US1133793A - Pneumatic piano-action. - Google Patents

Description

I R. W. COOPER, F. A. LEE & R. J. MEYER.

PNEUMATIC PIANO ACTION.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 7, 1913.

1,1 33,793. Patented Mar. 30, 1915.

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RO E T W. coo'PEIt .o'r gnn'vrongKnnrucinr}AND-nannies LEE nn Ray MEYER," 5

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T allwhom it conc emr i a Beit known that we, ,RoB'E 'r Coornm a citizen of theUnited States,- and ,a I'eSi-If denti'of the of Dayton, in the county of Campbell j and rStateQof. Kentucky, and FRANK A. LEE and RAii, J.' MEYER,: citizens of the United States, and residents ofthe As is well known to persons skilled in the art, the necessary? mechanical V relation" between the piano action and the pneumatic acteristics of which are excessive sharpness,

power action is achieved by means of what is called generally a striking pneumatic, in the generaljform of a'small'bellows. This statement applies to any form of ,musical instruments which are mechanically operable, but particularly to pianosas aforesaid. It'has been foundthat theicontact of the pneumatic key aforesaid with the piano ac;

tion produces a touch, the principal charcrispness and hardness, so that the lineof v sor demarcation ;between the sort of'piano touch provided through pneumatic'mech-' anism and through the finger operating upon the keyboardof the piano has always been very marked; I In order to overcome 7 this acknowledgeddefecflwe haveprovided a certain construction and arrangement of a I parts ashereinafter-specifically pointed out and claimed, whereby the function of the s'ocalled pneumatic key orpower pneumatic as a counterpartof ,the'finger key ispreserved through a-somewhat analogousform of that part of the pianosaction known as the I wippen, whereby a rounded contact between parts actuated by said pneumatic' andvthef wippen of the piano action is provided, to approach as near as possible in effect, the

' contact in the mechanical operation ofthe piano action 1 when :actuated by the finger 1 through the ordinary keyboard.

nection. other end of the wippen'show ng the con;

I z nections with its sticken; 'liigQ is a side L f Is ecia aubi l wman. 1 ,Pat

member.

In the drawings, Figure '1 is aside 'elevation of our device. Fig.2is an end view of the'complementary wippen flange and con- Fig.- 3 is asimilar view at the elevation of the wippen construction showing'th'e novel contactfifeature. Fig. '5 is an:

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htea Marl 30, 1915.1

enlarged perspective of the complementary wippen.

. 1 is a'powenpneumatic. withz the extension 2' on its movable member to"actuate1:the,

piano*acti:on, and 3 is the key of a piano.

of the pianoY As illustrated in Fig. 2,there is the abstract with), abstract lever 5 and flan'ge The abstract has at its endathe capstan screw 7, andhas the ordinary connection with the wippen 8. Therefis the spoons 9, located outside of the wippenflange '10, the flange mounted on the middle action rail 11. Mounted on the wippen is a the jack 12, with its flange 13' and its spring 14: bearingon the wippen. The back check bridleWireQlG, This action, as detailed,

: covers'the usual construction" and arrangement of parts for tripping the hammer (not 'sh0wn)'- "of the ordinary "upright piano.

For the pneumatic action, we utilize the same wippen and the parts mounted thereon, but provide alever, connect it with the erably" by our novel contact means impart the movement of, the lever, to the direct wippen, A-rod 17 is provided, upwardlyextendingy and suitably attached at 18 to f the extension 2 of the; pneumatic movable Mounted on rail 24:,{is thelever 21. This mountingis by an additional madt action oi-The usual constructionofiupright pianoac ,7 3 vtion' 'is.followedfin 'connectionwiththefkey 15 is mounted on the wippen, and also'thc it movable member of the'pneumaticrand prefthe usual fiangej25 with bifurcated end-into swinging 7 connection between the vtwo s'eopposite itsflange is a depending knob 19,

,thro'ugha ;hole in whichis inserted the book 20 on the upper end of the rod 17. The rod thus acts as apush'rod between the pneumatic and the levera21. The wippen extends in from the jack and, on'its ,under side ,which' the lever-end is placed, and th i cured by the 'pin22. At the end of the lever is provided preferablyxwith the rounded V contactknob 26; A'rou'nded contact knob The operation is simple. When motion is 23 is provided on the leverQl, and the parts .soarranged that these tworounded knobs coincidefi imparted" to the rod117, it raises the lever. to l which it"tisattached." I This lever then raises r 7 face, raised against the other rounded one,

gives the required continuous and precise Vmovement necessary to obtain the proper tripping of thehammer of the action,van d,

thus to approximate the human touch with the mechanical player. The rounded contact is, however, the preferred form.

Having thus described our invention,

by'Letters Patent,is: V

1. In a combination key and pneumatic powerpiano action, a pivoted wippen for the key action, a pivoted lever positioned to Copies of this patent maybe obtained in:

what we claim as newand desire to secure L VWitne'sses:

contact therewith, connection from the lever to thepneumatic power parts, a rounded knob on the wippen and-a rounded knob" on the lever at the point of contact between them, for the purpose described. r p

2; In a combination key and pneumatic power'piano action, a pivoted wippen for the key-action, a pivoted lever positioned to contact therewith, connection from the lever" to the pneumatic power parts, a depending rounded knob. on the wippen'and anfupf wardly extending rounded knob on the lever 7 at the point of contact between them, for

the purpose described. '7

ROBERT w. COOPER. FRANK A. LEE. RAFY J. MEYER.

MANTON ALL N, KATHERINESMITH.

five cents each, hi addressing thef commi s si one r of Patents, WashingtomDL'G. Q 1 i' w 1

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