Music – Instruments – Wind
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-09
2001-06-05
Hsieh, Shih-Yung (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Wind
C084S384000, C084S453000, C084S458000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06242678
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a musical instrument open hole tone hole cup plug, plug removal/storage tool, and a kit including a set of plugs and the removal/storage device.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Tone hole cups are that part of a wind instrument which cover the tone holes. Musical instruments such as flutes are available in two varieties, closed hole (also called the “American” style) and open hole or “French” cup style. The French or open hole style (i.e., cups with holes in them) are often preferred by more advanced musicians who perform “half holing”, an advanced playing technique. Musicians who are beginning to learn this advanced technique often use removable open hole cup plugs which fit in the open hole cups and seal the open hole. When the musician wishes to practice more advanced techniques, he or she removes the plugs.
The use of removable open hole cup plugs is also advantageous from an inventory and cost standpoint, since a flute manufacturer can sell open hole cup flutes in combination with a set of plugs, and then the consumer can use the flute either as a closed hole cup style flute or as a French, open hole cup style flute.
In the prior art, the open hole cup plugs were typically made of either cork or silicone. There are several disadvantages associated with these types of plugs.
First, they are not very aesthetically pleasing. A high quality flute can be quite expensive and a silicone or cork open hole cup plug can seriously detract from the overall high quality appearance of the flute.
Second, in high quality flutes and other wind instruments, the goal is to achieve a certain resonance and pitch of each tone hole via quality cup pad materials precisely oriented in the cups. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,183,954 and 5,339,719 incorporated herein by this reference. But, cork and silicone open cup hole plugs have been found to adversely affect the resonance qualities of the musical instrument.
Third, in the prior art, there are no convenient means for storing the plugs and thus they were often lost or misplaced. Contributing to this fact is that in order to remove a cork or silicone plug, the musician is required to push the plug down through the tone hole and then shake the plug out of the end of the musical instrument.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an aesthetically pleasing, high quality open hole cup plug.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such an open hole cup plug which does not adversely affect the resonance and pitch of the musical instrument.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a combined plug removal and plug storage tool.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a musical instrument open hole cup kit which includes a combined plug remover and plug storage tool incorporating therewith a number of high quality, aesthetically pleasing open hole cup plugs.
It is a further object of this invention to provide such a kit which prevents the loss or misplacement of open hole cup plugs of any configuration.
This invention results from the realization that a more aesthetically pleasing and robust musical instrument open hole cup plug which does not adversely affect the resonance of the cup and which effectively seals the open hole in the cup is achieved by spaced upper and lower circular metal plates, an elastomeric member between the plates for sealing the open hole in the cup, and a sealing surface on the upper plate configured to seat the upper plate flush with the cup. Such a well seated plug must be carefully removed from the cup and thus the invention further features a plug removal tool with orifices therein which function to conveniently store the plugs once they are removed from the musical instrument. In the preferred embodiment, the musician is provided with a kit which includes the plug removal tool and a number of plugs storable thereon.
This invention features a musical instrument open hole cup plug kit including a plurality of open hole cup plugs and a plug removal/storage tool. In the preferred embodiment, each plug includes spaced upper and lower circular plates wherein the upper plate includes a lower seating surface for aesthetically positioning the upper plate over the open hole. An elastomeric member is disposed between the upper and lower plates for sealing the open hole. The plug removal/storage tool includes a body including on a distal end thereof a protrusion, and a plurality of orifices in the body along the length thereof for storing the open hole cup plugs therein.
In the preferred embodiment, each plug further includes a stem connected on one end to the upper plate and connected on the other end to the lower plate and an O-ring disposed about the stem. A depression is preferably formed in an upper surface of the upper plate. The upper plate of the plug typically has a diameter greater than the diameter of the elastomeric member and the elastomeric member has a diameter greater than the diameter of the lower plate of the plug. The lower seating surface of the upper plate of the plug has a radius configured to position the upper plate flush within a cup.
The distal end of the body of the tool is typically enlarged to span a tone hole rim and the body of the tool has a length greatly exceeding its thickness. Usually, the orifices in the tool extend completely through the thickness of the body and typically there are five such orifices.
This invention also features a novel musical instrument open hole cup plug with spaced upper and lower circular plates, the upper plate including a lower seating surface for aesthetically positioning the upper plate over the open hole; and an elastomeric member disposed between the upper and lower plates for sealing the open hole. This plug configuration is useful both as a component of the kit discussed above and also separate and apart from the tool and the kit.
This invention also features a musical instrument open hole cup plug removal and storage tool which preferably is used in connection with the plug described above but which also can be used in connection with prior art cork and silicone plugs. The tool has a body including on a distal end thereof a protrusion; and a plurality of orifices in the body along the length thereof for receiving and orderly retaining open hole plugs therein removed from the open hole cups when the distal end of the body is placed between a tone hole rim and an open hole cup and the protrusion is used to dislodge the plug from the cup.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4315339 (1982-02-01), Lightner
patent: 5183954 (1993-02-01), Wasser
patent: 5297466 (1994-03-01), Wasser
patent: 5320460 (1994-06-01), Murakami et al.
patent: 5339719 (1994-08-01), Wasser
patent: 5381718 (1995-01-01), Wasser
patent: 5469771 (1995-11-01), Wasser
patent: 6034312 (2000-03-01), Lubell et al.
Hsieh Shih-yung
Iandiorio & Teska
Verne Q. Powell Flutes, Inc.
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