US604144A - Edmund henry gigney - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

B. H. GIGNEY. TRANSPOSING MECHANISM FOR PIANOFORTBS. N0. 604,144. Patented May 17,1898.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()EEicE.

EDMUND HENRY GIGNEY, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

TRANSPQSING MECHANISM FOR PIANOFORTES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 604,144, dated May 17, 1898.

Application filed March 14, 1898.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDMUND HENRY GIG- NEY, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at London, England, have invented a certain new and useful Transposing Mechanism for Pianofortes and other Keyboard Instruments; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The object of my invention is to provide simple and effective mechanism for transposing the notes of a pianoforte or other keyboard instrument according to the key in which it is desired that the piece of music shall be performed.

I pivot the action-frame or action-standards on a horizontal pivot at each end, so that the lower part can be swung or moved back to clear the keys while the upper part or damper-rail is swung or moved forward to clear the strings. The key-frame with keys can then be slid to one side or the other as required. The action-frame may suitably be moved by means of a pushing-and-pulling rod. By moving this rod in one direction against a stop the lower part of the actionframe is pushed back from over the keyframe, which can then be moved laterally as required for transposing, by preference by means of a knob in front of the piano or underneath. The key-frame has to be bedded to the key-bottom and is kept in position by means of slotted brass plates with screws in the back rail and front rail.

Figure l on the accompanying drawings is a front elevation; Fig. 2, a sectional end View; Fig. 3, a plan and Fig. at a detail view of a suitable construction of the transposing mechanism and parts connected therewith as applied to a piano.

The action-frame is pivoted about centrally in vertical height on a horizontal pivot A at each end to the sides 13 of the piano-case, so that the lower part,by means of the push-andpull rod D, can be swung backward into the dotted position to clear the keys while the upper part or damper-rail is swung forward Serial No. 673,833 (No model.)

to clear the strings. The key-frame O with keys can then be slid to one side or the other to the required extent. The spring M serves to bring the action-frame back into the normal vertical position. The action-frame A has a comb-shaped plate A and in one of the tooth-spaces of the same the upstanding finger O on the keyframe will be held, when the action-frame A, by means of the pushand-pull rod D, has been pulled back into its normalposition (Shownin full lines.) Each tooth-plate in the plate A corresponds to a different key. The travel of the rod D is limited by the knob D coming against the name board F.

In order to allow the SO-CZtllGL prolongs on the bottom of the action-frame to clear the keys when the action-frame is swung back, I chamfer the back or inner ends of the keys N at N to a suitable extent, as shown in Fig. 4c, and black-lead them.

The key-frame C is bedded onto the keybottom G and is kept in position by means of pins in slots 0 in the back rail and front rail of same, the pins or screws H being fixed in the keyboard-bottom. I is a knob working in a slot-plate K in lock-front for shifting the key-frame O. The name-board F is marked with index-lines for the different keys, and the keyboard has a pointer to indicate the key to which the key-frame is shifted.

I claim 1. In a transposing mechanism for pianofortes and other keyboard instruments the action-frame mounted on horizontal pivots in combination with means for swinging it thereon so that its lower part can be swung back to clear the keys and the upper part be swung forward to clear the strings, whereupon the key-frame can be shifted laterally to the desired extent and the action-frame then be returned to its normal position substantially as set forth.

2. In a transposing mechanism the actionframe mounted in horizontal pivots in combination with means for swingingit thereon, keys with chamfered-off back ends to clear the prolongs on the action frame, a keyframe capable of limited lateral movement on the key-bottom and means for holding it in the position according to the desired key substantially as set forth.

a frame provided with slotted plates, pins on the key-bottom working in the slots, a knob on the key-frame for moving it, and a plate fixed at the front of the instrument with slot for limiting the movement of the knob therein substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

EDMUND HENRY GIGNEY. lVitnesses:

V. JENSEN, WALTER JAMES SKERTEN.

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