The Wurlitzer Company

Robert S Hill

George S Klaiber

Stanley A Grajek

Lewis F Herwig

A soundboard for a piano comprises three plies of wood bonded together, the front and back plies being of substantially equal thickness and the center ply being of a thickness greater than the sum of the thicknesses of the front and back plies. The center ply comprises a plurality of elongate boards each having a preselected curvature from side-to-side, these boards are bonded together edge-to-edge with the curvature of each board in the same direction to form a composite board having a substantially continuous curvature, concave on one side and convex on the other side. Consequently, the assembled, three-ply soundboard has a curvature imparted thereto by the center ply.

Piano soundboard and method of making same

A bass bridge for a piano is provided wherein a runner is fixed to the soundboard, an apron is fixed to the runner and is cantilevered therefrom along one edge, and a bridge cap is fixed to the other edge. The runner and apron have a plurality of slots extending therethrough substantially perpendicular with the bridge cap.

Piano soundboard

A soundboard for pianos is provided which is of laminated construction, comprising three plies. The top and bottom plies are of equal thickness and lie in planes parallel to one another. The grains of these plies are also parallel to one another. The center ply is of greater thickness than the sum of the outer plies, but of less thickness than twice the sum of the two outer plies. The grain of the center or core ply is at right angles to the grains of the two outer plies.

A sostenuto piano action is provided for upright pianos. Each damper is provided at the top rear thereof with a rubber fitting having a catcher flange or tab thereon. A pivoted sostenuto knife similar to that in a grand piano has a blade thereon which, upon pivoting of the sostenuto knife, will catch or engage the catcher tab or flange of each fitting to retain retracted such dampers as are in retracted position. With the knife pivoted to sostenuto position and additional notes played thereafter the flanges will bump the backside of the knife, but will not be caught. Spring biased elbows or hinges are provided in the damper levers to allow 'breaking' of the levers at such time so as to avoid providing a strange feel to the pianist. The rubber nature of the fitting prevents any noise at such time.

Growing community of inventors

Holly Springs, MS, United States of America

Robert S Hill