US992528A - Piano-action. - Google Patents

Description

I. WROZINA. PIANO ACTION.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, 1911.

992,528, Patented May 16,1911.

IGNATIUS'IWROZINA; OF WEST HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

"PIANO-ACTION.

; Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1911.

Applicationfiled March 11, 1911. Sefial No. 613,793.

a-loop- 8 fastened to the outer edge of the i To allwhom alt-may concern:

Be it known that I, IGNATIUS WROZINA, a subject of the Emperor of AustriaHungary, residing at WVestv Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Piano-Actions; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to bev a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in

Figure 1 a view partly in vertical section and partly in side elevation of an upright piano-action constructed in accordance with my invention and showing the parts in their normal positions. Fig. 2 a similar broken view showing the action as locked in its operative position by the action of the lockingfinger carried by the fly.

My invention relates to an improvement in actions for upright pianos, the object being to produce at a low cost for manufacture, a simple and durable action constructed with particular reference to locking the hammer, fly and damper-lever in the positions due to them when the key is fully depressed, and to reducing the friction of the operation of the parts of the action.

WVith these ends in view my invention consists in an upright piano-action having certain details of construction and combination of parts as will be hereinafter described and particularly recited in the claims.

For the illustration of my invention, I have shown it as applied to an upright piano action like that shown and described in my United States Patent No. 979,729 granted December 27, 1910. I would have it understood, however, that my present improvement is not limited to use in conjunction with the action shown and described in my said prior patent.

In carrying out my invention as herein shown, the fly 2 is provided at its extreme upper end with a slightly inclined lockingfinger 3 terminating at its outer end in a felt pad or punch 4 which engages directly with the upper end of the inner face of a fly-spring 5 which is-made of music wire and entered at its lower end, which is provided with a coil 6, into the outer face of the fly 2. The upper end of this spring is formed with a hook 7 which is entered into hammer-butt 9 which is mounted on a pivot 10 in a vertically arranged flange 11 secured to the hammer-butt rail 12, the pivot 10 forming the main pivot, as it were, of the entire. action. For co-action with the extreme upper end of the fly, the hammerbutt is provided as usual with a buckskin pad 13- which receives the upward thrust of thefly and with a felt pad 14 which cushions the inward movement of the upper end of the fly when the pressure is removed from the outer end of the key-lever 15, and the fly is allowed to resume its normal position. I should explain in this connection that my intention is to employ a very light fly spring 5 so that the impact of the inner face of the upper end of the fly against the felt pad or cushion 14 will be very slight, for which reason the same will-rarely need renewal,

and as the pad 1a is for the reason above indicated kept soft, any click or rattling from the impact of the fly upon it will be obviated.

Before proceeding to a description of the operation of my present improvement, I will describe the other features of the action herein shown.

The key-lever 15 rocks in the usual manner upon a center pin 16, and is furnished at its inner end with a capstan 17 upon which the enlarged lower end of the fly 2 rests, the said lower end of the fly being provided with a covering 18 of felt. Near its lower end the fiy 2 is provided with a short link 19] the inner end of which is pivoted to a flange 20 secured to a horizontal rail 21, the link 19 being sometimes known as the short abstract, and the rail 21 being sometimes called the short abstract rail. About mid- -way the length of the fly 2, it is provided with an inwardly extending set-off or arm 22 carrying an anti-friction roller 23 coacting with a strip of felt 24 applied to the inclined lower face of a cam 25 extending forward from the lower end of the damperlever 26 which is hung upon a pin 27 in the outer end of a horizontally arranged damper-lever flange 28 the forward end of which is secured to the hammer-butt rail 12. The upper end of the damper-lever 26 receives the wire shank 29 of a damper-block 30, the cushion 31 of which acts upon the strings 32 at a point just below the point thereon which receives the impact of the hammer 33 which is secured to the upper end of a hammershank 341- the lower end of which is entered into the hammer-butt 9.

lVhen the hammer is in its normal position, the upper end of the shank 3 1 rests upon a flat cushion 35 applied to the forward inner face of a horizontally arranged hammerrest rail 36. A damper-lever spring 37 se cured at its lower end to the flange 28 presses at its upper end against a lug 38 formed upon the outer face of the upper end of the damper-lever 26. As herein shown the damper-lever 26 is furnished at its lower end with a regulating screw 39 the inner end of which is covered by a buckskin fiap 40 which makes contact with a set-off rail 11.

In the normal position of the parts, the extreme upper end of the fly 2 will be held against the cushion 1 1 of the hammer-butt 9, and therefore under the inner end of the buckskin strip 13 of the hammer-butt 9, by the slight tension of the fly-spring 5. Now when the outer end of the key-lever 15 is fully depressed and the hammer is consequently thrown inward to the limit of its inward movement, the felt pad 1 of the locking-finger 3 will engage with the spring 5 with the virtual effect of locking the hammer-butt 9 and hence the hammer 33 and the hammer-shank 3st, the damper-lever 26 and the fly 2, in their operated positions in which they are prevented from vibration. This locking-action results from the fact that the upper end of the fly is in effect braced against the hammer-butt by the ac-" tion of the locking-finger on the upper end of the fly spring, the extreme upper end of which is held rigid by the loop 8. In a certain sense this action may be described as the wedging of the upper end of the fly and locking-finger between the hammer-butt and the fly-spring. At the same time the set-off arm 22 coacts with the cam 25 of the damper-lever 26 so as to hold the same locked against all vibration. However, just as soon as pressure is removed from the outer end of the key-lever, the locking-finger 3 is immediately disengaged from contact with the fly-spring 5, whereby the hammer-butt 9 and hence the hammer-shank 3% and hammer 33 are allowed to fall back into their normal positions. The damper-lever 26 is released at the same time by the descent of the set-off 22 with respect to its cam 25. I particularly wish to emphasize the fact that the friction between the locking-finger 3 and the spring 5 is so slight as to be negligible, whereas the friction between an ordinary checking device interposed between the hammer-butt and the fly is so considerable that it has heretofore been regarded as a serious handicap upon the perfect action of the piano.

Although I prefer to employ my improved locking-finger 3 at the upper end of the fly, in conjunction with the set-off 22, it is apparent that it is not limited to such use, but that it may be applied to actions in which the set-off 22 is not employed.

As herein shown, the action is furnished with the usual horizontally arranged damper rod 12 which co-acts with all of the damper-levers 26 in the usual manner when it is operated by one of the piano pedals. For regulating the action of the rod 12 upon the respective damper-levers 26, I provide each lever with a regulating screw 13 the forward end of which acts upon a felt strip at secured to the forward edge of the said lever 26 and cushioning one face of the rod 42, the opposite face of the rod being cushioned upon a felt strip 15 applied to the inner face of the hammer-butt rail 12.

The construction just described, it will be understood, is common to modern upright pianoforte actions.

I claim 1. In an upright pianoaction, the com bination with the hammer-butt and fly thereof, of a fly-spring mounted in the fly and connected with the hammer-butt, and a locking-finger carried by the upper end of the fly and coacting with the fly-spring to lock the action in its operated position.

2. In an upright piano-action, the combination with the hammer, butt and fly thereof, of a fly-spring mounted in the fly, a loop attached to the hammer-butt and having the upper end of the fly-spring engaged with it, and a locking-finger carried by the upper end of the fly and eoacting with the fly-spring to lock the action in its operated position.

3. In an upright pianoaction, the combination with the hammer-butt and fly thereof, of a fly-spring mounted in the fly and connected with the hammer-butt, a locking-finger carried by the upper end of the fly and co-acting with the fly-spring to lock the action in its operated position, a damperlever, a spring therefor, a cam located upon the lower end of the damper-lever, and a set-off carried by the fly and acted upon by the said cam of the da1nperlever under the influence of the spring thereof.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib ing witnesses.

IGNAIIUS \VROZINA. Witnesses HENRY EDLER, Josnrr-r IVROZINA.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, In. C.

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