Music – Instruments – Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-28
2001-12-25
Nappi, Robert E. (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Stringed
C084S290000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06333454
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates in general to stringed musical instruments, and more particularly to an acoustic support structure for stringed musical instruments.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The manufacture of wooden musical instruments by conventional methods is both expensive and time-consuming. Typically, wooden musical instruments are made of many different components which must be first manufactured and then assembled by skilled workers, thereby increasing manufacturing expense.
Prior art stringed musical instruments have been devised to address these problems. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,396,823 (Hoshino) discloses a guitar that is made largely of plastic. A typical guitar would include a soundbox, and a neck extending therefrom to a head. The soundbox includes a wooden side, an adjoining wooden back portion, and a wooden soundboard on top of the side opposite to the back portion. In Hoshino, the side and back portion are integrally formed of plastic as a single piece. This considerably reduces manufacturing time and expense. However, the resulting guitar may suffer in terms of both its appearance and acoustic properties.
Accordingly, a stringed musical instrument that retains the desirable acoustic characteristics resulting from a wooden construction, but is less expensive and time-consuming to manufacture, is desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of one aspect of the present invention is to provide an improved stringed musical instrument.
In accordance with this aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stringed musical instrument comprising a soundbox. The soundbox has a back, a side adjoining the back to define a hollow interior, a soundboard covering the hollow interior, and a soundboard support structure including a plurality of kerfing members for securing the soundboard on the side opposite the back to cover the hollow interior, and a plurality of bracing members for reinforcing the soundboard. The soundboard support structure includes a plurality of adjoining members selected from the group consisting of the plurality of kerfing members and the plurality of bracing members. The plurality of adjoining members are integrally formed as a single piece of hardenable plastic material.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an improved method of manufacturing a stringed musical instrument having a sound box. The soundbox has a back, a side adjoining the back to define a hollow interior, and a soundboard covering the hollow interior. The method comprises forming a soundboard support structure for supporting the soundboard on the soundbox. The soundboard support structure includes a plurality of kerfing members for securing the soundboard on the side opposite the back to cover the hollow interior, a plurality of bracing members for reinforcing the soundboard, and a plurality of adjoining members selected from the group consisting of the plurality of kerfing members and the plurality of bracing members, the plurality of adjoining members being formed as a single piece of a hardenable plastic material. The method further comprises the steps of shaping the back, the side and the soundboard of the soundbox to substantially conform to a dimension of the single piece of a hardenable plastic material, securing the soundboard on the side using the soundboard support structure, and securing the back on the side opposite the soundboard.
Preferably, the hardenable plastic material is a thermoplastic polymer. Preferably, this thermoplastic polymer is polyurethane containing a plurality of half inch glass fibres.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1768261 (1930-06-01), Larson
patent: 3685385 (1972-08-01), Rendell
patent: 3892159 (1975-07-01), Houtsma
patent: 4079654 (1978-03-01), Kasha
patent: 4084475 (1978-04-01), Horowitz
patent: 4178827 (1979-12-01), Mallory
patent: 4213370 (1980-07-01), Jones
patent: 4291606 (1981-09-01), Lepage
patent: 4429608 (1984-02-01), Kaman et al.
patent: 4836076 (1989-06-01), Bernier
patent: 4881441 (1989-11-01), Larsen
patent: 5396823 (1995-03-01), Hoshino
patent: 5406874 (1995-04-01), Witchel
patent: 5467770 (1995-11-01), Taylor
patent: 5469770 (1995-11-01), Taylor
patent: 5945614 (1999-08-01), White
patent: 0169155 A (1986-01-01), None
patent: 2563361 A (1985-10-01), None
Dinesh Agarwal, P.C.
Griffiths Guitar International Ltd.
Lockett Kim
Nappi Robert E.
LandOfFree
Acoustic support structure for stringed musical instruments... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Acoustic support structure for stringed musical instruments..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Acoustic support structure for stringed musical instruments... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2559576