Music – Instruments – Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-20
2002-02-19
Nappi, Robert E. (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
active
06348645
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a damper for a grand piano, which moves into and out of contact with strings in a manner interlocked with operation of a pedal or the like, to thereby stop and allow vibration of the strings, and more particularly to a structure of a rail for supporting damper levers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 2
shows part of a conventional damper of a general type for a grand piano. The damper
51
is comprised of a damper lever rail
52
, a plurality of damper levers
3
, and a plurality of damper heads (see
FIG. 1
) associated with the respective damper levers
3
. The damper lever rail
52
formed by an extruded component of aluminum is arranged behind a plurality of keys, not shown, in a manner extending along a direction of a row of the keys. The plurality of damper levers
3
are each provided for a corresponding one of the keys. Each damper lever
3
has a rear end portion thereof pivotally supported by the damper lever rail
52
via a damper lever flange
5
and a front end portion thereof opposed to the rear end portion of the corresponding key from above. A damper wire flange
6
is pivotally mounted to the damper lever
3
, and a damper wire
7
extends upward from the damper wire flange
6
. The damper head is attached to the upper end of the damper wire
7
such that the damper head can be brought into and out of contact with a string, not shown, stretched horizontally below the damper head (see FIG.
1
).
In the damper
51
constructed as above, when a key is depressed, a corresponding one of the damper levers
3
is pushed upward by the rear end portion of the key, and in unison with the upward movement of the damper lever
3
, a damper head corresponding to the damper lever
3
moves upward out of contact with a corresponding string. Then, a hammer, not shown, which pivotally moves in a manner interlocked with key depression strikes the string, whereby the string is caused to vibrate to generate a piano tone. On the other hand, when the key is released, the damper lever
3
pivotally moves downward to return to its original position, and in unison with the downward movement of the damper lever
3
, the damper head moves downward into contact with the string, whereby the vibration of the string or sounding of the piano tone is stopped.
The damper
51
further includes a lifting rail
58
. The lifting rail
58
formed by an extruded component of aluminum is arranged below the plurality of damper levers
3
in a manner extending along a direction of a row of the damper levers
3
. The lifting rail
58
is connected to the damper lever rail
52
by a plurality of connection members
60
. The connection members
60
each formed by a wooden block are arranged in a manner spaced from each other in the direction of the row of the damper levers
3
and each placed on the two rails
52
,
58
in a manner bridging them. Each connection member
60
is fixed to the two rails
52
,
58
by screws
61
from above, thereby connecting the rails
52
,
58
to form a unitary assembly.
Further, the outermost two of the plurality of connection members
60
(only one of them is shown in the figure) each have a pin
62
projecting outward therefrom. The pins
62
are rotatably fitted in and supported by a piano body, not shown, such that the unitary assembly of the damper lever rail
52
and the lifting rail
58
can pivotally move in unison with the pins
62
about the rotational axis thereof. The lifting rail
58
is placed on a damper lift rail pitman
9
extending vertically. The damper lift rail pitman
9
has a lower end portion thereof connected to a damper pedal, not shown.
In the construction described above, when the damper pedal is stepped on, the lifting rail
58
is pushed upward by the damper lift rail pitman
9
to cause the unitary assembly of the lifting rail
58
and the damper lever rail
52
to pivotally move upward in unison with the pins
62
about the rotational axis thereof. As a result, all the damper levers
3
are pivotally moved upward to bring all the damper heads out of contact with the respective strings simultaneously, which allows resonance between strings corresponding to depressed keys and ones corresponding to other keys to thereby create a damper pedal effect.
In the above conventional damper
51
, however, since the plurality of connection members
60
are used to connect the damper lever rail
52
and the lifting rail
58
, it is required to machine and provide the connection members
60
in advance. Further, it is required to carry out the troublesome assembling operation of placing each connection member
60
on the two rails
52
,
58
in a manner bridging them and then fixing the connection member
60
to the rails
52
,
58
by the screws
61
. In addition, in this assembling operation, it is required to adjust the positional relationship between the two rails
52
,
58
properly such that each damper lever
3
can be properly pushed upward by a corresponding key associated therewith and at the same time, all the damper levers
3
can be pivotally moved upward simultaneously by the lifting rail
58
. Moreover, since the connection members
60
are formed of wood, warpage of the connection members
60
and loosening of the screws
61
can occur after the above adjustment. Therefore, even if the positional relationship between the two rails
52
,
58
is properly adjusted during the assembling operation, the positional relationship can change with the lapse of time, which requires readjustment.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a damper for a grand piano, which is simple in construction and can be manufactured at reduced costs by reducing the number of components, the number of assembling steps, and the number of adjustment operations.
To attain the above object, the present invention provides a damper for a grand piano, which moves out of contact with strings in a manner interlocked with operation of a damper pedal, to thereby create a damper pedal effect to a musical tone generated.
The damper according to the invention is characterized by comprising:
a damper lever rail;
a plurality of damper levers each having a rear end portion thereof pivotally mounted to the damper rail and each extending forward;
damper heads each of which is connected to an upper side of a corresponding one of the plurality of damper levers and brought out of contact with a corresponding one of the strings as the corresponding damper lever pivotally moves upward; and
a lifting rail arranged below the plurality of damper levers, for pivotally moving the plurality of damper levers upward simultaneously by being pushed upward when the damper pedal is operated,
wherein the damper lever rail and the lifting rail are formed by a molded component as a unitary member and arranged in a pivotally movable manner.
According to this damper for a grand piano, the damper lever rail and the lifting rail are formed by a molded component as a unitary member, and the plurality of damper levers are pivotally mounted to the damper lever rail (portion) of the molded component. Further, the molded component is pivotally mounted in the grand piano such that when the damper pedal is stepped on, the lifting rail is pushed upward to pivotally move the plurality of damper levers upward simultaneously. When all the damper levers are moved upward simultaneously, the plurality of damper heads are all brought out of contact with the respective strings, whereby a damper pedal effect is created.
As described above, according to the damper of the present invention, the damper lever rail and the lifting rail are formed by the molded component as a unitary member while maintaining the function of a damper rail for pivotally supporting a plurality of damper levers and the function of a lifting rail for providing a damper pedal effect in accordance with depression of a damper pedal. Therefore, it is possible to dispense with all the connection members conventionally used for connecting the two
Crowell & Moring LLP
Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
Lockett Kim
Nappi Robert E.
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