Music – Instruments – Wind
Patent
1989-03-01
1990-09-18
Brown, Brian W.
Music
Instruments
Wind
G10D 702
Patent
active
049570293
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention concerns a wind instrument action comprising keys turnably pivoted relative to the body of the music instrument and by which holes provided in said body can be opened and closed at the player's option for producing notes of various pitch.
The group of wind instruments fitted with keys include the flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and saxophone. These instruments have a tubular body provided with holes which used to be made of wood but for which nowadays, depending on the particular instrument, also other materials are used, particularly metal. The sound of the instrument is generated by the air column vibrating within the tubular body, its length, which varies in accordance with the selection of opened and closed holes, determining the pitch in each instance.
The return of the keys to their initial position after the player ceases to depress them has been accomplished with the aid of springs in existing wind instruments. These springs are encumbered by the drawback that they are subject to fatigue in use in the course of time so that their resetting force diminishes. As a consequence the playing properties of the instrument change, and the springs have to be replaced when their reset has become weak enough. New springs restore the original properties of the instrument, but these too require renewed coaching up on the player's part.
The object of the present invention is to constitute a wind instrument action provided with a novel key resetting mechanism in which the drawbacks initially mentioned are avoided. The invention is characterized in that the action comprises keys which have been fitted with magnets so that the magnet returns any flap that has turned to its original position when the player ceases to depress the key or the touch acting thereon.
Magnets present the essential advantage over the springs used heretofore that they are virtually fatigue-free, that is their resetting force does not deteriorate with time. This means that the need of renewal is avoided and that the playing characteristics of the instrument, i.e., the forces with which the player has to press the keys or their touches against the effect of said magnets, undergo no change. Furthermore, the use of magnets reduces the friction occurring in the action, and the non-linear attraction or repulsion between magnets gives the player a more precise feel than before of the operation of the action.
By using magnets instead of springs the further advantage is gained that the construction of the instrument's action is simplified and its assembly becomes easier. The manufacturing cost of the instrument will also be lower since magnets are substantially less expensive than springs.
According to the invention one may use for magnets either magnets which attract each other or magnets which repel each other. The magnets are so selected that they replace the springs heretofore employed in such actions, without changing the individual mode of operation of each instrument's action. Thus, the action may comprise magnets which have been disposed to keep the key open (so-called open key), in which case on depression of the key the key closes against the hole in the body and opens under effect of the magnet when the pressure ends. The action may similarly comprise magnets which keep the key closed against the hole in the body (so-called closed key), in which case the key opens on pressing the touch which acts on it, and closes under effect of magnets after the pressure has ceased.
The mechanism of the invention is advantageously a flute mechanism comprising open keys fitted with magnets, said keys producing (when closed) the notes C, C sharp, D sharp, E, F, F sharp, G sharp A, B flat and C.sup.2, and closed keys fitted with magnets, producing the notes D, D.sup.2 and D.sup.2 sharp. The last-mentioned two closed keys are then so-called trill keys.
In the action of the invention one may furthermore advantageously implement the arrangement in which with an open key held open by a magnet is coupled, over a separate magnet, another key i
REFERENCES:
patent: 1119954 (1914-12-01), Haynes
patent: 1705634 (1929-03-01), Bettoney
patent: 2226536 (1940-12-01), Selmer
patent: 2976756 (1961-03-01), Schwarzbaur
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