Wessell, Nickel & Gross

Other

Burgett, Kirk

Burke, Kevin

Clark, Bruce E

Kirk Burgett

Bruce E Clark

Kevin Burke

Jamie Marks

Dana Mazzaglia

Alpha Cheung

Elliptical silicone knuckle or roller for grand piano action with customized durometer reading is an elliptical cylinder shaped knuckle or roller for a grand piano hammer assembly with an elliptical cylinder shaped core that is made of silicone thermoset resin material, which can be molded or manufactured at any desired durometer reading of 10-100 units to yield a piano action and hammer assembly for a grand piano with the exact feel of escapement that is desired by any particular pianist. Escapement is the process whereby the jack stops driving the knuckle just before the hammer hits the strings where the hammer travels the last 1 to 2 mm to the strings on its own inertia and without any contact with the jack. Two embodiments of elliptical silicone knuckle or roller are presented: a wide embodiment and a narrow embodiment.

Elliptical silicone roller for grand piano action with customized durometer reading

An upright piano main action rail with a special cross sectional shape of its lower half that angles or curves towards the back of the piano to effectively relocate the lower front surface of upright piano main action rail from a position in front of the row of whippen flanges as with the prior art to a relocated new position behind the row of whippen flanges to enable the front mounting of whippen flanges to the main action rail. Upright piano main action rail has all whippen mounting holes located its the lower front surface instead of the lower rear surface as with prior art upright piano main action rails.

Main action rail for upright piano with front-accessible whippen flange screw

A damper action for an upright piano that comprises a springed tab on the damper lever that 'ratchets' or gives way or folds away in one direction and does not in the other, to provide retention when the spring tab passes by the longitudinal ridge on the sostenuto rod in one direction and non-retention when the spring tab passes by the longitudinal ridge on the sostenuto rod the other direction. The ratchet aspect of the spring tab uses tension from the damper spring and does not require a separate spring to apply tension to yield the ratchet effect.

Damper action for upright piano with sostenuto spring tab using tension from the damper spring

Lost motion compensation device is a mechanical device that rigidly and pivotally connects the rest rail of an upright piano to the front end of the whippen of an upright piano to cause the two member to rotate in unison as the rest rail is rotated by depressing and releasing the soft pedal on an upright piano.

Lost motion compensation device for an upright piano action

A piano action flange with an open-slotted rail attachment feature that is a slot-shaped void completely through the piano action flange, running in the longitudinal direction of the piano action flange, with width slightly larger than the outer diameter of the thread end the flange screw but smaller that the head diameter of the flange screw, where the slot-shaped void is open on one end, breaking through the end of said piano action flange, to leave the slot-shaped void open and accessible from the end of the piano action flange.

Piano action flange with open-slotted rail attachment feature

A hammer assembly for a grand piano comprising: a hammer, a hammer shank, a tubular lever interface, and a moveable knuckle. A grand piano tubular lever interface comprises: a deep socket; a set of two hinge pin attachment holes; a void area; and a moveable knuckle visual location system. A moveable knuckle comprises: a spline; a resilient core; a synthetic buckskin wear surface, and a moveable knuckle visual location system. Novel hammer assembly allows for a direct lever relationship between hammer shank and knuckle without requirement of a forked end hammer shank with knuckle slot. Best mode spline comprises: an upright rectangular portion and a wide base portion, wherein wide base portion includes an intricate shape. Intricate shape comprises: at least one recess area and at least one protrusion area. The inverse of intricate shape is included on the bottom of the tubular lever interface. Moveable knuckle visual location system further comprises at least one pointer located on the moveable knuckle which fits snuggly into one of several notches on the tubular lever interface. Moveable knuckle can be visually located onto tubular lever interface at any one of multiple distinct locations along a range that runs parallel to the length of the hammer shank and the length of tubular lever interface. The moveable knuckle visual location system allows for custom configuration of a specifically dimensioned hammer assembly with custom 'tubular lever interface center-to center' dimension to refurbish any brand of grand piano from one stock-set of hammer assembly components.

Hammer assembly for grand piano

Damper lever flange for grand piano

Damper lever for grand piano

A universal grand piano piano action that has adjustable connections between the repetition base, heel, and rest cushion bracket of the piano action to provide a piano action that can be adjusted to fit any grand piano. Other components of the grand piano piano action, such as the jack and flanges, may require specific design and manufacture for each brand of grand piano. Universal grand piano piano action also allows true simultaneous half stroke keyboard design for both the white and sharp keys of a piano and includes the methods for installing simultaneous half stroke keyboard design into a grand piano.

Universal grand piano piano action with simultaneous half stroke keyboard design capability

A hammer shank and a separate shank butt component for a grand piano hammer assembly with increased rigidity, reduced inertia, and the collateral benefits of increased efficiency of manufacture and maintenance. Hammer shank comprises a long cylindrical member that is connected at one end to a traditional grand piano hammer and at the other end to a novel shank butt. Shank butt comprises: a hammer shank hole, a knuckle slot, a set of two flange attachment holes, and a void area. A traditional grand piano knuckle is attached to the knuckle slot. The shank butt is connected to the repetition flange of the piano. The invention provides the capability for a piano to be played with less touch weight on the keys and therefore provides a more responsive piano keyboard. The invention also allows for full 'retrofitability' of hammer assembly into all existing grand piano brands. Embodiments include a composite shank butt that is a molded article and a composite hammer shank that is an extruded or molded article.

Hammer shank and shank butt for piano

Composite or plastic molded articles used in a grand piano piano action. The articles make up a piano action with less dynamic mass which is, thus, more responsive to the piano player. In addition, the new action provides the extremely valuable collateral benefits of increased efficiency of manufacture and maintenance. Low inertia grand piano piano action comprises a repetition base with one or more of the following: an angled main beam, an angled balancier support beam, an integrated jack button stop, and a means to optionally connect a rest cushion assembly. Low inertia grand piano piano action may also comprise a heel with extremely low mass.

Low inertia grand piano piano action

For use with a key in a keyboard instrument, a solenoid mounting apparatus for releasably securing solenoid assemblies has a mounting rail with essentially flat first and second faces, first and second end edges, and first and second mounting edges. Solenoid assembly securing channels are formed into each mounting edge. Included in the solenoid assemblies are brackets for retaining each of the solenoids to the rail and a threaded member for releasably anchoring each bracket to either of the channels.

Solenoid mounting apparatus

A solenoid mounting system for attaching keyboard striking solenoid assemblies to a keyboard musical instrument is disclosed. Provided is a mounting rail having a top border, a bottom border, a front mounting rail surface, a back mounting rail surface, and two opposing end borders. Adjustably clamped to the top and bottom borders of the mounting rail are solenoid assemblies. The rail and associated solenoid assemblies are adjustably secured to the instrument proximate the keyboard.

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Sacramento, CA, United States of America

Kirk Burgett