US800750A - Piano. - Google Patents

Description

No. 800,750. PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905. J. A. MANVILLE.

PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. f

amma Wow PATENTED OCT. 3, 1905.

J. A. MANVILLE.

PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.18, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

V///////// gggg U NIIIIEI) STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. MANVILLE, OF GRAND RAPIDS, .\"II()l*ll( 'AN, ASSIGNOR TO MAN- VILLE PIANO COMPANY, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, A CORPORA- TION OF M IGHIGAN.

PIANO.

No. soo,750.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 3, 1905.

Be it known that I, JOHN A. MANvinnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pianos; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in pianos, and more particularly to the construction of the case and the support for the action-frame; and its object is to simplify the construction; to provideasingle frameadapted to serve both as a string frame and as a main frame; to provide means for separately attaching and detaching the various parts comprising the ease and action-frame to the same; to provide a device in which the action frame is supported upon the stringframe and at the ends only, whereby. a continuous unbroken arrangement of the action can be secured and straight keys used throughout to improve the tone of the instrument, and to provide the device With various new and useful features, hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims, as will more fully appear by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of a device embodying my invention with parts of the case removed to show the construction. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an enlarged vertical section of the same on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a further enlarged detail of the end bracket and its support, shown partly in side elevation and partly in section; and Fig. 5, a detail of the upper end of the said bracket.

Like numerals refer to like parts in all of the figures.

1 represents the main frame of the piano, which in addition to serving as a string-frame is adapted to support the various other parts hereinafter enumerated and which latter are severally and independently attached thereto. Said frame is substantially square in outline and provided with suitable flanges 5, to which the ends 4 of the case are independently attached by suitable fastenings or screws 6, extending through the flanges. Upon this frame the strings are stretched in the usual manner, said strings being omitted in the drawings. To the upper back portion of this frame is attached a suitable pin-block 16, in which the tuning-pins are inserted, said block being independently secured to the said frame by suitable screws 17.

2 represents the sounding-board at the rear of the strings, which is also independently secured to the back of the frame by suitable screws 3, extending through the frame and into the margins of the sounding-board.

7 represents the horizontal rail of the action-frame to which the various parts of the piano-action are secured in the usual way, said action being omitted as constituting no part of my present invention. This rail is made sul'liciently heavy and strong so as to require no other support than at the ends where it is attached to suitable brackets 9, preferably of metal, which brackets adjustably support this rail and are provided with pointed ends 9" at the lower end, which are inserted in blocks 11 made of wood or other suitable somewhat elastic material, which blocks are adjustably supported in sockets 10 on the frame 1, said blocks being vertically adjusted by means of set-screws 12 and held against lateral vibration by other screws 13, inserted in the socket 10. The upper end of these brackets are also supported upon the frame 1 by means of suitable studs 14, which pass through the vertically-slotted upper ends 9 of the bracket and are secured therein by suitable thumb-nuts 15. This rail 7 and the two brackets 9 thus constitute substantially the action-frame and are wholly, independ ently, and adjustablysupported upon the main frame 1 and are separated therefrom by the blocks 11, whereby the tone of the instrument is not interfered with by the vibration of this action-frame, and the same frame is also adjustable at its respective ends to bring the action in proper relation to the various strings. I ind also that by the described construction I can dispense with any intermediate supports for the action-frame, and thus make the action uniformly spaced throughout and without any gaps therein for intermediate supports for the rail. I thus simplify the construction and can use straight keys throughout. I also secure a more compact structure. It will also be noted that by this construction I am able to detach at pleaswe the pi n-block, sounding-hoard, either end of the case, or the action-frame without in any wise disturbing or interfering with the attachment of the respective other parts. For convenience the base-support or bottom board 18 extends beneath the main frame and the inner strips of the ends of the case and support the same. The keyboard 19 is supported by the ends 4 and made detachable therefrom in any suitable manner, and the soft-pedal bar 8 is supported on the actionframe in the usual way.

The front of the case is not shown, being of the usual construction and attached in the usual way.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is*

1. In a piano a combination string-frame and piano-fra1ne, a pin-block, a soundingboard, two case ends, and an action-frame each separately directly and independently supported by the combination -frame, and means for detachably securing said pin-block, sounding-board, case ends, and action-frame to the combination-fran'ie.

2. .In a piano, a substantially square frame adapted to serve a combination piano-frame and string-frame, flanges on the margins of said frame, sockets and studs on the front of said frame, a pin-block and a sounding-board detachably secured directly to the back of the said frame, abase and two case ends separately secured to the flanges, and an action-frame having brackets, engaging the sockets and studs and supported thereby.

3. ln a piano, a main frame on which the strings are stretched, a horizontal rail to support the action, a bracket, attached to each end of said rail, each bracket having a slotted upper end, studs on the frame and engaging the slots, thumb-nuts on the studs, sockets on the frame, and adjustable blocks in the sockets and supporting the brackets.

4. In a piano, a main frame on which the strings are stretched, a horizontal rail to sup port the action, brackets attached to the respective ends of the rail and each having a slotted upper end and a pointed lower end, sockets on the frame, adjustable blocks in the sockets and engaging the lower ends of the brackets, screws to vertically adjust the brackets, studs on the frame and inserted in the slots, and thumb-nuts on the studs.

In testimony whereof I allix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN A. ivIANVllJLlC.

\Vitnesscs:

Lo'rnun V. MoUL'roN, J. FRANK (.i'ASKlLL. I

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