Modified piano striking mechanism
OwnerJorge L. Carboneinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed is a modified striking mechanism for use in pianos and related instruments having strings or their equivalent to produce musical notes and keys to select the notes. The mechanism includes a hammer assembly, a lever driving the hammer, coacting gear means for imparting motion to the hammer and features a novel escapement action for use therewith. Additionally disclosed are improvements including an escapement action adapted for use with conventional piano striking mechanisms, a novel damper assembly, a mechanism for activation by the soft pedal of the piano, a tension adjustment mechanism for varying the amount of force necessary to strike a key, and novel balance rail and capstan lever assemblies.
Claims19
A striking mechanism for use in pianos and related instruments having at least one string to produce a musical note and at least one key to select the musical note comprising:
- at least one hammer assembly for striking a string;
- an escapement action actuated by said key;
- a first lever engageable with said escapement action and said hammer assembly and interposed therebetween;
- coacting gear means for imparting motion to said hammer assembly from said first lever;
- and,
- means for supporting said hammer assembly, said escapement action and said first lever.
An escapement action for use with pianos and related instruments having at least one string to produce a musical note, at least one key to select the musical note, a hammer to strike the string and a lever having a drive sector in driving communication with the hammer, said escapement action comprising:
- a support member;
- an action arm movable with respect to said support member and having an upper and lower surface, a portion of said lower surface being in communication with the key and a leg extending from said upper surface;
- a jack pivotally carried by said action arm having a first foot at one end engageable with the lever and a second foot at the other end;
- means for biasing said second foot of said jack away from said action arm;
- and,
- stop means engageable with said second foot for controlling pivotal movement of said jack with respect to said action arm.
A tension adjustment mechanism for use with pianos and related instruments having a plurality of strings to produce musical notes and s striking mechanism for selecting the notes and striking the strings having at least one pivotal lever member, said tension adjustment mechanism comprising:
- a cylindrical member engageable with the lever member;
- biasing means carrying said cylindrical member for applying force against the lever member;
- cam means communicating with said biasing means for controlling the amount of force applied by said biasing means;
- and,
- means for adjusting said cam means with respect to said biasing means.
An improved striking mechanism for use in pianos and related instruments having a plurality of strings to produce musical notes and a striking mechanism for selecting the notes having a plurality of hammers for striking the strings wherein the improvement comprises:
- a tang carried by each said hammer;
- and,
- means acting upon said tangs for simultaneously moving a plurality of said tangs and hammer assemblies closer to the strings whereby the notes produced by the strings upon depression of the keys will be of less magnitude than when said hammer assemblies are farther from the strings.
An improved capstan lever assembly for use with a piano key to activate a striking mechanism which produces musical notes wherein the improvement comprises:
- a piano key having two apertures;
- a lever arm having a neck, one end of said lever arm being received in one of the apertures of the key and the other end of said lever arm communicating with the striking mechanism;
- a collar supporting said neck beneath the key;
- and,
- means for adjusting the distance between said collar and the key and communicating with the other aperture of the key.
An escapement action for use with pianos and related instruments having at least one string to produce a musical note, at least one key to select the musical note, a hammer to strike the string and a lever in driving communication with the hammer, said escapement action comprising:
- a support member;
- an action arm movable with respect to said support member and having an upper and lower surface, a portion of said lower surface being in communication with the key and a leg extending from said upper surface;
- a jack pivotally carried by said action arm having a first foot at one end engageable with the lever and a second foot at the other end;
- means for biasing said second foot of said jack away from said action arm;
- stop means engageable with said second foot for controlling pivotal movement of said jack with respect to said action arm;
- and,
- a tang extending from one end of the lever engagable with said leg of said action arm when said second foot of said jack engages said stop means.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.