Improved Sustaining Action for Pianofortes.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Apr., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Dec., 1893-Accepted, 3rd Mar., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Sustaining Action for Pianofortes.
We WALTER SIMKINS of 3 St. Thomas's Gardens, Kentish Town in the County
of Middlesex, Machinist and GIULIANO AJELLO of 104 Park Street Camden
Town in the County of Middlesex Pianoforte Manufacturer do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to sustain the notes of pianofortes by causing the
Hammer of hammers to continue striking the strings as long as the key or keys are
depressed by means of an attachment which may be applied to a large number of
existing pianos or those that may be manufactured and which may be worked by a
pedal or pedals or other suitable means and put in and out of action when desired
preferably by means of a stop arrangement.
The attachment may be constructed as follows
--
Attached preferably to the backs of each of the hammer butts is a hinged lever
provided with a spring and suitable means for regulating the position of the levers
or its equivalent. Mounted preferably between the hammer shanks and the strings
is a bar which may extend the whole length of the action or be divided into sections,
each section being provided with a stop arrangement or other suitable means for
putting in and out of action when desired. These bars are provided with screws
for regulating purposes and have the surfaces which come in contact with the
before mentioned levers covered with cloth or other suitable material to prevent
noise.
Placed preferably below the key bottom is the driving gear which may be
worked by pedals or other suitable means. This driving gear is provided with
suitable connections with the bar or bars before mentioned and causes them to vibrate
so that when the key or keys are depressed the hammers strike the strings and are
prevented from falling back on the hammer rest by the check and while in this
position the before mentioned levers are under the vibrating bar or bars which
causes them to continue to strike the strings while supported in this position..
With some kind of action it may be necessary to provide suitable means to prevent
the cheek being forced against the jack when the keys are pressed on heavily which
would prevent the hammers working freely.
Dated the Seventh day of April 1893.
WALTER SIMKINS.
GIULIANO AJELLQ.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Sustaining Action for Pianofortes.
We WALTER SIMKINS Machinist and Giuliano AjELLO Pianoforte Manu
facturer both of 104 Park Street Camden Town in the County of London do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention relates to an attachment for pianofortes whereby, when any note
is struck, its hammer is caused to continue striking the string in a rapid manner
from the check position so long as the key is depressed, thus repeating or sustaining
the note
The attachment, which may be applied to most existing pianofortes or to those

page_text: hereafter manufactured, consists essentially of a bar which is reciprocated by means
of a pedal or other suitable motor. When in their check position the hammers of
the action or attachments on said hammers are brought into connection with the
aforesaid reciprocating bar whereby said. hammers are caused to partake of the
reciprocating motion of the bar, means being also provided for moving the bar
out of or into the path of the hammers, or the attachments thereon, so that the
repeating or sustaining attachment may be brought into, or thrown out of action as
desired.
In order that our invention and the manner of carrying it into practice may be
well understood we will describe it with reference to the accompanying drawings in
which the invention is shewn as applied to the action of an ordinary upright
cottage pianoforte.
In all the figures of the drawings the same letters of reference, where they occur,
are used to denote the same or corresponding parts.
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation taken on the line X. Y. of Fig. 3 looking in the
direction of the arrows and shewing sufficient of the ordinary cottage pianoforte
action to illustrate the disposition relatively thereto of our attachment;
Fig. 2 is a similar view shewing parts of our attachment detached from the
pianoforte action ;
Fig. 3 is a portion of a rear elevation of Fig. 1 shewing the attachment in two
parts one of which is in, and the other out of action, and Fig. 4 is a plan of
Fig. 3.
Figs. 5 and 6 are enlarged detail views.
On the rear of each hammer butt or shank, but preferably on the butt S as
shewn in the drawings, we rigidly secure a projection A to which is hinged a
tongue piece A¹ provided with a regulating check button A2 and a spring A³ which
together tend to keep the tongue piece A¹ in a definite position relatively to the
shank M' of the hammer.
By means of the check button A2 the tongue piece A¹ can be set nearer to, or
further away from the hammer shank M as required (see Fig. 6).
Preferably between the hammer shanks and the strings of the action we mount
a bar B which is reciprocated by the arrangement of mechanism hereinafter
described. This bar B may extend the whole length of the action or it may be
divided into two or more parts each part being provided with means for putting it
into, or out of gear independently of the other part or parts: in Fig. 3 the bar 13
is shewn divided into two parts, one for the treble and the other for the bass
notes, the treble portion being shewn in the operative position and the bass portion
in the inoperative or normal position. Figs. 1 and 5 also shew the operative
position of the bar B and Fig. 6 shews its inoperative position. The edge of the
bar B nearest the hammer butts S, is notched as shewn in Fig. 6 the notch being
covered with cloth or other suitable material B' to deaden the sound of impact.
The free end of the tongue piece A' is bevelled or curved on the side adjacent to
the notch of the bar B into which said notch it takes as shewn in Fig. 5 when the
note is struck. The bar B is provided with a series of régulating screws E, one for
each of the hammers for which the bar is fitted up, each of said screws baving a
broad flat base E¹ the area of which is approximately equal to the area of the free
end of the corresponding tongue piece A. By rotating the screws E the bases E
can be brought nearer to or removed further away from the free ends of the tongue
pieces A as circumstances require.
The bar B is rigidly secured to a number of parallel rods D the lower ends of
which are pivoted or jointed to arms H rigidly affixed to a shaft C which is
parallel to the bar B and journalled in suitable bearings P or is otherwise mounted
so as to be capable of rotation through a small arc. One of the aforementioned
rods. D is extended beyond the arm Hand the extension is furnished with a flanged
foot or base D' (see Fig. 3). The bar B is sustained in the raised inoperative
position shewn at the right hand side of Fig. 3, by means, of wires F which are
secured at one end to the underside of the bar B then passed between the hammer

page_text: cranks M' and turned over in the same plane at right angles and passed through
the eyes L on the hammer rest N to which their ends are rigidly secured (see
Figs. 2, 3 and 4). It follows therefore that, as the hammer rest is a fixture, when
the bar B is moved towards the hammer butts S, those parts of the wires F which
lie against the hammer rest N are subjected to a torsional strain and the wires F
thus act as springs tending to return the bar B to its initial position. We have
found this arrangement efficient for the purpose and as it takes up very little space
it is well adapted for application to existing pianoforte actions, but any other spring
device which is suitable for the purpose may be used instead.
When the bar B is brought into its operative position, the manner of doing
which will be hereinafter explained the flange D'engages in a notch J' in the
clutch piece J on the connecting rod O (see Fig. 3). "O are nuts working on the
screwed end of the rod O whereby the clutch piece J can be adjusted in position.
J' is a face plate on or forming part of the clutch which is held against the edge of
the flange D' and is of a size corresponding to the travel of the connecting rod O
so that when the latter is reciprocated the said face plate rubs against the edge of
the flange D' without, engaging its notch J' therewith. When however the bar B
is brought into action the flange D' enters the notch J' and the two move conjointly,
the reciprocation of the connecting rod O being transmitted to the bar B which is
caused to move parallel to itself by means of the parallel rods D and the shaft C.
The other end of the rod O is connected to pedal mechanism or other suitable
motive power..
We will now describe the mechanism for bringing the bar B into the operative
position and for releasing it therefrom. The clutch J is connected by the link Y
to a crank arm V secured to a tube K (see Fig. 3). On the other end of this tube
is a spring R one end of which is fixed to the tube and the other end passed under
a fixed stop or projection R2 on the interior of the name board R of the instrument
(see Figs. 1 and 3). By this means the clutch J is kept in such a position that the
face plate J is caused to press against the edge of the flange D' as before stated.
The tube K is supported at the rear in a bracket, not shewn in the drawings, and at
the front it is let into the name board R³ and is capable of being slightly rotated in
its supports. Passing through the tube K is a spring controlled rod I one end of
which terminates in a stop knob W outside the name board R³, the other end being
turned over at right angles and passed through a longitudinal slot K¹ in the rear
end of the tube K (see Figs. 1 and 4). Rigidly secured to the shaft C is an arm G
which lies adjacent to the slot K in the tube K and in the path of the right angled
extremity of the rod I. When the stop knob W is drawn out the extremity of the
rod engages the arm G and draws its lower end towards the front of the
instrument thus partially rotating the shaft C and with it the arms H secured
thereto which lattér actuate the parallel rods D and thus bring the bar B from the
inoperative position shewn at the right hand side of Fig. 3 to the operative position
shewn at the left hand side of the same figure. In this latter position the flange D'
is in gear with the clutch J and the two move conjointly. When the operative
position has been attained the stop knob W may be released and the spring on the
roil will return it to its original position. To restore the attachment to its
inoperative position it is only necessary to give the stop knob W a partial rotation;
when the further extremity of the rod I will catch against the side of the slot K'
and partially rotate the tube K against the action of the spring R. The tube as it
rotates will carry with it the crank arm V which will, by the link Y push the
clutch J away from and out of engagement with the flange D¹ on the rod D. The
latter being free the spring wires F will then return the bar B to its inoperative
position.
The following is a general summary of the method of working of a pianoforte
fitted with our attachment. When the bar B is out of action and the notes are
depressed the hammers will strike the strings, and will remain in the ordinary check:
position clear of the bar B; this is the position shewn in Fig. 6; and when the
pressure is removed from the notes the hammers will fall back to the hammer rest

page_text: '
so that the ordinary playing of the instrument is not interfered with by the
attachment. Nor is it interfered with by the reciprocation of the connecting rod O,
as until the latter is clutched to the flange D', its motion is not transmitted to the
bar B, so that the motive power operating the connecting rod may be started at any
time. When the stop knob W is pulled out however, the connecting rod 0 is
clutched to the flange D' and the bar B is brought into the path of the tongue
pieces A¹ on the hammer butts or shanks. If any note is subsequently depressed
the hammer will strike the string and in its check position the tongue piece A¹ will be
held to the bar B. This is the position shewn in Figs. 1 and 5. If the bar is
reciprocating in a plane parallel to the plane of the strings, as would be the case
with the arrangement of mechanism shewn in the drawings if the motive power was
in operation, it follows that the hammer will turn on the centre of the hammer butt
in a plane at-right angles to the plane of the strings causing it to repeatedly strike
the string. When the pressure is removed from the note, the check is removed and
the hammer and tongue piece A' falls away from the bar B to the hammer rest.
The relative positions of the bar B and tongue pieces A¹ may be adjusted (1) by
means of slotted bearings to the shaft C; (2) by the regulating screws E on the
bar B; (3) by the regulating buttons A2 on the tongue pieces A¹; and (4) by the
outs on the connecting rod O. It will be seen that the attachment is capable of
great nicety of adjustment so as to allow for unequal wear of the coverings, slight
defects in the shape and size of the hammers and hammer butts and such like
defects in the ordinary action which might otherwise render it inapplicable for our
attachment.
As previously stated, the drawings and the relative description relate to our
attachment and the mode of application of the same to an ordinary upright cottage
pianoforte; the modifications required to adapt our invention to other kinds of
pianofortes will be readily understood by persons familiar with the construction
of pianoforte actions.
We wish it also to be understood that the essential feature of our invention is
the mounting of a bar in such a manner that it can be reciprocated and can be
brought into a position such that, when they are in their check position the
ordinary hammers or projections thereon, will be held against the reciprocating bar
and will partake of its motion. The means for supporting and reciprocating the
bar, for bringing it into and out of action, the number of bars used for the action
and the means whereby the hammers of the action are held to the bar or bars, are
subsidiary elements which will vary more or less according to the particular kind
of action to which the attachment is applied.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
解
"
1. An attachment for pianofortes.comprising-a-reciprocating-bar-so-situated-that
the hammers of the action when in the check position after striking the strings are
vibrated about their centres by said reciprocating bar substantially as described and
for the purposes stated.
"
2. An attachment for pianofortes comprising a reciprocating bar adjustable in
such manner as to be brought into or thrown out of the path of projections oh
or secured to the ordinary hammer butts or shanks which projections are designed
to make connection with said bar when the hammers are in the check position
whereby the hammers. are vibrated about their centres by said reciprocating-bar
substantially as described and for the purposes stated.
3. An attachment for pianofortes comprising a notched and clothed bär such
as B, supported in a plane parallel to the plane of the strings by rods such as D
jointed to arms H secured to a shaft C, and reciprocated by means of an extension
to one of the rods D engaging in a clutch such as J on the end of a connecting rod
actuated by any suitable motive power, the said bar B being brought into its operative
position by partially rotating the aforesaid shaft C and put into its inoperative

page_text: position by releasing the extension from the clutch J, the said bar B when in its
operative position being located in the path of projections such as the adjustable
spring controlled tongue pieces A¹, secured to or formed one on each hammer butt
or shank, all the parts being arranged so as to operate substantially in the manner
and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
4. The combination of parts forming our improved sustaining action for
pianofortes arranged so as to operate substantially in the manner and for the
purposes herein described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 22nd day of December 1893.
F. W. GOLBY,
36, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agent for the Applicants.