Improvements in Pianoforte Actions.
Year: 1891

page_text: Improvements in Pianoforte Actions.
I, JAMES HARPER PHELPS, residing in Sharon, in the County of Walworth,
in the State of Wisconsin, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of my invention 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 pianoforte actions.
The object of my invention is to provide pianoforte actions with means which
may be controlled by a suitable hand lever, knee stop or foot pedal, preferably the
latter, whereby the performer may, at will, sustain any tone or chord, or succession
of tones or chords, by holding back from the strings the dampers of the keys struck
and no others, so long as said tones harmonize with each other, or until any or all
of such dampers shall be automatically released and closed by the concurrent or
subsequent movement of other keys whose tones do not harmonize therewith, thus
enabling the performer, without the necessity of closing the pedal to prevent
discords, to bind over the harmonizing tones of one chord or measure into those of
another chord or measure, and thus obtain greater power, purity of tone, and legato
effect than can be obtained by the use of the loud pedal now commonly employed,
which, when thrown into action, holds all the dampers back from the strings,
allowing any or all of them to vibrate together whether the toues harmonize with
each other or not, and which acts to close all of the dampers whenever it is desired
to close any of them. I attain this object by the following devices: The action of
each key is provided with laterally projecting arms preferably secured to the
stickers, which when the key is struck, will come in contact with pivoted levers
provided for each of the keys and raise the levers of each pair of keys to the right
and left of the key struck and close the dampers of those keys in case they shall be
open. The two keys at each side of the key struck embrace the tones most.
prominently discordant with the tone of the key struck, and hence by closing the
dampers of those keys, I shut off nearly all the discordant tones. While this result is
accomplished, I do not damp the string of the key struck, so that said string is allowed
to continue in vibration as long as desired. If one of the keys previously damped
be now struck it will operate to throw open its own damper and close that of the
key previously struck, so that in this case also there is no discordance in the con-
tinuing sounds given forth by the strings. 1 further provide a device whereby all
these damper operating devices can be held out of action whenever that result is
desired. The nature of the invention and the construction of the parts employed
therein are fully shown in the accompanying drawing, in which
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the action of one of the keys with my improvement
added;
Fig. 2 shows the same parts in a different position;
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 ;
Fig. 4 is a partial front elevation of the stickers;
Fig. 5 is a detail of the laterally extending arms applied to the stickers.
In the drawing A may represent one of the strings of the piano, B the damper,
6 the damper bar, C the loud pedal bar for throwing all the dampers out, c the
usual arm of wire for operating the damper when the key is struck. D is the
pivoted lever supporting the jack. E is the sticker and F is the key.
stationary supporting bar having in some constructions a connecting
holding the sticker.
At G is a
link g for

page_text: The means I prefer to adopt for carrying into effect my improvement are the
following H H are laterally extending horizontal arms, preferably made in one
piece and secured to the stickers by screws h, as shown. They are bent so as to
avoid interference with each other, and are also formed with a recess for purposes
presently to be described. They are preferably secured to the front of the stickers
and are long enough to engage the levers, also described below, of the two adjacent
keys upon cach side. Adjacent to each key is a lever J pivotally supported in a
block secured to the bar G. This lever extends forward and over the arms H
and passes between its own sticker and the sticker of the uext adjacent key. In
the rear of the pivotal support j, a light spring k is inserted between the lever and
the bar G, the tension of which spring is upward. At its rear end the lever J has
an offset m and a beveled portion n. In its normal position the lever is horizontal,
as in Fig. 1, and in this position an extension of the damper bar rests upon its
upper surface. This extension may be conveniently made of wire, as indicated at O
as the wire is easily bent, to avoid contact with the lever D. The lower end of
the extension O should be bent to the horizontal to prevent its catching in the
leather covering of lever J.
Over the entire series of levers J I extend a rod P which is suspended at its
ends and also at intermediate points upon cranks p, pivotally supported upon the
action frame. The normal position of this rod P is indicated by broken lines at
Fig. 1, and in that position it holds the levers J against action. It is however
intended to be lifted to the position shown in full lines at will, and this is done by
connecting it to a hand lever or draw stop or knee swell or foot pedal, preferably
the latter. As the construction of these operating devices is well understood by
those skilled in the manufacture of pianos, I do not illustrate them.
__
This
With this construction of the parts, the operation is substantially as follows:-
When the performer desires to obtain the singing effect of the concordant tones
only he by means of the pedal or other device raises the rod P from the levers J.
Supposing the key F be now struck, the sticker is forced upward and the lever D
and its damper operating wire c are made to force the lower end of the damper bar
backward, thus freeing the damper from the string. This movement of the damper
bar carries the extension O over to the position indicated at Fig. 2, and allows the
spring to lift the rear end of the lever J to the position also given in said fig.,
and in which position the extension finds lodgment upon the offset m.
results, as will be observed in detaining the damper from returning to the string
after the key is released, and it will remain in this position until some one of the
neighbouring keys is struck, or the rod P is again lowered. In the upward move-
ment of the sticker at the time the key is struck, the forward end of the lever J
enters within the recess of the arm H and is unaffected by the upward movement
of the arm.
But in the case of each of the two keys at the right and left of the
key which has been struck, said arms H engage with the levers J of those keys,
if they happen to be in the position given at Fig. 2, and lift them to the horizontal
position, thus disengaging the extension from the offset and allowing the damper
to return to the string in obedience to its spring 1. The lifting action of the
arms H will be clearly understood from Figs. 3 and 4 where the lever J of the key
struck is shown in its inclined position, while those of the adjacent keys are shown
as raised, and the operating position of the arms H is indicated in the broken
lines. The performer can at any time by lowering the rod P return all the
levers J to their normal positions, and while this rod P remains lowered can
use the instrument in the same manner as without my improvements, using either
the soft or loud pedal where it is desired.
The recess in the lateral arm H not only prevents the lifting of the lever J
belonging to the same key as does the arm H, but it also gives room for the arms
of the adjacent stickers, as will be understood from Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The bevel
serves not only to facilitate the return of the extension O to the upper surface of

page_text: the lever, but it also allows this end of the lever to begin its upward movement
before the extension has been swung back the full distance allotted it, so that the
lever gets well under way and sufficiently near the end of its rise to prevent the
extension recoiling without engaging with the lever J.
While I have shown the best form of construction of my invention now known to
me, it will be understood that the construction may be widely varied without
departing from the spirit of my invention, and hence I do not wish in my claims to
be limited to the construction shown except in the case of such claims as are laid
specially to the construction. It will also be understood that the invention is
applicable to square and grand pianos as well as to uprights, although I have shown
in the drawing as applied to an upright.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of any said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what [
claim is
1st. The combination with a piano-forte key and the damper of another key not
harmonizing therewith, of devices set in operation by the striking of said key and
adapted to close said damper, substantially as set forth.
2nd. The combination with a piano-forte key and the damper of an adjacent key
not harmonizing therewith, of devices set in operation by the striking of said key
and adapted to close said damper, substantially as set forth.
3rd. The combination with a piano-forte key and the dampers of the two adjacent
keys at either side, of devices set in operation by the striking of said key and
adapted to close all said dampers, substantially as set forth.
4th. The combination with a piano-forte action of devices set in operation by the
striking of a key and adapted to close the dampers of other and discordant keys,
substantially as set forth.
5th. The piano-forte action, the keys and dampers whereof are combined with
means for holding the dampers open and means set in operation by striking the keys
for releasing the dampers, substantially as set forth.
6th. The combination with the series of keys and dampers of a piano-forte action
of a series of devices for holding the dampers open, and a series of devices set in
operation by the striking of the keys, and serving to release the holding devices,
substantially as set forth.
7th. The piano-forte action, a key adapted when struck to open its own damper,
in combination with means for closing the dampers of one or more discordant keys,
substantially as set forth.
8th. The combination with the keys and dampers of a piano-forte action, of
levers J, damper bar extensions O and arms H attached to the stickers, substan-
tially as set forth.
9th. The combination with the keys and dampers of a piano-forte action, of a
series of pivoted levers J, a series of damper bar extensions O in contact with the
rear ends of said levers, and a series of arms H borne by the stickers and engaging
the other ends of said levers, substantially as set forth.
10th. The combination with the series of levers J for holding the dampers open,
of the rod P for depressing all the levers and releasing the dampers, substantially
as set forth.
11th. The lever J having the offset m, in combination with the damper bar
engaging with said end, and the spring k substantially as set forth.
12th. The lever J having the offset m and bevel n, in combination with the damper
bar and spring k, substantially as set forth.
13th. The combination with the pivoted levers J of arms H having recesses h',
and actuating supports for said arms, substantially as set forth.
14th. The combination with the stickers of arms H borne thereon and constructed
and arranged as shown, substantially as set forth.

page_text: 15th. The combination with levers J of the stickers and the arms H con-
structed and arranged as shown, and borne upon the stickers, substantially as
set forth.
Chicago Illinois ITS A Novambor 17th A D 1901
In the presence of:
H. M. MUNDAY.
JAMES HARPER PHELPS.
EDWARD S. EVARTS.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.