Piano forte hammer and method for making same

Abstract: A piano forte hammer (10) has an elongated head (12) with a nose (24) defining side surfaces (26), and a felt body (14) disposed to extend about the nose. The felt body has a nose region (15) for contact upon a piano string and first and second tail regions (20, 22) having surfaces affixed in contact upon the head side surfaces. The felt body, in the tail regions only, contains a predetermined measured amount of acrylic copolymer, the felt body nose region being essentially free of the acrylic copolymer. The hammer may be formed by a process including the steps of: providing a first volume of aqueous solution containing the predetermined measured amount of acrylic copolymer in a slot; disposing a first tail region of the felt body, prior to assembly about the nose, in solution in the slot; allowing the felt body to draw essentially all of the solution from the slot, into the first tail region only, by natural wicking action; and repeating the process for the second tail region of the felt body, the nose region being left essentially free of acrylic copolymer.

Description: The invention relates to an improved method for forming piano-forte hammers. A piano hammer typically consists of a wooden head having a felt body compressed about its nose, the felt having tail regions which are attached to the head. The felt is locally treated to make the tail regions relatively stiff and inflexible in order to reduce the tendency for lateral expansion and thus increase the durability of the hammer. At a time when glues susceptible to moisture attack, e.g. animal glues, were employed, the felt treatment also served to resist wicking of moisture to the glue interface. The treatment also hardens the surface of the felt, thus providing a better surface for attachment to the head, and the comparatively non-extensible stiffened tail regions of the felt cause the central outer region of the felt to be subjected to extreme tension when bent around and secured to the wooden head. Steinway U.S. Patent No. 231,630 (1880) describes a solution of liquid bichromate of potassium (a toxic, corrosive and costly chemical) and gelatine applied to the edge or tail portions of the felt with a brush in order to obtain the advantages described above. In about 1960, alcohol was added to the formulation in an effort to increase penetration into the felt body, and the felt body treated by dipping into a tank of solution, with penetration estimated by observing the surface of the felt. According to the invention, the piano forte hammer is formed by a process comprising the steps of: providing a first volume of an aqueous solution containing the predetermined measured amount of acrylic copolymer in a slot; disposing a first tail region of the felt body, prior to assembly about the nose portion, in the solution in the slot; allowing the felt body to draw essentially all of the solution from the slot, into the first tail region only, by natural wicking action; providing a second volume of an aqueous solution containing the predetermined measured amount of acrylic copolymer in a slot; disposing a second tail region of the felt body, prior to assembly about the nose portion, in the solution in the slot; and allowing the felt body to draw essentially all of the solution from the slot, into the second tail region only, by natural wicking action, the nose region being essentially free of the acrylic copolymer. The method also includes the steps of disposing the felt body about the nose portion under pressure, and affixing surfaces of the tail regions in contact upon the side surfaces of the elongated head. Preferred embodiments of the invention may include one or more of the following features. The solution comprises a surfactant and/or pigmentation, e.g formulated to cause the tail regions to resemble tail regions of prior art piano forte hammers treated with potassium bichromate. The elongated head may comprise a segment of a head strip and the felt body disposed in the solution in the slot may comprise a segment of a strip of felt, the method comprising the further steps of separating the strip of felt affixed to the head strip, and the head strip, into a plurality of piano forte hammers. Thus there is provided a method for forming piano hammers including applying a novel treatment solution in a manner that results in penetration of a predetermined, selected amount of solution for treatment of a preselected region of the felt, and resulting in formation of piano hammers of improved uniform performance characteristics. These and other features and advantages will be seen from the following description of a presently preferred embodiment, and from the claims. We first briefly describe the drawings. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a piano forte hammer of the invention; Fig. 2 is an exploded face view of the piano forte hammer of Fig. 1; Figs. 3 and 3A one end and side section views, respectively of a trough for treatments of an outer felt strip according to the method of the invention; Figs. 4A et seq. are diagrammatic face views of the process for treatment of an outer felt strip of the hammer of the invention; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the an outer felt strip of Fig. 3A et seq. after treatment according to the invention; and Fig. 6 is a somewhat diagrammatic end view of the mold for forming piano hammers of the invention. Referring to Fig. 1, piano forte hammer 10 consists of a wooden head 12, an outer felt 14 and an under felt 16. The felt is 100% wool (so-called "hammer felt"), e.g. as supplied by American Felt Co., Newburgh, New York. A wire staple 18, e.g., as described in Steinway U.S. Patent No. 231,629 (1880) extends through the treated tail regions 20, 22 of the felt and through the wooden head, above the nose region 24. As shown in Fig. 2 in exploded view, the outer felt 14 and under felt 16, prior to assembly with the head, are trapezoidal in shape, the outer felt having base width, Wo, and height, Ho. The under felt has base width, Wu and height, Hu. Hammer felt provided in sheets is cut into trapezoidal strips, each of length sufficient for formation of all 88 hammers for a single piano, e.g. about 44 inches (112 cm). The strip tapers in base width and height from one end, from which the bass piano hammers are formed, to the other, from which the treble piano hammers are formed. For example, the width Wo of a typical strip decreases from 4 1/2 inches (11.4 cm) to 3 1/2 inches (8.9 cm) and height Ho from 1 inch (2.5 cm) to 1/8 inch (0.3 cm). The width Wu of a corresponding under felt decreases from 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) to 1 inch (2.5 cm) and height Hu from 1/4 inch (0.6 cm) to 3/32 inch (0.2 cm). According to the improved method of the invention, the tail regions only of the outer felt are treated with the solution of the invention, consisting of an aqueous solution of an acrylic emulsion and a surfactant. By way of example only, a typical formulation is as follows: The pigmentation is selected to resemble the appearance of potassium bichromate, as used in prior art piano forte hammers. Referring now to Figs. 3 and 3A, there is provided a slot 62 in trough 64, of a length and width to receive a predetermined volume of solution for treatment of one tail edge region of an entire strip 114. For example, the slot has width Ws at the top, about 2 inches (5.1 cm) at the top and the walls slant inwardly to intersect at angle A s , about 90°, at the bottom with a depth D s , about 1 inch (2.5 cm). Referring also to Fig. 4, the slot has length L s , about 45 inches (114.3 cm). The trough is disposed with the bottom 65 of the slot at an angle A T to horizontal, so the depth, d s , of the solution in the slot at the bass end is less than at the treble end. For example, the base at the treble end is disposed at height H above the bass end, e.g. 3/4 inch (1.9 cm), and depth d s at the bass end is typically about 5/8 to 3/4 inch (1.6 to 1.9 cm). The slot is filled with a predetermined measured volume of solution 6, e.g., typically about 100 milliliters. The outer felt 114 is oriented as shown, in Figs. 4A-4D, and the first tail edge region 115 is dipped into the solution 60 (Fig. 4B). The felt draws the solution up by natural wicking action (Fig. 4C) and is left in the slot until all of the solution is absorbed in the first tail edge region only (Fig. 4D). The solution is absorbed along the entire strip with the ratio of treated portion to untreated portion at the bass end generally equal to the ratio of treated portion to untreated portion at the treble end all along the length of strip therebetween. In this manner, each strip is caused to absorb no more or no less solution than other strips treated according to the invention, resulting in piano forte hammers of uniform performance and appearance. The strip 114 is removed from the slot and the slot is refilled with solution. The strip 114 is reversed and the opposite tail edge region 117 is disposed in the slot to absorb the measured, predetermined volume of solution in the second tail edge region only. The treated strip 114, having treated tail regions 20, 22 (Fig. 5) is dried overnight in an oven at 150°F (65.5°C). The nose region 15 (Fig. 1) is essentially free of acrylic copolymer. Referring to Fig. 6, the components (Fig. 2) are then assembled by molding in the usual manner, e.g., as follows. Adhesive, e.g., urea formaldehyde, is applied to felt surfaces 70, 72. A complete set of wooden heads are disposed above strips 14, 16 over a cavity 73 of mold 74, the cavity having the shape of the lower portion of the hammer. Axial force (arrow A) is applied to the wooden head 12 to press the felts into the mold cavity. Mold side jaws 76, 78 are then activated (arrows P) to force the treated portions of felt into contact with the side surfaces 26 of the nose region 24 of wooden head 12. The felts 14, 16 are secured in place by the adhesive. The hammers 10, are separated by cutting the strips vertically between heads. Wire staples 18 are pressed through the under felt in the treated region and wooden head 9 above the ends of the under felt) and the ends twisted for reinforcement of the attachment of the felt to the head, to further secure the hammer against loss of shape over time. Other embodiments are within the following claims. For example, the pigments in the described formulation may be omitted, or other pigment combinations employed.

Claims: A method for forming a piano forte hammer (10), comprising the steps of: providing an elongated head (12) having a nose portion (24) defining side surfaces (26), and providing a felt body (14) comprising a nose region (15) adapted for contact upon a piano string and first and second tail regions (20,22), characterised in that said method comprises the furter steps of: providing a first volume of an aqueous solution containing a predetermined measured amount of acrylic copolymer in a slot (62), disposing a first tail region (20) of said felt body in the solution in said slot, allowing said felt body to draw essentially all of the solution from the slot into said first tail region only, by natural wicking action, providing a second volume of an aqueous solution containing said predetermined measured amount of acrylic copolymer in the slot, disposing the second tail region of said felt body in the solution in the slot, allowing said felt body to draw essentially all of the solution from the slot into said second tail region only, by natural wicking action, the nose region of said felt body being essentially free of said acrylic copolymer, disposing said felt body about said nose portion under pressure, and affixing surfaces of the tail regions into contact with the side surfaces of the elongated head. The method of claim 1 characterised in that the solution comprises a surfactant. The method of claim 1 characterised in that the solution comprises pigmentation. The method of claim 3 characterised by the furter step of formulating said pigmentation to cause the tail regions to resemble tail regions of prior art piano forte hammers treated with potassium bichromate. The method of claim 1 characterised in that the elongated head comprises a segment of a head strip and said felt body disposed in the solution in the slot comprises a segment of a strip of felt and said method comprises the further steps of separating the strip of felt affixed to the head strip, and said head strip, into a plurality of piano forte hammers.

Inventors: LOMBINO JAMES M, LOMBINO, JAMES M.
Applicants: STEINWAY MUSICAL PROPERTIES, STEINWAY MUSICAL PROPERTIES, INC.
Application year: 1990
Main classification: G10C3
IPC codes: G10C3