US1500565A - Player piano - Google Patents

Description

Filed Jun 23, 1920 INVENTOR woe 1% 2 //ul/er,

BY Am ATTORNEY Patented July 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH P. HULDER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE UNIT PLAYER ACTION CO., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PLAYER PIANO.

Application filed June 23, 1920. Serial No. 391,080.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH P. HULDER,

a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of New York, county of Bronx, and

State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Player Pianos of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to player-piano mechanisms and particularly to the operative connections between the striker pneumatics of the player and the hammer-actions of the piano.

The spacing of the scale, that is the grouping of the strings and hammer-actions,

varies in different makes of pianos and accordingly it has been necessary, heretofore, to provide a specially constructed player mechanism for each particular make. One'of the objects of this invention is to provide a player mechanism which is adaptable for attachment to any make of piano by means of a simple and easily effected adjustment of the connecting portions.

A further object is to provide means, accessible from the front of the piano case, for regulating the stroke and touch of the player mechanism to the requirements of the piano action.

I attain these objects, as well as others not specifically mentioned, by the novel features of construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, hereinafter more fully explained and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating a conventional embodiment of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of portions of a player mechanism and a piano action, showing the operative connection. between said parts and the regulating means; and, Fig. 2 is a plan view indicating the manner of adjusting the player mechanism to the spacing of the scale of the piano action.

The construction and operation .of pneumatic player mechanisms and of piano actions are well known to those skilled in the art and therefore in this specification I shall show and describe only such portions of those parts as are necessary clearly to understand the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, in which similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts, 1 is a hammer-jack, 2 a

Q wippen, 3 an abstract, and 4: a key lever of an ordinary piano action. In carrying out my invention the abstract is provided with a projecting lug 5 for engagement with the operative connection of the player mecnamsm.

The player mechanism includes a striker pneumatic 6, a valve box 7, and a windchest 8 of any suitable construction. These portions of the player mechanism are preferably located in the front part of the pianocase and above the key-levers. It is to be understood that the pneumatics may be arranged in tiers, as is usual in such mechanisms, to permit of their accommodation within the piano-case.

The operative connections between the player mechanism and the piano action comprise a series of compound levers, one for each striker pneumatic, each preferably consisting. ofa pair of arms 9 and 11 and an intermediate piece 10. The arm 9 is connectedat its inner end by a rod 12 with the movable wall of its companion striker pneumatic 6 and it is fulcrumed as at 13 in a bracket 14 depending from a channeled supporting rail 15 which rail extends lengthwise of the piano case. The piece 10 is formed with ears 16 extending on opposite sides of the arm 9 and pivotally secured thereto by a pin 17. The arm 11 carries at its inner end a finger 18 which engages the lug 5 and it has its forward end slotted or forked as at 19. A set screw 20, which enters the slot 19, is provided for securing the arm 11 to the underside of the piece 10 and to permit of radially adjusting said arm to conform to the spacing of the scale of the piano, as shown in Fig. 2.

The player mechanism herein described can be manufactured as a separate unit and is adapted to be applied to any make of piano by providing the piano action with lugs 5 and adjusting the position of the lever arms 11 to conform to the scale of the piano. Various makes of pianos differ somewhat in the spacing or grouping of the strings comprising the scale and according to my invention I am enabled to produce a player which can be manufactured of standard and interchangeable parts and which is of universal application to all makes of pianos.

Means for adjusting the stroke of each striker pneumatic is provided consisting of a finger 21 carried on the arm 9 and projecting upwardly through a slot 22 in the rail 15. A regulating screw 23. carrying a stop at its inner end is threaded through the front wall of the channeled portion of the rail 15 in position to limit the throw of the finger 21. By turning thescrew 23 the movement of the arm 9 and of its connected striker pneumatic may be controlled as required. An adjusting screw 24 is threaded through the rear end of the arm 9 and abuts against the upper surface of the piece 10*. An expanding spring 25 is provided to maintain the piece 10in contact with the foot of the regulatingscrew 24. Said regulating screw permits of vertically adjusting the arm 11 to accommodate the position of the lug 5 on the abstract.

Itwill be understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the struc-' ture' hereinabove described without departing from the spirit and scopeof my invention.'

'flVhat I claim is j 1, In a player-piano, the combination with a striker pneumatic and a piano-action including an abstract, of an operative connection, between said parts comprising an arm fulcrumed intermediate its ends in a fixed. support, a rigid element connecting the rear end of the armwith the movable wall of the-pneumatic, a co-acting member I disposed under the forward end of said arm and pivotally attached thereto, a second arm having a slot in its forward end and having its rear end acting on theabstract, a fastener entering the slot and attaching the last mentioned arm to the underside of the intermediate member to permit of radial ad-- wardly extending arm attached to said memher and radiallyv adjustable about its point of attachment for action on the abstract.

3. In "a player-piano, the combination with a striker pneumatic and a piano-action 7 including an abstract, of an operative connection between said parts comprising an arm fulcrumed in a fixed, support, arigid element connecting the rear end of the arm with the pneumatic, a co-acting member disposed under the forward end of said arm and pivotally secured thereto, a radially adjustable arm carried by said member and acting upon the abstract, and means for vertically adjusting said last-mentioned arm.

4:. In a player-piano, the combination with a striker pneumatic and a piano-action including an abstract, of an operative connection between said parts comprising an arm fulcrumed in a fixed support, a rod connecting an end of the arm with the pneumatic, a co -acting member disposed under the opposite end of said arm and pivotally attached thereto, a second arm fastened to said member for radial adjustment thereto and acting on the abstract, a regulating screw threaded through the rear end of the first-mentioned arm and extending downwardly to engage the too-acting member, and an expanding spring between the last-mentioned parts. i I

, 5. In a player-piano, the combination with a striker pneumatic and a piano-action including an abstract, of an operative connection between said parts comprising a fixed support having a slot, an arm pivotally carried by the support, a rod connecting the arm with the pneumatic to move in unison therewith, a vfinger projecting upwardly from the arm through the slot, a regulating screw; extending rearwardly through the front portion of the support in position to limit the movement of the finger, a pivoted member co-acting with said arm, and a radially adjustable arm secured to said member and acting on the abstract.

i 6. In a player-piano, the combination with a series of strike-r pneumatics and a piano-action including a series of spaced abstracts, of operative connections betweensaid parts comprising a series of compound levers attached to. a fixed support, each lever having a member connected to a pneumatic, an intermediate'member hinged thereto, and a third member pivoted at one end to the intermediatemember and bearing at its opposite end on an abstract, the last-mentioned member being adjustable to conform to the spacing of the abstracts.

' JOSEPH P. HULDEB.

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