US25919A

US25919A - seabtjry

Info

Publication number: US25919A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1859-10-25
Anticipated expiration: 1876-10-25

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOS. S. SEABURY, OF STONY BROOK, NE,T YORK, ASSIGNOR TO R. B. GORSUCH, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

PIANOFORTE-ACTION.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 25,919, dated October 25, 1859.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS S. SEABURY, of Stony Brook, in the county ot Sutlolk and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Pianoforte-Action; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figures l and 2 are side views of my action, Fig. l exhibiting it at rest, and Fig. 2, as being checked after the hammer has struck and fallen away from the string.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in both figures.

The principal object of my invention is to allow each or any one of the hammers of a piano-forte action and all the moving parts pertaining to it to be removed from the instrument along with its respective key for the purpose or' examination, adjustment or repair of the parts without disturbing any of the other keys or hammers or other parts of the action.

Vith this end in view, the nature of my invention consists in pivoting the hammer butt to a post or its equivalent that is carried by the key; also in a certain mode ot applying and effecting the operation of a ack or iy-lever through which the blow ot the hammer is produced, and in a certain mode of applying the check.

T o enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The key A, is applied in the usual manner to work on an upright pin c. .At a suitable distance behind the pin a, there is erected upon the key, the post O, to which the butt 5 of the hammer D, is pivoted by a pin c. The hammer is represented as being arranged with its head toward the rear of the key, but this position might be reversed, such reversal, however, involving the necessity ot' reversing the positions of the other operating parts of the action. The butt b, is extended some distance in front of the post C, to receive a pivot d, by which what may be termed a suspended jack or more properly a iy-lever E, is attached t0 it. This fly-lever passes through a slot z', provided for it in the key, and extends some distance below the key and is provided below the key in its front side, with a notch e, which operates in combination with the lower front edge of a stationary rail F, to produce the blow ot the hammer when the key is struck or depressed at its front end, as will be presently described. A spring 7L, is applied within the slot z', in front of the fly-lever, to press the latter toward the said rail F. The said rail F, extends the whole width of' the action, that is to say, under all the keys. Its operating edge is covered with leather, and so the back ot the notch is faced with felt. The regulating screw G, screws obliquely through the fly-lever E, and acts in combination with an inclined plane f, formed on the back of the post C. The check consists of a small block H, attached to the bottom of the key in front of the flylever, and having its back beveled or curved to lit a corresponding beveled or curved tace g, formed in the front of the lower part of the ily-lever. The check is faced with cloth or leather. The hammer rest consists ot a block I, secured upon the top of the key.

The operation ot' the action is as follows: liVhen the front end of the key is struck or depressed by the player the part in rear of the pin a, rises, but as the fly-lever is prevented rising by its notch catching under the rail F, it holds down the front portion et the hammer butt, wnile the post C, and pivot c, rise, and the hammer head is thrown sharply upward against the string. As the hammer completes its stroke, the y-lever is pushed from the rail F, by the wedge like action orl the tace j', ot the post C, on the regulating screw G, and the hammer liberated, but before the latter can tall farther than is necessary to free itselt' Jtrom the spring, the inclined Jface g, ot' the fly-lever comes in contact with the check H, and hence its further descent is prevented; but it is only necessary to permit the front end of the key to rise a very little way, for the notch ot the fly-lever to slip under the rail F, again, and bring the action to a condition for repeating the blow of the hammer.

To remove a key with its respective hammer, and the working parts pertaining thereto from the piano-forte, it is only necessary to take out the part ot the case commonly known as the name-board, and to raise the key at the front end high enough to permit it to pass over the pin a, and then to draw it forward, when it brings with it the hammer, the fly-lever, the check and the hammer rest.

This action besides enabling each or any one of the hammers and all the moving parts pertaining to the hammer and key to be Withdrawn from the instrument along With the key, possesses several advantages over most of the actions in common use, viz: First, it is capable of repeating With greater facility; second, it is of more simple construction; third, the force applied to the key is transmitted in a more direct manner to the hammer; fourth, it has a more eX- pressive touch; fifth, the hammer is effectually prevented sticking up in case of dampness and swelling of the parts; and sixth, the inconvenience arising from what is called in the French action, short jacks, is entirely obviated.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. Pivoting the hammer butt to a post, or its equivalent, carried by its respective key, substantially as herein specied, for the pur pose of enabling it to be Withdrawn from the instrument along With the key.

2. The suspended jack or fly-lever E, at-

tached to the hammer butt, and rovided With a notch e, operating in com ination With a stationary rail F, substantially as herein described.

3. The arrangement of the regulating screvv in the suspended jack or fly-lever in combination With the inclined plane f, on the post erected upon the key to carry the hammer, substantially as herein described; but I Wish to be understood as not claiming generally either the placing of the regulating screw in the jack, or the employment of an inclined plane or Wedge to act in combination With an inclined or Wedgedike surface.

4. The check H, applied to the bottom of the key and operating in combination With the suspended jack or Hy-lever, substantially as herein described.

THOS. S. SEABURY.

Witnesses:

S. A. MOUNT, WM. S. MOUNT.