
7
EP 0 585 798 B1
8
assembly
3 after the
escape
of the
jack
2d when the
key
1a
is
depressed slowly, as
will be described hereinlater.
Turning
back
to
Fig.
1,
the hammer
assembly
3
comprises a
hammer shank 3a
implanted
into the butt
2i and
a
hammer head 3b
supported by
the hammer
shank 3a. While the
key
1a
is
staying
in the
rest
position,
the hammer head 3b is
spaced
apart
from the
string
4.
However,
the hammer head 3b strikes the
string
4
when
the
key
action mechanism 2 is driven
by
the
key
1a.
The
string
4
usually
consists of three music
wires,
and vibrate for
producing a
sound with the
note
assigned
to
the associated
key
1
a
upon
a
strike with the hammer
head 3b.
The
damper assembly
5
comprises a damper
lever
flange
5a
fixed
to
the
center
rail
6,
a damper
lever 5b
rotatably supported by
the
damper
lever
flange
5a,
a
damper
wire
5c
projecting
from the
damper
lever
5b,
and
a damper
head 5d fixed
to
the
leading
end of the
damper
wire
5c,
and
a damper spring
5e
urges
the
damper
lever
5b in the
counter
clockwise direction.
While the
key
1a
is
staying
in the
rest
position,
the
damper
spoon
2f is
spaced
apart
from the lower end
por-
tion of the
damper
lever
5b,
and the
damper
head 5d is
pressed against
the
string
4.
However,
if the
damper
spoon
2f declines toward the left side due
to
the
key
1a
depressed by
the
player,
the
damper
spoon
is
brought
into
contact
with the lower end
portion
of the
damper
lever 5b
at
the
predetermined point,
and, then,
the
damper
lever 5b is driven for rotation in the clockwise
direction,
and leaves the
damper
head 5d from the
string
4.
After the
key
1a
is
released,
the
damper assembly
5
returns to
the initial
position,
and the
damper
head 5d
takes
up
the vibrations of the
string
4.
Though
not
shown
in the
drawings,
the
upright piano according
to
the
present
invention is
equipped
with
pedal
mechanisms,
and
one
of the
pedal
mechanisms is
provided
in
asso-
ciation with the
damper assembly
5
for
holding
off the
damper
head 5d.
Description
is hereinbelow made
on sequential mo-
tions of the
upright piano. Assuming now
that
a player
depresses
the
key
1a,
the
pair
of
capstan
buttons 1d is
upwardly
moved,
and
pushes
the
whippen/ whippen
heel
assembly
2a
upwardly,
and the
whippen/ whippen
heel
assembly
2a is driven for rotation in the
counter
clockwise direction around the
whippen flange
2b. In the
counter
clockwise
rotation,
the
jack
2d and the back
check
2g are upwardly
moved from the initial
position
together
with the
whippen/ whippen
heel
assembly
2a,
and the
damper
spoon
2f declines toward the left side.
The
damper
spoon
2f thus
declining on
the left side
is
brought
into
contact
with the lower end
portion
of the
damper
lever 5b
at
the
predetermined point
and
rotates
the
damper
lever 5b in the clockwise direction around
the
damper flange
5a,
and the
damper
head 5d is left
from the
string
4.
As
a
result,
the
string
4
is
ready
for
free vibrations.
The
jack pushes
the butt 2i until the
toe
of the
jack
2d is
brought
into
contact
with the
regulating
button
2m,
and
rotates
the butt 2i in the
counter
clockwise direction.
While the
jack
2d
upwardly pushes
the butt
2i,
the butt
cloth 2v is
spaced
from the
regulating screw
2u.
However,
when the
toe
of the
jack
2d is
brought
into
5
contact
with the
regulating
button
2m,
the
jack
2d
rotates
around the
jack flange
2c in the clockwise direction
against
the elastic force of the
jack spring
2e,
and the
jack spring
2e is
resiliently
deformed. The
jack
2d is fi-
nally escaped
from the butt
2i,
and the butt 2i is kicked
10
by
the
jack
2d. The butt 2i thus kicked is driven for
rota-
tion in the
counter
clockwise
direction,
and the hammer
assembly
rushes toward the
string
4.
The hammer head
3b strikes the
string
4,
and the
string
4
vibrates for
pro-
ducing a
sound with the
note
assigned
to
the
depressed
is
key
1a.
On the other
hand,
the
spring
2t
keeps
the head of
the
regulating screw 2y
in
contact
with the
jack
cloth 2z.
Therefore,
the
jack escaped
from the butt
urges
the
reg-
ulating screw 2y
and,
accordingly,
the
repetition
lever
20
2q
to rotate
against
the elastic force of the
spring
2u in
the
counter
clockwise direction without
any
contact
with
the back check
felt,
and the
repetition
lever
2q
reaches
a
certain
position over
the back check felt
as
shown in
Fig.
3. A
gap
G takes
place
between the
top
surface of
25
the back check felt and the
semi-spherical portion
of the
repetition
lever
2q.
Even if the
player softly depresses
the
key
1a,
the
hammer head 3b rebounds
on
the
string
4,
and is
never
pressed against
the
string
4.
In other
words,
the hammer
30
head 3b
never
terminates
a pianissimo
sound. Because
the hammer
assembly
3
can
rotate
in the clockwise di-
rection due
to
the
gap
G,
after the hammer head 3b
strikes the
strings
4,
or
after the
escape
of the
jack
2d
in the
adjusting
the
regulating
button 2m.
35
The hammer head 3b rebounds
on
the
string
4,
and
the butt
spring
2k
urges
the butt 2i
to rotate
in the clock-
wise
direction,
and the
semi-spherical portion
of the
rep-
etition lever
2q
is
brought
into
contact
with the
top
of the
back check felt of the back check
2g
before the
contact
40
of the catcher skin 2o with the back check felt. Since the
butt 2i
and,
accordingly,
the hammer
assembly
3
con-
tinues
to rotate
in the clockwise direction until it is
checked
by
the back check
2g,
the
repetition
lever
2q
further
rotates
in the
counter
clockwise direction around
45
the
pin
2r.
After the
contact
of the
semi-spherical portion
of the
repetition
lever
2q
with the
top
of the back check
felt,
the catcher skin 2o is
brought
into
contact
with the left
side surface of the back check
felt,
and the head of the
so
regulating screw 2y
is left from the
jack
cloth 2z. The
key
action mechanism 2
enters
a suspended
state
shown in
Figs.
4
and
5.
However,
the catcher 2n
never
widely
rebounds
on
the
backcheckfelt,
because the im-
pact
at
the hammer rebound is taken
up
through
the
ro-
55
tation of the
repetition
lever
2q
in the
counter
clockwise
direction. The
spring
2t accumulates
part
of the inertia
in the form of resilient force.
Therefore,
the hammer
head 3b
never
strikes the
string
4
again.
5
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