US99655A - Improvement in pianos - Google Patents

Description

dotted' (States @anni @wie Letters Patent No. 99,655, dated February 8, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN PIANOS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the' same.

in Pianos; and I do hereby declare the following to he a full and correct description of the same, suiiicient to ena'ble others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains, to fully understand and use the same,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

which make part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a perspective view of my improvement in pianos, and

Figures 2 and 3 are partly-sectional detached views of parts ofthe same.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in the several figures. i

The nature of my invention consists in the manner of tuning, and keeping in tune, the strings of a piano, by means of separate tuning-pins, and in the manner ot'fasteningthe strings. l

A, in the-drawings, mayrepresent the metal frame of a piano, onI the wooden frame B.

C is the sounding-board, on which the bridge D is secured.

At the end A', of the frame A, are secured lthe inclined pins a, around which the strings c pass, their free ends passing through holes in pins b, in part A" of frame A, aroundv which they are coiled in tightening the strings.

These pins b, as usually constructed, are entirely smooth, and thicker at one end than at the other, and pass thro'ugh the metal frime into the wood, in which theyare held by friction, the holes in the metai frame, through which they pass, being larger than the pins, to allow them to pass freely. In pianos provided with these pins, the wood-in which their lower ends are heldfrequently shrinks by the temperature, thus loosening the pin, which thus is allowed to move, if only a very little, in the metal hole, and this is'a common and frequent cause of pianos getting out oftune.

I` construct my pins b with a shoulder, b', below which they end in .a straight screw, which screws firmly into holes d, provided witlifemale-screw threads, unt-il the shoulder b rests firmly n the metal part A. The strings are 'so apportioned that when the shoulder b' rests on the metal frameA, the string gives a tone a shadow lower than it is intended to have. 'Ihe tension of the strings is not powerful enough to turn the pins b, in their holes, and thus uo shrinking of the wood can have any effect on the strings.

To give the stringits proper tone, I use, additional pins e, provided with a head, c', and a screwend, f. On this pin slides freely a small block, g, having, on its. under side, a. groove,` g', which seizes over the strings c. These pins e are screwed into the metal frame A, between papt A and bridgeE.

As the tone of the string is given by that part of it between the bridges D and E, it will be easily understood that by screwing in pins e, and thus depressing that'part of the string between frame A" and bridge E, by'me'ans of blocks g, the strings between the bridges D and E will be tightened, and thus ahigher pitch of tune obtained. A

It will be easily understood that the slightest turn of pins e willexert an influence on the strings c, and that an infinitely finer shade of tuning can be obtained than by turning the pins b.

Having thus described my invention,

`\Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Lettels Patent, is-'- 1. 'lhe'tuning-pins e, when operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The string-holding pins b, when constructed with a shoulder, b', and a screw-end, in combination with the tuning-pins e, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The pins b, when operating and secured in the metal flame Af', without passing into the wood-frame, substantiallyas and for the purposes set forth.

' ANDREAS F. DESSAU.

vVi/'itnesses ALEXR. A. C. KLAUCKE, J om: P. SUwnnKnoP.

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