Certain Improvements in Presses for Forming Pianoforte Hammers.
Year: 1887

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by ALFRED DOLGE, of New York, United States of
America, Manufacturer.]
Certain Improvements in Presses for Forming Pianoforte Hammers.
I, ALEXANDER HENRY REED, of Suffolk House, Laurence Pountney Hill, Cannon
Street, in the county of Middlesex, Engineer, 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 more particularly to certain novel devices for applying the
felt to the hammer mouldings, the construction and operation of said devices being
pointed out in the following specification and claims, and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing in which,
Fig. 1 represents a front view of the apparatus.
Fig. 2 is an horizontal section in the plane xx fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a transverse section on a larger scale than the previous figures, the plane
of section being indicated by the line y y fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a similar section showing the working parts of the apparatus in a different
position.
Fig. 5 is a detached section of the moulding clamp.
Fig. 6 is a detached plan of the trough.
Fig. 7 is a detached plan of the felt die..
Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.
In this drawing the letters A A designate the side pieces of the frame which
supports the working parts of the press, said side pieces being firmly connected by
the beams B C. Beneath the beam B is situated the slide D which moves up and
down in guides a a and which is suspended from rods bb. These rods extend up
through the beam B, and their upper ends are pivoted to levers c c which are fulcrumed
on pivots d d secured in standards e e and which are subjected to the action of weights
or springs, so that the slide D has a tendency to move up whenever it is free to do so.
The beam B is tapped to receive a series of screws ff by means of which the slide D
.
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page_text: can be depressed against the action of the weights or springs. Of course the springs
can be made to act directly on the rods b.
The slide D is provided with a shoulder g (best seen in figs. 3 and 4) and beneath
this shoulder is secured the clamp E which is intended to receive the hammer
moulding F the moulding clamp E extends from one end of the slide D to the other
and it is fastened to the same by screws h¹¹. It is composed of two plates which are
compressed by means of screws h h extending through them. In fig. 5 there is shown
a detached section of the moulding clamp E from which it will be seen that the two
plates which compose said clamp, are provided with lips i, i at their upper edges, and
with lips jj beneath the screws / h, and when the plates are drawn together to the
position shown in figs. 3 and 4 so as to clamp the hammer moulding F, the lips jj
forin a shoulder against which the inner end of the hammer moulding abuts, and which
prevents said hammer moulding from being pressed upwards.
The beam C of the frame is tapped for a series of screws k k and upon these screws
is placed a trough C into which fits the felt die H. The trough G is made of cast
iron and it is provided with inclined ways I which form the guides for the plungers I I
as will be presently explained. The cavity of the trough is slightly tapering in the
direction of its length (best seen in fig. 6) and the felt die H is formed to correspond
to this taper in order to accommodate itself to the varying thicknesses of the felt
which must be greater for the bass hammers than for the treble hammers, and the
thickness of the hammer moulding F is made to correspond to the tapering form of
the felt die.
•
After the felt die H has been placed into the trough G, the strip of felt is put on
and the slide D is depressed by means of the screws ff so that the hammer moulding F
forces the felt into the felt die H as shown in fig. 3, and then the plungers II are
set in motion. These plungers are by preference made of flat pieces of wood, and
their working faces are shaped as shown in figs. 3 and 4 while their rear edges are
made concave to receive round metalic bars m which are secured in position by
screws or any other suitable means. The required motion is imparted to the plungers Il
by means of jaws J K which, in the example shown in the drawing, are made in the
form of levers which swing on rods n o secured in the side pieces A A. As seen from
the drawings the jars J are situated on one, and the jaws K on the opposite side of
the beam and they are connected in pairs by screws L, (best seen in figs. 3 and 4)
so that they can be caused to move towards each other. Each of the jaw-supporting
levers is telescopic, being made in two sections p and p¹, the lower section p being
provided with side flanges between which the upper section pl slides, and the two
sections are connected by screws p³ which pass through slots p³ in the lower section.
In the upper part of each jaw is fitted a box pt with a semi-circular cavity corresponding
in diameter to the diameter of the metallic bars m in the ends of the plungers I I.
When the bars m of the plungers have been adjusted in the boxes p' of the jaws JK,
they are retained therein by means of hooks p' which are pivoted to the sides of the
jaws (see figs. 2 and 3), and in order to allow these hooks to engage with the bars m,
recesses m² are cut into the bodies of the plungers I I (see fig. 2).
The screws L pass loosely through the jaws J K and they are provided with heads g
which bear against the outer surfaces of the jaws J, and with nuts g¹ which when
screwed up, bear against the outer surfaces of the jaws K. These nuts are prevented
from turning round with the screws by any suitable means such as keys (fig. 4)
which extend through grooves in the holes of the jaws K and which at the same time
permit said nuts to accommodate themselves to the varying position of the jaws in
regard to the screws, if the jaw-supports are made in the form of levers.
From this description it will be seen that when the screws f are turned back, the
slide D together with the moulding clamp E are moved upward automatically so that
the screws h¹ which secure the clamp to the slide can readily be reached and the clamp
can be taken off for the reception of a moulding and replaced without much trouble
or loss of time. Another great advantage arises from the inclined guides 1 for the
plungers I. In pressing the felt up against the hammer moulding, it is very desirable
that the strain of the plungers shall be upward, for if the strain be downward during

page_text: any part of the stroke of the plungers, the folt cannot be drawn up snug against the
hammer moulding. By referring to fig. 3 it will be seen that in my press the
plungers I as the same are. moved up on the inclined guides 11, begin to act upon
the felt with their upper inclined faces, and as this upward movement continues they
continue to act upon the felt in an upward direction, until the same lays close up against
the hammer moulding. When this has been accomplished, the lower inclined faces
of the plungers come into action as seen in fig. 4.
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 the slide D, and with means substantially as described for
automatically raising the slide of the trough G, the jaws J K, and the plungers I I
substantially as described.
2. The combination with the jaws J K, the plungers II and the trough G of the
slide D, and the detachable moulding clamp E substantially as described.
3. The combination with the slide D, the trough G, the plungers II and the jaws J K,
of the inclined guides 1 substantially as described."