US1181422A - Piano. - Google Patents

Description

E: R. AYRES.

PIANO.

8' Im- Patented May 2, 1916.

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E. R. AYRES.

PIANO.

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Patented May 2, 1916.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE.

ERNEST B. AYBES, OF HUTCHINSON, KANSAS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO MARTIN IR.

BENSON, OF HARPER, KANSAS.

PIANO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1916.

Application filed December 18, 1913. Serial No. 807,532.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST R. AYnEs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hutchinson, in the county of Reno and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Piano, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to upright pianos, one of its objects being to provide a sounding board which is detachably mounted, the same being held fixedly in position in a novel manner but it being possible readily to remove the sounding board from the structure in which it is seated.

A further object is to provide a sounding board on which is arranged a centrally disposed bridge.

lVith the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter de scribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed, can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the pre-- ferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings :Figure 1 is an elevation of the sounding board and the structure in which it is mounted. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the opposite side of the structure. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but with the retaining plate removed. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the sounding board removed from its supporting structure. Fig. 5 is a section on line AB Fig. 1. (3 is a section on line CD Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a section on line EF Fig. 41. Fig. 8 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the bridge. Fig. 9 is a section on line GH Fig. 8.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates a string plate having the usual large opening 2 through which the sounding board is exposed and through which extends the bridge 3, there being a slot 4 in the string plate to receive the bridge 5. The bridge 3 is extended centrally upon the front side of the sounding board 6 and, as shown particularly in Fig. 5, the sounding board is provided, along its edges, with continuous oppositely extending flanges 7 forming a rim. Ribs 8 can be extended across the back of the sounding board as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 5.

The string plate 1 has one end X and one side Y shaped to conform with the contour of one end and one side of the sounding board. Extending along said side Y and end X of the string plate is a rearwardly extending flange 9 which merges into a straight side flange 10 extending from the end X of the string plate to the other end Z of the string plate. The curved flange 9 preferably terminates short of the end Z of the string plate as shown in Fig. 8. A straight cross flange 11 connects the flanges 9 and 10 so that a recess 12 is thus produced between the flanges 9, 10 and 11 for the re ception of the wrest plank 13. The flanges 10 and 11 are connected by a curved flange 14 which is integral with the string plate and conforms with the contour of one side of the sounding board. The flanges 9 and 12 cooperate to form a recess within which the sounding board will fit snugly, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. The flanges 9, 10, 11 and 12 are all of the same width and when the sounding board is seated within the recess provided therefor in the string plate the back edge of the rim 7 will lie flush with the corresponding edges of the flanges 9 and 12. A brace 14 is formed with plate 1 and lies parallel with the treble strings, the bass strings passing over it.

The sounding board is held in place by a skeleton cover plate 15 of the same outline as the string plate 1 so that, when the cover plate is resting on the flanges 9, l0 and 11,

its edges will lie flush with the outer faces of the flanges. Furthermore the said cover plate has integral portions extending across and contacting with the rim 7 of the sounding board. Consequently when the cover plate is secured to the string plate, the sounding board will be retained securely within the recess provided therefor. Any desired means may be employed for fastening the cover plate to the string plate and in the drawings bolts 16 have been shown arranged at any desired points.

As shown in the drawings, the string ongaging means to be used in connection with the sounding board is of a special construction. It will be seen that said meansincludes a head 17 which engages the one surface of the sounding board 6, the stem 18 of the device extending through the sounding board and also through the bridge. These 3 and 5 at opposite sides of and parallel with the grooves 19 and the strings of the piano rest on these wires. The said strings, which have been indicated at 21, are held upon the wires 20 by retaining pins 22 which extend through openings in the stems 18 and which are above the grooves 19. Consequently pin 22 is held by friction against accidental displacement.

It is to be understood that all of the bind ing means are not provided With heads which extend under the sounding board as these special forms are only arranged at suitable intervals for the purpose-of attaching the bridge 3 to the sounding board.

WVhat is claimed is The combination with a piano sounding board having continuous oppositely extending flanges at its periphery forming a rim,

of a string plate having one end and one to' the flanges on the string plate and lapping the flnnges on the sounding board and the wrest plank, thereby to hold the sounding board and wrest plank against displacement relative to the string plate.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the "presence of two witnesses.

ERNEST R. AYRES.

W'itnesses:

MARTIN R. BENSON, GEORGE S. TIFFANY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of 2a., Washington, D. C.

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