US2156963A - Piano action - Google Patents

Description

May 2, 1939. G B Z 2,156,963

PIANO ACTION Original Filed July 28, 1936 a; E wi W Patented May 2, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIANO ACTION William G. Betz, La Porte, Ind.

3 Claims.

My invention relates in general to piano actions, and in particular to an action for a small upright piano standing substantially as high as the ordinary grand piano, but having a keyboard at the usual height. This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 93,040 filed July 28, 1936, and relates to my copending application, Serial No. 38,823, filed April 24, 1937.

The small upright piano standing in general no higher than the top of the usual grand piano, has become popular because of the smaller space that it occupies, in contrast to the old type upright, and because of a more decorative and pleasing appearance than the old style. The keyboard, of course, is maintained at substantially the standard height from the fioor and with the top of the piano standing no higher than the usual grand piano, a large part of the upright action is below the keyboard line. This type of piano has introduced new problems in action construction as well as the mounting of the action.

In the actions now employed in this type of piano, a somewhat complicated action is utilized with multi-piece abstract mechanism linking the remainder of the action to the key, and with an expensive mounting construction. In providing a multi-piece abstract, the possibility of friction between various members is increased, and in actions employed at the present time the capstan on each individual key of the keyboard does not strike the main member of the abstract directly but strikes one of the numerous pieces employed to connect the abstract into the piano action. One result of this is that the force exerted by the key is divided between the abstract and the support member. With the objectionable friction and this indirect contact between the key and the abstract, sensitivity and efiiciency of the piano action have been materially reduced. Furthermore, mounting the actions now employed is a difficult problem, and the abstract mounting interferes with removal or assembly of the keys. These factors result in a costly assembly operation for the entire piano.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved piano action designed primarily for a small upright piano.

A further object is to provide a simplified and inexpensive action for such a piano structure.

A still further object is to provide an action for a small upright piano with relatively few parts, so as to simplify assembly of the action and reduce friction in the same, particularly between the hammer operating mechanism and the key.

Another object is to provide a simplified action for a low upright piano which will eificiently transmit the movement of a key to strike a piano 5 string corresponding to such key.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be apparent from the following description, taken with the drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my piano action, and

Fig. 2 is a detailed plan view along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In practicing my invention, I provide an action for a piano for transmitting movement of the keys for such piano in the playing thereof. The action is employed primarily for use with a low upright piano and is secured to a mounting bracket which may be supported in a suitable manner in the piano. The action includes an abstract with a button-like head for separable connection with a corresponding key, a substantially L-shaped pivot member pivotally secured to a whip for such action, and a connecting wire extending from the button-like head and secured in a cavity in one of the legs of the L-shaped pivot member. Playing movement of a key on the piano lifts the abstract at the head to in turn lift the whip and in turn pivot a hammer to strike the usual string for the piano.

Substantially only the moving parts of the action have been illustrated and it is understood that any suitable mounting bracket may be employed to mount the action in a piano. The action is illustrated as supported principally on a 135 rail [0 to which is secured a flange ll pivotally supporting a whip l2 which in turn pivotally supports a jack 13. The jack i3 is in engagement in the usual manner with a hammer M at the butt 16 for such hammer, and as the whip I2 is raised, this motion is transmitted through the jack to pivot the hammer into striking engagement with the corresponding piano string.

In order to keep the small upright piano as low as possible, it has been necessary to drop the major portion of the movable parts of a piano action for such small upright piano below the keyboard rather than have such action stand above the keyboard as has been the usual practice for many years. Furthermore, inasmuch as 50 one of the most important advantages of the small upright piano is its low cost, satisfactory playing conditions must be provided in a simple, inexpensive action. This has been accomplished in the present action by providing an abstract 55 for connecting a key I? with the pivoted whip l2 to transmit the movement of such key to the whip, which abstract includes a button-like head structure it resting in a corresponding cavity !9 at the rear end of the key. The head portion 53 of the abstract is threadably secured on an elongated lifter rod 2! which may be provided in a suitable wire and such head portion comprises in detail a pin 22 resting directly on a felt pad 23 in the cavity 59 while an internally threaded Wooden nut 24, padded at the bottom with felt 26, is screwed down onto the pin 22 and acts to adjust the vertical position of the lifter rod 2| with reference to the key ii.

In order to faithfully and efficiently transmit the movement of the key N to the hammer l 4, the lifter rod 2| of the abstract is pivotally connected with the whip l2 through a substantially L-shaped pivot member 2?. One leg 28 of the pivot member is provided with a transversely extending pivot pin 29 extending through a corresponding aperture at the end of the whip and the other leg 3! of the pivot member is provided with a cavity 32 therein for receiving the lower end of the lifter rod 2!. With this construction, a rigid connection is provided intermediate the abstract and the whip l2 so that there is no flexing between the Whip and the lifter rod 2 l. Flexing between these two members would change the transmission of the key movement to the hammer for each person playing the piano and having a different touch. As a result, it would be substantially impossible to originally provide the proper adjustment for all types of playing touch and substantially impos sible to maintain any reasonable satisfactory adjustment during the life of the piano. Furthermore, flexing between these members would seriously interfere with the repetitive movement in the action and hence affect the playing qualities of the piano.

As is evident from Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the abstract is disconnected from the key I! by elevating the same at the head to lift the pin 22 out of the cavity i9 after which the lifter rod ii may be moved rearwardly out of the slot 33 in the end of the key. A suitably mounted guard rail 3 may be provided to prevent the abstract from falling away from the action when the abstract head is disconnected from the key I'!.

It is thus seen that I provide a simplified action which will transmit motion from a key to a corresponding hammer in a piano with maximum efiiciency. The complete action assembly including a plurality of actions corresponding to the single action illustrated herein may be quickly mounted in the piano and no part of the action obstructs the insertion or removal of the keys.

The disclosures of this application are illustrative and the invention is not to be limited by them. In fact, if modifications or improvements are not at once obvious, they may be devised in the course of time to make additional use of the broad ideas taught and covered by this application. The claims are intended to point out novel features and not to limit the invention except as may be required by prior art.

I claim:

1. An abstract for a piano action comprising a head, a rigid substantially L-shaped pivot member including a pivot portion and'a mounting portion with the latter extending upwardly from one end of the pivot portion and having a cavity therein for receiving a connecting member, a connecting member secured in the cavity and extending from the mounting portion of said pivot member to said head and secured in the latter to connect said head and said pivot member together into a single unit.

2. In an action for a piano having a plurality of keys, a plurality of pivoted whips and an abstract corresponding to each key for connecting each key with a corresponding whip, said abstract having a substantially L-shaped mounting portion for pivotal connection with said Whip at one leg of said substantially L-shaped mounting portion, with the other leg of said substantially L-shaped mounting portion having a cavity therein extending downwardly from the top thereof, a connecting rod secured in the cavity in said mounting portion and extending upwardly therefrom to the rear end of the key, and a button-like head on the top of said rod in operative engagement with the top of the key at the rear end thereof for striking engagement by the key, with the two legs of said substantially L-shaped mounting portion being entirely rigid with respect to one another so that the relative position between such two legs will not change upon movement of the abstract in transmitting motion from said key to said whip.

3. A piano action including in combination a pivoted Whip, a hammer operatively connected with said Whip and means for moving said whip to in turn move said hammer, said means including an abstract having an elongated wire portion extending intermediate said whip and a piano key corresponding to said whip, means for pivotally connecting said Wire portion to said whip at one end thereof, said pivotal connecting means comprising a rigid member having a pivot portion at one end, transversely extending means connecting said whip and said pivot portion to permit pivotal movement of the rigid member with respect to the Whip, said rigid member having a cavity in the other end for receiving and supporting therein one end of said wire portion, and a button-like head on the top of said wire portion for operative connection with a piano key, with said rigid member maintaining a non-flexible but pivotal connection intermediate said Wire portion and said Whip to prevent distortion in the abstract at said pivotal connecting means when the abstract is transmitting motion from a piano key to the whip for movement of the hammer.

WILLIAM G. BE'IZ.

Images