Abstract:
Lost motion compensation device is a mechanical device that rigidly and pivotally connects the rest rail of an upright piano to the front end of the whippen of an upright piano to cause the two member to rotate in unison as the rest rail is rotated by depressing and releasing the soft pedal on an upright piano.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates to the soft pedal of an upright piano or more specifically the mechanism that are triggered by depressing the soft pedal of an upright piano. Depressing the soft pedal causes the playing of the piano to occur at a lower volume than that without depressing the soft pedal. 
         [0003]    When the soft pedal is depressed to reduce the volume of the piano, a detrimental effect called “lost motion” occurs, where the piano key is depressed without any resulting motion of the hammer of the piano action. Lost motion is undesirable by the pianist. This invention removes lost motion resulting from the soft pedal of an upright piano. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    The soft pedal mechanism reduces piano playing volume by rotating the entire row of hammers of a piano action slightly towards the piano strings, thereby moving the hammers of the piano actions closer to the piano strings. This rotation results in less distance for the hammers to travel in order to strike the piano strings, yielding less time for the hammers to accelerate before striking the piano strings. This results in lower piano volumes brought about by lower energy hammer strikes on the piano strings. 
         [0006]    As discussed in detail below, the rotation of the hammers in the piano causes gaps to appear between the jacks and the hammer butts of the piano actions. This gap is what creates lost motion. This invention is a device that attaches to each piano action of an upright piano that functions to rotate the row whippens along with the row of hammers in order to close the gap that causes lost motion. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    It is an aspect of this invention to provide a lost motion compensation device that may be attached to the whippen of an upright piano at one end of the device and attached to the rest rail of an upright piano at the other end of the device to cause the whippen to rotate along with the rest rail, as the soft pedal on the upright piano is depressed and released to move the rest rail. 
         [0008]    It is an aspect of the lost motion compensation device to provide a rigid hinged connection between the whippen of an upright piano action and the rest rail of an upright piano to cause the whippen to rotate or move along with the rest rail as the rest rail is rotated or moved by depressing or releasing the soft pedal on an upright piano. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a side elevation view of a piano key, a piano action, a damper action, and a piano string of an upright piano action without the lost motion compensator device, with piano key at rest. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a prospective view of a piano key, a piano action, a damper action, and a piano string of an upright piano action without the lost motion compensator device, with piano key at rest. 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a blowup view of a piano key, a piano action, a damper action, and a piano string of an upright piano action without the lost motion compensator device, with piano key at rest, without depressing the soft pedal. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a blowup view of a piano key, a piano action, a damper action, and a piano string of an upright piano action without the lost motion compensator device, with piano key at rest, while depressing the soft pedal. 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a prospective view a piano key, a piano action, a damper action, and a piano string of an upright piano action with the lost motion compensator device, with piano key at rest. 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a blowup view of a piano key, a piano action, a damper action, and a piano string of an upright piano action with the lost motion compensator device, with piano key at rest, without depressing the soft pedal. 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a blowup view of a piano key, a piano action, a damper action, and a piano string of an upright piano action with the lost motion compensator device, with piano key at rest, while depressing the soft pedal. 
           [0000]    
         
           
                 
               
                 
                 
               
                 
                 
               
             
                 
                     
                 
                 
                   DEFINITION LIST 
                 
               
            
             
                 
                   Term 
                   Definition 
                 
                 
                     
                 
               
            
             
                 
                   1 
                   Piano Key 
                 
                 
                   2 
                   Balance Point of Piano Key 
                 
                 
                   3 
                   Dowel Capstan 
                 
                 
                   4 
                   Whippen 
                 
                 
                   5 
                   Jack 
                 
                 
                   6 
                   Hammer Butt 
                 
                 
                   7 
                   Hammer Butt 
                 
                 
                   8 
                   Piano String(s) 
                 
                 
                   9 
                   Capstan/Whippen contact point 
                 
                 
                   10 
                   Jack/Hammer Butt contact point 
                 
                 
                   11 
                   Gap between Jack and Hammer Butt 
                 
                 
                   12 
                   Rest Rail at Full Strike Position 
                 
                 
                   13 
                   Rest Rail at Soft Strike Position 
                 
                 
                   14 
                   Rest Rail Cloth 
                 
                 
                   15 
                   Hammer Shank 
                 
                 
                   16 
                   Full Strike Distance 
                 
                 
                   17 
                   Soft Strike Distance 
                 
                 
                   18 
                   Lost Motion Compensating Lever 
                 
                 
                   19 
                   Lost Motion Rod 
                 
                 
                   20 
                   Lifter Clip 
                 
                 
                   21 
                   Lifter Rod 
                 
                 
                   22 
                   Lifter Connector 
                 
                 
                   23 
                   Lost Motion Lever Operated 
                 
                 
                     
                 
               
            
           
         
       
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]    An upright piano action comprises the following interconnected subcomponents: a dowel capstan  3 , a whippen  4 , a jack  5 , a hammer butt  6 , a damper lever (depicted, not labelled), a hammer shank  15 , and a hammer  7 . Basically, when a piano player presses down on a piano key  1 , this causes the back side of piano key  1  to rise upwards in response. The back side of the piano key  1  then pushes upwards on the dowel capstan  3 , which in turn pushes upwards on the whippen  4 , causing the whippen  4  to rotate. As the whippen  4  rotates, it pushes on the damper lever, rotating the damper lever in the opposite direction, to lift damper off the piano string(s)  8 . The rotating whippen  4  also pushes upwards on the jack  5 , lifting the jack  5  upwards. Jack  5  in turn pushes upwards on hammer butt  6 , causing the hammer butt  6  to rotate, which causes hammer shank  15  and hammer  7  to rotate. Rotation of hammer shank  15  causes the hammer  7  to strike one or more piano strings  8 , thereby creating music or sound in the piano. 
         [0017]      FIG. 3  depicts an upright piano action with both the soft pedal (not depicted) and the piano key  1  at rest and not depressed. We can see that the hammer shank  15  rests upon the rest rail cloth  14  and the rest rail  12 . In  FIG. 3 , rest rail  12  is positioned at the full strike distance  16 . As depicted, in this state, there is no gap between the jack  5  and hammer butt  6  at the location marked  10 . 
         [0018]      FIG. 4  depicts an upright piano action with the soft pedal fully depressed and the piano key  1  at rest. In  FIG. 4 , rest rail  13  is positioned at the soft strike distance  17 . When the soft pedal is depressed, this rotates the rest rail of the piano action from position  12  to position  13 , thereby changing the strike distances of the hammers  7  from distance  16  to distance  17 . When this occurs, a gap  11  forms between jack  5  and hammer butt  6 . 
         [0019]    Gap  11  is what causes lost motion in the piano action. Lost motion results when the piano key  1  is depressed to raise jack  5 , which rises by the length of gap  11  without touching hammer butt  6 . Lost motion does not result in any movement of hammer  7 . It is piano key motion without any corresponding hammer motion. Hence it is lost motion. Lost motion is a problem for most pianists. 
         [0020]    To remedy lost motion, this invention uses a lost motion compensation device that causes the whippen  4  to rotate towards the piano strings  8  along with rest rail  12 ,  13 , as the soft pedal is depressed. Rotation of the whippen  4  causes hammer butt  6  to rise along with the rest rail in order to prevent gap  11  from forming. This design prevents lost motion from occurring. 
         [0021]    Referencing  FIG. 5 , lost motion compensation device comprises: a lost motion compensating lever  18 , a lost motion rod  19 , a lifter clip  20 , lifter rod  21 , and a lifter connector  22 . Lifter connector  22  is attached to rest rail  12 ,  13  and functions to provide a hinged connection to lifter rod  21 . Lifter rod  21  is a rigid oblong member connected to lifter connector  22  at one end and attached lifter clip  20  at the other end. Lifter clip  20  is attached to lost motion rod  19  and functions to securely connect lifter rod  21  to lost motion rod  19 . Lost motion rod  19  is a rigid oblong member. Lifter rod  21  and lost motion rod  19  are positioned essentially perpendicular to each other where the lower end of lifter rod is attached to the middle area of lost motion rod  19 . Lost motion rod  19  extends beyond whippen  4 , to run just underneath whippen  4 . Lost motion compensating lever  18  is a rigid oblong member that is rigidly connected to the heel of whippen  4  at the end opposite the piano strings  8 . Lost motion compensating lever  18  is long enough to extend beyond lost motion rod  19  as depicted in the  FIGS. 5-7 . 
         [0022]    With this design, as the soft pedal is depressed, thereby causing the rest rail  12 , 13  to rotate towards the piano stings  8 , the soft pedal also lifts up on the heel of the whippen  4  and rotates the whippen  4  along with the rest rail  12 , 13  towards the piano strings  8 . The lost motion compensation device is rigid structure with a hinged connection to rest rail  12 ,  13  that functions to cause the whippen  4  of an upright piano action to mirror the motion of the rest rail  12 ,  13  as the soft pedal is depressed and released. Thus, with the lost motion compensation device, the gap  11  between jack  5  and hammer butt  6  is eliminated. 
         [0023]      FIG. 6  depicts an upright piano action with both the soft pedal (not depicted) and the piano key  1  at rest and not depressed. We can see that the hammer shank  15  rests upon the rest rail cloth  14  and the rest rail  12 . In  FIG. 5 , rest rail  12  is positioned at the full strike distance  16 . As depicted, in this state, there is no gap between the jack  5  and hammer butt  6  at the location marked  10 . 
         [0024]      FIG. 7  depicts an upright piano action with the soft pedal fully depressed and the piano key  1  at rest. In  FIG. 7 , rest rail  13  is positioned at the soft strike distance  17 . When the soft pedal is depressed, this rotates the rest rail of the piano action from position  12  to position  13 , thereby changing the strike distances of the hammers  7  from distance  16  to distance  17 . 
         [0025]    The piano action in  FIG. 7  includes a lost motion compensation device so we see that the lost motion compensation device pulls whippen  4  up along with rest rail  13 , thereby preventing gap  15  from forming. Instead we see a gap-less connection at  10 . 
         [0026]    There must one lost motion compensation device attached to all piano actions in the piano. Thus, there are typically  88  lost motion compensation devices on each piano.