US1389290A - Piano-action - Google Patents

Description

W. G. BETZ.

FIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15,1918.

Patented Aug. 30, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI l.

fzmff @'/ZZKMZ 56? W. G. BETZ.

` PIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED AP11.15,1918.

1,389,290. Patented Aug. 30, 1921,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M1... m @Km UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.'`

WILLIAM G. BETZ, OF kHAMIVIOND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO STRAUBE PIANO COMPANY.' OF HAMMOND, INDIANA7 A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

-IIANO-ACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 30,1921.

Application filed April l5, 1918. Serial No. 228,631.

To all 'whom t may concern` y Be it known that T, VTLLTAM Gr. BETZ, a. citizen of the United States, residing at Hammond, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in VPiano-Actions, of which the followingis a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingV drawings, forming a part of this specication.

My invention relates to piano actions and has to do more particularly with improvements for combination manual and automatic players, an object being to provide improved meansy for controlling the action by vmanual and automatic operatingmeans. In my improved mechanism, when the pneumatic is actuated a comparatively long movement thereof is permitted and furthermore the abstract remains' stationary, as does also the' key, although there isa permanent pivotal connection extending` from y the abstract to the wippen.

Thus separate locking means for the keys is unnecessary.` This is brought about by the provision of a so-'called double action or intermediate lever which is raised either by the key or pneumatic to operate the action-hammer. lOther features of my invention will be more particularly pointed out in the ensuing part of the specification and appended Claims.

The present application concerns itself more particularly with improvements over my Patent yNo. 922,247 for pianissimo devises.

' Referring now to the accompanying drawings which illustrate the preferred forms of my invention#- Figure 1 is a vertical section through the upper portion .of an upright piano with the parts in their normal or unoperated posi.- tion;

Fig 2 shows the parts of Fig. 1 but with thekey depressed;

Fig. 3 isthe same as Fig.y 1 but with the pneumatic or bellows collapsed `and showing the key` in its normal or unoperated position;

Fig. 1 is an enlarged view, lpractically full size, showing a modified form;

Fig. 5 is aslightly reduced view of an-Y other modified form of my invention; and

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the abstract of Fig. 5.

Referring now more inV detail to my invention it comprises the usual key-bed kl() carrying a balance rail l1 which pivotally supports the keys 12, these keys being guided at their front end by pins 13 over which a resilient stop '14 is placed preferably in the form of a felt washer. A plurality of paper washers 15 are placed in position 'in order to give the proper adjustment to the key l2. The rear end of thekey is connected through a capstan 16 with a striker orabstract 17 which is supported against transverse displacement by a connector 18 extending to the rail 19. The abstract 17 is connected to an intermediate or double-action link'20 at the pivot 21,these parts 17 and 20 also cooperating through a cushioned shoulder r `stop 22 through which the intermediate lever 20 is directly raised when the abstract 17 is moved by the key.

This intermediate lever 2O is also operable by a pneumaticy or bellows 23 which is' controlled from the wind chest and tracker bar in the usual manner. The pneumatic 23 carries an adjustable stud 24;, which acts upon a cushioned adjustable stop 25 carried by the intermediate lever 20. Thus this lever '20, which might be termed a doubleaction lever, may be operated upon either by the key 12 through the abstract 17 for manual playing, or by the pneumatic 23' for automatic playing, each movement being independent of the other. That is, when the abstract 1T is raised by the key 12 the intermediate lever moves directly upward to Voperate the action without affecting the pneui matic23 and whensaid pneumatic is collapsed it elevates the free end of the double action lever 20 which pivots at 21' and operates the action without lifting thepabstract 17 the pressure thus exerted upon the intermediate lever 2O being effective to maintain the abstract and key 12 in their normal position. kThus it is unnecessary to provide a key stop under the keys for use when automatic playing is desired, the keys and alstracts being automatically maintained in their normal or unoperated position. lVhen the intermediate or double acting lever'20 is operated by `the collapse of the bellows 23 as indicated in Fig. 3, the operation is limited by the cushioned adjustable ystop 2T which is engaged by the resilient or yielding end of lever 20. Thus by the interposition of this yielding stop, a more resilient action is produced.V This stop 27 does not come into play when the key is manually delever being spaced accordingly.

pressed as indicated in Fig. 2, but at that time the stop lat under the forward end of the `key is effective.

1n certain parts of the action including the wippen, the movement is within certain prescribed limits and of course this is also true of the key and abstract. Also the space between the action and front of the piano for the placing of the pneumatics is limited.

y means of my improved construction, a long stroke pneumatic may be used, the centers between the pivots of the double-action Thus a narrow pneumatic may be used and also it may-be set back from the front of the piano and farther beneath the wippen. 1 am thus enabled to secure the long stroke which is desirable, without the sacrifice of transverse space.

The action above the abstract 17 and double action lever 2O as connected to the wippen 26 may be of the usual construction, that shown being of a known make and including the usual action rail 26a pivotally supporting the wippen 26. A jack 27a is pivotally supported upon the wippen 2G so as to be practically directly above the abstract 17 so that the upward pressure is on practically straight line. rThe jack 27a engages the leather faced hammer butt 28, the stop extension on the jack 27 being adapted to engage the jack stop 29 when the jack is raised, whereby the continued upward movement of the jack causes it to free itself 'from the hammer butt as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 so that the hammer is free to strike the string and rebound. The usual damper rod 30 is also provided being operated in a well-known manner by the extension of the wippen 26. However, as already referred to, this upper portion of the action n echani sm may vary.

In Figs. 5 and G is shown a modified form of my invention in which the abstract 17 instead of being made of .one piece as shown in the other figures, has its rear vardly extending arm 17a preferably made of a separate piece and secured to the shank of the abstract which carriesat its upper end the cushioned shoulder corresponding to the stop 22 already described. By means of this construction it is possible to lengthen the 'Fulcrum on the intermediate lever 20 and without requiring a broad wood blank for the abstract 17 as in the case of Figs. 1 to 4;. Also in the form shown in Fig. 5 I provide a double action lever 20 having a slightly different yielding stop 20a, this end 2()a being slotted almost back to the screw 25 so as to provide the greatest length to the stop end 20, This lever 2O is also thinned at 2Gb, so as to produce further resiliency.

It will be apparent that by means of my improved construction it is possible to get the proper stroke of the wippen 26 and also a long stroke of the bellows without unduly extending the wippen toward the front of the piano. This is because of the interposition of the double action lever 2O which permits of any desired stroke of the bellows by simply using` the proper pivotal centers. At the same time the bellows may be moved back from the front of the piano. This is important in view of the small amount of space at this point. Furthermore, by my improved construction, the automatic and manual mechanism may each have its own stop, the automatic mechanism when actuated being stopped by the resilient arm at the end of the intermediate lever 20 while the manual mechanism, when actuated, is stopped by the yielding washer under the forwarded cud of the key. Thus there is independent regulation of the stroke or movement of the hammer mechanism for both manual and automatic playing and there is no interference between the stops. Also when the keys are pneumatically operated it is unnecessary to provide any lock therefor as the pressure upon the abstract 17 automatically maintains the abstract and key in their normal position thereby preventing any undue actuation thereof.

Another important feature is that there is no stop on the wippen and the stops are so placed that there is no substantial pressure on any of the pivot bearings of the action when the stops come into play. Also the pneumatic stop, it will be noted, is such that the manual operation is not affected in any way when the piano is manually played; the operation is the same as though no automatic player were there.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown several preferred forms thereof, but 1 understand that changes and modifications will Areadily occur to those skilled in the art and therefore I do not desire to be limited to the exact structures shown and described, but aim to cover all that which comes within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

Vilhat l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A piano action including an abstract having at its upper end a rearwardly and upwardly extending arm provided with a wippen operating shoulder at the upper end of the abstract, a wippen, an action lever intermediately pivoted to the wippen, and abstract and pneumatic connections to opposite ends of the action lever.

2. A. piano action including an abstract having at its upper end a rearwardly and upwardly extending arm so as to leave a shoulder' at the upper end of the abstract, a wippen, an action lever intermediately pivoted to the wippen, and connected at its rear end to abstract arm so as to bring it above the shoulder for direct operation when the p wippen.

abstract is operated, and a pneumatic connection to the front end Vof the intermediate lever for operating the wippen independent.

of the abstract.

3. A piano action including an abstract having at its upper end a rearwardly and upwardly extending arm Yso as to leave a shoulder at the upper end of the abstract, a wippen, an action lever intermediately pivoted to the wippen and connected at its rear end to abstract arm so as to bring it above the shoulder for direct operation when the abstract is operated, and a pneumatic connection to thefront end of the intermediate lever for operating the wippen independent of the abstract, and yielding stops respectively efi'ective when the pneumatic or the abstract is used, one of said stops being independently eiectivewhen the pneumatic is used and theother when the abstract is used.

,4. A piano. action including an abstract, a wippen, anrintermediate lever pivotally connected to the wippen and to theabstract, and a pneumatic operating upon a point of the intermediate lever to permit greater movement of the pneumatic than of the 5. A piano action including an abstract, a wippen, an intermediate lever pivotally connected t0 the wippen and to the abstract, and a pneumatic operating upon a point of the intermediate lever to permit greater movelnent of the pneumatic than of the wippen, and a direct connection between the abstract and lever for moving the lever independent of the pneumatic. v

6. A piano action including an abstract, a key abutting the lower end of the abstract, a wippen,a pneumatic, and connections between the abstract and wippen effective for operating the wippen by the pneumatic and forcibly maintaining the abstract and key in their `normal position.

7. A piano action including a wippen, an abstract, a pneumatically yoperated intermediate lever, pivotally connected to the abstract and to the wippen forV operating the the action lever.

action, and a stop extension directly on the intermediate lever for limiting the movement of the action.

r8. A piano action including a wippen, an

abstract, a pneumatically operated intermediate lever pivotally connected to the abstract and to the wippen Jfor operating the action, and a resilient stop extension directly on the intermediate lever for limiting the movement oli' the intermediate lever.

9.A piano action including an abstract i having its upper end provided with a shoulder and with a rearwardly extending part,

a wippen, an actionlever intermediately pivoted to the wippen, and abstract and pneumatic connections to opposite ends of 10. A piano action including an abstract iavnw 1 s u a 3er en r c w a aou l g t u d p ovidel 1th sl l der and with a rearwardly extending part,.a

wippen, an action lever intermediately pivoted to the wippen, and connected at its rear end to the abstract arm so as to bring 1t above the shoulder for direct operation when der and with a rearwardly extendingpart,

a wippen, an action lever intermediately pivoted to the wippen and connected `at its rear end to the abstract arm so as to bring it above the shoulder 'for direct operation when the abstract is operated, anda pneumatic connection to the front end of the intermediate lever for operating the wippen independent of the abstract, and yielding stops respectively effective when the pneumatic or the abstract is used, one of said stops being independently effective when the pneumatic is used and the other when the abstract is used.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 9th da of April, A. D. 1918.

` ILLIAM G. BETZ.

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