US104256A - Improvement in piano-fortes - Google Patents

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WILLIAM BOURNE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF A"AND NATHANIEL CUMMINGS, OF SAME PLAGE.

Letters Potent No. 104,256, dated Jnnc 14, 1370.

IMPROVEMENT IN PIANO-FORTES.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making peut of the same MQW- 'I, WILLIAM Bomann, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Fortes, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification.

Nutzt/rc and Objects of the Invention.

My invention relates to the damper by which thc vibration of the string is checked when lthe linger is removed from' the key, and its object is to remedy many of the objections to the present over or upper damper,77 so called, of the class in which long wooden levers or arms are arranged above the strings, to the lower edge of which are secured the damper-pads o1' cushions, said levers, with the damper-pads, being lifted by a small wire under their bac-k ends, the lower ends of which rest upon the back ends of the keys.

In all over dampers77 ot' thisclass heretofore constructed, so far as my knowledge extends, the upper levers have been made long, extending back nearly to the tuning-pins, and their back ends rest upon felted buttons upon the top of small wire rods, called damper-lifters, said wires passing through holes in the iron fiame and the pin-block, and resting upon the back end of the key, but having no positive connection therewith.

The holes for the bearings of these wires have to be lined with cloth, and, as the pin-block is from two to three inches thick, of hard wood, it is quite a ditlicult and expensive job to bore the holes and line them properly, and, when done, a very slight bend in thc lifter-wire will cause it to stick and'bccome inoperative.

These lifter-wires not heilig connected to the kcy, but their lower ends simply resting upon the upper surface of the keys, or suspended above thc keys with their lower ends raised a little above thc tops of the keys, they are very liable to rebound when the key is struck, conveying an unpleasant sensation to the operator, and it therefore becomes necessary to load thc levers with lead to prevent the rebound, but this docs not entirely remedy the evil.

Another objection to this class of damper, as now constructed, is that the upper levers, extending back so near to the tuning-pins, interfere very much with the tuning of the piano, and, as the damper-pad is sccured permanently' upon said levers, they cannot be removed without removing the damper-pads, in which state the piano cannot be tuned properly.

Another objection is that the damper-litters are very liable to be disarranged and become inoperative, by being bent in drawing out and replacing the action. Again, that portion of the key in the rear of the pivot has to be made so long that they are much more liable tor spring and get out of place, and cause the liftcrs to interfere or become inoperative, and the extra weight of this long arm of the key makes thenction heavy to the touch, and necessitates loading the front end of the key with an ext-ra amount of lead to countcrbalance the same.

Another objection is that, owing to the damper-levers having no positive connection with the keys, they have to be so adjusted that their lower ends will not quite reach the upper surface of the keys, (to guard against or to reduce the liability of accident to them in drawing out and replacing` the act-loin) the result of which is that the keys have to move a short distance before they come in contact with the lifters, and then the lifters move a short distance before the buttons on their upper ends come in Contact lwith the upper levers, so that the keys have to make three distinct movements or starts when struck by the operator.

Also, when using the loud pedal, the whole weight of the damper-levers is removed from the keys, thus making thc action much lighter, and consequently, greatly impairing the power, quickness, and return of the action.

Another kind of over damper, called the grand dampen7 is in use, in which the upper damper-levers are dispensed with, and the damper-pads are secured directly to the top ofthe damper-lifters, the lower ends of which are so connected to the keys as to partake of the positivo motion of the keys, which is an improvement upon the damper first mentioned, in many respects; but, owing to dispensing with the upper levers, thc damper-pad is liable to vibrate with the string, and produces a sin ging sound which is very objectionable.

I have discovered by actual test that the application of a short upper damper-lover to the grand-damper, the said levers rest-ing upon the damper-pads, but not secured thereto, will remedy all of the objections mentioned as applicable to bot-h kinds of dampers described; and my invention consists in the application to the grand damper i of a series of short wooden levers, secured by a hinge-joint to a light ii'ame and resting upon the damperpad, the damper-pad being secured directly to the upper end of the damper-lifter, as now used in thc grand damper.

` Description of thc Drawing.

Figure l is a plan of an instrument on a small scale, illustrating,r the application of my improvement.

Figure 2 is a section on line :t a: ou fig. 1.

The same letters refer to the same parts-in both of the figures.

Genera-l Description.

A is the case of theinstrumcnt;

B, the key; and

C, the key-rail.

D is the under damper-lever hinged to the block D', secured to the under damper-trame a.

The key B has a groove or fork formed in its rear end, into which the tongue l), formed upon the forward end of the under damper-lever D, lits, as shown.

To the upper side of the under damper-levers D are hinged the damper-buttons or blocks E, in the top.

ends ot' which are secured the damper-litters c c, which have bearings in sockets formed in the thin plate F, placed in front of the pin-block, and near where Jthe hammer strikes the string.

vlo the upper ends of said damper-litters are secured Ithe damper-pads d, which rest upon the strings c.

G is the pin-block;

f, the tuning-pins;

g, the bridge; and

H, the sounding-board.

I is a light Wooden frame placed above the strings, to which are secured, by screws, the flanges J, to which are hinged the upper damper-levers L, so as to rest upon the damper-pads d.

7l is the stop-'rail to limit the upward movement of the upper damper-levers L.

The operation of myimproved damper is as follows When the front end of the key is depressed by the touch of the operators finger, the front end of the under damper-lever is raised, and the damper-pad isV lifted from the string before the hammer strikes it,

and raises the upper damper-lever at the same time by its contact therewith. When the key starts, the

under damper-levers, the damper-lifters, and the upper damper-levers all move in unison therewith, the same weight being upon the keyallof the time. \Vhen the finger is removed from the key its rear end fulls, carryingl with it the under damper-levers, the damperlifters, and the damper-pads, the pads fallingupon the string's, and the upper damper-lever, falling with the pad, serves to' keep the pad still after it strikes the string, and eeotually prevents the singing sound which is so objectionable in the granddamper.

The upper damper-levers, and the frame to which they are secured, may be readily removed without disturbing the damperepads, so that the piano may be as readily and easily tuned as when the grand damper is used.

Claim.

Having thus described the construction and operation of my improvement,

What I cla-im as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

The upper damper-levers L, constructed, arranged, and operating as herein set forth, in combination with the damper-pads d, secured directly tothe upper ends of the damper-litters c c, and operating by a positive connection with the key, substantially as described.

Executed at Boston this 27th day of April, 1870.

Witnesses:

N. C. LOMBARD, Gl.v E. WirrrNEY.

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