DAMPER FOR PIANO

Abstract

A damper for a piano, which has a bifurcated damper felt of which a space between two protrusions is difficult to be narrowed. A damper head extends along three strings in a lengthwise direction thereof and is movable in directions in which the damper moves into and out of contact with the three strings. Damper felt is attached to a string-side surface of the damper head such that it extends in a lengthwise direction of the damper head, and includes two protrusions formed to protrude toward the strings in a bifurcated manner such that they can be brought into contact with the three strings in a state inserted into respective spaces therebetween. The damper felt is attached to the damper head such that deformation of the damper felt in which a space between the two protrusions is narrowed is resisted.

Claims

1. A damper for a piano, which moves into and out of contact with three strings extending in parallel with a space therebetween and configured in association with a single key, in a manner interlocked with depression of the key, to thereby stop and allow vibration of the strings, comprising: a damper head extending along the three strings in a lengthwise direction of the strings and configured to be movable in directions in which the damper moves into and out of contact with the three strings; and damper felt attached to a side of the damper head, toward the strings, and extending in a lengthwise direction of the damper head, the damper felt having two protrusions which protrude toward the strings in a bifurcated manner and are configured such that the protrusions can be brought into contact with the three strings in a state inserted into respective spaces between the three strings, wherein the damper felt is attached to the damper head such that deformation of the damper felt in which a space between the two protrusions is narrowed is resisted.

2. The damper for a piano, according to claim 1, wherein an attaching surface of the damper head to which the damper felt is attached has a cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the lengthwise direction of the damper head, which is convex, protruding toward the strings, and wherein the damper felt in a state before attachment to the damper head has a flat attached surface to be attached to the attaching surface.

3. The damper for a piano, according to claim 2, wherein the cross-sectional shape of the attaching surface of the damper head is a V shape, a trapezoidal shape, or an arcuate shape.

4. The damper for a piano, according to claim 1, further comprising an interposing member to be attached in a state interposed between the damper head and the damper felt, and wherein an attaching surface of the interposing member, to which the damper felt is attached, has a cross-sectional shape orthogonal to the lengthwise direction of the damper head, which is convex, protruding toward the strings, and wherein the damper felt in a state before attachment to the damper head has a flat attached surface to be attached to the attaching surface of the interposing member.

5. The damper for a piano, according to claim 1, wherein the attaching surface of the damper head, to which the damper felt is attached, is formed flat, wherein the damper felt in a state before attachment to the damper head has an attached surface to be attached to the attaching surface, and wherein the attached surface has a flat portion located in a central part thereof and extending in a lengthwise direction of the dumper head and a pair of left and right sloped portions which are continuous with left and right opposite ends of the flat portion 4b and are sloped downward as the sloped portions extend outward.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] FIG. 1A is a perspective view of a damper for a piano, according to a first embodiment of the present invention, together with three strings whose sounding is stopped by the damper.

[0021] FIG. 1B is a front view of the damper shown in FIG. 1A.

[0022] FIGS. 2A to 2C are views showing parts of the damper in a state before assembly, in which FIG. 2A shows a damper head, FIG. 2B shows under felt, and FIG. 2C shows damper felt.

[0023] FIGS. 3A to 3C are views useful in explaining a procedure for assembling the damper.

[0024] FIGS. 4A to 4C are views showing variations of the damper according to the first embodiment of the present embodiment.

[0025] FIG. 5A is a perspective view of the damper for a piano, according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] FIG. 5B is a perspective view of a damper according to a variation.

[0027] FIGS. 6A and 6B are views useful in explaining a damper for a piano, according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 6A shows the damper in a state before assembly, and FIG. 6B shows the damper in a state after assembly.

[0028] FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a conventional damper for a piano, together with three strings whose sounding is stopped by the damper.

[0029] FIG. 7B is a front view of the damper shown in FIG. 7A.

[0030] FIG. 8 is a view showing the conventional damper for a piano, together with the three strings whose sounding is stopped by the damper, in a state in which sounding of two strings on opposite sides cannot be stopped due to aging of damper felt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing preferred embodiments thereof. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a damper for a grand piano, according to a first embodiment of the present invention, together with three strings whose sounding is stopped by the damper. The damper 1 shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is associated with a set of middle/high-pitched sound strings S, i.e. three strings S (a left string S1, a middle string S2, and a right strings S3), and has the same construction as that of the damper 11 described hereinabove. More specifically, the damper 1 is comprised of a damper head 2 and two (front and rear) pieces of damper felt 4 and 4 attached to the bottom surface of the damper head 2 via respective pieces of under felt 3. Note that the three strings S1, S2, and S3 are stretched such that they each extend horizontally in the front-rear direction side by side with a predetermined space therebetween in the left-right direction.

[0032] The damper head 2 is made e.g. of wood or a synthetic resin and is formed into a block shape extending in the front-rear direction over a predetermined length (e.g. 40 mm) and having a mountain shape in side view and a predetermined lateral width (e.g. 10.5 mm). The damper head 2A has a bottom surface 2a (attaching surface) of the damper head 2 formed into a convex shape, more specifically, a V shape protruding downward, in cross section orthogonal to the lengthwise direction of the damper head 2, over the entire longitudinal length thereof. Bonded to the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 are two (front and rear) pieces of under felt 3 and 3 each made e.g. of red felt and formed with a predetermined thickness (e.g. 1 mm) into a V shape in cross section along the bottom surface 2a. The pieces of damper felt 4 and 4 are bonded to the lower surfaces of the respective pieces of under felt 3 and 3.

[0033] Each piece of damper felt 4 extends along the damper head 2 in the lengthwise direction thereof and has a predetermined length which is smaller than half of the length of the damper head 2. Further, the damper felt 4 protrudes downward toward the strings S in a bifurcated shape to form two protrusions (a left protrusion 4L and a right protrusion 4R) such that the protrusions can be brought into contact with the strings S in a state inserted into respective spaces between the three strings S.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 1B, each of the left protrusion 4L and the right protrusion 4R of the damper felt 4 is formed to have a lateral width progressively reduced downward, and the width of a lower end thereof is set to be smaller than the distance between adjacent two of the strings S. Further, a distance D between the lower ends of the respective left and right protrusions 4L and 4R is set to be larger than the diameter of the string S. Furthermore, an upper surface 4a (attached surface) of the damper felt 4 is formed along the shape of the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 and that of the under felt 3 into a V shape in front view. Specifically, in the upper surface 4a of the damper felt 4, portions located immediately upward of the respective left and right protrusions 4L and 4R slope upward as they extend outward (leftward and rightward, respectively, as viewed in FIG. 1B).

[0035] Now, a description will be given, with reference to FIGS. 2A to 2C and 3A to 3C, of a procedure for manufacturing the damper 1. First, the damper head 2, the under felt 3, and the damper felt 4 are prepared, as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C. In this case, the damper head 2 is formed such that the entire bottom surface 2a in the lengthwise direction (i.e. in the direction toward the far side in FIG. 2A) has the V shape in cross section. As for the under felt 3, two pieces each having the same length as the damper felt 4 are prepared by cutting felt formed in an elongated shape, as required. Further, as for the damper felt 4, two pieces are prepared each of which has the same construction as the conventional damper felt 4, i.e. each of which protrudes downward in a bifurcated shape and has an upper surface 4a formed flat. Note that in this damper felt 4, a distance d between the lower ends of the respective left and right protrusion 4L and 4R is set to be smaller than the distance D set when the damper felt 4 is attached to the damper head 2.

[0036] Next, as shown in FIG. 3A and 3B, the under felt 3 is bonded to the entire upper surface 4a of the damper felt 4 (FIG. 3A) or to a predetermined position of the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 (FIG. 3B). Then, the upper surface 4a of the damper felt 4 is bonded to the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 via the under felt 3, as shown in FIG. 3C. In this case, in the damper felt 4, the portions located immediately upward of the respective left and right protrusions 4L and 4R are pulled upward toward the damper head 2. This caused stress indicated by hollow arrows in FIG. 3C to act on the damper felt 4. As a consequence, it is possible to suppress narrowing of the space between the left and right protrusions 4L and 4R of the damper felt 4.

[0037] As described above, according to the present embodiment, while the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 is formed in the V shape protruding downward, the damper felt 4 is formed to have a flat upper surface 4a in a state before attachment to the damper head 2 and is attached to the damper head 2, with the upper surface 4a deformed into the V shape along the shape of the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2. In other words, the damper felt 4 is attached to the damper head 2 such that deformation of the damper felt 4 in which the space between the left and right protrusions 4L and 4R is narrowed is resisted. This makes it possible to make the space between the left and right protrusions 4L and 4R of the damper felt 4 difficult to be narrowed, to thereby enable the damper 1 to stably perform proper sounding stop operation over a long term.

[0038] FIGS. 4A to 4C show variations of the above-described damper 1, or specifically, dampers adopting respective damper heads 2 having respective different types of bottom surfaces 2a each formed in a convex shape protruding downward. In a damper 1A according to a first variation shown in FIG. 4A, the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 is formed in a trapezoidal shape, and in a damper 1B according to a second variation shown in FIG. 4B, the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 is formed in an arcuate shape. Therefore, in each of the dampers 1A and 1B, the under felt 3 and the upper surface 4a of the damper felt 4 are attached to the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 along the shape of the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2.

[0039] Further, in a damper 1C according to a third variation shown in FIG. 3C, the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 is formed flat as in the conventional damper head, and an interposing member 3 in a convex shape protruding downward is provided between the damper head 2 and the damper felt 4. The interposing member 3 is made of the same felt as the under felt 3 of the damper 1 described hereinabove, or of a synthetic resin or the like, and has an upper surface formed flat and a bottom surface formed in a V shape in cross section.

[0040] Similar to the damper 1, described hereinabove, each of the above-described dampers 1A, 1B, and 1C makes it possible to make the space between the left and right protrusions 4L and 4R of the damper felt 4 difficult to be narrowed, to thereby enable stable proper sounding stop operation to be performed over a long term.

[0041] Although in the first embodiment, the damper 1 is provided with the two pieces of damper felt 4 and 4 each formed in a bifurcated shape as shown in FIG. 5A, the present invention is not limited to this, but for example, as illustrated by a damper 1D according to a fourth variation shown in FIG. 5B, a damper may be provided with two (front and rear) pieces of damper felt such that only one damper felt 4 is formed in a bifurcated shape, and the other damper felt 4 has a bottom surface formed flat. In this damper 1D, only a portion, where the damper felt 4 having a bifurcated shape is attached, of the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 is formed in the convex shape protruding downward as described hereinabove.

[0042] FIGS. 6A and 6B show a damper according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A shows the damper in a state before assembly, and FIG. 6B shows the damper in a state after assembly. As shown in FIG. 6A, this damper 1E is distinguished from the damper 1 of the first embodiment by the shape of the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 and that of the upper surface 4a of the damper felt 4.

[0043] More specifically, in the damper 1E, the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 is formed flat. On the other hand, the upper surface 4a of the damper felt 4 is comprised of a flat portion 4b formed flat and a pair of left and right sloped portions 4c and 4c which are continuous with respective left and right opposite ends of the flat portion 4b and are sloped downward as they extend outward (leftward and rightward, as viewed in FIG. 6A) from the flat portion 4b. The flat portion 4b is located in a central part of the upper surface 4a of the damper felt 4 and extends along the damper head 2 in the lengthwise direction thereof. The pair of left and right sloped portions 4c and 4c each extend along the damper head 2 in the lengthwise direction thereof similar to the flat portion 4b and are located immediately upward of the respective left and right protrusions 4L and 4R.

[0044] In a state where the upper surface 4a of the damper felt 4 is attached to the bottom surface 2a of the damper head 2 via the under felt 3, the flat portion 4b and the two sloped portions 4c and 4c are flush with each other as shown in FIG. 6B. In this case, as in the first embodiment described hereinabove, stress indicated by hollow arrows in FIG. 6B acts on the damper felt 4. As a consequence, it is possible to suppress narrowing of the space between the left and right protrusions 4L and 4R of the damper felt 4. Therefore, the damper 1E of the present embodiment can provide the same advantageous effect as provided by the damper 1 of the first embodiment.

[0045] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but it can be practiced in various forms. For example, although in each of the embodiments, the damper for a grand piano is described, it is to be understood that the present invention is also applicable to a damper for an upright piano. Further, in the damper 1 of the first embodiment, the same damper felt as the conventional one having a flat upper surface can be used as the damper felt 4, and in the damper 1E of the second embodiment, the same damper head as the conventional one having a flat bottom surface can be used as the damper head 2. This makes it possible to provide a damper of the present invention while suppressing increase in manufacturing costs by using the existing damper felt or the existing damper head. Furthermore, the construction of details of each of the damper 1, the damper head 2, the under felt 3, and the damper felt 4 in the embodiments is described only by way of example, and it can be modified, as desired, within the scope of the subject matter of the present invention.