Sound reflector for grand pianos
AssigneeBaldwin Piano & Organ Company
InventorHarold A. Conklin, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sound reflector for use with a grand piano to reflect sound from the underside of the soundboard toward the rear side of the instrument, the reflector comprising a large panel of sound reflective material underlying the soundboard at an inclined angle with its uppermost side edges adjacent the undersurface of the front side wall of the instrument and with its lowermost side edge at floor level; the reflective panel may be planar or its sound reflecting surface may be convex in cross-section in one or more directions; brackets may be provided to detachably mount the panel to the front side wall of the case or the panel may be permanently attached to the case, as by means of hinges; and means may be provided to suspend the panel so that its lowermost side edge will clear the floor when the piano is moved.
Claims14
A sound reflecting system for a grand piano having a case including a vertically disposed rim defining a contoured front side wall and an essentially planar rear side wall, a lid hingedly connected to the rear side wall of the rim, and a horizontally disposed soundboard mounted within said rim, said lid being elevated so as to lie at an inclined angle with respect to said case, a sound reflector underlying the case of the piano, said sound reflector comprising a panel of sound reflecting material of a size to underlie the soundboard, said reflective panel lying at an inclined angle with its uppermost side edge adjacent the undersurface of the front side wall of the rim and with its lowermost side edge underlying the rear side wall of the rim at floor level, and means for mounting the reflective panel beneath the piano case , said elevated lid reflecting sound forwardly from the top of the case and said sound reflector reflecting sound rearwardly from the bottom of the case, whereby to enhance the distribution in all directions of sound radiated by the soundboard.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.