EP0431344B1 - Recorder mouth piece with adjustable wind channel - Google Patents

Abstract

In a recorder mouthpiece, the fipple has an upper section, pointing towards the interior of the mouthpiece, which is pivotably mounted and is adjustable in the vertical direction by means of an adjusting spindle which is guided out of the recorder mouthpiece. In this recorder mouthpiece, the size of the flue can be varied by means of the adjustable section, and hence fine tuning of the sound of the recorder can be achieved. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a flute mouthpiece (according to the preamble of claim 1).

Mouthpieces of this type are generally known, particularly in the case of recorders. The core of these flute mouthpieces is usually made of cedar wood. After playing the recorder for a long time, the moisture escaping from the mouth of the flute player during swelling can cause the mouthpiece to swell, so that the dimensions of the core gap formed in the mouthpiece can change, which leads to a change in the sound quality and the sound of the flute. The result is that the sound of the flute changes disadvantageously with increasing playing time. A frequently practicing musician must therefore have a plurality of flutes in order to obtain a reasonably constant sound quality by changing the instruments over his entire practice period.

It is therefore the object of the invention to design a flute mouthpiece of the type specified in such a way that even sound quality is obtained over a longer playing time.

This object is achieved according to the invention (characterizing part of claim 1).

The possibility given in the flute mouthpiece of the invention to vertically pivot the upper section of the core facing the inside of the mouthpiece makes it possible for the first time to change the vertical dimension of the core column in a particularly simple manner. This changeability of the vertical dimension allows the musician to swell of the mouthpiece by simple vertical adjustment of the pivotable section to restore the original optimal dimensions of the core column and thus to achieve the desired sound quality again.

Due to the variability of the vertical core gap dimension, and thus the position of the inner upper edge of the core, given the flute mouthpiece according to the invention, the characteristic of the flute mouthpiece can also be fundamentally changed, for example, a so-called "wide construction" can be achieved if the upper mouthpiece inside Edge of the core is set to a level which is deeper than the labium edge, or, for example, a "narrow construction" can be achieved if the upper, inner edge of the core on the mouthpiece is moved into a plane that is approximately common with the labium edge.

The idea of the invention thus consists in designing the top edge of the core on the inside of the mouthpiece of a flute mouthpiece to be vertically adjustable, so that the vertical dimension of the core column can be individually selected and adjusted by the musician.

Basically, the upper surface of the core can be bendable, but according to claim 2, an advantageous embodiment is such that the pivotable section of the core is an insert piece stored in the core. This has the advantage that the production is considerably simplified and the adjustable flute mouthpiece can be manufactured inexpensively.

A particularly simple and advantageous embodiment of the adjustment actuation is specified in claim 3, the adjustment rod advantageously being inserted into the insert piece from below through the openings after the core has been inserted into the mouthpiece.

This is done in a particularly advantageous manner in the embodiment according to claim 4 by screwing the screw into the insert from below. In this embodiment, by using the elastic property of the simultaneously sealing elastic insert, a spring force is generated which brings the screw with its head into contact with the lower outer surface of the mouthpiece body. By screwing in the screw, an expansion of the core gap against the spring force of the elastic insert is made possible. When the screw is unscrewed, the spring force narrows the core gap.

The embodiment according to claim 5 is particularly cost-effective since only the pivotable section of the core made of wood, preferably of cedar wood or an even harder wood or a suitable synthetic material, must be formed in order to achieve the essential property of the selected wood or synthetic material in this area To exploit material, namely to ensure the absorption of moisture in the breathing air with a low tendency to swell. The rest of the core can then consist, for example, of a plastic that is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

The special design of the pivotable section and the core body described in claim 6 has the advantage of simple manufacture while at the same time ensuring a transition zone between the upper surface of the core body and the upper surface of the pivotable section that is as trouble-free as possible. This configuration makes it possible to avoid unwanted detachment of the overall flow on the upper surface of the core.

The embodiment according to claim 7 allows the mouthpiece to be cleaned in a particularly advantageous manner. In the embodiment according to claim 8, it is advantageous that only the inner area delimiting the core gaps must be made of wood, while the remaining area can be made of another material, for example plastic. In order to reliably avoid tension in the wooden insert when fastening the mouthpiece cover, an elastic insert is advantageously inserted between the wooden insert and the base of the recess in the mouthpiece cover. Due to the elastic insert, uneven force effects on the wooden insert resulting from the attachment of the mouthpiece cover can be compensated. It is also particularly advantageous here if the wooden insert is made from cedar wood.

Fig. 1

einen vertikalen Längsschnitt durch ein Flötenmundstück nach der Erfindung,

Fig. 2

einen Querschnitt entlang der Linie A-A in Blickrichtung der Pfeile und

Fig. 3

einen Ausschnitt aus dem Längsschnitt der Fig. 1 im Bereich der Schwenklagerung.

The invention is explained in more detail below using an example with reference to the drawing. In this shows:

Fig. 1

a vertical longitudinal section through a flute mouthpiece according to the invention,

Fig. 2

a cross-section along the line AA in the direction of the arrows and

Fig. 3

a section of the longitudinal section of FIG. 1 in the region of the pivot bearing.

Figure 1 shows a flute mouthpiece 1, which has a longitudinal bore 11. On the side of the lip attachment, a core 2 is only partially inserted into the longitudinal bore 11. The core 2 lies directly on the wall of the longitudinal bore 11 over approximately three quarters of its circumference. Only the top surface 22 of the core is from the wall surface 16 of the longitudinal bore 11 spaced in this area, so that between the upper surface 22 of the core 2 and the wall surface 16 a wind tunnel designated as core gap 3 is formed. This wind tunnel has a blow-in opening 30 at the lip-side end of the mouthpiece and a blow-out opening 31 at its mouth-side end.

In the area of the blow-out opening 31 and thus at the same time in the area of the end of the core 2 on the inside of the mouthpiece, an upward-directed radial opening, which is referred to as a cut-up 12, is provided in the mouthpiece body 10. The cold cut 12 is delimited on its side opposite the blow-out opening 31 by a labium 13 whose labium edge 14 delimiting the cold cut is formed at an acute angle. The labium has an inclined surface 15 that widens the cutout outwards.

The core 2 consists of a core body 20 which delimits the core to the outside of the longitudinal bore and downwards. The core body 20 also forms part of the top surface 22 of the core extending from the injection opening 30. This part is about a fifth to a third, preferably a quarter, of the entire longitudinal extent of the upper surface 22. At the inside of the mouthpiece end of this part, a groove-like undercut 23, which extends horizontally and transversely to the longitudinal bore and opens towards the inside of the mouthpiece, is formed in the core body 20, as shown in FIG 3 shows.

In the undercut 23, a spring-like projection 24, directed towards the injection opening 30, of an insert 21 designed as a pivotable section of the core 2 is inserted such that the undercut 23 and the projection 24 together form a pivot axis 29 for the insert 21. The insert 21 extends to the mouth end of the core 2 and the upper surface of the insert 21 continues the upper surface 22 of the entire core 2 up to the blow-out opening 31.

In the region of the end of the core 2 on the inside of the mouthpiece, the insert 21 has an insert 25 which extends transversely to the longitudinal bore through the insert 21 in its interior and can also be pushed into the insert 21 from the side.

The insert 25 is provided with a substantially vertically extending threaded hole which is accessible through an opening provided in the lower surface of the insert 21.

An elastic insert 28 is arranged between the lower surface of the insert 21 and the lower part of the core body 20. This elastic insert preferably extends over the entire width of the core and is thinner in the end region on the inside of the mouthpiece than at the opposite end. In extension of the threaded hole in the insert 25 and the opening in the lower surface of the insert 21, a hole penetrates the elastic insert 28, the lower portion of the core body 20 and the lower wall 17 of the mouthpiece body 10. A screw 26 is passed through this hole from below , which is screwed into the threaded bore in the insert 25. The screw 26 serving as an adjusting rod rests with its head 27 on the outer surface of the lower wall 17 of the mouthpiece body 10 and is supported there on a support collar 18 running perpendicular to the axis of the bore. The screw head 27 is preferably designed as a knurled head.

If screw 26 is now rotated, this causes pivoting of insert 21 about axis 29 in the direction of the double arrow. Screwing the screw 26 into the Threads in the insert piece 25 cause a movement of the insert piece 21 in a clockwise direction and thus a downward movement of the end of the insert piece 21 on the inside of the mouthpiece against the spring force of the elastic insert 28. The distance between the wall surface 16 of the longitudinal bore 11 and the upper surface 22 of the core 2 increases in the area of the insert 21 and thus also the blow-out opening 31. The core gap widens.

Unscrewing the screw 26, due to the spring force of the elastic insert 28, causes a movement of the insert 21 counterclockwise about the axis 29 and thus an upward movement of the end of the insert 21 on the inside of the mouthpiece. This causes the distance between the wall surface 16 of the mouthpiece body 10 and the upper one Surface 22 of the core 2 in the area of the insert 21 and thus the vertical extent of the blow-out opening 31 is reduced. The core column is narrowing.

Above the core gap 3, the mouthpiece body 10 has a removable mouthpiece cover 4. The mouthpiece cover 4 extends over the entire length of the core gap and is fastened to the mouthpiece body 10 in a known manner. As shown in Fig. 2, the mouthpiece cover is much wider than the core gap. The mouthpiece cover 4 has a recess 40 which is open towards the core gap 3 and which is also wider than the core gap 3. The recess 40 receives a wooden insert 42 which delimits the core gap 3 upwards and which is itself wider than the core gap. Between the wooden insert 42 and the base of the recess 40, an elastic insert 41 is provided, which keeps the fastening forces of the mouthpiece cover 4 as far as possible from the wooden insert 42, so that the wooden insert 42 cannot warp. In this way there is a clean seal between the core gaps 3 over the entire length and the wooden insert 42 of the mouthpiece cover 4 ensures.

The wooden insert 42 of the cover 4 can optionally be provided with a step 43 projecting into the core gap, which also makes the top of the core gap variable in different dimensions. This has the advantage that children, for. B. have a lower air volume, can select any desired narrowing of the core gap.

Claims (10)

1. Flute mouthpiece comprising a mouthpiece body provided with a longitudinal bore, a core insertable into the longitudinal bore at one end of the mouthpiece body; a substantially rectangular cut-out formed in the upper side of the mouthpiece body in the region of the core end disposed in the interior of the mouthpiece, with the transverse edge of the rectangular cut-out remote from the core being formed as a lip and merging into an inclined surface which outwardly broadens the opening forming the cut-out, and wherein the upper surface of the core and the wall surface of the longitudinal bore adjacent to this upper surface are spaced apart from one another and form a core gap, and wherein the core gap has a blowing-in opening at its one end and a blowing-out opening at its other end pointing towards the lip, characterized in that the core (2) has a section (21) which includes at least a part of the upper surface (22), which is pivotable about an axis (29) disposed at its end (24) directed towards the blowing-in opening (30) and extending horizontally and tranverse to the longitudinal bore, and which extends up to the end of the core disposed in the interior of the mouthpiece.
2. Flute mouthpiece in accordance with claim 1, characterized in that the pivotable section (21) of the core (2) is an insert which is journalled in the non-pivotable core body (20).
3. Flute mouthpiece in accordance with claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that the pivotable section (21) has an insert (25) in the vicinity of its end disposed in the interior of the mouthpiece, with a vertically arranged adjustment bar (26) being secured in the insert (25) and projecting through the lower side of the pivotable section (21) and also the lower wall (17) of the mouthpiece body (10); and in that a resilient insert (28) is provided between the lower side of the pivotable section (21) and the core body (20).
4. Flute mouthpiece in accordance with claim 3, characterized in that the adjustment bar (26) consists of a screw which can be threaded into a substantially vertical threaded bore of the insert (25) and the head (27) of which is supported on the outer surface of the lower wall (17) of the mouthpiece body (10) against the spring force of the resilient insert (28).
5. Flute mouthpiece in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pivotable section of the core consists of wood, preferably of cedar wood and the core body (20) of plastic.
6. Flute mouthpiece in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pivot axis (29) of the pivotable section (21) is formed by a groove-like undercut (23) in the upper part of the core body (20) with the groove-like undercut extending horizontally and transverse to the longitudinal bore (11) and opening towards the interior of the mouthpiece, with a tongue-like projection (24) of the pivotable section (21) directed towards the blowing-in opening (30) pivotally engaging into the groove-like undercut.
7. Flute mouthpiece in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mouthpiece body (10) is formed in the region above the core gap (3) by a mouthpiece cover (4).
8. Flute mouthpiece in accordance with claim 7, characterized in that the mouthpiece cover (4) has a cut-out in its lower region pointing towards the core gap (3) and extending over its full length into which a wooden insert (42) is inserted; and in that the width of the cut-out (40) and of the wooden insert (42) is larger than the width of the core gap (3).
9. Flute mouthpiece in accordance with claim 8, characterized in that a resilient insert (41) is arranged between the base of the cut-out (40) and the wooden insert (42).
10. Flute mouthpiece in accordance with one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the wooden insert (42) preferably consists of cedar wood.

Images