US487483A - Henry keller and constantine keller - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.) H. 86 G. KELLER.

PIANO ACTION.

No. 487,483. Patented Dec. 6, 1892.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

HENRY KELLER AND CONSTANTINE KELLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PIANO-ACTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 487,483, dated December 6, 1892.

Application filed February 25, 1892. Serial No. 422,751. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY KELLER and CONSTANTINE KELLER, citizens of the United States, residing at the city, county, and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Actions, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates particularly to improvements in the action-rail and bottom rail of upright pianos, and also to several details in the action, as hereinafter more fully explained.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of our improved action. Fig. 2 shows a section of our action-rail. Fig. 3 shows a modification of the action-rail. Fig. 4 shows our improved flange used on the butt, whip, and damper. Fig. 5 shows a section of the bottom rail, and Fig. 6 is a top view of the knuckle-butt.

Similar letters of reference designate similar parts in all the drawings.

A is our improved action rail, which is made entirely of metal, preferably brass, soft steel, or similar metal. This action-rail is provided along its lower edge with flanges B B B for the whips and along its upper edge with flanges O O O for the hammer-butts and flanges D D D for the dampers. These flanges are integral with the action-rail and are bent forward or backward to accommodate the various portions of the action which they are designed to support.

E is the damper-rod flange, provided with the felt bushing e, which bushing is firmly held in place within the flange E by having both of its ends compressed between the bentover end of the flange E and the body of the action-rail A, as shown in Fig. 1. This holds the bushing securely without danger of its slipping and is much better than gluing, as glue will not adhere to the metal action-rail.

F is the rail-prop, which is also formed of a strip of metal attached to the action-rail and then bent into position. This rail-prop being a part of or firmly attached to the action-rail A can be bent up or down or sidewise, as may be found necessary in adjusting the action, such bending being allowed by the ductility of the metal, and at the same time the rail-prop will stay in whatever position it is put without risk of becoming loose in its hold, as is the case wilh metal rail-props when screwed into wooden action-rail, when the bending of the prop is likely to result in a crushing of the wood of the action-rail, loosening the prop in its hold in the rail.

G is the bottom rail, which is also made of metal and consists, primarily, of a strip of metal provided along its lower edge with flanges g g to connect with the tongue H, pivoted to the sticker 1. The flanges on both action-rail and bottom rail we prefer to make split, as shown, to admit of the pivot-pins of the various parts being slipped into them throught he slots after such pins have been placed in position in the various portions of the action, thus bringing the pivot-pins into their seats. (Designated b b b in Fig. 2.) The split portions are then drawn tightly together by means of the screws J J, firmly grasping and holding the pivot-pins, which then become rigid in the flanges of the rails, but turn in the bushings of the wooden portions of the action, which the several flanges support. This gives to the action firmness not secured in wooden connections, renders the action more true in its operation, less liable to get out order, and more easy to adjust if out of order. By the form given to the flange O we secure the further advantage of being able to remove the hammer and hammer-butt from a piano without disturbing the strings or taking out the action, as the screw J can be reached from above with a screwdriver and loosened, when the portions which the flange 0 supports may be detached without further trouble.

Our improved rails may also be formed by doubling a piece of sheet metal upon itself, as shown in Fig. 3, producing the same eflect as though the flanges had been split or had been produced in a split condition by soldering, sweating, riveting, or otherwise fastening together separate pieces of metal. It is possible, also, to make metal rails by having one portion of the flanges detached from the body of the flange, but drawn into place by the setscrews J J; but this is unsatisfactory on account of the difficulty of adjustment and the trouble and expense of manufacturing.

An additional advantage of having the flanges made integral with the rail and of metal is that after the action is in place the several flanges can be reached and bent with bending-tools, as may be necessaryin adjusting the several parts of the action. The advantage of this will be at once apparent to piano-makers.

We make the flanges for the butt, whip, and damper out of pieces separate from these several parts and substantially like Fig. 4. These flanges are mortised into their respective parts. (See dotted lines in the damper, whip, and butt.) By this construction we are able to secure extra width of the flanges to receive the bushing for the pivot-pins without increasing the thickness of the bodies of the parts which they support. This gives a firmer bearing to the pivot-pins and renders the action more firm and less liable to sidewise movements. We also fraise out the sticker where it enters between the forked arms of the tongue H, which tongue is also provided with forked arms at its opposite end where it engages with the bottom rail. The pivot-pin, being firmly grasped in the flange g of the bottom rail, gives considerable firmness of movement to the tongue H, which firmness is maintained in the sticker I, avoiding lateral motion, which is a very serious thing if happening in the sticker.

The action-rail and bottom rail being of metal, we avoid the bad effects of atmospheric changes on wood. The metal will not warp, split, or crack, as would often be the case with wooden rails, and should the metal rails become bent they can be straightened again, which cannot be done with wooden rails, and there will be no trouble from woodscrews working loose or breaking off, as is now often the case. The rails can be made in single pieces or in sections, as may be desired.

Having thus described ourinvention, what we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. An action-rail formed of a single piece of sheet metal and provided with flanges formed of bent portions of the same sheet of metal and integral therewith, to support the parts of the action, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. An action-rail formed of a single piece of sheet metal, provided with flanges formed of bent portions of the same sheet of metal to support the whip, butt, damper, damper-rod, and rail-prop, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with a metal actionrail, of the damper-rod flange E, provided with the bushing e, secured therein, substantially and in the manner specified.

4E. The metal action-rail provided with the butt-flange O, bent over so that the screw J shall be in a vertical position, or nearly so, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The hammer-butt made of the mortised piece M and the double-forked flange-piece L, fitting into said mortise, substantially as and'for the purposes set forth.

6. An action-rail made of a single piece of sheet metal, provided with flanges of bent strips of the same sheet of metal, said flanges being slotted to ad mit the pivot-pins laterally, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

7. In a piano-action, the combination of a metal action-rail formed of a single piece of sheet metal and provided with flanges B B B, O C O, D D D, E, and F, formed of portions of the same sheet of metal and integral therewith, with the butt, damper, and whip, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

8. The combination, with the sticker and tongue, of the metal bottom rail G, provided with the slotted flanges g g, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

9. The combination, with the bottom rail and sticker, of the tongue H, forked at both ends, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

10. The combination of the metal actionrail A, provided with the flanges B O D E F, of the hammer-butt, damper, and whip, the sticker I, tongue I-Land flanged metal bottom rail G, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

HENRY KELLER.

CONSTANTINE KELLER.

Witnesses:

WM. D. NEILLEY, HERBERT J. HINDES.

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