Improvements in Piano Actions.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 14th Dec., 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Piano Actions.
I, HARRY LYMAN HONE, of Lexington in the County of Fayette and State of
Kentucky, United States of America gentleman, 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:-
The invention relates to improvements in actions for upright pianos and it consists
in a certain novel construction and combination of devices fully described hereinafter
in connection with the accompanying drawings and specifically pointed out in the
claims.
In the drawings.
Fig. 1 is a view of a piano-action embodying my invention in its normal position.
Fig. 2 is a view showing the position of the action after the key has been struck, with
the parts in position to permit a repetition.
Fig. 3 is a view showing the position of the parts after the second stroke of the
hammer and illustrating the manner of tripping the fly or supplemental jack.
Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the jack and the fly-jack detached.
Fig. 5 is a like view of a slightly different construction of jack and fly-jack.
This action belongs to that class known as "repeating-actions" and the parts
thereof are arranged in such relation that a rapid repetition of a note is possible as
more fully described hereinafter.
A designates the jack-lever which is pivoted near its rear end to the hanger B,
which depends from a suitable rail C. D designates the hammer provided with the
usual knuckle, d having a shoulder, d'.
E designates the damper and e the damper-lever.
el designates the tongue on the rear end of the jack lever to operate the damper-
lever and F designates the back check, the shank, f, of which is attached to the front
end of the jack-lover.
These parts are all of the ordinary and well-known construction.
G designates the jack which is pivoted to a standard y on the jack lever and its
upper end is normally held in engagement with the shoulder on the knuckle d by
means of the spring g', which bears against the free end of the toe of the jack
and H represents a fly-jack smaller than the jack G which is pivoted in a rectangular
opening in the said jack and terminates at its upper end slightly below the
upper end of the jack. The upper end of the fly-jack fits between rearwardly
extending ears on the upper end of the jack whereby the felt on the knuckle
of the hammer is protected from the upper end of the fly-jack and the toe of the
Ay-jack projects beyond the front side of the jack as shown. A small coiled spring h
connects the rear side of the fly-jack with the jack whereby the upper end of the
former is drawn away from the jack. I represents the wire against which the
damper normally rests.
K designates the rest against which the hammer normally bears, and L is the bridle
which at one end hears against the bumper N on the knuckle of the hammer when the
latter is in its normal position as in Fig. 1, and thereby tends to hold the hammer in
said position, but said end of the bridle will be freed from the bumper when the
hammer is operated to strike the wire I.
The other end of the bridle is attached in any suitable manner to the
of the bridle wire M, on the front end of the jack-lever.
upper
end
The operation of the invention is as follows: When the key (not shown) to
which the front end of the jack-lever is attached by means of the rod P, is

page_text: depressed, the hammer is thrown rearward in the ordinary manner by the jack,
the said jack being tripped at the proper point by means of the adjustable stop Q.
and thereby disengaged from the shoulder of the hammer. As the upper end of
the jack moves away from the said shoulder the upper end of the fly-jack separates
therefrom (owing to the contraction of the spring ) and therefore when the
hammer rebounds from the wire its shoulder bears on the upper end of the fly-
jack as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. A second stroke may now be
made by repeating the pressure on the key, before the parts have had time to
return to their normal positions, as shown in Fig. 1. At the proper point in the
second stroke (namely, just as the hammer strikes the wire) the fly-jack is in turn
tripped by an adjustable stop R (which is arranged above the stop Q) thereby
disengaging its upper end from the shoulder of the knuckle. As the key is allowed
to rise slightly in order to make the third stroke, the fly-jack is removed from its
stop thereby allowing it to be drawn rearward and engage the shoulder d' in
position for a third stroke.
The object in terminating the fly-jack slightly below the upper end of the jack is to
enable the former to swing under the shoulder of the knuckle when its toe is removed
from the stop R even when the hammer has rebounded from the wire.
In Fig. 5 I have shown a slightly different construction of the jack and fly-jack,
whereby obviate the use of the adjustable stop R, the stop serving to operate both
the jack and the fly-jack. In this construction the fly-jack is pivoted in an opening
in the jack somewhat lower down than the fly-jack before described, and has its toe G
adapted to fit between the ears of the toe of the jack, which form a recess for the
reception of the toe G. One end of the coiled spring is here fitted in an opening
or socket in the bottom of the opening in the jack and its other end is secured to the
rear side of the fly-jack.
To prevent wear on the knuckle d when the key is struck, I provide the upper end
of the jack over the ears with a cap and to prevent any noise that might be
produced when the jack and fly-jack come together I provide the toe of the jack
between the ears h³ with a felt buffer and the front side of the fly-jack with a like
buffer h³.
From the above description it will be readily seen that a rapid repetition of a note
may be attained without allowing the parts of the action to return to their normal
positions, the movement after the first stroke, being confined almost entirely to the
fly-jack, which being small and light will operate quickly.
My device can be readily applied to any existing piano action.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is
1. The combination with a jack, of a fly or supplemental jack pivoted in a recess
formed in the rear face thereof and adapted to engage the knuckle of the hammer as
and for the purpose specified.
2. The combination, with a jack, of a fly-jack pivoted thereto and terminating at its
upper end below the upper end of the jack substantially as specified.
3. The combination with a jack of a fly-jack pivoted, thereto, and the spring con-
nected to the latter to normally draw its upper end away from the jack, substantially
as: specified.
4: The combination with a jack, of a fly-jack pivoted thereto and fitting at its upper
end between rearwardly-extending ears on the jack whereby, when the jack is in
engagement with the knuckle of the haminer, the fly-jack is held out of contact there-
with substantially as specified.
5. In a piano-action the jack provided with the ears.h. h. and the cap over said
ears, as described..
.
6. The combination with the jack, the toe of which is provided with the ears he h
forming an intermediate recess and the ears h h at the upper end of the jack, of the

page_text: fly-jack pivoted in an opening in the jack and having the toe adapted to fit between
the ears, 1, and the upper end of said fly-jack adapted to fit between the ears h h
as and for the purpose specified.
Tau
1000
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.