theV lengthening of the side pieces and of the bar C, is necessary.

l/Vhat I claim as my invent-ion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 5- l. A base shield for pianos, consisting of a rectangular frame, a longitudinal member having its ends connected to and movable slidingly in ways therefor in the end pieces ofthe frame, said frame andthe said longitudinal member being capable of being attached to t-he bottom of the piano.

2. A base shield for pianos, consisting of a rectangular frame there being offsets inthe inner edge of the rear side piece of the frame to alford clearance for the rear caster-sof the piano, a longitudinal member having its ends connectedl to and movable slidingly in ways therefor in the end pieces of the frame there being olfsets in the said longitudinal member to afford clearance for the frontal casters of the piano, and the said frame and said longitudinal member being capable 'of being attached to the bottom o-f t-he piano.

8. A base shield for pianos, 'consisting of a rectangular frame there being offsets in the inner edge of the rear side piece ofthe frame, and there being longitudinal grooves in the inner faces of the end piecesv of the frame, a longitudinal bar, a head piece se-l cured to each end of the bar and having a tongue to engage said grooves in the end pieces of the frame, and there being an oli` set in the frontal side of each of the said head pieces.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CLARENCE COLEMAN.

lVitnesses NATHAN Fos'rER, AMos COLEMAN.

Copies of' this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

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