US403306A

US403306A - tanaka

Info

Publication number: US403306A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1889-05-14
Anticipated expiration: 1906-05-14

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet l. KA. EY BOARD.

Patented May 14, 1889.

(No Model.)

l S. TANA TRANSPOSING K w om A W E. M a? M f A? Q .y O r M u (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S. TANAKA.

TRANSPOSING KEY BOARD. No. 403,3061 Patented May 14, 1889,

Wffzefse- I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

snoHE TANAKA, or AwAJI, JAPAN.

TRANSPOSING KEY-BOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part Of Letters Patent NO. 403,306, dated May 14, 1889.

Application filed May 14, 1888. Serial No. 273,902. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, SHOH TANAKA, of Awaji, Japan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pianos, of which the :following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference denote the same parts.

The invention relates to that kind of pianos in which a transposition of a piece of music from one key to another is effected by shifting the key-board of the piano in the horizontal plane, so that a given key is made to strike any string desired. ly this means piane-forte playing can be simplified in such a way that a piece written in any key, after being transposed into another key-say the key of C-can be played with the keys bclonging to the C-key by shifting the position of the key-board. A hearer will not be able to tell the difference of playing, and accordingly the exercising in piano-forte playing will be restricted to one major and one minor key instead of twelve. As in certain compositions, however, modulations occur-z'. e., the shifting of the tune from one key to another while playing-it is necessary to have a means of effecting the displacement of the key-board in such an easy and convenient manner that little or no interruption in playing will be perceptible.

All the arrangements used or tried heretofore, to my knowledge, for mechanical transposition do not satisfy the above condition, as they are too inconvenient and cumbrous 'in handling, and require so much time to be set to its proper position, that the playing must be stopped for some time whenever such change of key is desired.

The object of the present invention is to overcome these diliculties in a simple and effective manner.

rlhe invention consists in the details of improvement and the combinations of parts, that are more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a partial front view of the key-board and the front wall of an upright piano. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the upper portion of a piano. Fig. f3 is a detail sectional plan view of the transposing mechanism. Fig. i is a detail plan View showing the transposing-lever, and Fig. 5 is a front view of part of the key-board and transposing mechanism of a piano, other parts beingin section.

XVithin the piano-casing A is a lever, zj, which turns at one end on a stud, Z), fastened to a bar, 7)', within the piano-casing. The lever 1/ carries a toothed sector, c, that gears with a rack, d, on a bar, d2, of the frame e of the key-board. The frame e rests upon rollers r, journaled in the key-board case, which is for a space of, say, seven white keys wider than the frame e, thus permitting the keyboard frame e to be moved longitudinally for a full octave.

On the free end of the lever 'y is pivoted a stem or crank, o, that passes through a horizontal slot in the front wall, a, of the casing.

7u is a knob on the outer end of the stem o, or the lever g/ could pass through the wall a and carry the knob k. lYhen the knob 7c of the transposing-lever y is moved to the right or the left, the key-board will thereby be shifted in the same direction.

As each single hammer-action normally rests with its foot m upon the felt n of its key-beam n?, and prevents a sidewise movement of the key-board e, the feet m of all the hammers should be simultaneously lifted out of their place to permit the shifting of the key-board. This is accomplished as follows: Upon a rock-shaft, t', extending from one side of the piano-case to the other and above the lever y are secured arms only one of which is shown. A cross-bar, g, is secured to these arms, which cross-bar is below all the free ends of the wings 7L, each of which wings is connected to one foot fm. Then the shaft 'i is rocked, the bar gwill be raised by the arms t, and thereby the wings 7L raised, which wings then lift the feet m from the key-beams yn?, and permit the key-frame e to be moved sidewise.

The shaft 'i is rocked at the proper time as follows: 0n said shaft 'i a lever, Z, is mounted, (see Figs. and 3,) the front part of which is widened to nearly the extent of the sector c, and shaped likel a circular sector, with its center in the stud D. 'lhe stem 0 of the lever y, which stem permitted a slight rip-and- IOO down motion, carries a vertical arm, q. The arm q carries upon a horizontal inwardly-extending stud, s2, a roller, s, that contacts the upper portion of the lever Z. By a spring, f, or springs, on the shaft t', and which bears ,at one end against the bar b', or elsewhere, the lever Z is normally kept pressed upward. Therefore the'roller S and also the stem o of the lever y are drawn up with said lever. The slot of the front wall, athroughlwhich the stem o passes, is provided in its upper part with a number of recesses or indentations. Into these recesses the stem 0 of the 1ever fJ, armed with a friction -roller, o', (see Fig. 3,) is adapted to iit and to remain through the action of the spring f, thereby holding the key-frame in its proper position. The recesses or indentations may be marked, so that the position of the stem o in a recess indicates the key in which a piece will be played. By pressing` down the stem 0 out of an indentation the front end of the lever Z is depressed, and accordingly the shaft@ rocked, which, actingthrough the bar g and wings ZL, raises the feet m from the key-beams n2. The key-board frame e is now free to be moved by turning the lever y. Vthen the lever g/ is released, the stem o will rise and enter a recess or indentation. As the stem o rises, the shaft i turns back into its normal position, the cross-bar g sinks down, and the feet m come to rest upon the felts n of the key-beams. Further, by means of the spring f, the stem o is made to slip in the nearest indentation, and thereby the felt end of the key-beam n2 will be automatically brought exactly under the feet m of the hammer-action, and thus correct any inaccuracies of setting on the part of the player.

'Ihe ends of the arms 2f are connected by links u witha board, w, extending across the piano-case and swinging round the shaft e, suitably supported in the case. The lower edge of the board w faces the upper edge of the end of the key-beams n2. By depressing the stem 0 and raising the ends of the arms t the board w is turned in such way that its lower edge swings above the ends of the keybeams; but the board w cannot make this movement if one or more keys are depressedthat is, if the inner end, m, of one or more key-beams 'a2 are raised-and if the board w cannot swing the stem 0 cannot be depressed. The depressed keys must be first allowed to resume their normal position. This device,

aswsimple as it is, is therefore a safeguard against an injury of the hammer-action in case of accidental depression cf a key just before the displacement of the key-board. Moreover, it protects the mechanism, too, if during the shifting of the transposing-lever a key should be depressed, for in that case the board fw is already swung over the ends a: of the key-beams and does not allow them to rise.

It will be understood that this mechanism can be applied not only to upright pianos,

upon which the description is based, but to other musicalinstruments-such,for instance, as organs, harmoniums, table-pianos, saloonpianos, tc-having key-boards, with corresponding change in the positions of several parts, if necessary. n

Having now descrilt ed my invention, what I claim isl. In a transposing device for pianos, the rack CZ and the key-board frame carrying the same, combined with the lever y, having a toothed sector, c, engaging said rack, and with the wall a, having notches in which the lever can rest to retain the key-board, substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a transposing device for pianos, the combination of the key-board that is movable sidewise and a lever, y, having a toothed sector, c, with the rack CZ, fastened to the keyboard frame, and with means, substantially as described, for lifting the feet 'm from the felts n of the key-beams prior to the displacement of the key-board, as specified.

3. The combination of the movable keyboard e, lever y, for actuating same, and means for retaining said lever, upright q, lever Z, engaged thereby, shaft t', carrying said lever, arms t on said lever, cross-bar g on said arms, springs f, wings h, and feet m, substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a transposing device for pianos, the key-board adapted to be shifted, in combination with the swinging bar w, to prevent the rising of the key-beams, and with means, substantially as described, for actuating said bar w, substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

This specification signed by me this 21st day of March, 1888.

sHoI-I TANAKA. lVitnesses:

CARL T. BURRHARDT, ULR. R. MAERZ.

IOO