US311243A - gmehlin - Google Patents

Description

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P. GMBHLIN.

. PIANO PORTE.

No. 311,243. Patented Jan. 27, 1885.

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3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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P. GMBHLIN.

PIANO PORTE.

Patented Jan. 27, 1885.

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PIANO FORTE.

(No Model.)

Patented Jan. 27, 1885.

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PAUL GMEHLIN, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

PIANO-FO RTE.

. SPECIFICATION forming part; of Letters Patent No. 311,243, dated January 27, 1885.

Application filed October '2, 1884. (No model l To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL GMEi-ILIN, a resident of New York city, in the county and State of 'New York, have invented an Improvement in Piano-Fortes, ot' which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure 1 is a face view of the strings and bridges of a piano-forte having my invention. Fig. 2 is a face view of the action of said instrument, looking in the direction of the arrow that is represented in Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of the instrument. Fig. 4L is a detail View of the damper; Fig. 5, a detail cross-section of the bar in which the eXtra damper-rods are swiveled. Fig. 6 is a top view of a portion of said bar.

The object of this invention is to increase thc singing quality77 of a piano-forte by means of certain additional strings which are interposed between the system of regular strings, but so located that they cannot be struck by thehammers, and divided each into two equal parts, and also by means ot certain connections between the dampers, whereby the damper which is one octave below the key which is struck will be lifted oft its strings. Heretofore pianos have been constructed with strings interposed between the regular strings, so as to vibrate by sympathy with the strings that are struck by the hammers. Such interposed strings were of the same pitch as the strings near which they were placed, and were intended to vibrate with the saine note as the strings that were actually struck by the hammers; or these strings were arranged to produce overtones or harmonics of the fundamental-tone strings by having the vibrating lengths of such strings made aliquot parts of the length of the main strings.

My invention, so far as the first object is concerned, differs from the instruments heretofore used in that the interposed, string is divided into two equal lengths, each half of which sounds by sympathy one octave higher than the main strings near which it is placed.

As to the second object of my invention, this is based upon "the fact which I have asmiddle G-is struck, and at the same time the key C, which is one octave below, is depressed, so asto set free its damper but not give a sound, the effect will be that the strings pertaining to the lower octave will sound, so long as their key remains depressed, in the same pitch as the string which was actually struck; hence my invention, so far as the second object is concerned, consists in uniting each damper with the damper which is one octave below it, so as to lift it off the strings when itself lifted by the depression of the key.

In the drawings, with special reference to Fig. l, which shows the strings for an upright piano-forte, although the invention is applicable to all piano-fortes, the letter a represents the ordinary wrest-plank string-bridge, over which the ordinary strings, A, run to the tuning-pins b. d is the sounding-board bridge, over which the strings A run, as is usual, to the hitch-pins c, which are tixed in the iron plate B. C is an additional sounding-board bridge, which is part of my invention, and which runs midway between the wrest-plank string-bridge a and the sounding-board bridge d. ln this additional sounding-Board bridge C are secured agraifes f. D .D are the additional strings ot' my invention. Each of these strings is secured to a tuning-pin, b, passed over the wrest-plank bridge a through an agraffe, f, and thence over the sounding-board bridge d to a hitch-pin, e. These additional strings D D are indicated by dotted lines in Figs. l and 3, Fig. 3 showing also the arrangement of the bridge a in the wrest-plank and of the bridge C on the sounding-board Et Fig. 3 also shows that each string D is placed back of the plane in which the regular strings A A are located, so that the strings D cannot be struck by the hammers F ot the piano. It will be seen that the agrat'fes f divide the additional strings D D into halves of equal lengththat is, the two halves of each string are equal in length. In timing, these additional strings are tuned one oct-ave higher than the regular strings next to them, and, being divided into equal halves, each of these additional strings will sound as two strings an octave higher than the strings near them which are struck. By this arrangement each note or chord of three regular strings will, when struck by the hammer, cause the two halves of the additional string D to vibrate by sympathy an ICO octave higher than the note which is struck by the hammer, thus producing a rich and full sound far superior to that produced if an additional string having the same pitch is placed so as to sound by sympathy near the regular strings. An additional advantage which is obtained from the use of these strings D D is that, engaging by means of the agraffes f with the center of the sounding-board, they serve to brace the sounding-board, giving it additional upward strain.

I will now describe the second part of my improvement, which seeks to make the strings in an octave below sound whenever a key is struck.

Fig. 3 shows atG an ordinary damper,which is lifted off a string whenever the key II is depressed, and before the hammer F strikes the strings. g is the damper-lever; z,the damperwire, upon which the damper-head G is secured. All these are as commonly employed in actions of upright pianos, and are not of my invention. In Fig. 2 I show an inner face view of two oetaves of dampers-that is to say, looking at the striking-laces of the dampers. From this figure it will very clearly appeal' how I carry my object into ef- `feet-namely, I affix to the ordinary damperwire, nof each damper a small block, which has an eye at its outer or back part. Through this eye I insert one end of a long wire or lever, I, the other end of which is swiveled in a rail, J, which is stationarily supported by a bracket or brackets, Z, on the immovable portions of the instrun'ient. Each damperlever g carries on its back a small cushion or projection, m. A careful examination of Fig. 2 will show that the cushion m, which is in contact with a lever, I, belongs to that damper which is an octave below the damper to which such lever is attached. Confusion will be avoided if it be remembered that Fig. 2, being a back view, shows the lower keys at the right hand side. Thus, taking the ex treme left damper of Fig. 2, which is marked as belonging to the key "G, itsleverIisin contact with the cushion m of the damper belonging to the key 07h-that is, one octave below that first named. Therefore, if the damper first named-that is, the one on the extreme left in Fig. 2-be moved away from the string, which would be away from the observer of Fig. 2, it will carry the lever I with if, and this lever I by this motion will, pressing the cushion m of the damper, which is an octave lower, cause said damper to leave contact with its strings, thus setting them free to sound in harmony with the strings that are struck an octave above them, and, as already stated, this sound will be in the pitch of the octave above and not inthe pitch which would be produced were the strings of the lower octave struck by their hammer.

The rail J, which receives the wire levers I I, has by preference bushed holes, in which the said levers are swiveled, and is secured across the whole length of the damper-levers,

so as not to interfere with the raising of all the dampers by pedal action.

Although I have described the levers I as the instrumentalities by which each damper connects with the damper that is one octave below it, I desire to state that I do not wish to limit myself to that particular style or kind of connection, as my invention can be carried into effect by other means which would permit the lifting of the dampers in the manner described.

As regards the additional strings D, heretofore referred to, I wish to state, also, that it is not essential that they should run parallel with the main strings A, or that there should be one such additional string for every set of two or three main strings A, as their direction or number may be varied ad lilriium.

I claim I. In a piano-forte, the combination of the regular strings A A and their sustaining bridges a (Z with the sounding-board E and intermediate agraifes, f, which are carried by said sounding board, and the additional strings D D, which additional strings are by the agraffes f divided each into two equal vibratory halves, each of which halves has half the length of the corresponding main string, to vibrate in sympathy therewith when the main string is struck, substantially as specified.

2. The combination of the sounding-board E with the middle bridge, G, having agratfes j", extra strings D, wrest-plank string-bridge a, sounding-board bridge d, and main strings A, all arranged to produce ot' each extra string two vibratory portions of equal length, substantially as specified.

3. In a piano-forte, the dampers G G,which pertain to consecutiveoctaves united in pairs, in the manner substantially as described, so that the damper pertaining to the upper oetave will lift the damper pertaining to the lower octave, while the damper pertaining to the lower 4octave will not lift the damper pel'- taining to the upper octave, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the dampers G G with the blocks it', levers I I, rail J, and cushions m, as described.

5. The damper G, having blocki and cushion m, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

b. In a pianoforte, the combination of the main strings A A with the additional strings D D, sounding-board E, agraffesf, which are sustained by said sounding-board midway between the bridges a d, dampers G G, and connecting devices I, which unite the dampers that pertain to consecutive oel'aves, substantially as described.

PAUL GMEHLIN.

Vit-nesses:

CHARLES G. M. Trioiriis, JOHN C. TUNBRIDGE.

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