US60520A - Eepeatkg-actiok foe piajto-foetes - Google Patents

Description

@einen gieten atut @time A REPEATING-AGTION I'R PIANO-FORTES.

JOSEPH HURD, OF BGSTN, MASSACHUSETTS.

Letters Patent No. 60,520, dated December I8, 1866.

TO ALL WHOM IT HAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH HUnD,Lof Boston, in the county of Suolk, and State -ot Massachusetts, have invented an improved Repeating-Actionfor Piano-Fortes; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this specification, is a description otl my invention sufficient to enable those skilled in the artl to practise it.

This invention consists in the combination and arrangement of the devices which I employ foi' sustaining 'the hammer, after a blowhas been given thereby, in a raised position, so that upon very slight elevation of the key the jack-dy will atvonce assume its position under the hammer-but in readiness to give the repeating blow even in the most rapid trilling.

To illustrate my invention I have shown it in the drawings, as applied to the well-known form of action known as the French action, the principal view exhibiting in side elevation a section of such an action with my improvements added'thereto. a represents the foundation-board, the key-lever, c the back-check for the hammer d, e the hammer-bnt,f the ily of 'the jack which is secured to the key-lever and is regulated thereon by means of screws in the base, g, of the jack in the usual way; L is the rail on which the hammer-shank, z', lies 'when the action is'at rest in its normal positiomsaid rail also serving to receive the screw-stop j, which acts to throw the ily ofpthejack from beneath the hammer-but; 7c is the 'flange-rail to which the ilange Z is sccnred, said iiange being the piece to which the hammer-but is pivoted. All of these parts and their arrangement and operation are old andwell known, and are mentioned only tn show the connection therewith of my improvements, which I will now proceed to describe. On the hey-lever I) is secured a piece, fm, for the purpose of pivoting thereunto the link n, which is made of two pieces, an upper and a lower one, joined together by a means for lengthening and shortening the link., the meansshown being a wire with a right-hand screw formed on one end and a left-hand screw on the other cnd, the bend in the wire forming a convenient means for turning it. A lever,'0, is pivotcd in the slot in the ange Z, the lower end of the lever and the upper end of link 'n being pivoted together, so that in the rise and fall lof the key-lever I) the lever c is caused to vibrate. A slight spirallspring, p, is secured to the top of the hammer-but, and this spring is connected with lever o by a string or thread with a small turn or wrist-pin, q, forthe purpose ofadjusting the tension of the spring and regulating its action on the hammer. The drawing shows the parts in the position which they assume after a blow has been struck by the hammer, with the key-end of lever b almost fully depressed. It will be seen thatthe hummer is sustained in an elevated position just below the string r, by the connection of the hammer-but through the spring and thread with the lever o, the' spring being distended by the weight of the hammer-head, shank, and but. In this position the jack-dy will spring back into position under the but whenever the hey-end of the lever b is' allowed to rise slightly-so as to free the fly from the control of the screw-check j. The parts will then be in condition to give the repeating blow with slight movement of the key-lever, and any number of such repeating blows can be given in succession by vibrations of the key-lever of slight extent. Without the support of the hammer by the spring Jfull vibrations of the key-lever have to be made to obtain repeating blows, rendering the execution of u trill very dicult. Themovement of the point of attachment of the thread is similar to the movement of the upper part of the hammer-but, so that there is little action of the spring except when the jack-dy is thrown out from under theibut, and then the function of the spring is to sustain the hammer till the jack-ily resumes its position under the but. Many modications in the form of my invention may be made without departure therefrom. One such modification is shown in the small detail drawing, the springnsed being of different form from that before alluded to, it being attached to and forming part of the lever o. My invention is applicable'to forms of action other than thatshown herewith, and may be applied with the same good results to upright and grand actions. Au incidental advantage iiowing from my invention is that the clothing on the shank rest k may be dispensed with, as the hammer is with my invention alwayssustained either on the jack-dy on the back-check e, or on the upholding, yielding support, and from this .it 'follows that relief is had from the frequent adjustment of the jacks necessitated by compression of the clothing at the rear end of lever b, which leaves in the normal position of the action play between the end of the jack-dy and the hammer-but, detraeting from the vigor ofV tlre blow and making the action disagreeable to the touch.

I claim, for the purpose of supporting the hammer of a piano-forte action near its string in position to give a repeatiirgeblow, the combination of an elastic support oi',v the hammer-but with a lever, o, when this is connected with the key-lever actuating the hammer, by means of the link n.

Alem-the employment ofthe right and left-hand screw in the link n, for the purpose of adjusting the position of lever o.

Witnesses: JOSEPH HURD.

J. B. Grosor, Fuss. GOULD.

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