This invention relates to pianos, more particularly to an upright piano, more particularly for improving the upright piano to be more akin the grand piano in touch, tone and sound. However the invention may also relate to a grand piano, particularly in respect of the sound board, bridge suspension and tuning system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the playing of a piano, the action of an upright piano is such that each key must be fully released before it can again actuate the hammer with which it is associated.

In a grand piano, the key does not have to be fully released before it can actuate the hammer with which it is associated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Thus there is provided according to the invention a piano action comprising a keyboard having keys thereon, a wippen hinge to a main action rail, means causing movement of said wippen by a key, a jack hingedly connected to said wippen, a hammer hinge relative to said main action rail, said hammer having a hammer butt, said jack engaging said hammer butt to cause striking movement of said hammer, a back stop on said hammer butt and a back check block attached to said wippen, characterized by a repetition spring means acting between said jack and said main action rail, an adjustable jack spring acting between said jack and said wippen, whereby on repetitive playing said jack is disengaged from said butt and re-engaged with said butt under influence of said springs without the key being fully returned.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a hammer operating mechanism showing the set off and repetition,

FIG. 2 shows the damper assembly in conjunction with the hammer mechanism,

FIG. 3 shows the sound board,

FIG. 4 shows a diagrammatic end section of the piano,

FIG. 5 shows the shaped sound board with bridge and FIG. 5A is a part end view thereof,

FIG. 6 shows one form of the bridge and sound board in end elevation,

FIG. 7 shows an alternative form of FIG. 6,

FIG. 8 shows the tuning peg mounting,

FIG. 9 is a partial end section of the piano showing the swivel acoustic board, and

FIG. 10 is a view of the suspension bridge fitted to the lower portion of the strings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 the wippen 15 is pivoted to the main action rail 17, the wippen being adapted to be moved upwardly during the action of the key by means of the key 19 and linkage assembly 20 acting on the middle of the wippen 15.

The wippen 15 carries a pin to which is pivoted the jack 12 which engages at its upper end the arcuate surface 5A of the hammer butt 5 pivoted to a hammer flange 21 mounted on the main action rail 17.

The hammer 1 is attached by a hammer shank 2 to the hammer butt 5, the hammer butt 5 also carrying a back stop 10 mounted on a back stop shank 22 attached to the hammer butt 5.

Also mounted on the end of the wippen 15 is a back check block 18 connected to the wippen by the back check wire 23.

In accordance with this part of the present embodiment there is provided on the hammer butt 5 a set off bearing 7 and an adjustable jack spring 13 with adjustable jack spring screw 14 and a repetition spring 8 mounted on the hammer flange 21 and a repetition cord 9 attached to the repetition spring 8 and the jack 12. The adjustable jack spring 13 engages the extension on the jack 12, or the spring 13 may engage the jack 12 near the hammer butt 5, or in any position of leverage. The repetition spring 8 and repetition cord 9 do the same as the jack spring 13.

On depression of the key the wippen raises thus pivoting the hammer butt about its pivot to cause the hammer to be projected to strike the strings.

In doing so also the back check 18 moves toward the back stop 10 so that in the full depressed condition of the key this is adjacent the back stop 10. As the key approaches its full limit of depression the jack engages an adjustable set off button 16 fixed to the action rail 17 to cause the jack to pivot to be released from the hammer butt, (this point is the set off pressure) on release of the key the jack being returned to its engaged position by the jack spring 13.

In conventional pianos in repetitive playing in which the key is not fully released, the hammer will move back to its rest position under the influence of the hammer return spring 4 attached to the return spring rail 3 but due to the fact that the key has not been fully released the jack cannot enter its operative position on the arcuate surface and this then prevents quick repetitive playing.

However in accordance with the present embodiment the return spring bearing 6 is positioned low on the hammer butt 5 which allows for less

tension to be applied to the hammer butt and the jack 1 will now return to its engaged position on the arcuate surface of the hammer butt because of the added tension of the repetition spring 8. The arcuate surface of jack 12 at the top 12A may be shaped so as to allow smoother access under the hammer butt 5.

The added tension of the repetition spring cannot push the hammer back on to the strings as would happen in a normal upright piano because when the hammer rises to be at the required distance from the strings, the added set off bearing 7 comes into contact with the hammer return spring 4 which then increases its tension to greater than that applied by the repetition spring.

As the jack is caused to be moved by the set off button 16 it moves away from the hammer butt 5 and increases the tension on the repetition spring 8, as the key is released the extra tension of the repetition spring pulls the jack back to its engaged position for faster repetition.

According to this embodiment an increase in set off pressure is achieved by the addition of the set off bearing 7.

By increasing the tension of the hammer return spring 4 by its coming into contact with the set off bearing 7 when the hammer is the required distance from the strings and the jack 12 is just in contact with the set off button 15 an increase in set off pressure is felt by the piano player.

This pressure is more similar to a grand piano.

In an upright piano the strings at the strike point are vertical, the action is vertical and the keybed is horizontal.

In this embodiment the strings 24 at the strike point are angled as is the action only the keybed remains the same, horizontal, as shown in FIG. 2.

With the strings and the action at this or a similar degree from the vertical allows gravity to influence the return movement to a greater

extent than in a normal upright piano. This then increases the set off pressure and increases the hammer return time.

In having the strings at this angle also allows for the keys to be longer when fitted in the same size cabinet.

In an upright piano the action and keyboard is in a fixed position, when the soft pedal is activated the hammers move closer to the strings. In a grand piano the action and keyboard are fixed together and when the soft pedal is activated the action and keyboard move sideways and the hammers strike a lesser amount of strings.

The touch changes in an upright piano when the soft pedal is activated, in a grand piano the touch does not change when the soft pedal is activated.

In this embodiment the keyboard and action move sideways to be more similar to a grand piano, this is done by separating the dampers from the main rail of the upright action.

in this embodiment shown in FIG. 2 the damper 25 is locked on the damper main rail 26 which is attached to the piano plate (attachment not shown) the damper is activated by the damper actuator 27 when the key 19 rises at the string end of the piano, the actuator 25 is connected to the damper main rail 26.

The plate in the normal upright piano is made from cast iron, it can be in either form as shown in FIG. 6. The plate is supported by a backing frame of wood. The plate is placed in front of the soundboard and supports the pinblock, the plates main purpose is to support the strings, provide the upper bridge and anchor the pinblock.

In this embodiment the main section of the plate 28 is behind the soundboard 29 and totally supports the soundboard in a recessed groove 30 in the plate. The main plate 28 is the support for the soundboard, the bass strings, the lower bass bridge and the tuning system. After the soundboard is fitted a second section of the plate is fitted to support the lower treble bridge and the treble strings. The plate

is cast in one piece with the sound board fitted to the back of the plate, or the sound board is suspended from the back of the plate, or still further the sound board may be fixed to a separate board rim or plate.

As shown in FIG. 5A in the plate section the soundboard may be held in a groove that has a crown edge 31. This edge is of the same radius or greater than that of the soundboard, it is designed to enhance the preformed crown in the soundboard.

In the upright piano the soundboard as shown in FIG. 4 holds the lower bass and treble bridges 30. The soundboard preferably has ribs which are designed to crown the soundboard or to help maintain its crown.

In this embodiment the soundboard of FIG. 5 is laminated and has a crown of approx. 1 in 60, it has no ribs and supports the upper bass and treble bridge.

The crown is formed as the board 29 is laminated and further support is given by the crown edge 31 in the plate 28, the soundboard 29 is also shaped more like a grand piano soundboard than an upright piano.

in a conventional upright piano the bass and treble bridges are separate at the lower end of the strings and have one point of connection with the soundboard.

In this embodiment as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 the bridge 30 is at the upper end of the strings 24, is one piece for bass and treble and has two contact points, bridge rail 32 and pressure block 33 on the soundboard 29. The bridge 30 is moveably positioned on the bridge suspension 33, the sound board being supported by the edge 31 on the plate 28.

FIG. 7 shows a further embodiment showing an alternative mounting of the soundboard. The soundboard 29 is attached to the bridge rail 33 in turn attached to the suspension bridge 34 which supports the bridge 30. The suspension bridge 34 is supported in a recess 35 in the plate 28 and the soundboard 29 is suspended from the plate 28 by a suspension bolt 36 passing through the edge of the soundboard 29 and

also the soundboard rim 37. If the rim 37 is extended away from the soundboard in a plane parallel to the soundboard, the rim may be connected directly to the cabinet of the piano and not to the plate 28, or be connected to posts connected to the cabinet.

In a known upright piano or grand piano the tuning pin is held by the pin block which is behind the plate.

In this embodiment as shown in FIG. 8 the tuning pin 33 is held in a sleeve 34 and the sleeve is held in the plate itself. A hole 35 is drilled or formed in the plate and the sleeve 34 is inserted into the hole 35 and fixed by any means, the tuning pin 33 is then inserted into the sleeve 34, a string 24 is affixed to the tuning pin 33 and then the tuning pin is turned in the sleeve applying tension on the string.

In a known upright piano the upper front board is of one piece and encloses the piano completely between the two sides, the lid and the fall.

In this embodiment as shown in FIG. 9 the upper front board 36 is of two pieces, as shown in FIG. 10 the upper section 37 of which is on a swivel at both ends.

When the accusti board 37 is open the sound of the piano is directed to the pianist, when the accusti board is closed the sound is contained inside the piano.

Turning now to FIG. 10, there is shown a further embodiment in which the suspension bridge is placed at the bottom of the strings.Thus there is shown at the top of the strings 24 a tuning blank 38 having the tuning pins 33 and pressure bar 39, the strings passing over the plate string bearing 40. The soundboard 29 is connected to the bridge rail 32 in tum connected to the bridge suspension 34 carrying the moveable bridge 30. The strings 24 are attached to the hitch pin 41 attached to the bottom of the plate, or string hitch area 42.

Although various embodiments of the invention have been described in detail it is to be realised that the invention is not to be limited hereto but can include various modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.