US1353033A - Piano-lamp - Google Patents

Description

c. EBERHART, JR.

PIANO LAMP.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.23| i917- l v1 ,353,033. PatentedSept. 14,1920.

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tra saar GLEBURNE EBERHART, JR., 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK, ASSIG'NOR TO PLAY-O-LITE COMP, INCORPORATED, 0F BUFFALO, NEW YORK,I A CORPORATION 0F NEW rrano-LAMP.

Patented Sept. 14C, 1920.

Application filed January 23, 1917. Serial No. 144,009.

To all whom it may concern Jr., a citizen. of the United States, residing at Bualo in the county of Erie and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Piano-Lamps, of which the following is a specification. y

This invention relates to a lamp which is more particularly -designed for use in illuminating the key boardi of an upright piano and the music and reading matter which may be supported on the rack of the front wall of the piano immediately above the key board. It is the object of this invention to produce a simple, compact and inexpensive lamp for this purpose which will efficiently illuminate the space in front of the piano and which is so constructed that the same can be readily and easily atis a fragmentary vertical section of an upright piano equipped with one form of lamp embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof, on an enlargedscale. Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view of the same looking vat it from the rear. Figs. 4 and 5 are fragmentary vertical longitudinal sections, on an enlarged scale, taken on the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectionalview showing a modification of my invention Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. i

Although my improved piano lamp is applicable to upright pianos which may vary as to the details of construction that, for example, which is shown in the drawings comprises a case having an upright front wall or; board 1, a vertically swinging lid 2 which projects forwardly over the upper edge of the front wall and provided on the underside of its front part with a bead or molding 3 which is adapted to project downwardly past the upper end of the front wall, and a music rack 4 arranged on the front wall, and playing keys 5 mounted on the casing below the front wall, these features being similar to those found in upright pianos as commonly constructed.

My improved piano lamp which is adapted to bemounted on the front wall of a piano of this character is preferably conf structed as follows:

' 6 represents the body o'r wall of the hood or deflector which is preferably constructed of sheet metal bent into substantially semicylindrical form in cross section so as to leave a light outlet passage throu hout the length thereof on its underside. t its opposite ends the body of the casing is provided with two heads 7, 8 which are preferably circular and constructed of sheet metal to give the hood or deflector an ornamental appearance. This hood is adapted to be :supported ina horizontal position lengthwise above the key board and music rack and in front of the piano casing, so that the rays of light from the illuminating -means arranged within the hood will be directed downwardly upon the key board and music or the like and brilliantly illuminate the same. The lighting element or medium preferably consists of an elongated or tubular electric light bulb 9 which is arranged lengthwise within the central part of the hood, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. 1 Various means may be provided for removably mounting the electric light bulb withinthe hood so that this bulb may be renewed from time to time as the same burns out. The preferred means for this purpose, however, consists in employing such an electric lamp fitting in which the base 10 of the lamp is mounted in a tubular metallic shell 11 having its rear end removably seated in a metallic cap 12 which latter serves as the head 8 at one end of the lamp hood or deflector. By this means the shell 11 and the head 8 of thehood may be of standard construction such as now generallv used by the electric trade and permits of producing a detachable mounting for the electric lamp bulb on the hood without involving an undue outlay in cost of manufacture. The head 8 of the hood may be connected with the respective .end of the hood in any suitable manner, for instance by holding the same tends through an insulating sleeve 14 of rubber, fiber, vulcanite or similar material which is secured in a central opening in the head 8 by means of a set screw 15 or other suitable means. By this means the lamp upon burning out may be readily renewed by first sliding the shell 11 and cap 12 lengthwise from the body of the hood together with the lamp base and bulb mounted thereon and after the bulb has been renewed the shell may in like manner be again slipped lengthwise back into the body so that the bulb is retained in its proper position within the hood. The lamp I base within the shell may also be provided with the usual standard switch for turning the current on and off from the lamp bulb which switch may be operated by a pull chain 16 extending downwardly through a tubular guide 17 arranged on the underside of the lamp shell.

. For the purpose of retaining in shape that end of the hood body which contains the lamp socket and associated parts a stiffening ring 18 is provided which is secured within the bore of the hood body around the lamp shell by welding or otherwise which ring bridges the longitudinal opening in the underside of the hood body and prevents the lower edges thereof from spreading out of place. The lower part of this stifening ring i is provided in its outer edge with a notch 19 which is adapted to receive the pull chain guide 17 of the lamp fitting, thereby serving as a means for bringing the -pull chain in the proper positionfrelative to the hood and retaining these parts against rotation relatively `to'each other. In order to yieldingly hold the lamp bulb in place within the hood adetent device is provided which preferably consists of a detent or retaining spring linger 20 arranged on the lower part of the stiifening ring and adapted to yieldingy engage with the outer side of the shell behind an external annular bead 21 thereon, as shown in Fig. 5. By exerting suflicient outward pull on the bulb tting to overcome the frictional grip of the spring finger 2,0 it is possible to easily and conveniently withdraw the lamp bulb and associated parts from the hood for inspection, adjustment or renewal. To prevent upward displacement ofthe lamp bulb under the pressure ofthe spring fin r 20 an abutment or filling 22 is provided Wlthin the body diametrically opposite the finger which abutment is preferably, though not necessa-v rily, made of metal integrally with the stiffening ring in the form of a strip projecting inwardly from'this ring, asshown in ig. 5.

In order to avoid heating the hood. `unduly a ventilating opening 23 is provided for permitting the hot air within the hood which is generated by theheat of the electric bulb to escape from Cthe upper part of the hood. This Ventilating opening is preferably arranged in the upper part of the end head 7 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and'per- A mits the hot air within the hood to escape slowly to the exterior thereof, thereby preventing the hood from becoming unduly heated as would otherwise be liable to occur if this hot air were confined within the hood.

In the absence of any provision to prevent it, rays of light from the illuminating mepiano. To prevent this a baille or shield 24 is provided which projects downwardly from the upper part of the hood so as to be arranged between the illuminating elementv and the Ventilating opening and thereby obstruct the passage of any rays of light from the lamp bulb through this Ventilating opening to the exterior of the hood. In its preferred form this baille is formed from the metal at the upper edge of the head 7 by cutting out a portion of this metal and bending the same downwardly, as shown in Fi 4.

l y suitable means may be employed for mounting this hood on the upper edge ofthe frontwall of the piano casing but the construction shown in lFigs. 1-5 of the drawings is preferred andas there shown the same is constructed as follows l:

25, 25 represent two supporting brackets mounted on the body of the hood adjacent to opposite ends thereof and adapted to detachablyengage with the upper edge of the front wall of the piano casing. Each of thesev brackets is preferably constructed mainly of sheetv metal andcomprises a horiaontal arm 26 projecting rearwardl the rear side of the body of the caslng adjacent toits lower rear edge, a. relatively stili' front jaw 27 projecting upwardly vfrom the rear end of the arm 26, a horizontal web from j 28 projecting rearwardly from the upper end of the front jaw and a rear upright jaw 29 projecting downwardly from the .rear end of this web.` The front end of each arm 26 may be connected with the rear part of the -hood body in various ways, for instance, by

means of .a flange 30 projecting upwardly from the front end of this arm and'secured tothe rear side of the hood I body by electric welding, soldering, or` any other suitable manner. The front and rear jawsand the web ofy each lbracket together form a hook the mouth of which opens downwardly ,wherebythis bracket may be engaged withits mouth over the upperedge of a piano front'wall so that the front and rear jaws are arranged respectively'in front and in rear of the frontrpiano wall and the web is arranged abovethe upper` edge of thisl wall,V

as shown inv Fig.` 1. In, order to permit-this hook-shaped bracket to engage with the upper edges of the piano front walls which may vary in thickness to some extent the rear jaw of the bracket is provided with a yielding bearing which preferably comprises a horizontal spring tongue or flexible rear jaw 31 projecting toward the other bracket, said spring tongue being attached to the respective rear jaw either by rivets 32, as shown in Figs. l and 3, or in any other approved manner.y Upon placing a bracket of thisA construction with its mouth over the upper edge of the piano front wall so that its web engages with the top of this wall, the front jaw engages with the front side thereof and the spring tongue with the rear side thereof, as shown in Fig. l, so that the lamp will be reliably held against displacement on the piano front Wall. spring tongue of each bracket is preferably arranged so close to the front jaw so that the same will grip the rear sides of piano front walls which vary in thickness and thereby securely hold the lamp in its proper place. The presence of the horizontal web of each bracket across the upper end of the piano front wall will not interfere with the closing of the lid 2 of the piano casing over the brackets inasmuch as the metal from which these brackets are made is comparatively thin and does not have the effect of raising the lid to an abnormal extent when the latter is lowered upon the brackets. Ow-

ing to the front jaw of each bracket extending downwardly from the front end of its companion web alongythe front side of the front wall it is possible for the lid to be lowered into itsclosed position notwithstanding the presence of the bead on the underside of the same inasmuch as this bead simply overlaps the front jaw of each bracket, sufficient space being usually present between this bead and the adjacent surface of the front wall to permit these parts to clear each other. A ln order to avoid marring or injuring the finished surfaces of the piano front wall vand the lid-the inner and outer surfaces ofthe rack and permit the -same and any front 'jaw and horizontal Aweb of each bracket are preferably covered witha pro-v tecting or 'cushioning material 33 which may consist of felt or lthe like, as shown in Figs.

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By arranging the spring tongues of theV i on the front casing wall or the'parts are so organized that interference with the brackj ets and their spring retaining tongues is impossible then each rear jaw 290 ofeach The upper end of thel the transfer of-heat from the hood body to those parts of the brackets which are supported on the piano front7 an opening 34 is formed in the arm of each bracket, thereby reducing the amount of material at these points and the amountv of heat which the same can carry accordingly and thereby preventing scorching any polished surfaces of the front part of the piano.

j When this lamp is mounted on ythe front of `a piano, with the lid'down, as shown in Fig. l, the supporting means for the'hood are practically'concealed from view so as not to detract from the appearance of the piano while at the same time furnishing eiiicient illumination of the music and the key I encroach upon any of the spacev within the` case or on top of the lid which may be relquired for articles of decoration or other purposes. Moreover, the construction of this lamp is very simple and it is possible to produce the same at comparatively low cost. I claim as my invention:

l. A piano lamp comprising a hood having a longitudinal light passage in its underside and a stiffening member which bridges said passage and connects the walls on opposite sides Aof the same and provided with an outwardly opening notch, and an electric lamp bulb fitting slidably into said hood and provided with a laterally projecting chain guide engaging with said notch.

2. A piano lamp having a'bracket which includes an upright relatively stiff front aw adapted to engage with the outer side of a to engage with the upper 4vedge of the piano v upper end of said front jaw, a flexible rear jaw connected withtherear end of the upper arm and arranged below the 'latter and adapted lto engage with the inner side of the piano front, said flexible jaw including a leaf spring which has its sides arranged vertically and which is arranged with its length horizontally and-transversely relatively to said upper horizontal arm, and said front jawadapted to carry the piano lamp.

3. A piano lamp having ya bracket which includes an upright relatively stiff frontj aw adapted to engage with thel outer side of a piano front, anupper horizontal arm adaptpiano front and projecting rearwardly from the upper end of said front jaw,'a flexiblel front and projecting rearwardly from the ed to engage with the upper edge of the rear jaw arranged at the rear end of'said upper arm and below the top of the latter and adapted to engage with the inner side of the piano front, and a lower horizontal arm projecting forwardly from the lower end of said ,front jaw and adapted to carry the piano lamp vat its front end, said flexible jaw being constructed of a leaf'spring which has its sides arranged vertically and which is'arranged with. its length horizontally and 10 transversely relatively to said "upper hori- QLEBURNE EBERHART, Je.

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