Music – Instruments – Automatic
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-23
2001-07-31
Nappi, Robert E. (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Automatic
C084S095200, C084S094100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06268554
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to ornamental music boxes and similar musical displays utilizing a wind-up spring motor or electric motor to drive an actuating drum which engages a comb structure made of an array of slim vibratile reeds to make music by causing the slim vibratile reeds to vibrate. More specifically, the present invention addresses the problem of how to secure multiple combs to engage a single actuator drum to produce aesthetically pleasing duets, such as “Row, row, row you're boat” or “Are you sleeping, Brother John?”
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many people enjoy music boxes, and there are so many kinds available. The typical music box includes an ornamental display such as a scene with figurines in a water filled globe, or as a box having pictures and/or other visual curiosities to admire. Furthermore, the typical music box produces a melody to add an auditory dimension to the aesthetic experience wherein the visual and auditory aspects of the music box generally share a common theme, for example, such as a Christmas scene with the music “Silent night” played. One commonly known and exemplary music box structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,388. As shown in
FIG. 8
, a common music box
900
has a housing
905
, a frame
910
usually made of plastic or a metal such as a zinc alloy and placed inside of the housing
905
, a comb mounting structure
911
formed integrally with the frame
910
, a comb
920
mounted on the comb mounting structure
911
and secured by screws
930
. The comb
920
is usually made of metal or plastic and includes a plurality of vibratile reeds
921
for producing a melody in a single key when activated by the drum activator
940
. In addition, the music box
900
has a motor
980
, either powered by a wind-up spring or by an electric motor, connected to a drive
960
for rotating a drum actuator
940
disposed on the drive
960
like a wheel on an axle. Furthermore, the drive
960
may be connected by a series of gears such as
950
and
951
for transmitting power from the motor to other movable mechanisms (not shown). A limitation to this style of music box is that it has only one drum and one comb, and therefore can not play more complex music such as duets.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,570,976 evinces one solution to the challange of making a music box to play a duet by placing two complete music generating assemblies into the housing, wherein each music generating assembly has its own spring motor, drum actuator, comb and comb mount; however, major drawbacks to this solution include a substantially increased production cost and the need for the music box to be rather large in size. Another music box capable of playing duets is evinced by U.S. Pat. No. 356,251 which uses two drums with two combs engaging each drum such that two combs are arranged contiguously in the same plane and on one side of each drum. Similarily, the drawback to this music box is the large size resulting from the long actuator drums. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 593,761 discloses a music box having two combs, each on a separate comb mount, for engaging a star-wheel such that each comb has the same pitch to simultaneously sound a tone with the other comb. Again, the drawback of the music box disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 593,761 is the large amount of space required to accomodate a second comb mount disposed next to a first comb mount for the benefit of having a second comb engage an actuating device such as a star-wheel or a drum actuator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art music boxes as previously described.
It is another object of the present invention to produce a music box that plays a duet.
It is another object of the present invention to produce a duet playing music box that is space efficient.
It is another object of the present invention to produce a duet playing music box that is inexpensive to manufacture.
The specific feature of the present invention for achieving the desired objectives is an improved comb mounting apparatus for mounting a plurality of musical combs to a frame for operationally engaging an actuator drum having a plurality of projections for striking the vibratile teeth of each of the plurality of combs mounted by the comb mounting apparatus. Each of the combs are stacked vertially above the frame and oriented along a radius of the actuator drum so that each of the plurality of projections of the actuator drum will tangentially engage in a sequence the teeth of each of the plurality of combs to produce music in one or several keys to mimic a duet.
REFERENCES:
patent: 356251 (1887-01-01), Junod
patent: 593761 (1897-11-01), Brachhausen
patent: 595901 (1897-12-01), Brachhausen
patent: 2570976 (1951-10-01), Patz
patent: 3016783 (1962-01-01), Karraker
patent: 4418603 (1983-12-01), Isaka
patent: 5235123 (1993-08-01), Chiang
patent: 5721388 (1998-02-01), Shih
patent: 5973240 (2000-04-01), Isaka
patent: 6051763 (2000-04-01), Poux
patent: 78218 (1894-11-01), None
Ashton Wesley Scott
Lockett Kim
Nappi Robert E.
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