US1121517A - Piano-action. - Google Patents

Description

S. B. LYON.

PIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 25, 1913.

1,121,517, Patented Dec. 15,1914.

\\ 1 ill I ZZZ/6731400 L on. %l /265 if gv ys 9 SWIFT B. LYON, OF 'WQRCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

PIANO-ACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 15, 1914;.

Application filed September 25, 1813. Serial No. 791,818.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, SWIFT B. LYON, a citizen of the United States,residing at lVorcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Piano-Action, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an upright piano action and particularly to certain rearrangements of the operating parts of a piano action by which increased efficiency and certainty of operation will result.

In the operation of piano actions of usual design it has been found that the back check has a decided tendency to block the action whenever the key-supporting felt becomes worn or displaced, and, furthermore, that the adjustment of the back check involves a considerable amount of both time and skill.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a back check and cooperating parts so designed that blocking of the action will be eliminated, even if the key-supporting felt is entirely removed, and also to provide a check in which the adjustment of the parts may be most easily accomplished.

Further objects of my invention are to provide improved operating mechanism for the damper lever, an improved flange for mounting the wippen and hammer butt, and an improved arrangement of parts by which space is economized so that automatic player attachments can be easily applied.

With these objects in view my invention comprises certain devices, arrangements, and combinations which will be hereinafter described and more specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of my invention is shown in the drawin s in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a piano action involving my invention; and Fig. 2 is a sectional view of certain parts thereof.

The action is shown as mounted upon the usual action rail 10 to which is secured a flange 11 supporting the hammer butt l2 and the wippen 13. A key 14 is mounted in the usual manner and is adjustably connected to the wippen by the rod 15, connecting the wippen and the adjusting member 16. The hammer head is indicated at 17, arranged in position to strike the piano strings 18. A damper 19 of common construction is mounted upon the damper lever 20 pivoted to a flange 21 which in turn is secured to the action rail 10. The usual spring 22 mounted upon the spring rail 23 serves to normally maintain the hammer in rearward position, where it rests against the hammer rail 24:.

Reference to the drawings will show that the hammer butt l2 and wippen 13 are pivotally mounted upon the same flange 11 and that the pivots about which they turn are closely adjacent. The jack 25 which cooperates with the hammer butt in the usual way is much reduced in length over the forms commonly used, and is mounted within a recess 26 in the wippen 13. The jack is of such size that, when tripped, substantially its entire structure is received in the recess 26 in the wippen.

An intermediate member 2? is pivoted to the wippen at 28 and is provided with a cushion surface 29 which rests upon the rear end of the jack 25. The usual regulating screw 30 is mounted in the regulating rail 31 and is also provided with a cushion surface on its lower end. As the rod 15 is raised. the intermediate member 27 contacts with the regulating screw 30 and thereafter operates to depress and trip the jack 25. When the intermediate lever 27 contacts with the regulating screw 30 it is prevented from moving farther upwardly, and by pressing upon the end of the jack 25 it prevents farther upward movement of the jack. As the wippen continues to rise, the end of the jack is received within the recess in the wippen. The member 27 also serves as a multiplying lever to relatively increase the rate of movement of the jack. This feature is of much importance where quick repetition of the same note is necessary.

Upon the rear surface of the hammerbutt a cushion-pad 32 is secured and a back check 33 is flexibly connected to the wippen 13 at 34. The back check has a coiiperating cushion surface indicated at 33 A screw 35 provides for the adjustment of the back check 33, and when the desired adjustment has been efi'ected the check acts substantially as an integral part of the wippen and moves at all times in unison therewith. After the wippen has been raised by the key l'land a blow has been delivered, the hammer butt is sustained in checked position by the contact of the back check 33 with the cushion pad 32.

Within the recess 26 in the wippen there is provided a cushion member 36 with which the lower end of the jack contacts when the jack is depressed within the recess. The front ends of the keys 1% when depressed rest upon washers of felt or similar material not shown. Under ordinary conditions these washers limit the downward move ments of the front ends of the keys, and consequently limit the upward movement of the rods 15. If one of these key-supporting washers becomes worn or displaced, the pressure upon the key will tend to move the several parts of the action unit beyond their normal operative position. In my improved action this abnormal movement is prevented in the following manner.

The pressure of the key is transferred through the rod 15 to the wippen 13. As the wippen rises the intermediate lever 27 contacts with the regulating screw 30, its further upward movement being thereby prevented. As the wippen continues to rise, the intermediate lever depresses the jack relatively to the wippen until it rests against the cushion 36. The parts thus positioned afford a firm resistance to the pressure upon the key. The abnormal pressure is thus sustained by the jack and intermediate lever instead of by the back check as in the usual construction. seen that the back check 33 approaches the cushion member 32 in a direction substantially normal to the surfaces of each of these parts so that sliding motion of these parts upon each other is entirely eliminated. It

,maybe added that the blocking of the action which occurs with the usual construction is largely due to this relative sliding motion between these parts when under abnormal pressure.

By forming the back check substantially integral with the wippen, mounting the jack within the wippen and securing the cushion pad 32 directly upon the hammer butt, I materially reduce the space occupied by the action and particularly the depthfrom front to back, a point of much importance when adding automatic player attachments to the piano.

The wippen 13 is provided with the lateral extension 38 which overlies a corresponding lateral extension 39 upon the damper lever 20. The extension 39 rests upon a spring T0 mounted upon a lug projecting from the supporting rail 10, and is provided upon its upper surface with a cushion member 41. The extension 38 of the wippen is It will also be' The closely adjacent mounting of the hammer butt and wippen enables me to utilize a single flange for supporting these parts and I have herein shown a flange of peculiarly simple construction by which the pivots of the butt and wippen may be securely held in correct relative position.

This flange consists of a single narrow barhaving properly spaced notches near the upper end thereof and a single retaining plate 45 secured by a screw 44: to the bar and acting to clamp the pivot pins for the hammer butt and wippen within the notches above mentioned. A similar construction is involved in the flange 21 which supports thedamper lever 20 but in this case only a single pivot is provided.

While a preferred form of my invention is shown in the drawings it is obvious that many changes and modifications can be made therein by one skilled in the art and I do not wish to be limited to the details of construction herein shown, but

What I do claim is 1. An upright piano action, having in combination a supporting rail, a flange mounted thereon, a wippen and a hammer butt pivoted closely adjacent on said flange, a back check flexibly connected with said wippen, means for adjusting the position of said back check, said check cooperating with a cushion mounted directly on the hammer butt, a regulating button, a jack mounted in a recess in said wippen, and a cushion pad in the recess in position to engage and support the end of the jack after the jack is tripped by said button, said wippen and jack thereafter forming a stop and preventing the application of continued and excessive pressure upon the hammer.

2. An upright piano action having in combination a supporting rail, a wippen mounted on said rail, a jack mounted in a recess in said wippen, a regulating button mounted on the rail for tripping the jack, and an intermediate member pivoted to the wippen, overlying one end of the jack, and effective to trip the jack when depressed by the regulating button.

3. An upright piano action having in combination a supporting rail, and a damper lever and wippen pivotally mounted thereon, said lever having a projection extending laterally and substantially horizontally from a point near its pivot. said wippen having a projection extending laterally beyond its 10 overlying said lever extension, and having mounted thereon an adjustable spring plate for Withdrawing said damper.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

SWIFT B. LYON.

Witnesses CHAs. T. HAWLEY, O. FORREST WESSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. C.

Images