US1091858A - Piano-action. - Google Patents

Description

a. A. MAYOR,

PIANO ACTION.

1 APPLICATION IILEIJ SEPT. 7, 1911.

Patented Mar. 31, 1914.

ill-

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ENOCI-I A. MAYOR, OF SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS.

PIANO-ACTION.

Application filed September 7, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ENoorr MAYOR, citizen of the United States, residing at San Antonio, in the county of BeXa-r and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Piano-Actions, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to piano act1ons, and particularly to that part of the action which controls the rebound of the hammer and including ordinarily the back stop, back check, bridle strap and the supporting mem bers therefor.

The primary object of my invention is to simplify this part of the piano, reduce the number of parts involved therein, and somewhat increase the available space within the piano case so that other mechanisms may be placed within this space, as in piano player mechanism, and not incommode the piano action itself.

A further object is to eliminate the bridle strap and the supporting wire therefor. This is ordinarily found in standard upright piano actions and is the means whereby the hammer is retracted. The bridle strap is frequently injured or destroyed by mice, and when so destroyed, the hammer fails to work properly, especially when the instrument is exposed to dampness. By eliminating the bridle strap and providing a positive means for retracting the hammer, I make the action more certain, reduce the cost of manufacture, and eliminate all chance of the injury above referred to.

Broadly speaking, my invention consists in substituting for the bridle strap and the bridle wire, a hook mounted upon the back check and engaging the back stop so that as the wippen falls upon the release of a key, the hook will engage the back stop and retract the hammer.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a portion of an upright piano action, the hammer being in its normal or retracted position. Fig. 2 is a like view to Fig. 1 but showing the parts in the position occupied by them after the hammer is struck and before it is retracted. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the back stop engaging member detached from the back check.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the following description and indicated Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 31, 1914.

Serial No. 648,231.

in all the views of the accompanying drawings by the same reference characters.

In these drawings, 2 designates the action rail and 3 the wippen pivotally mounted upon the action rail by means of the wippen flange 4-. 5 designates the hammer-butt pivotally mounted upon the action rail by means of the flange 6, and 7 designates the jack which is pivotally carried upon the wippen 3 by means of the flange 8. 9 designates the knockoff or regulating button disposed upon the regulating rail 10. The hammer 5 carries the hammer shank 11 which at its end supports the hammer 12;

This hammer normally bears against the hammer rest rail 13. These parts so far described are those ordinarily to be found in ordinary upright piano act-ions and require no further description.

Projecting from the front face of the butt 5 is the shank 14 carrying upon its end the back stop 15. This back stop is somewhat longer than the back stop ordinarily found in standard piano actions and is rounded or beveled at its upper end and there provided with the felt facing 16. It will be particularly noted from the drawings that the back stop being somewhat longer than the ordinary back stop projects above the shank 14; and above the back check 18 under all circumstances. Supported upon the wippen 8 is the upwardly projecting back check wire 17 carrying at its upper end the ordinary back check 18 whose inner face is faced with felt 19. The outer face of the stop is also faced with leather 20.

Supported upon the upper end of the back check 18 and extending inward toward the hammer shank 11 and above the upper end of the stop 15 is the arcuate, upwardly bowed or hook-shaped member 21. Preferably this member is of wire or like material, and at one end is angularly bent as at 22 to form a shank which is forced into the wood of the back check 18.

It will be noted from Fig. 1 that the arouate portion of the hook 21 is uniformly curved and that the starting point of the upwardly bowed portion is disposed coincidentally with the inner face of the upper end of the felt 19. The inner end of the bowed portion of the member 21 is flattened and depends somewhat below the upper end of the back check and is then upwardly turned as at 23.

Normally or when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, the member 21 is spaced from the upper end of the back stop 15 and is approximately concentric to the curvature of the felt 16.

In the operation of my device, when the piano key is struck, the wippen is carried upward, the wippen turning upon the pivot pin of the flange 4c. The upward movement of the wippen carries the back check 18 forward and slightly upward and of course carries the member 21 with it, leaving the hammer free to be projected against the strings of the instrument. As the wippen falls with the release of the key, the back check is carried downward and away from the hammer, and the hook-shaped member 21 is also carried downward and forward and will in its movement if the hammer is retarded engage the back stop 15 and retract the hammer, causing it to return to its position against the hammer rail 13.

It will be seen that my device is extremely simple, that it is thoroughly positive in its action, and that it is not liable to be destroyed as is the ordinary bridle strap. Furthermore, it will be seen that by eliminating the usual bridle wire, the length of the wippen may be reduced, thus leaving more space in front of the action for the accommodation of piano player actions.

Under ordinary circumstances, the wire is spaced along its whole length from the back stop 15 and only contacts with this back stop where the hammer action is sluggish, due for instance to dampness. There the hammer fails to fall back, the extremity of the wire engages the inner face of the upper end of the stop and positively draws the hammer back. lVith my invention there is no necessity of having a spring for retracting the hammer, though of course the spring may be used. It will be noted that the whole weight of the wippen, back check and attached parts act to draw the hammer back. It is to be pointed out also that the member 21 does not bear at all upon the back stop except where the hammer is sluggish, and then only upon a retraction of the hammer. The hook 21 does not touch the hammer at all upon a raising of the hammer due to a depression of the key. The hook moves in advance of the back stop and thus the device has no eifect upon the touch. It will be seen also that with the construction described, the wippen and its attached parts will not drop down when the key is removed, as they would if the hook of my device were placed, say upon the back stop and not upon the back check and no bridle tape were used.

What I claim is:

1. An upright piano action including a hammer, a back stop, a back check opposed to the back stop and a hammer-retracting member having a straight shank entering the upper end of the back check, and a bowed portion extending upward and over the upper end of the back stop and then extending downward below the upper end of the back stop.

2. An upright piano action including a wippen, a hammer-butt, a back stop carried by the hammer-butt, a back check carried by the wippen, and a hammer-retracting member comprising a wire bent to form a shank extending downward into the back check, the wire at the upper end of the shank being curved upward, inward toward the hammer-butt and downward to a point below the upper end of the back stop, the shank of said retracting member being rotatably supported in the back check.

3. An upright piano action including a wippen, a hammer-butt, a shank projecting from the hammer-butt, a back stop carried on the end of the shank and having a rounded upper end projecting above the shank, and a back check carried by the wippen and opposed to the stop in combination with a hammer-retracting member comprising an upwardly bowed rigid wire having a shank extending into the upper end of the back check and rotatable therein, the body of the wire extending inward toward the hammerbutt and over the upper rounded end of the back stop and normally spaced therefrom, the inner end of the curved portion of the wire being extended downward below the upper end of the back stop.

In testimony whereof I my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ENOCH A. MAYOR. [Ls] l/Vitnesses:

G. OLIVARI, MAUI) B. MORGAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. 0.

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