US759959A - Foot-rest and pedal extension. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED MAY 17, 1904:.

A. M. BATES. FOOT REST AND PEDAL EXTENSION.

APPLICATION FILED DEG-2. 1902.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

PAT ENTED MAY 17, 1904.

A. M. BATES.- POOT REST AND PEDAL EXTENSION;

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 2, 1902.'

2 SHEETS-BHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

UNITED STAT-Es Patented May 17, 1904.

PATENT OFFIcE.

ALONZA M. BATES, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOOT-REST AND PEDAL EXTENSION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of- Letters Patent No. 759,959, dated May 1'7, 1904:.

Application filed December 2, 1902. Serial'No. 133,566. (No niodel.)

tain new and useful Improvement in Foot-' Rests and Pedal Extensions, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to footstools which are adjustable in height to suit the convenience of performers on the piano. It is of the greatest importance both technically and physiologically that children, particularly in practice at the instrument, should have their lower limbs firmly supported. Without such support firmness of touch and accuracy of execution in the fullest degree are impossible. Improper habits of bodily carriage may be formed resulting in permanent misshapements of the body and injury to the health, and in all cases undue fatigue makes practice anirksome task, to be avoided, if possible.

It is the object of my invention to provide 'a complete adjustable support for the lower? extremities of children and short-limbed persons and by which the pedals of the piano may be operated with equal ease and accuracyat whatever height the top of the stool may Technical knowledge of the pedals may be thus acquired at the same time that the education is progressing in other directions, thus saving time and expense and enabling the pupil to make much more rapid and satisfactory progress. Provision is also made by which my device may be applied to anypiano by supplying the required number of extension-pedals, whether two or more, to correspond to the instrument with which it is to be used.

looked at from the under side, partly in section. Fig. 4 is a rear view of the same. Fig. 5 shows the underside of oneof the .ex-

adjustable thereon.

tension-pedals. Fig. 6 is a detail of the attachment of the rear leg to its framework on looked at from the top. Fig. 8 is a full-sized 1 view of a pedal extension-rod, and Fig. 9 shows one of the extension rod attaching brackets.

Further describing my invention with reference to the drawings,the stool therein shown should consist of a base and a top vertically The base may consist of a continuous strip of metal 1, extending throughout the front and ends of the stool and having its ends turned to the rear thereof. To the ends of the strip may be attached the rear legs 2, as shown in Fig. 6, and the front legs 3 may be attached at the front angles, as illustrated in Fig. 7. The top portion comprises the foot-board 4n, the front 5, and the ends 6, framed together into a box construction, which is placed in inverted position over the base. Vertical movement and adjustment of the top may be obtained by the slotted plates 7 within the ends and front of the top. Bolts 8 pass through the slot and the strip, by means of which and the wing-nuts thereon the top may be secured at any desired height within the limit of the length of the slots. A vertically-attached board 9, with opening 10, protects the piano from injury by the feet, and buffers 10 and 11 keep the piano out of actual contact with and injury by the stool.

At the rear of the 'footboard a bar of metal or an angle-iron 12 may be attached by the lugs or leg 14. Vertically-placed brackets 15,

with lugs 16, adapted to take the slots in the bar 12, may be attached thereto by bolts 17, so as to be laterally adjustable thereon within the limits of the slots, which also permit a varying number of pedals to be attached as desired. Transverse openings in the upper and lower ends, respectively, of each bracket provide means for hinging the pedal extension-rods thereto by the attaching members. The pedal extension-rods 18 are vertically movable and are pivotally attached to the brackets at their upper and lower extremities.

The link member 19, having bifurcatedends,

connects the lower part of the rod by the lug 20 to the lower extremity of the bracket. The extension-pedal 21 may also act as the upper attaching member by pivoting the ears 22 to the upper part of the rod and the toe thereof, 23, to the upper extremity of thebracket. The respective lengths of these members or the attaching points thereof may be varied as desired to change the curve of travel of the piano-pedal-engaging blocks, as hereinafter described.

Blocks or feet 24 to bear on the piano-pedals 25 are provided with upward prolongations 26. Slots 27 therein may correspond to similar slots 28 in the pedal extension-rods. The attachments 29 and the thumb-screws 30, which take into the threaded openings 31, form slides and adjustable means for rigidly securin g the rods together; but any other mechanical device to give secure attachment and reliable adjustment may be employed.

It will be seen that when the top is adjusted at any desired height on the base the pedalactuating blocks may be correspondingly ad justed to rest on the piano-pedals, so as to control their action by the movement of the extension-pedals at whatever height the pedals may be placed on the particular piano. Thenumber of the extension-pedals and their attachments may be varied to conform to the number of pedals on the instrument with which the device is used without changing or varying the general structure. The pivotal attachment of the parts gives freedom of movement, and the attachment of the pedalactuating rod to the bracket by the connecting members causes its attached pedal-actuating block to swing downwardly toward the piano, substantially following the pedal in the arc of its movement Without frictional resistance and so as not to decrease the natural sensitiveness of the pedal-action.

I have described my invention with reference to a practical and operative structure. I do not, however, confine myself to the construction or relation of the parts shown; but

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In combination with a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; a bracket secured to the top, a pedal extension-rod, a plurality of attaching members each so pivotally attached to the bracket and to the pedal extension-rod that motion of the latter is limited to lines substantially parallel to the bracket, and a pedal-actuating member adjustably attached to the said rod, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; a bracket secured to the top, a pedal extension-rod, an extension-pedal pivotally attached to the bracket and to the rod, a link member pivotally attached to the bracket and.

to the rod, and a pedal-actuating member adjustably attached to the said rod, substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; a bracket adjustably attached to the top, a pedal extension-rod, a plurality of attaching members each so pivotally attached to the bracket and to the pedal extension-rod that motion of the latter is limited to lines substantially parallel to the bracket, and a pedal-actuating member adjustably attached to said rod, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; a bracket with lateral adjustment attached to the top. a pedal extension-rod, a pedal pivotally attached to the rod and the bracket, a link member pivotally attached to the rod and to the bracket, and a pedal-actuating member adjustably attached to said rod, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; a bar with longitudinal slots secured to the top, brackets laterally movable on the said bar, pedal extension-rods, members pivotally attaching said rods to said brackets, and pedal-actuating members adjustably attached to said rods, substantially as set forth.

6. In combination with a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; abar with longitudinal slots secured to the top, brackets with ends projecting above and below the bar laterally movable thereon, pedal extension-rods, extension-peck als pivotally attached to the upper ends of said brackets and of said rods, link members pivotally attached to said rods and to the lower ends of said brackets, and pedal-aetw ating members adjustably attached to said rods, substantially as set forth.

- 7. In combination with an adjustable footrest for pianos, a pedal-bracket adjustably attached thereto, a pedal hinged to the bracket, a link hinged to the bracket, an extension-rod hinged to the pedal and the link, and a pedal-actuating member ad justably attached to the extension-rod, substantially as set forth.

8. In combination with a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; a bar with longitudinal slots secured to the top, brackets having lugs to engage said slots, means to secure the brackets to the bar, pedal extension-rods, pivotally-attached members connecting the said rods to said brackets, and pedal-actuating members adjustably attached to said rods.

9. In combination with a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; brackets attached to the top, means for laterally adjusting the brackets, pedal extension-rods, a multiplicity of attaching members so pivotally attached in pairs to each of the brackets and t0 the pedal extension-rods as to limit motion of the. latter to lines substantially parallel to the brackets, and pedalactuating members severally attached to the said rods, substantially as set forth.

10. In combination with a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; brackets secured to the top, pedal extension-rods, a multiplicity of attaching members so pivotal ly attached in pairs to each of the brackets and to the pedal extension-rods as to limit motion of the latter to lines substantially parallel to the brackets, and pedalactuating members adjustably attached to the said rods, substantially as set forth.

11. In combination With a piano-footstool having a base and a top vertically adjustable thereon; a bar secured to the top, brackets laterally movable on the said bar, pedal extension-rods, members pivotally attaching said 2 0 hand this 26th day of November, A. D. 1902.

ALONZA. M. BATES. Witnessesz.

O. K. CHAMBERLAIN, A. S. PHILLIPS.

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