IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANICALLY ACTUATED PIANOS
Year: 1885

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I FRIEDRICH ERNST PAUL EHRLICH, residing at Gohlis near Leipsic, kingdom
of Saxony, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MECHANICALLY ACTUATED PIANOS, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My invention relates to musical instruments in which the notes are produced by
the percussion of hammers of piano-actions against strings or other sounding
bodies, and it consists in the mechanism employed for actuating such hammers
according the indications of music-sheets or cylinders provided with perforations or
projections corresponding to the notes of a melody.
On the annexed two sheets of drawings are shown two different arrangements
for carrying out my invention.
In the arrangement Fig. 1 the piano-action or mechanism comprises as main
parts the hammer q, the jack or hopper q¹ and a lever q², to an arm of which the
latter is pivoted. The means for causing the said parts and the mechanism to be
described to act in accordance with the notes of a melody, consists in the perforated
endless music-sheet a running over two rollers b and c, and the lever f, which is
pressed by the spring f' with its beak against the music-sheet, the said beak
dropping into the perforations registering therewith as they pass along under the
beak. The roller b is put in motion by the crank d and worm-wheel gearing. g is
a roller for supporting the sheet a opposite to the beaks of the row of levers f.
For operating the hammer a spring p placed under the lever q². The said
spring is kept in a state of compression, and the lever q* in the position of rest by
means of a bar m, or locking-bar pivoted to q² and provided with a spring u, and
which catches with a projecting part or heel m' under an edge of the frame-part or
beam n. Opposite to the heel m¹ being in normal position, there is a bar l, pivoted
to the lower end of the lever f, so that when the beak of f drops into a perforation
of the sheet a, the bar pushes the heel m² out of engagement with the beam n.
The lever and the spring p are thereby released, in consequence whereof the
latter will act through q' and the jack q¹ on the hammer and impel the same
against the string r.
After each stroke of
rest, and the spring
the hammer the said parts are returned to their position of
is recompressed by a cam-disk e, rotated by means of the

page_text: But, while
crank d and bevel-wheel gearing, the said cam-disk operating against a bar j
jointed to the lever q² and maintained in normal position by a spring / and a stop
on the lever. With the lower end of the bar j is in engagement the heel h¹ of the
bar h pivoted to the lever f. When under these conditions the lever. f, being
opposite to a hole in the sheet a, is oscillated by its spring f¹; the bar j is first
moved out of reach of the cam-disk by the bar h, in order that there may be no
impediment to the upward motion of the lever q with its attachments.
this motion takes place, the barj disengages from the heel and is then pressed by
its spring against the cam-disk e, so that one of the cams may, in acting against
the end of j, return the lever q² and parts attached thereto to their position of rest,
as already stated. This position is then secured until renewed action of the lever f
by the bar m again catching with its heel m¹ under the edge of the beam n. In
order that it may do so even while the bar is not yet drawn back, this bar is
titted with a knob v sliding on an inclined surface of the beam n, so that when
is pushed forward to release the har m, it will at the same time be shifted far
enough down as to be out of the way of the heel m¹ returning to its locking
position. When finally, at the end of a note, the lever f reassumes its normal
position, the heel of the bar h bevelled on its upper surface, slides along under
the end of the bar j and reengages therewith. All parts are then ready for
renewed action. 8 is a wire carried by the bar and having at its end a knob for
actuating the damper-lever t.
Although for every note a complete mechanism such as described is required, the
cam-disks c need not be separate from each other and may form together a cam-
cylinder.
Instead of the perforated endless music-sheet shown in the drawing, a music-
.sheet of any other character or a cylinder having studs for operating the lever f
may be employed, this part of the mechanism not being comprised in my
invention.
The piano-action represented by Fig. 2 is alike to the one described, and it is
disengaged in similar manner by the lever f pressing through the medium of the
bar against the locking-bar m. The mechanism for returning the parts to their
position of rest and recompressing the spring p is, however, somewhat different.
The same consists in a vertically reciprocating bar having at its upper end a
shoulder or projection, by means of which it engages with the heel m² of the
locking-bar m. All the bars of the instrument are pivotally attached to a frame
formed by the bar a¹ and levers i, the said frame being drawn upward by a
spring or springs p₁, and alternately depressed and allowed to rise by rotating cam-
disks e acting against rollers z, carried by arms on the levers i. Each bar ¹ is
pressed by a spring b' towards the locking-bar m, and its projecting part 2 as well
as the heel m² of bar m are bevelled, so that in rising, may slide away over m².
On the damper-actuating wire s, which passes through a slit in the bar i, a knob 8¹
is screwed, adapted to act against the said bar.
. When the lever f is oscillated by its beak dropping into a perforation of the
sheet a, the knob 8¹ first pushes the bar i¹ out of engagement with the heel m² of
bar m, and thereupon bar in acting against m³, releases the hammer-mechanism.
On returning to its normal position, the lever f draws l, 8 and 8' back, so that the
bar having arrived at the upper end of its stroke, will engage by its projection i³
with the heel m² of bar m. The bar being then drawn down by the operation
of the cam-disks e¹ on the frame a¹ i, draws with it the bar m, which is finally
.brought in re-engagement with the beam n by the spring u.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The combination, with a piano-action, of a spring p, means for locking the
action, a lever f onerated by a music-sheet or its equivalent and which hv ita

page_text: oscillation in one direction disengages the locking-device, and a rotative cam-disk
operating to return the piano-action to its position of rest, substantially as and for
the purpose described.
2. The combination, with a piano-action actuated by a spring p, of a locking-
bar m having the heels m¹ and m², a lever f operated by a music-sheet or its
equivalent and carrying the disengaging-bar and knob s¹, and a bar with
projection 2, pivoted to an oscillating frame al i, operated by a cam or cams e¹ and
a spring or springs pl, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.
Dated this twenty-third day of May 1885.
J. HENRY JOHNSON,
Agent for the said Friedrich Ernst Paul Ehrlich.