EP2179413B1 - Adapter piece - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to an adapter piece for fastening a shoulder rest to a stringed instrument with an adapter body provided with at least four clip fingers engageable with a circumferential bottom edge of the stringed instrument to be supported.

String instruments, especially violins and violas, the latter also known under the term viola, are held at the end of their corpus between the chin and shoulder of the musician while playing music. As this, in the long run, causes a very uncomfortable posture of the instrument for the musician, so-called chin rests, also called chin shells, and shoulder rests for violins and violas have been developed.

These shoulder rests are removably attached to the body of the instrument with a holding device and thus serve to make it easier for the musician to hold the instrument. Basically, a shoulder rest is attached to a violin or the like and forms a support surface which rests on the shoulder of the musician, the instrument itself being supported at a chosen level which depends on the physique, in particular on the neck length of the musician.

Although many shoulder rests have been proposed and are available on the market, the types having a solid bottom shaped according to the shoulder of the musician are preferred from a substantial market share. The solid floor is usually provided at the bottom with a cushion which rests against the shoulder of the musician when the instrument is played. Upwardly projecting holding element or carrying elements are fastened to the two ends of the base, which carry pivotable fork-shaped end pieces. These can be attached to the side walls of the instrument body near the base of the carcass. To be able to fix this type of shoulder rest firmly on the instrument, the bottom of the shoulder rest has a certain inherent elasticity and this serves to produce a certain clamping force with which the forked end pieces grasp the instrument. End pieces are also known in other embodiments in combination with the support elements, but usually all capture the instrument with a certain clamping action.

In order to achieve a better height level adjustment to the neck of the musician, adapters have been developed for shoulder rests. On these adapter pieces on the one hand, the shoulder support is attached and on the other hand, the adapter piece is attached to the instrument. Thus, the height adjustment of the instrument can be done by means of the adapter to which also shoulder supports simpler design, such. B. with a simple flexible shoulder strap as a shoulder pad can be attached.

Such adapters are known for example from the publications Us 2006/174743 A1 . US 2,223,221 . CH 527 479 . DE 114 285 C . JP 2006 065263 and DE 41 37 918 A1 ,

These adapters are often made of plastic or even made of a lightweight metal, so as not to bring too much extra weight. The attachment of such adapter pieces on the instrument usually takes place, as in the above-mentioned shoulder rests, via holding elements with end pieces while using certain clamping forces close to the ground on the side of the instrument body or at an angle over the carcass floor edge. Most such adapters are clamped transversely to the longitudinal axis of the instrument at the widest point of the body or slightly diagonal to it.

The disadvantage here is the tension that causes the adapter piece on the instrument, as they have a significant impairment of the sound quality result. This also applies to the said shoulder rests, which are attached by means of clamping forces. Furthermore, such attachment of the adapter piece not very stable, and the instrument tilts in a virtuoso style of play or partially dissolves out of the holding elements. Adapter pieces, from which the instrument does not easily come loose, are mounted almost completely underneath the body floor and protrude with the outside areas over the instrument body. This, in turn, impedes the musician playing the instrument, and moreover, a full-size adapter greatly degrades the sound quality of the instrument.

The invention is therefore an object of the invention to provide an adapter piece of the above type, with the sound stability of the instrument is kept particularly low with high stability.

This object is achieved according to the invention with the features of claim 1.

The invention is based on the consideration that the tonal impairment of a stringed instrument, can be kept low by the mechanical contact of the adapter piece is tuned to the body of the instrument targeted to the vibration behavior. Impairment of the sound purity and thus the sound quality of a stringed instrument result in particular from possible interferences in the vibration behavior. For the consideration of the vibration behavior the knowledge is used that a string instrument body shows some places, where stiffenings of the body are worked in, so that there tend to be nodes of vibration. At these stiffeners, the so-called blocks, the body is thus relatively insensitive to mechanical interference and external contacts. The adapter piece is thus designed to make mechanical contact with the body in these areas.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the subject of the dependent claims.

The clip fingers may be adapted for positioning according to ergonomic or individual needs. To a particularly high stability of the However, to achieve adapter piece on the instrument body, advantageously two of the clamp fingers are positioned so that they are engageable with the peripheral bottom edge adjacent to the lower end block and on both sides thereof. This symmetrical attachment largely takes into account the vibration profile of the instrument.

The adapter piece expediently has an approximately horseshoe-shaped basic shape, in which the clamping fingers for the area of the outer blocks are attached to the respective end of the adapter body. By this horseshoe-shaped basic shape of the adapter body can on the one hand be adapted to the outer contours of the string instrument, on the other hand, only a small material requirement and, associated with a lower weight than in flat design incurred. Furthermore, thus a good coverage and thus a great stability are given, but also unsightly protrusions and a certain bulkiness of the adapter body can be avoided.

Advantageously, the shape of the adapter body is adapted in its outer contours to that of the instrument to be supported in order to reuse existing shoulder rest without any problems. In addition, it is expedient that the adapter body has approximately the thickness of the peripheral bottom edge of the string instrument in its thickness. Thus, conventional shoulder rests fit easily on the adapter piece and can be easily attached with their holding elements on the adapter body. Furthermore, such a shaped adapter body has the advantage that the above-mentioned unsightly supernatants and the bulkiness can be avoided.

In order to offer the musician more freedom of movement and comfort, the adapter body advantageously has a recess in its outer contour in the region of the lower end block of the string instrument to be supported. This cutout in the contour leaves room for the clavicle of the musician. Thus, the adapter piece may not press painfully on the collarbone and give the necessary freedom of movement, which in particular requires a soloist in virtuoso playing with the instrument.

Since stringed instruments are usually made of special, selected wood, which brings particularly good vibration and sound properties, it is expedient to produce the adapter piece of the same material. Since the adapter piece resonates when playing the stringed instrument, a particularly harmonic vibration behavior is given for the same material of adapter piece and instrument body. Usually maple wood is used for the body, which is also particularly suitable for the production of the adapter piece. The grain of the wood for the adapter piece should run in the longitudinal direction of the instrument in order to achieve a good bending behavior and vibration behavior. Conceivable also for the instrumentation suitable plastics from which the adapter piece can be made.

Thus, when attaching and detaching the adapter piece on the instrument body no unwanted damage, such. B. scratches or scratches in the paint and / or even in the wood, it is advantageous if the inside of the staple fingers has a protective coating. Preferably, this protective coating is designed as a felt coating, which has the consequence that very pleasant damping properties are ensured by felt and thus preserves the sound quality of the stringed instrument. Other protective coatings of the clip fingers, such. As foams, fabrics or the like can be used instead of felt.

In particular with regard to the attachment of the clamp fingers on the body and the resulting vibration behavior with respect to the sound quality of the stringed instrument, it is expedient to construct the clamp fingers positioned at least in the area of the outer blocks in such a way that they only engage around the peripheral bottom edge with their clamp hooks Body floor or even to touch the body wall. At these places in the area of External blocks have a mechanical intervention the least impact on the vibration behavior and ensures good sound purity of the string instrument.

In order to attach a plurality of different shoulder rests on the adapter piece, it is advantageous to provide on the adapter body means for fixing a shoulder rest. Such means can be holes for receiving grub screws in the simplest way, but also made on the adapter body and / or patch sleeves with locking screw to attach small spacer bars. Conventional shoulder rests with clamping device can be clamped on the adapter body in a simple manner.

To adjust the height of the shoulder rest to the neck anatomy of the musician a number of wheels are arranged with both sides, each provided with counter-rotating threaded screws on the adapter piece expediently. The grub screws engage on the one hand in an associated threaded bore and / or thread in the adapter body and on the other hand in an associated thread in the shoulder rest. To install the shoulder rest, the wheel is rotated, and due to the opposing thread, the setscrew then tighten in both threaded holes. This causes a very simple and solid, resilient attachment and also within certain limits, a height leveling of the shoulder rest.

The respective rotary knob expediently has a diameter of at least 15 mm to a maximum of 40 mm, in order to allow a sufficiently large measured contact area of adapter piece and shoulder rest. A common diameter can be in the range of 15 mm to 25 mm, on the one hand to have enough space and on the other hand to achieve good handling of the rotary wheel. Thus, a surface tension can be given, which ensures good stability between the shoulder support and adapter piece.

Particularly advantageous is the use of the adapter piece in stringed instruments, especially violins and violas, as these instruments with their Body held between the head and shoulder of the musician. But also a use with cellos is conceivable, except that then instead of the shoulder rest of the sting for setting up the cello is attached to the adapter piece.

The advantages achieved by the invention are, in particular, that an adapter piece for attaching a shoulder rest for stringed instruments with staple fingers, which are attached to the peripheral bottom edge in the area of the outer blocks of the instrument body, does not take high engagement in the vibration behavior of the instrument and the high sound quality preserved. Furthermore, the adapter piece is adapted to the shape of the instrument body and easy to assemble and disassemble. In addition, the adapter piece ensures a secure and comfortable hold of the stringed instrument while still a great freedom of movement of the musician. Furthermore, a plurality of different shoulder rests can be fastened to the adapter piece, even existing shoulder rests with clamping element holders.

FIG. 1

eine bodenseitige Ansicht einer klassischen Violine mit angedeutetem Sitz der Blöcke,

FIG. 2

eine perspektivische Teilansicht einer Violine mit angebrachtem Adapterstück und Schulterstück,

FIG. 3

eine Ausschnittsvergrößerung eines Außenblockbereiches mit angebrachtem Klammerfinger aus FIG. 2,

FIG. 4

eine perspektivische Ansicht des Adapterstücks mit Schulterstütze aus FIG. 2, und

FIG. 5

eine Teilansicht eines Adapterkörpers mit angeschraubter Schulterstütze.

An embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to a drawing. Show:

FIG. 1

a bottom view of a classical violin with an implied seat of the blocks,

FIG. 2

a partial perspective view of a violin with attached adapter piece and shoulder piece,

FIG. 3

an enlarged detail of an outdoor block area with attached clip finger FIG. 2 .

FIG. 4

a perspective view of the adapter piece with shoulder support FIG. 2 , and

FIG. 5

a partial view of an adapter body with bolted shoulder rest.

Identical parts are provided with the same reference numerals in all figures.

A classical violin 1 according to FIG. 1 comprises a body 2, which forms the resonance body, a neck 4, on which a fingerboard is mounted, and a vortex box with vertebrae 6, the end of which forms a screw 8. The body 2 has a body bottom 10 and a peripheral bottom edge 12. At the neck-side end 14 of the body 2, the neck 4 of the violin 1 is connected to the body 2 via the upper end block 16. Other blocks that serve to stabilize the violin 1 are incorporated in the body 2 and therefore only indicated here by dashed lines, because these blocks are not visible from the outside. These blocks are a lower end block 18 and usually four outer blocks 20, 22, which are arranged at the area ends of a lateral inward curvature 24 of the body 2.

At the lower end block 18, the strings of the violin 1 are strung with the help of a tail end on the top of the violin 1. Therefore, the lower end block 18 is very stable and firmly incorporated into the body 2. The upper end block 16, which carries the neck 4 and the fingerboard, is stable and firmly processed in the body 2. The upper end block 16 and the neck 4 are nowadays usually made separately and glued together to meet the necessary carrying properties as well as sound and vibration characteristics.

Sideways on the body floor 10 in the region of the peripheral bottom edge 12 are side walls, so-called frames 26, placed on these frames 26 and then the corpus floor opposite a corpse ceiling attached. These parts essentially form the body 2, which forms the resonance space of the violin 1, and are stabilized by means of the outer blocks 20, 22 and the upper and lower end block 16, 18.

In order not to disturb the sound quality of the violin 1 by externally acting mechanical interventions, but still allow the musician a comfortable attitude of the violin 1, an adapter piece 28, to which a shoulder rest 30 is attached, with four staple fingers 32 on vibration insensitive areas of Body 2 attached. As Fig. 2 shows, the clip fingers 32 engage with their staple hooks 34 in the region of the outer blocks 20 and the lower end block 18 only at the peripheral bottom edge 12. An enlarged view of the engagement of one of the staple fingers 32 with one of the felt coated staple hooks 34 is shown Fig. 3 , As can be seen there, the felt-coated staple hook 34 engages around only the circumferential bottom edge 12, but without touching the carcass base 10 or the frame 26. These portions of the outer block 20 as well as the lower end block 18 tend to be rather nodes of vibration and therefore relatively insensitive to external mechanical interference.

The shoulder support 30, which is attached to the adapter piece 28, is a support of conventional design, which is clamped with its own clamping device 36 on the adapter body 38. This shoulder support 30 could be clamped without adapter piece 28 directly to the violin 1, but would have the disadvantage that tensions of the body 2 occur and thus leaves the clan quality of the violin 1 to be desired.

The adapter piece 28, like Fig. 4 shows, has a kind horseshoe-shaped shape, which is adapted to the outer contour of the violin 1. Good to see is a recess 40 in the lower end block 18 corresponding portion of the adapter body 38. This recess 40 provides enough space for the clavicle of the musician. Furthermore, it can be clearly seen that the adapter body 38 has approximately the same thickness as that of the peripheral bottom edge 10.

The clip fingers 32 with the clip hooks 34 are as in FIG Fig. 2 is easy to see, adjustable within certain limits in the longitudinal direction. A kind of elongated eyelet 42 allows a certain adjustability of the clip fingers 32 by the Screws 44, with which the clip fingers 32 are attached to the adapter body 38, are releasably attached. If an adjustment of the clamping fingers 32 fits the carcass base 10, or rather the circumferential bottom edge 12, the violin 1, the screws 44 are tightened again. The clamp fingers 32 therefore have in their interior on the screws 44 matching threaded receptacle piece. It is also conceivable to produce the adapter piece 28 in a simpler embodiment with fixed chamber fingers 32.

The arrangement of the clip fingers 32 on the adapter body 38 is substantially symmetrical, so that two of the clip fingers 32 are each attached to a front end 46 and the two other clip fingers 32 symmetrically directly adjacent to the recess 40. Furthermore, the clamp hooks 34 are arranged such that in each case a clamp hook 34 at the front end 46 with a clamp hook 34 adjacent to the recess 40 with its Eingreifkonturen largely opposite. As a result, the violin 1 is secured against slipping in the adapter piece 28, even with very virtuoso style of play.

The shoulder rest 30 is as in Fig. 5 to recognize, screwed by means of threaded pins 48 and turning wheels 50 with opposite internal thread in the adapter body 38. For this purpose, two threaded holes 52 are drilled in the adapter body 38. As an alternative to the threaded bores 52 threaded sleeves can also be attached to the adapter body 38. The rotary wheels 50 are used for easy assembly and disassembly of the shoulder support 30 on the adapter piece 28 and allow using the set screws 48 a certain height level adjustment of the shoulder rest 30. In addition, the rotary wheels 50 with their diameter of 15 mm to 25 mm provide a sufficiently large contact surface and thus a good stability between adapter body 38 and shoulder rest 30th

That in the FIGS. 2 to 4 shown adapter piece 28 for the violin 1 is only one embodiment. The adapter piece 28 can also be made in an appropriate size for violas as well as for violoncellos, in which instead of a shoulder rest 30 then a sting attached to the floor can be. Furthermore, the shoulder rest 30 shown here is just one example of many that can be attached to the adapter piece 28. In addition, a chin rest can also be attached to the adapter piece 28, either by screwing into holes provided for this purpose or by holding brackets on the chin rest.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

violin

2

corpus

4

neck

6

whirl

8th

slug

10

cabinet floor

12

floor Knew

14

neck-end

16

upper end block

18

lower end block

20.22

outside block

24

bulge

26

frame

28

adapter piece

30

buttstock

32

clamping fingers

34

bracket hook

36

clamping device

38

adapter body

40

recess

42

eyelet

44

screw

46

front end

48

Set screw

50

rotating wheel

52

threaded hole

Claims (11)

1. Adapter piece (28) for fastening a shoulder rest (30) to a string instrument, comprising an adapter member (38) which is provided with at least four clamping fingers (32) which can be brought into engagement with a peripheral base edge (12) of the string instrument to be supported, at least two of the clamping fingers (32) being positioned such that they can be brought into engagement with the peripheral base edge (12) in the region of the outer blocks (20) of the string instrument, and each of said clamping fingers having a clamping hook (34), characterised in that each clamping hook (34) engages only around the peripheral base edge (12), without touching the body wall.
2. Adapter piece (28) according to claim 1, wherein at least two of the clamping fingers (32) are positioned such that they can be brought into engagement with the peripheral base edge (12) on both sides of the lower end block (18) so as to be adjacent to said end block.
3. Adapter piece (28) according to either claim 1 or claim 2, the adapter member (38) of which has a roughly horseshoe-shaped basic shape, wherein the clamping fingers (32) provided for the region of the outer blocks (20) are arranged on the front ends (46) of the adapter member (38).
4. Adapter piece (28) according to any of claims 1 to 3, the adapter member (38) of which is adapted in the outer contour thereof to that of the string instrument to be supported.
5. Adapter piece (28) according to any of claims 1 to 4, the adapter member (38) of which has a recess (40) in the outer contour thereof in the region thereof corresponding to the lower end block (18) of the string instrument to be supported.
6. Adapter piece (28) according to any of claims 1 to 5, the adapter member (38) of which is made of a material corresponding to the basic material of the string instrument to be supported.
7. Adapter piece (28) according to any of claims 1 to 6, the clamping fingers (32) of which have a protective covering, preferably a felt covering, on the inside.
8. Adapter piece (28) according to any of claims 1 to 7, on the adapter member (32) of which adapter piece means are provided for fastening a shoulder rest (30).
9. Adapter piece (28) according to claim 8, wherein a number of rotating wheels (50) having grub screws (48), which are arranged on both sides and are provided with threads that run in opposite directions in each case, are provided for fastening the shoulder rest (30).
10. Adapter piece (28) according to claim 9, wherein the particular rotating wheel (50) has a diameter of at least 15 mm up to at most 40 mm.
11. Use of an adapter piece (28) according to any of claims 1 to 10 for string instruments, in particular violins (1) and violas.

Images