US1113033A - Action for keyed zithers. - Google Patents

Description

P. MENZBNHAUER.

ACTION FOB, KEYED ZITHERS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1913 1 1 1 3,033. Patented Oct. 6, 1914.

j'c'gl.

THE NORIRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTD-LITHUH wAsHlNcmN. D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK MENZENHAUER, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

ACTION FOR KEYED ZITHEES.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FBEDnRIoK MENZEN- HAUEIga citizen of the United States, and a resident of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Action for Keyed Zithers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to zithers and like instruments provided with accompaniment strings conveniently grouped to form chords and an open scale of melody strings preferably arranged in pairs.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved keyboard attachment for stringed musical instruments of the type referred to and arranged to simplify the construction to reduce the cost of manufacturing to a minimum, to permit con venient adjustment of the actuating parts and to allow of producing a tremolo effect whenever it is desired to do so by the player.

In order to accomplish the desired result, use is made of pivotally mounted keys, a set of spring hammers below the keys and bearing against the under side of the free ends of the keys, and means to limit the down ward swinging motion of a key when pressed downward and to allow a corresponding hammer to vibrate freely during the time the key is held in the pressed position. Use is also made of a single means engaging all the keys for holding the same normally in the same plane against the pressure of the spring hammers.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented inthe accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indi cate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the keyed zither provided with the improved action; Fig. 2 is an enlarged cross section of the same on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same on the line 33 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is a plan view of part of the supporting bar for the rear ends of the hammer springs.

In actions for stringed musical instruments of the type above referred to and as heretofore constructed it has been diflicult to produce a well-sounding tremolo effect owing to the fact that the spring hammer after being set in vibration by pressing a corresponding key and holding the same Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 5, 1913.

Patented Oct. 6, 1914. Serial No. 777,393.

pressed could not freely vibrate throughout the length of the spring and hence the string was not properly sounded and a harsh tremolo effect was the result. Heretofore considerable difliculty has been experienced both by the manufacturer as well as by the user of the instrument to properly aline the keys, as such alinement was generally accomplished by the use of adjusting screws, one for each key. lVith the improvement presently to be described in detail aclear tremolo effect is produced and the keys are simultaneously alined by a single means.

The keyed zither shown in the drawings comprises a sounding board a over which are stretched the accompaniment strings I) and the melody strings 0 preferably grouped in pairs. To the top of the sounding board a is secured an action frame consisting of side pieces A and a rear cross bar A conmeeting the said side pieces A with each other, the said side pieces being located adjacent the sides of the series of melody strings c. The rear ends of the keys d are mounted to swing on a rod f attached to the action frame and carrying washers g for spacing the keys (Z. Each of the spring hammers consists of a long, fiat spring 6 provided at its free forward end with a hammer head 6, the rear end of each spring 6 being secured to a supporting bar an attached to the beveled rear edge of a bar y fastened at its ends to the side pieces A of the action frame (see Fig. By reference to Fig. 2 it will be noticed that the hammers are arranged above the strings c and below the keys d, and the under sides of the free ends of the keys d are engaged by the hammer springs e at a point intermediate the ends of the springs so that the latter exert an upward pressure on the keys d. It will also be noticed that each hammer spring 6 from its point of attachment to the bar m is curved upwardly and forwardly so that the hammer head 6 is a considerable distance above the corresponding string 0 to provide a long range of movement for the hammer head in order to strike the corresponding string 0. By the arrangement the hammer head 6 can sound the string 0 with more or less force with a view to produce the desired pianissimo or forte effect. It is understood that in order to sound a string 0 once the player presses and quickly releases the corresponding key 0:? so that the hammer head 6 strikes the string 0 but once, and then the hammer immediately returns to its normal inactive position and with it the key (Z.

The under sides of the free ends of the keys (Z are provided with felt pieces 2' for the hammer springs e to rest on, and the said felt pieces 2' are adapted to rest on stops 71, preferably made of felt and secured to the top of the bar at the front end thereof. The stops it are arranged to permit the hammer springs e to pass between adjacent stops at the time a key (Z is pressed and the corresponding hammer is caused to swing downward. Now it will be noticed that when the key is pressed downward and held against the stops n then the hammer spring eis free to vibrate in the space between the said stops and as the vibrations have a short range the string 0 is repeatedly sounded in quick succession and a tremolo effect is produced. As soon as the player releases the pressed key the hammer returns to its normal inactive position and in doing so swings the corresponding key (Zback into normal horizontal position. In practice, the under side of the forward end of each key (Z is provided with a piece of felt i to soften the contact between the hammer spring 6 and the corresponding key.

In order to provide a single means for holding all the keys normally in the same plane against the pressure of the hammer springs e, the following arrangement is made: The forward end of each key (Z is provided with a reduced portion (Z preferably covered at the top by a piece of felt it and the several pieces of felt 72. are simultaneously engaged by a stop board secured to the side pieces A of the action frame. It will be noticed that by this arrangement all the keys (Z are normally held in the same plane and against upward swinging motion, and at the same time the keys cZ hold the spring hammers under stress so that the spring hammers press the keys against the stop board 70. It is evident that without the alining means described the keys would be swung upward by the spring hammers into upwardly-inclined positions and as the resiliency of the spring hammers varies the keys would assume different inclined positions so that the keys could be properly played only with great difficulty. The under side of the stop board is is provided near its front end with a strip of felt Z forming a stop for the hammer heads 6 to assist in limiting the upward swinging movement of the spring hammers. By the arrangement described each spring hammer abuts against the pieces of felt ii and Z to prevent rattling of the spring hammers.

Although I have shown and described the preferred form of stop board it is evident that I do not limit myself to the detail construction disclosed for accomplishing the desired result.

The several springs e of the hammers have their rear ends cast in the strip to made of soft i ietal, the strip in turn being attached by screws or other means to the beveled rear edge of the cross bar By this arrangement the expense of construction is considerably reduced especially as the several ha nmers can be readily fastened in place by attaching the strip m to the bar j.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. in combination, a Zither having a sound board and strings stretched over the same, an action frame attached to the said sound board, a series of spring hammers above the strings, means for attaching the rear ends of the springs to the said action frame, keys having their rear ends pivoted on the said action frame and each being pressed on at the under side of its free end by a corresponding spring hammer, and an alining board held on the top of the said action frame and engaged by all the keys and holding the same normallyin the same plane against the pressure of the said spring hammers, the said alining board leaving the upper portions of the free ends of the keys wholly unobstructed to permit the keys to be pressed by the player.

2. in combination, a zither having sound board and strings stretched over the same, an action frame attached to the said sound board, a series of spring hammers above the strings, means for attaching the rear ends of the springs to the said action frame, keys having their rear ends pivoted on the said action frame and each being pressed on at the under side of its free end by a corresponding spring hammer, and an alining board held on the top of the said action frame and engaged by all the keys and holding the same normally in the same plane against the pressure of the said spring hammers, the said alining board leaving the upper portions of the free ends of the keys wholly unobstructed to permit the key to be pressed by the player, the said alining board forming a stop for the free ends of the said spring hammers.

3. In combination, a zither having a sound board and strings stretched over the same, an action frame attached to the said sound board, a series of spring hammers above the strings, means for attaching the rear ends of the springs to the said action frame, keys having their rear ends pivoted on the said action frame and each being pressed on at the under side of its free end by a corresponding spring hammer, the free end of each key being provided at its bottom portion with a projection, and an ali'nin'g board secured to the top of the said action frame and engaged by the projections of all the keys and holding the same normally in the same plane against the pressure of the said spring hammers, the said alining board being in a plane below the plane of the top of the keys to allow pressing of the keys by the player.

4. In combination, a zither having a sound board and strings stretched over the same, an action frame attached to the said sound board and provided with a cross bar having spaced stops, keys pivoted on the said action frame and adapted to rest on the said cross bar stops when pressed to their full extent,

' and spring hammers attached to the said cross bar and arranged above the said strings and below the said keys" to be actuated by the latter, the said spring hammers bearing against the under side of the said keys, and each spring hammer being free to vibrate in the space between adjacent stops of the cross bar after the key is pressed down into contact with the cross bar.

5. In combination, a zither having a sound board and strings stretched over the same, an action frame attached to the said sound board and provided with a cross bar having spaced stops, keys pivoted on the said action frame and adapted to rest on the said cross bar stops when pressed to their full extent, spring hammers attached to the said cross bar and arranged above the said strings and below the said keys to be actuated by the latter, the said spring hammers bearing against the under side of the said keys, and each spring hammer being free to vibrate in the space between adjacent stops of the cross bar after the key is pressed down into contact with the cross bar, and an alining board attached to the said action frame and engaged by all the keys, the said board forming a stop to limit the upward movement of the keys.

6. In combination, a zither having a sound board and strings stretched over the same, an action frame attached to the said sound board and provided with a cross bar having a beveled rear edge and having spaced stops at the top front portion, keys pivoted on the said action frame and adapted to rest on the front stops of the said cross bar when pressed down to their full extent, and spring hammers attached to the said beveled edge of the said crossbar and arranged above the said strings and below the said keys to be actuated by the latter for sounding the strings, the said spring hammers bearing against the under side of the free ends of the hammers, and each spring hammer being free to vibrate in the space between adjacent stops of the cross bar after the key is pressed down into contact with the cross bar.

Signed at New York, this 3rd day of July, 1913.

FREDERICK MENZENHAUER.

Witnesses:

MAY F. MULLEN, MARIE LEAHY.

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

Washington, D. G.

Images