EP2529368B1 - Improvement for a harmonica provided with an air distributor - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a harmonica according to the preamble of claim 1. Such a harmonica is described in the document FR 912714 .
Another document FR 2910166 refers to a harmonica having two blades on either side of a comb by delimiting channels in which the musician blows and sucks air to vibrate the blades. Baffles are positioned inside the channels.
The improvement according to the present invention consists first of all in sealing against air leaks, as well as in optimizing the flow of the air flows in order to improve the performance of harmonicas of the type possessing a distributor. air slidably mounted, for selectively sending to a first channel, feeding at least one blown blade and at least one aspirated blade, or to a second channel, also feeding at least one blown blade and at least one aspirated blade, the air sucked or the air blown by the player into a mouth hole common to these two adjacent air channels.

A second object of this invention is to provide a harmonica whose thickness is less than that of harmonicas of this type existing in the prior art and to ensure better ergonomics as much at the mouth as at the level the holding in hand while enjoying the additional compactness of the instrument very appreciable.

A third objective of this invention is to propose a disposition of the sound waves adapted to facilitate certain game techniques known under the French terms of alteration, over blowing and suraspirations more known under the English terms of bends, overblows and overdraws allowing obtain intermediate notes between the basic notes, natural, different blades that the instrument contain said "altered" notes being particularly difficult to obtain with the harmonicas of the prior art, which makes them virtually inaccessible to gamers not having a long practice of the instrument.

A fourth objective is to propose interior arrangements to the harmonica providing a solution to acoustically limited acoustic performance of the harmonicas of the prior art which, because of their very design, do not make it possible to offer air flow sucked and blown optimized flow and angle of attack relative to the blades necessary to ensure the vibration of the sound waves with force, without delay and the slightest breath of air. The aforementioned internal means integrated in the instrument and not requiring any maintenance being intended to replace the elements generally referred to as valves that the instruments require. of the prior art, these valves being difficult to set up and therefore expensive while remaining fragile and requiring thereby a binding maintenance and periodic replacement.

Indeed, if the harmonicas of the prior art suffer from a poor performance on the aeraulic plan, and therefore consequently on the sound level, this is due to both the very penalizing air leaks as well as the poor design of the air channels which force sudden changes of direction in the airflow making it difficult and laborious to simultaneously vibrate several sound waves necessary to produce chords as well as to vibrate sufficiently powerful sound waves to generate an acoustic sound strong enough to avoid having to resort to a sound amplification system.

Concerning more particularly blade holders, if there are already certain improvements aimed at reducing unplanned air leakage between the edges of the window through which oscillates the free part of a sound blade and the edges of said blade these improvements use special molding blades which require sophisticated equipment and a high level of precision for their production, which results in high production costs. Moreover, since these technologies systematically involve the use of a material, generally of the thermoplastic type, very different from the metals used for producing the sounding slats themselves, it results from this heterogeneity of large disparities in the behavior and in the coefficients of expansion between the sound blades and the blade holder which is obviously very detrimental to the final performances. It should also be known that most thermoplastics are moreover sensitive to the phenomena of moisture uptake, resulting in limited dimensional variations admittedly, but which are nevertheless disadvantageous when blades and blade holders have to be adjusted relative to one another with a very high accuracy much easier to achieve and maintain over time by using for the blades and blade holders metals with very similar expansion coefficients between them.
Regarding the improvement of the performance of the harmonica according to the invention, as regards the blade holders themselves, one of the objectives is therefore to provide directly adaptable arrangements on blade holders of the prior art or on blade holders achievable with the same technologies and using the same materials and production machines as those of the prior art thus achieving high performance without investment for manufacturers and therefore the best price for users.

The arrangements of the instrument proposed in this invention therefore constitute a relevant answer to the aforementioned problems encountered in the harmonicas of the prior art and they make it possible to obtain on the one hand a harmonica with a powerful sound thanks to the possibility of being vibrated. sound blades thicker than those of the prior art and they allow on the other hand to lower the threshold of vibration of the sound waves which then becomes possible at the slightest breath of air which allows a greater expressiveness of game ranging from pianissimo to fortissimo.

Beforehand, to facilitate the description and the understanding of this document, we first agree that the mouthpiece constituting the part of the instrument in contact with the musician's mouth constitutes the upper part of the instrument while the opposite part, the flag, through which emitted sounds is the lower part of the instrument.

We further agree that the harmonica according to the invention, which may be of symmetrical or non-symmetrical external shape, is here positioned in such a way that its mean longitudinal plane Px is arranged vertically, said plane Px being the vertical plane passing substantially to mid-thickness of the instrument and thus passing substantially mid-thickness of the mouth thus passing substantially through the middle of the mouth holes and also passing substantially mid-thickness of the flag so close to the middle of said flag of the 'instrument. Of course, in the case where the entire part of the instrument disposed on one side of said mean longitudinal plane Px is identical to the entire part of the instrument disposed on the other side of this mean longitudinal plane Px, this plane Px constitutes then also the longitudinal plane of general symmetry of the instrument.
Finally we agree to call blades bladed blades fixed on the face of the blade holder oriented on the inner side of the air channels while the blades said sucked will be the blades fixed against the face of the blade holder located outside the air channels. In the present description, therefore, we will not take into account the fact that the so-called blown blades, whose main purpose is to enter into vibration by producing a sound when the player blows into the instrument, may in certain game techniques, enter in action even during aspiration. The same applies to so-called aspirated blades that can come into action during blowing in certain game techniques that occasionally force the blades to vibrate under the action of a directional flow of air contrary to that for which they have originally designed, but which, of course, remains their main mode of vibration. In the same way when, for the blade holders, the text mentions the term air intake face, it is always the face through which the air to pass through the window concerned, causing the corresponding blade to vibrate, and conversely, when the text evokes the term exhaust face, it is the face through which the air leaves after being passed to the through said window and this always with reference to the type, respectively sucked or blown, of the lamella associated with the window concerned.

• un peigne ou sommier dans l'épaisseur duquel sont réalisés une pluralité de canaux de circulation d'air, ledit peigne supportant au moins une plaque constituant un porte-lames sur laquelle sont montées des lames sonores mises en oscillations par les flux d'air générés par le joueur
• une coque périphérique permettant la tenue en main de l'harmonica ladite coque comportant au moins un capot assurant l'amplification des sons et leur projection en direction du pavillon de l'instrument
• un élément d'embouchure dans la face extérieure duquel débouchent les trous d'embouchures par lesquels l'harmoniciste aspire ou insuffle de l'air qui met en oscillation les lames sonores de l'instrument, chacun des trous d'embouchure desservant deux canaux de circulation d'air alimentant chacun au moins une lame sonore soufflée et au moins une lame sonore aspirée,
• lesdits deux canaux de circulation d'air alimentés par le trou d'embouchure commun sont disposés côte à côte en étant séparés l'un de l'autre par une paroi de séparation disposée transversalement par rapport à l'axe longitudinal de l'instrument et sensiblement perpendiculairement au plan longitudinal moyen, lequel est positionné sensiblement à mi-épaisseur de l'instrument et de l'embouchure, et à mi-épaisseur du pavillon,
• un distributeur d'air, interposé entre l'élément d'embouchure et le peigne, ledit distributeur d'air étant destiné à diriger sélectivement l'air soufflé ou aspiré par le joueur vers l'un ou l'autre des deux canaux de circulation d'air alimentés par un trou d'embouchure commun auxdits deux canaux d'air, ledit distributeur d'air étant en forme générale d'échelle constituée de deux éléments longitudinaux disposés sensiblement parallèlement à l'axe longitudinal de l'instrument reliés entre eux par des éléments transversaux ,

caractérisé en ce que :

• un porte-lames est pris en sandwich entre un capot - presseur et la face correspondante du peigne sous l'action de moyens de pression tendant à rapprocher ledit capot-presseur de ladite face du peigne, les moyens de pression comprenant au moins une vis de serrage qui est positionnée dans une paroi séparant entre eux deux canaux de circulation d'air adjacents dont les axes longitudinaux respectifs sont divergents lorsque l'on s'éloigne de la face d'embouchure de l'instrument pour se rapprocher du pavillon de l'instrument, une telle disposition divergente des canaux offrant ainsi une largeur progressive rapidement suffisante pour que la vis de pression concernée puisse être implantée le plus près possible de la face d'embouchure de l'instrument sans venir empiéter à l'intérieur d'un canal de circulation d'air,
• l'axe longitudinal d'au moins l'une des vis de serrage est positionnée à une distance de la face d'embouchure de l'instrument inférieure à la distance séparant ladite face d'embouchure du fond du canal de circulation d'air alimentant la lame la plus grave de l'instrument.

Selon une première caractéristique lorsque l'harmonica comporte deux porte-lames, les deux plans passant par les faces des porte-lames en appui contre les faces correspondantes du sommier peuvent être parallèles entre eux ou au contraire être concourants en constituant alors soit un dièdre dont l'arête commune auxdits deux plans est positionnée du coté du pavillon de l'instrument, dans l'espace situé au-delà de celui-ci et ledit dièdre est alors ouvert en direction de l'embouchure de l'instrument soit au contraire les deux plans sont concourants entre eux de telle manière qu'ils constituent un dièdre dont l'arête commune est positionnée du coté de l'embouchure de l'instrument dans l'espace situé au-delà de celle-ci et ledit dièdre est alors ouvert en direction du pavillon de l'instrument.
Selon une autre caractéristique, pour permettre la réalisation de canaux associés à des aménagements internes, le sommier peut être avantageusement réalisé en deux parties assemblées entre elles, par exemple au niveau du plan longitudinal moyen Px de l'instrument, par collage , clipsage soudage ou par tout autre moyen et notamment simplement par le vissage des vis de fixation des plaques porte-lames qui en traversant ledit sommier le prennent en sandwich entre elles , ce mode d'assemblage offrant l'avantage de garder la possibilité de séparer à volonté les deux demi sommiers pour en faciliter le nettoyage . Selon une autre caractéristique le sommier peut être avantageusement réalisé dans un matériau légèrement élastiquement déformable pour venir épouser les éventuelles déformation des plaques porte-lames en évitant ainsi toute fuite d'air entre les faces des porte-lames et les faces correspondantes dudit sommier . Selon une autre caractéristique d'un mode particulier de réalisation , le sommier constitue un ensemble monolithique avec le capot supérieur et/ou le capot inférieur.The harmonica according to the invention comprises:

• a comb or bed base in the thickness of which are made a plurality of air flow channels, said comb supporting at least one plate constituting a blade holder on which are mounted sound waves oscillated by the air flows generated by the player
• a peripheral shell for holding in hand the harmonica said shell having at least one cover for amplifying the sounds and their projection towards the flag of the instrument
• a mouthpiece in the outer face of which open the mouth holes through which the harmonicist sucks or breathes air which oscillates the sound waves of the instrument, each of the mouth holes serving two channels of air circulation each supplying at least one blown sound blade and at least one aspirated sound blade,
• said two air circulation channels fed by the common mouth hole are arranged side by side and separated from each other by a separating wall arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis of the instrument and substantially perpendicular to the mean longitudinal plane, which is positioned substantially mid-thickness of the instrument and the mouth, and mid-thickness of the flag,
• an air distributor, interposed between the mouthpiece element and the comb, said air distributor being intended to selectively direct the air blown or sucked by the player towards one or the other of the two circulation channels air fed by a mouth hole common to said two air channels, said air distributor being in the general shape of scale consisting of two longitudinal elements arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the instrument interconnected by transverse elements,

characterized in that

• a blade holder is sandwiched between a pressure cap and the corresponding face of the comb under the action of pressure means tending to bring said pressure cap closer to said face of the comb, the pressure means comprising at least one screw of clamping which is positioned in a wall separating between them two adjacent air flow channels whose respective longitudinal axes are divergent when one moves away from the mouth face of the instrument to get closer to the flag of the instrument, such a divergent arrangement of the channels thus providing a progressive width quickly sufficient for the pressure screw concerned can be implanted as close as possible to the mouth of the instrument without coming to encroach inside of an air circulation channel,
• the longitudinal axis of at least one of the clamping screws is positioned at a distance from the mouth face of the lower instrument to the distance separating said mouth face from the bottom of the air circulation duct feeding. the most serious blade of the instrument.

According to a first characteristic when the harmonica comprises two blade holders, the two planes passing through the faces of the blade holders bearing against the corresponding faces of the bed base may be parallel to each other or, on the contrary, be concurrent, thereby constituting either a dihedron of which the edge common to said two planes is positioned on the side of the flag of the instrument, in the space beyond it and said dihedron is then open towards the mouth of the instrument is on the contrary the two planes are concurrent between them so that they constitute a dihedron whose common edge is positioned on the side of the mouth of the instrument in the space beyond it and said dihedron is then open towards the flag of the instrument.
According to another characteristic, to allow the realization of channels associated with internal arrangements, the bed base can be advantageously made in two parts assembled together, for example at the mean longitudinal plane Px of the instrument, by gluing, clipping welding or by any other means and in particular simply by screwing the fastening screws of the blade-holding plates which through said bed base sandwich it between them, this method of assembly offering the advantage of keeping the possibility of separating at will the two half sommiers for easy cleaning. According to another characteristic, the bed base may advantageously be made of a slightly elastically deformable material in order to fit any deformation of the blade-holding plates, thus avoiding any air leakage between the faces of the blade carriers and the corresponding faces of said bed base. According to another characteristic of a particular embodiment, the bed base is a monolithic assembly with the upper cover and / or the lower cover.

The different arrangements proposed for the air channels are primarily intended to facilitate the circulation of air flows by avoiding swirling movements that penalize the responsiveness of the sound waves by delaying their vibration and braking when the flow of air. air reverses in the same channel, passing from a blown stream to a sucked flow and vice versa, which is very frequently the case during the game.

A second objective is to ensure that the flow of air blown as the air flow aspirated orientation of the air streams in such a way that their angle of attack relative to the sound waves they drive are optimal thus allowing air savings opening the possibility of animating blades more powerful and / or more serious and / or more numerous.

To do this, according to a first embodiment, at least some of the air channels are conical, their width at the mouth face being greater than their width at their bottom, or end, located on the side of the flag of the instrument and this to increase the pressure of the air blown at the free end of the blown blades.

According to another embodiment, the width of at least some of the air channels, measured in the longitudinal direction of the instrument, is, at mid-length of said channels, a value greater than the width of said channels measured at level of the mouth of the instrument and also a value greater than the width measured at the bottom of the channel located on the side of the flag of the instrument.

According to another embodiment, the two lateral flanks of at least some of the air channels are helically shaped to create a double vortex in each of said channels, the two vortices being disposed symmetrically in each channel with respect to the plane passing through the axis. of the two blades concerned. In this embodiment for the first face of the bed base against which the first blade holder rests, the longitudinal edges of the channel considered generally go away from each other as one moves away from the mouth of the instrument to approach the flag in other words said edges of said channel are closer to each other at the mouth of the mouth of the instrument they are at the level of the zone d end of the channel and vice versa, for the same channel, on the other side of the bed against which rests the other blade holder, the longitudinal edges of said channel are generally approaching one another when the one moves away from the mouth of the instrument to get closer to the flag, in other words said edges of said channel are farther apart from each other at the mouth of the mouth of the instrument. are at the end zone of the channel.
Such an arrangement also makes it possible to give priority to the ability of the instrument to produce the natural basic notes of each of the blades under the aspirated or blown air streams which correspond to their specificity or, on the contrary, to favor the ability of the instrument to produce the so-called "altered" notes that require to solicit the sound waves under air flows sucked or blown in the opposite direction to those corresponding to their specificity

Thus, so that the instrument is primarily specialized in the production of natural basic notes, the blade holder supporting the suctioned blades will then be mounted against the face of the bed base in which, for each channel considered the longitudinal edges of said channel are closer to each other at the mouth face than they are near the bottom of the channel and the blade holder supporting the blown blades will then be mounted against the face of the bed in which, for each of the channels considered the longitudinal edges of said channel are further apart from each other at the mouth face than they are near the bottom of the channel.
Conversely if one wishes to find a compromise allowing to obtain of course the natural notes of the blades but however less stable than in the aforementioned assembly while facilitating the obtaining of the so-called notes "altered" it it will suffice to make a bed base inverted by symmetry with respect to the longitudinal longitudinal plane Px of said bed base so that for the blade holder supporting the blown blades for each of the channels considered the longitudinal edges of said channel are closer to each other at the level of the mouth face that they are in the vicinity of the opposite end of the channel and the blade holder supporting the suctioned blades will then be mounted against the face of the bed base in which, for each of the channels considered the Longitudinal edges of said channel are further apart from each other at the mouth face than they are in the vicinity of the opposite end of the channel.

Finally, according to another feature of a particular embodiment intended to facilitate and make more comfortable the game technique known to those skilled in the art under the English term of "Tongue blocking" the axis of the hole d ' mouthpiece feeding the sharpest blade of the instrument is advantageously located at a distance from the corresponding end of the lower mouth face to the distance at which is positioned the axis of the mouth hole feeding the most serious blade of the instrument relative to the corresponding end of said mouth face.

According to another characteristic, for at least some of the sound waves that comprises the harmonica according to the invention, the window through which the oscillating blade concerned is partly covered by a wall arranged obliquely to serve as a deflector, said oblique wall being positioned beyond the area swept by the oscillating portion of the sound blade. The end of the deflector located on the side of the free end of the sound blade concerned is located at a distance from the end of the window located on the side of said free end of the blade, between one quarter and three quarters of the total length of the window through which oscillates said blade. The baffles associated with the extracted sound blades are positioned between the blade holder and the inner face of the hood corresponding while the deflectors associated with the blown blades are positioned inside the air channels arranged in the bed of the harmonica.
Each of the deflectors in the form of a tunnel whose bottom is closed cul de sac, the opening of the tunnel being oriented on the side of the free end of the sound blade to which this deflector is associated while the vault of said tunnel progressively away from the blade holder, on which its base is plated, as one approaches the free end of the sound blade with which it is associated. Each of the deflectors associated with a soundblown blade, and therefore therefore positioned inside the bed base, is closed on three of its sides or by walls starting from its vault to join the face of the blade holder against which it is plated either directly by the side walls separating the air channels when it constitutes a monolithic assembly with the bed base. Likewise, each of the baffles associated with a blade that is sucked up, and therefore thus disposed outside the bed base, is closed on three of its sides either by walls directly belonging to said baffle and which join the blade holder to ensure that sealing to the air flows concerned either directly by the members of the counter-comb or cover concerned when said deflector constitutes with one or other of these a monolithic assembly.

According to a characteristic of a first embodiment, at least some of the deflectors associated with the blown blades are integral with the bed or comb of the harmonica with which they constitute a monolithic assembly. According to a variant of this embodiment the baffles corresponding to the blown blades are constituted by independent elements, reported therefore, which are either glued, or clipped to the bed base or simply sandwiched between said bed base and the corresponding face of the blade holder concerned .

According to another characteristic of an embodiment, at least some of the deflectors associated with the aspirated blades are integral with the corresponding cover of the harmonica with which they constitute a monolithic assembly. According to a variant of this embodiment, the baffles corresponding to the suction blades consist of independent elements, reported therefore, which are either glued or clipped to the corresponding cover or simply sandwiched between said cover and the corresponding face of the blade holder concerned.

According to another characteristic of another embodiment, at least some of the deflectors associated with the suction blades are integral with a counter-comb or counter-bedding inserted between the blade holder concerned and the inner face of the corresponding cover. These deflectors may either constitute with said counter-comb a monolithic assembly or be constituted by independent elements, reported therefore, which are either glued, or clipped on the counter-comb or simply sandwiched between the corresponding inner face of the comb-comb and the corresponding face of the blade holder concerned.

According to another embodiment, the baffles corresponding to the suction blades and / or the baffles corresponding to the blown blades together with the corresponding blade holder a monolithic assembly.

According to another embodiment, the deflectors corresponding to the suction blades and / or the baffles corresponding to the blown blades consist of independent elements fixed to the corresponding blade holder by screwing, riveting, clipping, gluing or by any other removable fastening means or not.

According to a preferred embodiment, the blade holders are of conventional design known to those skilled in the art, they are made from a metal plate in which are cut the windows through which the sound waves oscillate and the baffles are secured to said blade holder with screws, associated where appropriate with nuts, so as to be removable, in particular to allow the change of defective vibrating blades. In this embodiment, the conventional fastening rivets sound blades are therefore advantageously replaced by screws taking the sound blade concerned sandwiched between the blade holder and the insert element constituting the deflector which thus ensures the attachment of the blade concerned sound against the corresponding face of the blade holder. This type of assembly thus makes it possible to consider the easy and rapid assembly of said deflectors on all types of conventional blade-holders simply by replacing the original fastening rivet of the sound blade with a screw associated with a corresponding threaded deflector or equipped with an attached nut that allow to remove said deflectors selectively for some blades or for all blades according to the preferences of the harmonica player.

Finally, according to another embodiment, the baffles corresponding to the suction blades are replaced by a simple deflector plate extending in the longitudinal direction of the instrument from the most serious blade to the sharpest blade of the instrument. Side flag of the instrument, along its length, the base of the baffle plate is kept pressed against the outer face of the blade holder concerned to prevent air streams from passing between these two bearing faces. The plate is then bent away from the blade as the mouth of the instrument is approached. located outside the space swept by the sound waves during their oscillations. The camber of said plate and the width of this plate, measured in the mouthpiece direction of the instrument, are of course calculated in such a way that the longitudinal edge of this plate-deflector is located below the free end of the blades. sound so that it covers only partially said blades substantially under the same conditions of distances as those described above for the deflectors
Unlike the deflectors described above, the curved plate does not necessarily have walls arranged perpendicularly to the mean longitudinal plane Px of the instrument the objective being to constitute a simple springboard so that the air streams arriving from the flag leap over a portion of the area of the blades disposed between their free end and the attachment area of the blade to better focus on the free end zone of the blade where their efficiency will be optimal.
This plate-deflector, because of its simplicity of realization of course has advantages over the aforementioned deflectors individualized for each blade which are therefore more expensive to produce and especially longer to set up.

According to another preferred embodiment, each of the air circulation channels feeds at least one blown blade and an aspirated blade. The two blades served by the same air channel are disposed in line on either side of the respective blade-holder and their respective longitudinal axes are coplanar with the longitudinal axis of said air channel while the oscillating free parts of said two sound waves stretch in diametrically opposite directions with respect to each other. The suction blade is fixed against the outer face of the blade holder and against the face of the blade holder oriented on the side of the corresponding cover of the harmonica while the blown blade is fixed against the face of said blade holder pressed against the bed base. The fixed end of each of the two blades can be fixed and held pressed against the blade holder either by welding, gluing, riveting or even better with the aid of one or more screws. According to a preferred embodiment of this embodiment, one or more screws pass through each of the two baffles associated with the two blades concerned as well as the blade holder and the bead of the two blades so that a single screw or possibly two screws are sufficient to ensure the assembly and the holding in position of said blades and said baffles relative to the blade holder. Such an arrangement proves very easy and very quick assembly and therefore very economical while offering the great advantage of being easily removable as well for the effective cleaning of the instrument for change easy of a failing sound blade.

The aforementioned deflectors may be made of metal as well as thermoplastic material or thermosetting material.

When the baffles are attached parts fixed to the blade holder with screws they can be advantageously tapped to allow direct screwing of the corresponding screw.

According to a preferred embodiment, said deflectors are advantageously made of a slightly elastically deformable material so that, under the clamping pressure exerted by the fixing screw, they can deform slightly to fit perfectly the face of the holder. blade against which they are pressed and so as to avoid any air passage between said parts. Furthermore, given this slight elastic deformation by creep of the deflector, it is possible to achieve through said deflector a hole of a diameter slightly smaller than that of the fixing screw so that it is thus braked so that it will not be unintentionally unscrewed by the vibrations generated by the instrument. This represents a very big advantage in terms of safety because we must know that a sound blade attached to the blade holder with a simple screw as is the case in conventional harmonica repair in the prior art can always unintentionally unscrew and the player then has every chance to swallow, or even to inhale playing, said blade with all the dangers that can represent such a thin and sharp piece in the lungs of the harmonica player.

According to an alternative embodiment, if the material selected for the production of the deflectors is too flexible to provide sufficient strength by direct screwing of the fastening screw in the deflector said screw can then advantageously be associated with a conventional metal nut which may be partially at least drowned in a housing of appropriate shape arranged in said deflector.

According to a particular mounting mode the baffles are removable and fixed to the corresponding blade holder by fixing screws and several baffles equipping adjacent sound blades can be advantageously joined together so as to constitute a monolithic assembly avoiding them to move by rotation under the effect of the vibrations generated by the sound blades while also offering the advantage of a cost more interesting than when they are each independent and therefore produced individually.

According to another preferred embodiment, the deflector, in collaboration with the corresponding assembly screw, advantageously constitute an effective means of fixing an inserts strip cut in a flexible and resistant material to form an opposing sealing valve. to the air inlets, through the window concerned, in the opposite direction to that corresponding to the specificity of the blade. The width and the length of this leaf-valve are greater than the corresponding dimensions of the window concerned so that the periphery of said leaflet can bear directly on the face of the blade holder to ensure a satisfactory seal. On the blades of the prior art these lamella-valves, well known to those skilled in the art, are glued which makes it difficult and difficult to install and replace them; Moreover, their behavior in time is often low because of the solvents contained in the fixing adhesive used which alter the properties of said valves made in plastics often sensitive to said solvents, which solvents also constitute a danger for the user. because of the vapors that it inhales during its play time.

Fixing said valves with the fixing screw associated with the baffle concerned is therefore a relevant answer to the problems described above and this method of mechanical attachment and not by bonding offers the very interesting possibility of allowing the use of materials. plastics such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) often known as "Teflon" or polyolefins which have extremely interesting characteristics in terms of resistance to alternating flexion and especially anti-adhesion but which therefore can not be glued and are not therefore not usable in the embodiment of the prior art.
In this embodiment, the assembly screw and the baffle thus sandwich between them both the sound blade concerned, the blade holder and the valve leaflet described above.

According to another particular embodiment, the valve as described above constitutes a single monolithic assembly with the deflector of the opposite blade. This very advantageous embodiment is applicable when the blades sucked and blown are connected in pairs being arranged in line on either side of the blade holder concerned their respective longitudinal axes being coplanar with the longitudinal axis of the air channel. unique that serves them. In this preferred embodiment, at least some of the pairs of sound blades may therefore be associated with a deflector covering a portion of the length of the window of the blade carrier through which the first sound blade oscillates, which is either of the suction blade type. either of the blown blade type. The deflector is extended by a thin flexible blade extending in the opposite direction to the free end of the sound blade of which it constitutes the baffle and this flexible blade constitutes the sealing valve of the second sound blade fed by the air channel concerned. The length and the width of the flexible blade are greater than the dimensions of the window through which oscillates this second sound blade which is of the opposite type to the first blade, so respectively either a blown blade or an aspirated blade. When the flow of air is opposite to that which corresponds to the type of the second sound blade, it comes to press the flexible blade against the face of the blade holder thus completely closing the air passage window of the second blade sound and thus forcing the entire air flow to pass through the window of the first blade whose type sucked or blown corresponds to it in the direction of the current flow.
The baffle and the thin blade constituting the valve may advantageously be produced, in particular by molding, at the same time and in the same material to then constitute a single-component monolithic assembly as well as being made in two-material injection from two different materials. but nevertheless compatible with each other. Of course, the material selected for producing the valve leaflet and, if appropriate, for producing the baffle may advantageously be of the thermoplastic type by selecting a material having the appropriate characteristics in terms of flexibility, tear resistance and alternating bending, anti-adhesion, and elastic memory.

According to another characteristic, when they are fixed to the blade-holder by means of a screw, the baffles advantageously comprise a lug protruding with respect to their bearing face against the blade-holder, said lug coming from housed in a correspondingly shaped hole made in the blade holder to oppose any inadvertent rotation of the deflector concerned.
According to a particular embodiment in which the blown blade and the corresponding sucked blade are disposed diametrically opposite each other on either side of the blade holder, the deflector associated with the blown blade and / or the associated deflector the suction blade has a small anti-rotation pin protruding from its bearing surface against the blade holder, said pin being housed in the thickness of the blade holder in the window in which oscillates the blade opposite to that for which it plays the role of deflector.

According to a characteristic of a preferred embodiment, in logical correlation with the respective amplitudes of the oscillations of the free end of each of the sound waves which are themselves directly related to the respective lengths of said sound waves at least at the level of the free end of the sound waves, the thickness of at least one of the blade carriers that comprises the harmonica is advantageously degressive continuously or by palliating serious blades acute blades and consequently, the height of at least one of the side faces of the window through which oscillates the lowest blade of said blade carrier is greater than the height of the corresponding side face of the window through which oscillates the sharpest blade of said blade carrier.

According to a preferred embodiment, the harmonica according to the invention comprises a comb in which is arranged a plurality of walls delimiting air circulation channels feeding two blade holders arranged on either side of the mean longitudinal plane ( Px) of the harmonica each of said blade holder supporting a plurality of sound vibrating blades of the same type, drawn or blown, positioned in correspondence with the aforementioned air circulation channels. The longitudinal axes of the two sound waves, one of the blown type and the other type sucked, fed by the common channel concerned are advantageously coplanar in a plane disposed perpendicularly to the mean longitudinal plane Px of the instrument.
Between the mouth face of the instrument and the vibrating sound blades it comprises is implanted a sliding air distributor, intended to selectively direct the air blown or sucked by the player towards one or the other of two air circulation channels fed by a mouth hole common to said two air channels, each of which can in turn supply at least one blown blade and at least one aspirated blade. For each of the mouth holes, the two aforementioned air circulation channels fed by said common mouth hole are arranged side by side, being separated from each other by a separating wall disposed perpendicularly to the longitudinal plane. average Px. One end of said partition wall abuts against the relevant face of the first blade holder while the other end of said partition wall bears against the corresponding face of the second blade holder. The sliding air distributor moves in axial translation in the longitudinal direction of the instrument to move from its first position, in which it conceals the entrance of the second air circulation channel and directs the air flows to the first channel feeding at least one blade of the first blade holder and at least one blade of the second blade holder, to its second position in which it conceals the inlet of the first air flow channel and directs the flow of air to the second channel feeding at least one blade of the first blade carrier and at least one blade of the second blade carrier.

According to a first embodiment, the air distributor is of the pushing type and is automatically returned to its maximum output position of the body of the harmonica by the return means and the player must therefore exert a bearing on the corresponding control member to bring it from its first extended position to its second retracted position. According to an inverted mounting mode, unlike the previous one, the air distributor is of the pulling type and it is automatically returned to its maximum retracted position in the harmonica by the return means and the player must therefore exercise a pulling on the corresponding control member to bring it from its first retracted position to its second extended position.

According to an important characteristic, the harmonica according to the invention comprises means that are directly accessible from the outside without requiring dismantling of the instrument, making it possible to adjust directly by hand using a wheel or with the aid of of a tool prestressing the means ensuring automatic return to the non-output position of the sliding air distributor if it is of the pushing type or in the retracted position of said distributor if it is of the pulling type and so as to easily adapt said prestressing to wishes of the player.

According to another characteristic of the preferred embodiment described above, the air distributor is in the general shape of a scale consisting of two longitudinal elements arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the instrument interconnected by transverse elements. each associated with a mouth hole of its own.
The face of each of the transverse elements disposed substantially parallel to the mouth face of the instrument comprises in the vicinity of its two lower free edges small returns arranged projecting from said face so that the extreme edge of said returns is further away from the mouth face of the instrument than is the extreme edge of the wall separating between them two adjacent channels of air flow fed by a common mouth hole. These small projecting returns are intended to provide a seal against lateral air leaks by forming a baffle when they bear against the corresponding face of the upper part of the partition wall separating two neighboring channels fed by the same hole mouth.

According to another very important characteristic of the preferred embodiment described above, over at least part of their length the above-mentioned transverse elements of the air distributor are generally profiled prismatic shape and the width, measured in the longitudinal direction of the 'instrument, said prismatic elements is generally degressive as one moves away from their face closest to the flag of the instrument to get closer to the mouth face of the instrument and each of the two side walls of the mouth hole and / or the comb against which the corresponding face of said transverse element bears is of shape and inclination substantially complementary to those of the corresponding faces of said transverse elements in such manners as said surfaces; can marry each other to ensure an optimal seal against air leaks.

According to another feature, to improve the seal between the faces of the baffle in contact with the corresponding faces of the mouthpiece element and / or the comb, at least some of said parts may advantageously be covered with a slightly flexible coating and elastically deformable even be constituted in part or in whole of a slightly elastically deformable material.

According to another characteristic, the upper end portion of the comb, or bed base, constituted by the upper edge of the walls separating between them two adjacent air circulation channels fed by two different mouth holes is located closer to the face of the mouth of the instrument that is the lower face of the mouthpiece element in the upper face of which are formed the mouth of the instrument holes and the upper part of the partition walls mentioned above has come s nesting in a housing of complementary shape arranged in the corresponding lower part of said mouthpiece member.

The above described air distributor whose inclined faces act as deflectors allow optimal directivity and with the least possible pressure drop of the air flow thus making it as well to make it less difficult to vibrate the blades. than to expand the range of musical expressiveness compared to what allowed the air distributors of the prior art. The latter are in fact constituted by a simple sliding plate in which holes are arranged which are placed opposite the channels concerned, said plate being arranged perpendicular to the mean longitudinal plane Px of the instrument flow flows air both blown and sucked is very disturbed by the perpendicular faces it encounters and weakens it strongly and make it swirling, forcing the player to compensate by forcing its action which is uncomfortable and which especially excludes the possibility to achieve pianissimo requiring a very low airflow thus reducing the possibility of expressiveness of the player.

According to another feature, the mouthpiece element in the upper face of which are implanted the inlet faces of the mouth holes is secured to the comb by means arranged inside the harmonica and which are directly accessible when the instrument covers were removed. The aforementioned fastening means may advantageously consist of nuts and / or knurled screws so that they can be removed by hand without tools.

According to a particular embodiment, the harmonica according to the invention comprises a jaw-shaped comb open in the direction of the mouth of the instrument whose conicity of the faces is complementary to the conicity of the corresponding faces of the comb also conical in this embodiment so that said corresponding faces are therefore parallel in pairs, and each of the two blade holders of the instrument is sandwiched between the face of the comb and the corresponding face of the counter-comb. Means generating a thrust tending to bring the comb against the mouthpiece side of the instrument ensure the veneer blade against the comb. According to a particular embodiment, the abovementioned thrust means consist of a flexible blade or a flexible rod of round section or of any other shape extending in the longitudinal direction of the instrument coming to hook with the comb itself and / or to the hoods or the peripheral shell of the instrument.

According to another feature of another embodiment, each of the air circulation channels feeds at least two blown blades and two aspirated blades and the four blades served by the same air channel are arranged head to tail on both sides. the other of the respective blade holder and their respective longitudinal axes are arranged parallel to each other on either side of the plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the channel, the oscillating free parts of said two sound blades stretching in two opposite directions; one with respect to the other.

According to another characteristic, the harmonica according to the invention comprises openings arranged through at least one cover, said openings being positioned at the level of the oscillating free part of the aspected sound strips concerned, in particular for the low suction blades of the instrument that require a large air supply often penalized by the prior arrangements in which said aspirated blades are trapped at the bottom of the cul de sac represented by the hood concerned.

Brief description of the drawings

• ▪ Les figures 1 à 23 correspondent à un premier mode de réalisation d'un harmonica
• ▪ Les figures 24 et 25 sont des vues partielles agrandies montrant un second mode de réalisation des canaux de circulation d'air et du distributeur d'air respectivement dans les deux positions extrêmes , enfoncée et sortie que peut occuper ledit distributeur d'air coulissant,
• ▪ Les figures 26 et 27 sont des vues partielles agrandies montrant un troisième mode de réalisation des canaux de circulation d'air et du distributeur d'air respectivement dans les deux positions extrêmes, enfoncée et sortie que peut occuper ledit distributeur d'air coulissant,
• ▪ Les figures 28 et 29 sont des vues partielles agrandies montrant un quatrième mode de réalisation des canaux de circulation d'air et du distributeur d'air respectivement dans les deux positions extrêmes , enfoncée et sortie que peut occuper ledit distributeur d'air coulissant,
• ▪ Les figures 30 et 31 sont des vues partielles agrandies montrant un cinquième mode de réalisation des canaux de circulation d'air et du distributeur d'air respectivement dans les deux positions extrêmes , enfoncée et sortie que peut occuper ledit distributeur d'air coulissant,
• ▪ La figure 32 correspond à des vues en perspective du mode préférentiel de réalisation représenté sur les figures 28 et 29 ,
• ▪ La figure 33 montre différentes vues et différentes coupes d'un harmonica dont les faces du peignes contre lesquelles s'appuient les porte-lames sont parallèles entre elles et dont lesdits porte-lames sont équipés de déflecteurs rapportés solidarisés chacun auxdits porte-lames par une vis et un écrou qui assurent par ailleurs la fixation et le plaquage de la lame sonore correspondante contre la face du porte-lames concerné ,
• ▪ Les figures 34 à 37 montrent un autre mode de réalisation d'un harmonica comportant deux porte-lames et dont le corps et l'embouchure constituent un seul ensemble monolithique.
• ▪ Les figures 38 à 50 montrent le mode de réalisation d'un harmonica selon l'invention comportant un seul porte-lames supportant toutes les lames aspirées et toutes les lames soufflées.

Other advantages and features will emerge more clearly from the following description of the various embodiments shown by way of nonlimiting examples and represented in the appended drawings in which:

• ▪ The Figures 1 to 23 correspond to a first embodiment of a harmonica
• ▪ The Figures 24 and 25 are partial enlarged views showing a second embodiment of the air circulation channels and the air distributor respectively in the two extreme positions, recessed and output that can occupy said sliding air distributor,
• ▪ The Figures 26 and 27 are partial enlarged views showing a third embodiment of the air circulation channels and the air distributor respectively in the two extreme positions, recessed and output that can occupy said sliding air distributor,
• ▪ The Figures 28 and 29 are partial enlarged views showing a fourth embodiment of the air circulation channels and the air distributor respectively in the two extreme positions, recessed and output that can occupy said sliding air distributor,
• ▪ The Figures 30 and 31 are partial enlarged views showing a fifth embodiment of the air circulation channels and the air distributor respectively in the two extreme positions, recessed and output that can occupy said sliding air distributor,
• ▪ The figure 32 corresponds to perspective views of the preferred embodiment shown on the Figures 28 and 29 ,
• ▪ The figure 33 shows different views and different cuts of a harmonica whose faces of the combs against which the blade holders are parallel to each other and whose said blade holders are equipped with attached deflectors each secured to said blade holder by a screw and a nut which also ensure the fixing and the plating of the corresponding sound blade against the face of the blade holder concerned,
• ▪ The Figures 34 to 37 show another embodiment of a harmonica comprising two blade holders and whose body and mouth constitute a single monolithic assembly.
• ▪ The Figures 38 to 50 show the embodiment of a harmonica according to the invention comprising a single blade holder supporting all the blades sucked and all the blades blown.

Detailed description of several embodiments

Prior to the explanations that follow, it is important to specify that to make the drawings more readable and more explicit, in some of the figures in this document, the thicknesses of the cutterheads as well as those of the soundblades and, if appropriate, that of the slats sealing have been voluntarily greatly increased compared to their actual thickness. Similarly, the lateral games between the lateral edges of the sound waves and the corresponding edges of the windows through which they oscillate as well as the gaps between the end of said lamellae and the corresponding slice of said windows which in reality are of the order of 5 to 10 / 100th of a millimeter have been greatly expanded here to facilitate understanding of the drawing.

• un élément d'embouchure 2 dans la face extérieure duquel débouchent les trous d'embouchures 200 par lesquels l'harmoniciste aspire ou insuffle de l'air qui met en oscillation les lames sonores de l'instrument , chacun des trous d'embouchure 200 dessert deux canaux de circulation d'air 30 et 31 alimentant chacun au moins une lame sonore soufflée et au moins une lame sonore aspirée ,
• un peigne 7 ou sommier dans l'épaisseur duquel sont réalisés une pluralité de canaux de circulation d'air susmentionnés 30 et 31 disposés côte à côte en étant séparés entre eux par des parois latérales disposées transversalement par rapport à l'axe longitudinal de l'instrument et sensiblement perpendiculairement au plan longitudinal moyen Px l'une des extrémités de chacune desdites parois de séparation venant s'appuyer contre la face concernée du premier porte-lames 4 tandis que l'autre extrémité de ladite paroi de séparation vient s'appuyer contre la face correspondante du second porte-lames 5 , les porte-lames 4 et 5 étant disposés obliquement l'un par rapport à l'autre , les plans passant par leurs faces d'appui respective contre les faces d'appui correspondantes du peigne constituent ici un dièdre ouvert en direction de la face d'embouchure de l'instrument,
• un distributeur d'air 6, interposé entre l'élément d'embouchure 2 et le peigne 7 ledit distributeur d'air 6 est destiné à diriger sélectivement l'air soufflé ou aspiré par le joueur vers l'un 30 ou l'autre 31 des deux canaux de circulation d'air alimentés par un trou d'embouchure 200 commun auxdits deux canaux d'air 30 et 31 ,
• un contre-peigne 8 ouvert en forme de mâchoire ou de contre-coin dont la conicité des faces, ouverte en direction de l'embouchure de l'instrument, est identique à la conicité des faces correspondantes du peigne 7 de telle sorte que lesdites faces correspondantes sont donc parallèles deux à deux et que chacun des deux porte-lames 4 et 5 de l'instrument est pris en sandwich entre la face du peigne 7 et la face correspondante du contre-peigne 8 ,
• des moyens , constitués ici par une lame flexible 9 s'étendant dans le sens longitudinal du peigne, générant une poussée tendant à rapprocher le contre-peigne 8 de la face d'embouchure de l'instrument et ce faisant, grâce aux formes coniques complémentaires du peigne 7 et du contre-peigne 8 , ce déplacement axial du contre-peigne 8 selon le plan longitudinal moyen Px assure un parfait plaquage des porte-lames 4 et 5 contre les faces correspondantes du peigne 7 sans nécessiter de faire appel à aucune vis de fixation des porte-lames contrairement aux harmonicas de l'art antérieur.
• deux capots 10 et 10 permettant la tenue en main de l'harmonica et assurant l'amplification des sons et leur projection en direction du pavillon de l'instrument. Pour faciliter la projection du son , des ouvertures 100 sont aménagées au moins dans la face latérale des capots 10 .

This specified, on the views 1 to 23, the harmonica 1 comprises:

• a mouthpiece element 2 in the outer face of which open the mouth holes 200 by which the harmonicist sucks or insufflates air which oscillates the sound waves of the instrument, each of the mouth holes 200 dessert two air circulation channels 30 and 31 each supplying at least one blown sound blade and at least one aspirated sound blade,
• a comb 7 or bed base in the thickness of which are formed a plurality of aforementioned air circulation channels 30 and 31 arranged side by side being separated from each other by lateral walls arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis of the instrument and substantially perpendicular to the mean longitudinal plane Px one of the ends of each of said partition walls coming to bear against the relevant face of the first blade holder 4 while the other end of said partition wall comes to bear against the corresponding face of the second blade holder 5, the blade holders 4 and 5 being arranged obliquely with respect to one another, the planes passing through their respective bearing faces against the corresponding bearing faces of the comb constitute here a dihedral open towards the mouth of the instrument,
• an air distributor 6, interposed between the mouthpiece element 2 and the comb 7, said air distributor 6 is intended to selectively direct the air blown or sucked by the player towards one or the other 31 two air circulation channels fed by a mouth hole 200 common to said two air channels 30 and 31,
• a counter-comb 8 open jaw-shaped or counter-wedge whose taper of the faces, open towards the mouth of the instrument, is identical to the conicity of the corresponding faces of the comb 7 so that said faces corresponding pairs are therefore parallel in pairs and each of the two blade holders 4 and 5 of the instrument is sandwiched between the face of the comb 7 and the corresponding face of the comb-comb 8,
• means, constituted here by a flexible blade 9 extending in the longitudinal direction of the comb, generating a thrust tending to bring the counter-comb 8 of the mouth face of the instrument and in doing so, thanks to the complementary conical shapes of the comb 7 and the counter-comb 8, this axial displacement of the counter-comb 8 along the mean longitudinal plane Px ensures perfect plating of the blade holders 4 and 5 against the corresponding faces of the comb 7 without the need to use any screws fixing the blade holders unlike the harmonicas of the prior art.
• two covers 10 and 10 for holding in hand the harmonica and ensuring the amplification of sounds and their projection towards the flag of the instrument. To facilitate sound projection, openings 100 are arranged at least in the lateral face of the hoods 10.

For each of the two air circulation channels 30 and 31 fed by a common mouth hole 200, the air distributor 6 moves by axial translation in the longitudinal direction of the instrument to move from its first position, in which it conceals the entry of the second air circulation channel 31 and communicates the mouth hole 200 concerned with the first channel 30 feeding at least one blade of the first blade carrier 4 and at least one blade of the second 5, in its second position in which it conceals the entrance of the first air channel 30 and communicates said mouth hole 200 with the second channel 31 also supplying at least one blade of the first door -lames 4 and at least one blade of the second blade holder 5.

Return means here constituted by a torsion spring 11 ensure the automatic return of the air distributor 6 in the extended position as soon as the user stops exerting pressure on the control member of said distributor 6.
An elastically deformable damping element 12 constituting a stop in the retracted position at the maximum of the air distributor 6 is interposed between said distributor and the face concerned of the comb 7 while a second elastically deformable damper 13 forming a stop in the extended position of the air distributor 6 is interposed between the distributor 6 and the relevant face of the mouthpiece member 2.
The mouthpiece element 2 is secured to the comb 7 by two knurled nuts 14, operable by hand without requiring the use of a tool, said knurled nuts being positioned inside the body of the harmonica not to constitute roughness on the mouth face of the instrument as is the case with the assemblies of the prior art whose screw heads disposed in the mouth face are often aggressive to the lips.
It should be noted that to facilitate the understanding of Figures 5 and 6 the blade holders 4 and 5 as well as the counter-comb 8 and the flexible blade 9 are not shown while on the figure 7 the blade holder supporting the blown blades has been added to the Figures 5 and 6 . As shown by Figures 10, 14 and 15 as well as figure 8 , which corresponds to an enlarged cross section of the complete harmonica performed according to the cutting marks A'A 'of the figure 7 , the harmonica according to this example has thin walls 700 and 800 partially covering the windows through which the air flows to animate the sound waves.
Thus the window of the blade holder 4 through which oscillates the suction blade 400 is covered over more than half of its length by a thin wall 800 disposed between the inner face of the corresponding cap and the blade holder supporting said blade 400. The thin wall 800 which is positioned beyond the space swept by the aspirated blade 400 as it oscillates constitutes a deflector intended as much to direct the air flows towards the free end portion of the blade as to to oppose the leakage of air sucked or blown between the longitudinal edges of said sound blade and the corresponding edges of the relevant window arranged in the blade holder thereby rendering superfluous the installation of additional sealing devices, referred to as valves which equip the so-called chromatic harmonicas of the prior art. The interest of the deflectors described above is all the greater as it allows to achieve a harmonica particularly leakproof air without requiring the use of expensive valves and tedious maintenance, which valves also remove the possibility of use certain gaming techniques such as blast and suraspirations to obtain particular notes that are interesting in terms of approval and expressiveness while these particular techniques can be used with a harmonica equipped with deflectors.

In the embodiment shown on the Figures 1 to 23 The deflector blade 800 associated with the aspirated blades is here secured to the counter-comb 8 with which it forms a monolithic assembly.
To achieve the same objectives as before exposed, a blade-deflector 700 positioned beyond the space swept by the blown blade 500 and also extending over more than half the length of the window concerned has been disposed to inside the air circulation channel concerned and it constitutes here a monolithic assembly with the comb 7 itself.
It is important to note that one of the particular objectives of the original harmonica design is to obtain an instrument that can be quickly dismounted without tools such as a key screwdriver or clamp necessary with the prior art harmonicas. For this reason, on the one hand, the blade holders are not secured to the comb by screwing according to the conventional method, but they are sandwiched between the internal faces of the comb and the corresponding outer faces of the comb and on the other hand the screws for securing the mouthpiece element 2 are knurled in order to be actuated by hand while in the heads of the fastening screws of the hoods 10 are provided slots of a width greater than one millimeter and a half which allow either to train them by screwing or unscrewing with the help of a thumbnail or to train them with a simple coin that everyone has at the bottom of his pocket. Such an arrangement has multiple advantages for the user who can thus easily access directly to the sound blades for both cleaning and maintenance or for a last minute adjustment before entering the scene.
Moreover, as shown by the different views and sections illustrating this first embodiment of the harmonica, the arrangement of the blade holders 4 and 5 has been reversed with respect to the conventional arrangement in which, when the instrument is in position the blade holder supporting the suction blades is arranged in the lower part of the instrument while the blade holder supporting the blown blades is arranged in the upper part of the instrument whereas in the harmonica shown in these views when the instrument is in play position, the blade holder 4 supporting the aspirated blades 400 is disposed in the upper part of the instrument while the blade holder 5 supporting the blown blades 500 is disposed in the lower part of the instrument. the instrument.
. The inverted arrangement in which the blade holders 4 and 5 are implanted here makes it possible to greatly facilitate the evacuation directly to the outside of the instrument of saliva and micro-detritus whereas with the conventional arrangement those they find themselves trapped in the cul-de-sac formed by the bottom of the canal from which they can not escape to because of the closed area at acute angle constituted by the fixed part of the suction blade disposed in the lower part of the channel concerned. Conversely, the proposed inverted arrangement allows said waste to be easily discharged to the outside through the window of the blade holder in which oscillates the free portion of the blown blade concerned which is located at the bottom of the instrument and this evacuation to the outside is all the more effective because it is provided by the self-cleaning effect conjugate gravity, blown air flow and oscillations of the blown blade.

The figure 17 includes different views and sections illustrating a particular embodiment of the blade holder whose areas in which are made the windows through which the sound waves oscillate are of decreasing thickness in stages when going from serious blades to acute blades. Thus, in the area concerned by the first six blades of each of the two blade holders , the thickness e1 is greater than the thickness e4 of said blade carriers measured at the level of the acute blades. However, to ensure a better rigidity of said blade-holders thus guaranteeing the flatness of their bearing surface coming to rest against the comb, it will be noted that the thinning above-mentioned does not concern the part of the blade holder located on the side of the face mouthpiece of the instrument, which part here retains its full thickness e1 to form a straight beam.

The figures 18 and 19 in exploded perspective, show the harmonica represented on the Figures 1 to 23 .

The Figures 20 to 23 show in more detail the particular design of the mouthpiece element 2 and the distributor 6 corresponding to the embodiment illustrated in the preceding figures. As shown on the figure 20 and in the enlarged view 21 the air distributor 6 occupies its first position, said output maximum, and for each of the mouth holes that includes the harmonica a 60 element of said distributor at the same time the entrance mouth the channel 31 and directs the air flow towards the channel 30 by gradually diverting them to said channel 30 with the least loss of strength and speed of said flows through the convex curvilinear form of its flanks being placed in the extension of the corresponding concave curvilinear inclined flanks of the transverse element 201 concerned separating two contiguous mouth holes 200.

The figure 22 and the corresponding enlarged view 23 show the flow path of the air when the harmonicist presses on the control button of the air distributor 6 bringing it into its second position, said retracted, in which the transverse element 60 is positioned so that it blocks the inlet of the channel 30 and directs the air flow to the channel 31.

Due to the symmetrical shape of its inclined lateral faces in general dihedral shape open towards the flag of the instrument, the transverse element 60 is of generally triangular cross section and its shape is therefore generally prismatic three-sided over its entire length and furthermore each of said transverse members 60 is associated with a single mouth hole of its own.
As shown by these four Figures 20 to 23 , each of the two lateral faces of each of the transverse elements 60 is inclined at the angle λ with respect to the plane passing through the longitudinal axis of the channel concerned, said plane being moreover arranged perpendicularly to the longitudinal plane Px of general symmetry of the instrument. The two inclined lateral faces are of convex curvilinear shape complementary with the corresponding concave curvilinear bearing faces of the mouthpiece element so that when these faces are in contact with each other, they marry to the maximum to guarantee a perfect airtightness thus avoiding parasitic air leaks.
According to a preferred embodiment, the angle λ , open towards the mouth of the instrument, is greater than 10 ° (ten degrees) preferably greater than 15 ° (fifteen degrees) and in particular greater than 20 ° (twenty degrees)

To further perfect the seal against parasitic air leaks the lower face of each of the transverse elements 60, disposed substantially parallel to the mouth face, has at its two lower edges small returns 600 and 600 in prominence by relative to said lower face such that the extreme edge of said returns is further away from the mouth face of the instrument than is the extreme edge of the wall separating them from two adjacent flow channels; Air supplied by a common mouth hole 200.
Each of said returns 600 is extended over the entire length of the two lower side edges of said element 60 to form a sealing lip which is wedged against the corresponding face of the upper part of the wall separating two air circulation channels fed by the same mouth hole. When the transverse element 60 occupies one of its two extreme positions, the relevant sealing spoiler 600 is housed in a rabbet of complementary shape to said spoiler arranged in the upper part of said partition wall so as to provide a seal maximum effect by baffles against parasitic air leaks.

Also to prevent air leakage between two neighboring channels, as shown in figure 21 the ends of the walls separating two adjacent channels fed by two different mouth holes are fitted into slots of complementary shaped shape formed in the rear face of the mouth member 201 and, to do this, the ends of said walls are located at a distance d from the mouth face less than the distance D separating said mouth face from the upper end of the walls separating two air channels 30 and 31 fed by the same mouth hole.

We also notice on these Figures 20 to 23 that the wall separating between them two channels 30 and 31 fed by a common mouth hole is thicker than the wall separating between two channels fed by two different mouth holes and this in order to have a sufficient width to to be able to arrange in the upper part of the thick wall the aforementioned sealing rabbet. This difference in thickness of said walls is also reflected in the fact that the distance separating the adjacent longitudinal edges of two adjacent blades fed by the same mouth hole is greater than the distance separating the two contiguous longitudinal edges of two adjacent blades fed by two different mouths.
In this embodiment, shown in the Figures 20 to 23 as well as in the variants represented on the Figures 24 to 27 , the sealing between the transverse elements 60 of the distributor 6 and the transverse elements 201 of the mouthpiece member 2 is ensured laterally by the close contact and therefore sealed between the relevant lateral faces of said elements 60 and 201 and not by the contact between the top face of the transverse elements 60 of the air distributor 6 against the corresponding lower face of the transverse elements 201 of the mouthpiece element 2 as is the case for the other embodiments shown in FIGS. Figures 28 to 31 .

The Figures 24 to 29 are partial cross sections showing other embodiments of the transverse elements 201 of the mouthpiece member 2 and the transverse members 60 of the air distributor 6. Each embodiment is illustrated by a figure showing the position occupied by said elements 201 and 60 when said air distributor occupies its extended position and by another figure in which said air distributor occupies its retracted position. These embodiments differ from the embodiment shown in the preceding figures in that the contact faces between the mouthpiece element 2 and the transverse elements 60 are flat, but they all have in common the interest of having transverse elements. 60 of generally shaped shape and whose width, measured in the longitudinal direction of the instrument, is generally degressive as one moves away from their face closest to the flag of the instrument to get closer to their face located closest to the mouth of the instrument.
Indeed the planes passing through the lateral faces of said transverse elements 60 constitute a dihedral open towards the flag of the instrument according to the average angle respectively α, β which is to say that the planes passing through the inclined lateral faces 601, 601 facing each other two adjacent transverse members 60 are a dihedral also of respective value α, β but which, it is open towards the mouth of the instrument the faces Laterally inclined sides of two adjacent transverse elements therefore constitute a hopper effectively directing the air flows to the selected air circulation channel and this as well when the air distributor 6 occupies its "out" position that its "retracted" position. . This hopper-shaped configuration of the lateral faces 601 of the transverse elements 60 of the air distributor 6 is moreover reinforced in its efficiency by the inverted hopper-shaped configuration of the inclined flanks 2010,2010 of the corresponding mouth hole 200 whose planes here constitute a dihedral of angular value γ open towards the flag of the instrument. The inclination of the lateral faces 601, 601 of the transverse elements 60 of the air distributor 6 is substantially identical to that of the lateral faces 2010, 2010 of the transverse elements 201 of the mouthpiece element 2, which allows on the one hand to widen optimally the passage taken by the suction or blown air flow arranged between the mouth face and the underside of the air distributor 6 and secondly to optimize the flow of said flow creating the least amount of air possible turbulence and the least cavitation phenomena unlike that experienced by the air streams in the harmonicas of the prior art whose corresponding arrangements include changes in direction at right angles which result in significant losses of speed and force of the air flows and therefore ultimately by a longer response time or responsiveness in the oscillation of the blades.

The Figures 26 and 27 show an embodiment in which the lateral faces of the transverse elements 201 of the mouthpiece member 2 arranged perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the instrument comprise recesses recessed complementary dimensions to the shapes and dimensions of the corresponding lateral faces transverse members 60 of the air distributor 6 such that when the air distributor 6 is in its fully retracted position or its fully extended position, said respective lateral faces come into close contact with each other by marrying each other both at their respective inclined lateral faces and at the level of the upper horizontal facet of the transverse elements 60 of the air distributor. These recesses, or steps, thus constitute transverse baffles guaranteeing an optimal seal against parasitic air leakage and thanks to these close contacts between said elements 201 and 60 both in the horizontal sliding plane of the distributor 6 and in inclined planes according to the lateral facets concerned.

The Figures 30 and 31 show an alternative embodiment in which the lateral faces 602 of the transverse elements 60 of the distrubutor 6 have a double curvature whose lower part located closest to the flag is convex while the upper part located closest to the mouth is concave. The two mean planes passing through the inclined lateral faces of the transverse elements 60 of the distributor 6 constitute a dihedral of angular value δ open towards the flag of the instrument while the two mean planes passing through the inclined lateral faces of the transverse elements 201 separating two contiguous mouth holes are concurrent and constitute a dihedral of angular value ε open towards the mouth of the instrument.

The figure 32 shows two perspective views of the mouthpiece element 2 and the air distributor 6 corresponding to the embodiment illustrated by the Figures 28 and 29 .

It should be noted that the configurations described above in correspondence with Figures 28 to 31 On the one hand, they offer the advantage of a very reduced translational travel of the air distributor 6 to move from its extended position to its retracted position and vice versa and, on the other hand, the advantage of guaranteeing in every respect of the race said distributor permanently sealing between two neighboring air channels fed by two different mouth holes. Indeed throughout the sliding path of the air distributor 6 the upper face of each of the transverse elements 60 is constantly in contact with the corresponding lower face of the mouthpiece member 2 thus avoiding any air passage very detrimental between two neighboring channels powered by two different air holes as is the case with the harmonicas of the prior art whose windows arranged through the blade constituting the air distributor moves a channel of air to the neighboring channel fed by another mouth hole thereby inadvertently communicating said channels when the air distributor is halfway.

The figure 33 shows a particular embodiment in which the faces of the comb against which bear the blade holders are parallel to each other.

The figure 33 bis is a section of the figure 33 according to the RR mark with localized tearing of the spoiler 701 to see the screw heads fixing the deflectors 16. The figure 33 ter is a front view of a portion of the blade holder 5.
Each of the sound blades is secured to the corresponding blade holder by being sandwiched between the face of said blade holder and an insert member constituting a deflector 15, 16 secured to the blade holder by a screw and a nut.
To avoid the total unscrewing of the screw and the nut securing the baffle 16 and the blown blade corresponding to the bladed blade holder 5, the comb comprises a spoiler 701 partially covering at least the head of said screw while the corresponding cap 10 cover him the nut which, thus, can not escape him either. In the same way to prevent the total unscrewing of the screw and the nut securing the deflector 15 and the sucked blade corresponding to the sucked blade holder 4, the comb comprises a second spoiler 702 partially covering at least the head of the screw concerned while a spoiler 82 partially covering at least the nut is formed in an attached element 800 held pressed against the blade holder 4 by one of the screws ensuring the fixing and the plating of the two blade holders 4 and 5 against the corresponding faces of the comb 7.

The cross section of the figure 33 shows that in this embodiment the comb occupies a position that is off-center in the lateral direction with respect to the mouthpiece and therefore with respect to the mean longitudinal plane Px even though said mouth as well as the outer faces of the two covers are arranged symmetrically relative to mean longitudinal plane Px. This off-center arrangement of the blade-holders beneficially exploits the fact that the blade-holder 4 supporting all the aspirated blades of the instrument imposes to have more space between the inner face of the corresponding cap and the outer face of the blade-holder 4. against which are fixed said blades sucked whereas contrario the blown blades supported by the blade holder 5 being fixed against the inner face of said blade holder 5 can, for their oscillations, be satisfied with a smaller space between the face outside said blade holder 5 and the inner face of the corresponding cover. The face of the comb 7 against which rests the blade holder 4 supporting the suction blades 400 is therefore positioned at a distance D2 from said mean longitudinal plane Px less than the distance D1 at which the face of the comb 7 against which presses the blade holder 5 supporting the blown blades 500.
This original off-center arrangement of the comb thus makes it possible to produce a thinner harmonica, which is of great interest for holding the instrument in hand compared to the corresponding harmonicas of the prior art.

The baffles 15 associated with the suction blades are positioned outside the comb and therefore disposed between the outer face of the blade holder 4 and the inner face of the bonnet concerned while the baffles 16 of the blown blades are arranged inside them. of the air circulation channel concerned. The deflectors 15 associated with the suction blades are configured in the form of a closed element over at least a portion of the length of its sides by lateral sealing walls which come to join the corresponding face of the blade carrier 4 while being in position. outside the space swept by the sound blade concerned while the central face of said deflector 15 disposed vis-a-vis the corresponding face of the sound blade concerned is located beyond the space swept by said sound blade when its maximum oscillations so that said soundblade can not at any time come into contact with one or the other of the inner walls of the deflector 15. For the same reasons, said upper face of the deflector 15 is advantageously of convex shape in the longitudinal direction of the channel concerned so that it can at the same time marry at best the arched shape of the sounding blade in motion and to present an outer face with rounded shapes in order to to penalize and disturb as little as possible the flow of the sucked air streams that run along said deflectors 15 before rushing into the window through which oscillates the sound blade concerned.
The deflectors 16 associated with the blown blades are positioned inside the channels arranged in the comb and their width corresponds to the width of said channels. It is the side walls separating the channels between them which ensure the lateral sealing and the internal deflectors 16 are thus reduced to a wall disposed outside the space swept by the sound wave concerned during its oscillations.

The baffles 15 and 16 cover the blade attachment zone as well as the fixed part of the blades with which they are associated and they extend towards the free end of said blades sucked and blown in such a way that their end is located respectively at a distance Da from the end of the window adjoining the free end of the aspired sound blade concerned and at a distance Ds from the end of the window adjoining the free end of the respective blown sound blade.
The distance Da being less than the total length La of the window in which the aspired sound blade oscillates concerned as well as the distance Ds is less than the total length Ls of the window in which the respective blown sound wave oscillates.

According to a first embodiment, the value of the distance Da is advantageously between one-third and two-thirds of the value of La and the value of the Ds distance is advantageously between one third and two thirds of the value of Ls .
According to a preferred embodiment, the value of the distance Da is advantageously between one-quarter and three-quarters of the value of La and the value of the distance Ds is advantageously between one-quarter and three-quarters of the value of Ls .
Of course, at least some, if not all, of the outer deflectors 15 relating to the suction blades can be grouped together in a single plate held pressed against the outer face of the blade carrier 4 supporting the blades sucked by the screws ensuring the assembly and fixing of the or blade holders against the corresponding face or faces of the comb 7.

The Figures 34 to 37 shows another embodiment of a harmonica among which the two Figures 34 and 35 are external views respectively front and side of the mounted harmonica while the figure 36 Gathers different views showing the assembly of the different parts constituting this harmonica. In this embodiment, the covers and the mouth face constitute a monolithic assembly configured as a bell-shaped peripheral shell 18 open on the instrument's side and having on the opposite face constituting the mouth face of the mouthpiece. the instrument the mouth holes 200 by which the harmonicist sucks or blows air which vibrates the sound strips sucked 4 or blown 5 through the channels of circulation of air flows.
An opening arranged in the upper part of one of the faces of the shell 18 allows the introduction of the air distributor 6 inside the shell 18.
After the blade holders 4 and 5 have been mounted on the comb and held in place either by the counter comb 8 or by means such as clipping for mounting and dismounting without tools, the comb thus already supporting the blade holder is introduced inside the hull 18 and then slidably placed in the direction of the mouth, its good positioning being guaranteed by positioning and guiding means, not shown here, made inside the hull 18 collaborating with additional arrangements made on the comb and / or against the comb 8. It is then sufficient to set up the flexible blade 9 whose thrust towards the mouthpiece face of the instrument ensures the maintenance of the various elements between them ensuring on the one hand the minimum clearance between the upper face comb and the lower face of the sliding distributor 6 and secondly a sufficient thrust against the counter comb 8 so that it can ensure optimal plating of the blade holder 4 and 5 against the corresponding faces of the comb 7.
To ensure that the counter-comb 8 has sufficient rigidity so that it can effectively press the blade-holders against the comb 7, said counter-comb comprises ribs 80 arranged in the field relative to the faces of the blade-holders 4 and 5 which chords 80 are positioned at the right of the walls of separation of the channels by slipping between the sound waves concerned.
As shown in the various previous figures, each of the two blade holders 4 and 5 only supports blades of the same type which are aspirated blades 400 for the first blade holder 4 and blades 500 blasted for the second blade carrier In other words, all the blades of the same type as the harmonica comprises are mounted on the same blade holder and this arrangement of the blades advantageously reduces the overall thickness of the instrument since the comb 7 and thus the door -lames and counter-comb 8 it supports can be advantageously mounted in off-center position relative to the plane PX symmetry of the shell. Indeed, if it is necessary to provide a large space between the blade holder 5 and the corresponding face of the interior of the shell 18 to allow the free end of the blades of the aspirated disposed outside of the carrier blades and turns in addition towards the mouth of the instrument, contrario the holder-bladders 4 supporting the blown blades can be, him, positioned very close to the corresponding inner face of the shell 18 since on the one hand these Blown blades are positioned inside the comb and on the other hand their oscillating free end is turned on the side of the flag of the instrument. This amounts to saying that the comb 7 as well as the blade holders 4,5 and the counter-comb 8 that it supports are off-center in the lateral direction with respect to the mean longitudinal plane Px passing through the mid-thickness of the instrument. at the mouth and the mid-thickness of the instrument at the flag, the face of the comb 7 against which rests the blade holder 4 supporting the aspirated blades 400 being positioned closer to said plane Px that does not is the face of the comb 7 against which rests the blade holder 5 supporting the blown blades 500 which is also to say that the face of the comb 7 supporting the blade holder 4 of the suction blades 400 is positioned at a distance of the inner face of the corresponding cap greater than the distance at which the face of the comb 7 supporting the blade holder 5 of the blown blades 500 is located relative to the inner face of the corresponding cap.

From the off-center mounting position inside the shell 18 as described above, it follows that the ribs 80 of the counter-comb 8 located on the sides of the suctioned blades are lower than are the corresponding members located on the side of the blades sucked and to ensure a better rigidity in particular in longitudinal and transverse bending, side blown blades the ends of said frames are advantageously interconnected by a transverse bar 81 located beyond the space swept by said blown blades.
Finally, it is necessary to underline the very particular interest that the arrangement of the channels as described in the various embodiments presented in this document have with respect to the configuration of the harmonicas of the prior art for this type of harmonica with which the harmonicist can access a double register of notes generally shifted relative to each other by a semitone hence the term chromatic harmonica generally used to designate this type of instrument. In fact, in the chromatic harmonicas of the prior art, the two sound blades, one of sucked type and the other of blown type, supplied when the air distributor occupies its first position, said outlet, are both positioned. side by side and both located on the same side of the harmonica with respect to the longitudinal plane PX of general symmetry while the other two sound blades fed by the same mouth hole when the distributor occupies its second position, said return, are positioned side by side and both located on the other side of the PX plane. This amounts to saying that in the prior arrangement each of the two channels that can be selectively supplied by the air distributor and each containing a suction blade and a blown blade are arranged symmetrically relative to each other with respect to the plane Px mentioned above and that consequently these two channels are separated from each other by a wall extending in the longitudinal direction of the harmonica, the median plane of said wall being parallel and generally even coplanar with the plane Px each channels are closed on three of its four sides since side walls arranged perpendicularly to the plane Px ensure the separation between a pair of channels fed by the same mouth hole and the pair of neighboring channels fed by the hole d next mouth. This earlier concept consisting in juxtaposing two channels in the direction of the thickness of the instrument results in an addition of the travel dimensions of the ends of the sound waves to which is added in addition the thickness of the medial partition wall and this accumulation dimensions results in a substantial thickness of the instrument which is penalizing for the grip.
In contrast, in the harmonica 1, the two blades, one sucked and the other blown, contained in a channel 30 fed when the air distributor 6 occupies its first position are arranged opposite the one on the other side of the plane Px of general symmetry of the instrument, in the same way as the other two blades one sucked and the other blown, contained in the contiguous channel 31 fed when the air distributor 6 occupies its second position, are also arranged vis-à-vis one another. The air circulation channels are therefore both closed only on their two lateral faces by partition walls arranged parallel to each other and positioned perpendicularly to the plane Px of general symmetry of the instrument the absence of walls of separation disposed in the longitudinal direction of the instrument thus allows much closer blade holders compared to the previous arrangement and this in view of the fact that the blades sucked and blown are arranged head to tail which avoids a collision between their respective free ends when they oscillate and there follows a significant and very appreciable thinning of the thickness of the comb of the instrument and therefore a significant reduction in the overall thickness of the harmonica which makes the taking into account. easy hand including holding a microphone in the palm of the hand.
It is also important to note that if all the figures shown show a comb whose two planes passing through the bearing faces of the blade holders are either parallel to each other or form an open dihedral towards the mouth of the instrument , an alternative would be conceivable where the harmonica had the characteristics of this embodiment by associating them with a comb whose bearing surfaces of the blade holders would be arranged in such a way that the planes which contain them constitute a dihedron open towards the flag of the instrument.

The Figures 38 to 50 show the embodiment of a harmonica according to the invention of which all the extracted sound blades 211 and all the blown sounding blades 212 are supported by the same blade holder 21.
Said aspirated blades 211 and blowers 212 are arranged head to tail in a row on either side of the blade holder 21 to which they are secured in pairs by a common screw passing through the internal deflector 27, the heel of the blown blade 212, the blade holder 21, the heel of the sucked blade 211 and the outer baffle 26 to be screwed into a nut embedded in the outer baffle 26.
The respective longitudinal axes of the sucked blade 211 and the blown blade 212 are arranged parallel, and even coplanarly, with the longitudinal axis of the single air channel 220 which serves them and the free oscillating parts of said sound blades stretch. in two diametrically opposite directions with respect to each other.
The single blade holder 21 is arranged obliquely with respect to the mean longitudinal plane Px which cuts said blade holder 21 in an area between the two opposite free ends of the sucked blade 211 and the worst blown blade 212 the most serious fed both by a common channel 220. It should be noted that the single blade holder 21 disposed here obliquely with respect to the plane Px could equally well be arranged parallel to the plane Px without thereby departing from the scope of the invention.

The air circulation channels 220 arranged in the comb 22 do not pass through the entire thickness of said comb so that they are closed by a wall extending in the longitudinal direction of the harmonica, said longitudinal wall comb thus constituting one of the two outer longitudinal faces of the peripheral shell of the instrument.

Due to the oblique arrangement of the blade carrier relative to the mean longitudinal plane Px of the instrument, the air channels are advantageously of substantially conical shape and therefore of generally degressive section when moving away from the mouth of the nozzle. instrument to get closer to the pavilion. This configuration results in an inclination of the average longitudinal axis of the air circulation channels with respect to the plane Px according to an angular value φ such that the overall mean plane of the face of the mouth of the instrument is not arranged perpendicular to the average longitudinal plane Px according to the conventional mode of the prior art but inclined by an angular value advantageously substantially equal to φ relative to said plane perpendicular to the plane Px and the value of the angle φ is advantageously between ten degrees and 30 degrees.

It should be noted that the arrangement of the blade holder and the comb can be reversed with respect to the arrangement shown on the Figures 38 to 50 in which, when the harmonica occupies its play position, the plane Px then being arranged substantially horizontally, the single blade holder 21 is disposed above the comb 22 in which the channels 22 are arranged. In the inverted arrangement, not shown in these drawings, when the harmonica occupies its play position, the plane Px then being arranged substantially horizontally, the single blade holder 21 is then disposed below the comb 22 in which the channels 22 are arranged. .

As shown by Figures 38 to 50 , the blade holder 21 is not secured to the comb by screws which must be disassembled to separate it from the comb as is the case for the harmonicas of the prior art but is sandwiched between said comb 22 and the cover 23 acting as a presser exerting a support on the one hand at least at the longitudinal edge of the blade holder extending on the side of the mouth 24 and at the longitudinal edge of said blade holder extending along the roof and on the other hand at the level of several support members 230 secured to the cover 23 disposed substantially perpendicular to the mean longitudinal plane Px. Each of the support members constitutes a reinforcing rib of the cover 23 and is in the form of a wall whose median plane is advantageously arranged coplanar with the median plane of the corresponding wall 221 separating between them two contiguous channels 220 comb 22.
The pressure means tending to bring the cover 23 closer to the comb 22 here consist of screws 37 passing through said cover, as well as, where appropriate, a corresponding frame 230, then the blade holder 21 to be screwed into the comb 22. Of course the screws can be arranged in the opposite position, their heads then being on the side of the comb 22 and their rods being screwed into the cover 23. Each of these screws may also be replaced by a pair consisting of a female screw associated with a male screw whose respective heads open out of the cover 23 and the comb 22.
The harmonica according to the invention comprises at least one pressure screw 37 implanted in the part of the instrument between the two planes arranged perpendicularly to the mean longitudinal plane Px of the instrument and passing through the longitudinal axis of the instrument. air circulation channel feeding the most serious blade of the instrument and the other by the longitudinal axis of the channel feeding the blade the most acute sound of the instrument.
According to another characteristic, the longitudinal axis of at least one of the clamping screws of the pressure caps is positioned at a distance from the mouth face lower than the distance separating said mouth face from the bottom of the channel of air circulation 220 feeding the worst blade of the instrument.

According to another feature, to maximize the plating force of the blade holder 21 against the comb 22 exerted by the pressure cap 23 on the side of the mouth face of the instrument pressure means consisting of pressure screws 37 are located as close as possible to said mouth face and that the rod of said screws does not come to encroach inside an air circulation channel 220, at least some of said air channels 220 are oriented in a slightly oblique manner with respect to the mouth face of the instrument so that, while respecting strictly without increasing the spacing Ex between mouth holes, at least some of the lateral separation walls 221 of the channels between them go widening as one moves away from the mouth face to get closer to the flag of the instrument thus quickly offering a width sufficient for the pressure screw 37 concerned can be e implanted between two contiguous sound waves and even between the fixed base and the free end of said adjacent sound waves.
As shown in figure 38 to allow the implantation of the pressure screws 37 as close as possible to the mouth face as described above, the air circulation channels 220 that comprises said comb 22 are divided into five groups. Each of said groups here consists of four contiguous channels corresponding to two contiguous mouth holes. Within each of these five groups, the longitudinal axes of said channels 220 are advantageously parallel to each other while said longitudinal axes 220 of one of said groups of channels are divergent with respect to the longitudinal axes of the channels of another group of channels. adjacent channels so that the partition wall separating the two contiguous air channels belonging to two neighboring groups widens as one moves away from the mouth face to get closer to the face of the roof. 'instrument.
As illustrated on the figure 38 only the longitudinal axes of the four channels 220 corresponding to the mouth holes 5 and 6 and constituting the central group are arranged perpendicular to the mouth face of the instrument while the longitudinal axes of the channels of the other groups of channels are oriented obliquely symmetrically relative to each other with respect to the plane perpendicular to Px passing through the middle of the space separating the two mouth holes 5 and 6.
As shown in figure 38 for at least some of the pressure screws 37, the straight line passing through the longitudinal axis of said screws passes through a wall 221 separating between them two adjacent air circulation channels 220 whose respective longitudinal axes are divergent as one moves away from the mouth face of the instrument to approach the horn of the instrument and the longitudinal axis of said clamping screws of the pressure cap 23 is positioned at a distance from the mouth face of the instrument lower than the distance from said mouth face at which is the bottom of the shorter of the two air channels 220 adjacent to the wall in which is implanted the clamping screw concerned.

The figure 39 shows an enlargement of the corresponding area of the figure 38 illustrating the detail of the device for adjusting the prestressing of the means ensuring the automatic return to the output position of the air distributor 25 when the player does not press on the end of said distributor constituting its control button. These return means here consist of a helical compression spring 252 associated with a device for adapting the prestressing to the wishes of the player consisting of a bush 250, internally threaded, crimped inside said button and in which a threaded stud 251 can move axially by simply screwing or unscrewing, which can be operated directly from the outside, without the need to dismantle the instrument, using a suitable drive tool introduced through a hole made through the button control of the air distributor 25.

As shown by figures 38 , 42 , 45 and 47 at least some of the aspirated sound blades 211 are associated with a deflector 26 covering a portion of the length of the window of the blade holder 21 through which oscillates the sound blade concerned.

the aforementioned deflector is extended by a thin flexible valve blade 260 extending in the opposite direction to the free end of the sound blade which it is the deflector and this flexible blade is the sealing valve of the blown sound blade 212 powered by the same air channel 220.

The length and the width of the above-mentioned flexible strip 260 are greater than the dimensions of the window through which the blown sound wave 212 oscillates, as shown, on the one hand, by the corresponding discontinuous lines on the valve lamellae corresponding to the channels 220. fed by the mouth-holes 3 and 4 as well as the localized tear-offs effected on the leaf-valves 260 of the air channels corresponding to the mouth-hole 5.

When the player sucks in the channel concerned inadvertent admissions of air through the window of the blown sound blade 212 come to press the flexible valve blade 260 against the face of the blade holder 21 thus completely closing the window of passage of air of said blown sound blade 212 and thereby forcing the entire intake of air flow to pass through the window of the aspirated blade 211, the type corresponds well, him, in the sense of the flow sucked.

On the other hand, when the player blows into the channel in question, the unwanted air leaks through the window of the aspirated sound blade 211 come to press the flexible valve blade 270 against the face of the blade holder 21, thus closing the window completely. of air passage of said aspirated sound blade 211 and thus forcing the entire flow of blown air to pass through the window of the blown blade 212 whose type corresponds well, it, in the flow sense breath.

The deflectors 26, 27 and the corresponding thin strip 260, 270 constituting the valve may advantageously be produced, in particular by molding, at the same time and in the same material, to then constitute a single-component monolithic assembly as well as being made by dual injection molding. -material from two different materials but nevertheless compatible with each other.

The deflectors 26 and 27 advantageously comprise a small anti-rotation pin, respectively 261 and 271, protruding with respect to their bearing face against the blade holder 21, said pin being received in the thickness of the blade holder in the window in which oscillates the blade opposite to that for which each of said deflector plays its role of deflector.

The figure 44 shows that the mounting, against the corresponding face of the blade holder, the bass blades having an excess thickness 100 at their free end constituting a weight ballast has been reversed compared to the assembly of the prior art shown on the figure 43 wherein said low blades are mounted such that said extra thickness of the blades 100 and the redan that it forms are located on the face of the blade opposite that which is pressed against the blade holder which causes a disturbance of the flow laminar air streams animating said blades. The proposed reverse arrangement is illustrated on the figure 44 in which the face of the blade having the excess thickness 100 is oriented against the blade holder and the back of the blade is perfectly smooth which allows the air streams to flow without disturbance by sliding on the end zone the free part of the blades without encountering obstacles that would create swirls quick to cause twisting phenomena and thus twisting of the blade which is very detrimental for its lifetime and otherwise not harmonious in terms of music.
As shown elsewhere Figures 44, 44 Bis and 44 Ter as well to facilitate the initiation of oscillations of the sound blade under a small air stream that to compensate, at the free end of the blade, the exhaust opening reduction of the air due to the presence of the weight on the other side of the blade following the inverted assembly described above, depressions 101, shaped chamfers or leave, can be advantageously performed in the blade holder. These recesses 101 may be made both at the end of the window concerned and on at least part of its longitudinal edges and in the face of the blade holder against which is plated the sound blade concerned.

The figure 46 is an enlarged view of the corresponding area of the figure 45 showing an embodiment of an air distributor 25 at least some of whose faces comprise sealing baffles 253 intended to oppose unwanted air leakage between said distributor 25 and / or the comb 22 and / or the mouthpiece element 24 and / or the hood 23.
These baffles 253 formed in the faces of the air distributor 25 extend in the longitudinal direction of the instrument and they consist of steps, and / or ribs and / or grooves of dimensions and complementary shapes perfectly adjusted to steps and / or ribs and / or complementary grooves formed in the corresponding faces of the mouth member 24 and / or the comb 22 and / or covers 23 against which slides said distributor.

The Figures 48 to 50 illustrate an alternative embodiment of the harmonica having a single blade holder shown in the previous figures.

At least some of the windows through which oscillate the audible blades 38 and blown 39 are partially covered by special baffles spoilers 35 and 36 arranged head to tail on both sides of the blade holder, said baffles constituting each a boss advantageously of convex shape in the longitudinal direction and in the transverse direction intended to constitute a spoiler or deflector aerodynamic forms allowing the air streams to pass, with the least possible disturbance, over the area in which are positioned both the rivet or the blade fixing screw and the vertical portion of the end of each of the windows located on the side of the fixed part of the sound blade concerned. Indeed, in prior art montages the protruding rivets fastening the blades to the blade holder as well as the vertical rectangular bottom and thus very little aerodynamic constituted by the edge of the windows represent as many obstacles opposing a fluid and continuous flow of air streams.
Each of these particular deflectors, respectively 35 and 36, consists of a curvilinear wall convex at least in the longitudinal axial direction of the sound blades concerned, said wall being positioned beyond the space swept by the blades during their maximum oscillations, and it continuously covers both a part of the sound blade pressed against the same face of the blade holder as it, respectively 38 and 39, and therefore also the corresponding portion of the window which is associated with said blade, and a part of the window through which oscillates the sound blade fixed on the opposite face of the blade holder, respectively 39 and 38.

According to a first embodiment, each of the two spoilers extends continuously in the longitudinal direction of the two sound waves over an overall length such that, from the two opposite ends of the windows concerned, the two opposite ends of each of said deflectors-spoilers are at distances, respectively da1 and ds1 for the outer deflector 35 and da2 and ds2 for the inner deflector 36, less than three quarters of the length, respectively Da and Ds , of the windows through which the sound waves sway concerned 38 and 39.

According to a preferred embodiment, the deflectors extend over an overall overall length such that each of the distances da1 and ds1 for the outer deflector 35 and da2 and ds2 for the inner baffle 36 are less than two-thirds of the length, respectively Da and Ds , of the windows through which the sound waves concerned 38 and 39 oscillate.

The internal spoilers 36 are positioned inside the air channels and they can be attached and fixed to the blade holder by any means such as for example a screw as shown in the drawings. Figures 48 to 50 but these internal spoiler can also advantageously form a monolithic assembly with the comb then being independent of the blade holder.
The outer spoilers are arranged between the outer face of the blade holder and the corresponding inner face of the cover 23 and they can also be reported and be fixed to the blade holder by any means such as for example a screw as shown in the drawings. Figures 48 to 50 but they can also advantageously be joined together to form a profiled element according to the required convex transverse profile, said element extending substantially in the longitudinal direction of the instrument being, if necessary, connected to the ribs of the cover 23.

As shown by Figures 48 to 50 the deflectors-spoilers are here fixed together by a common screw which also ensures the attachment of the sucked blade 38 and the blown blade 39 against the corresponding faces of the blade holder sandwiched antre said blades. Each of the two spoilers 35 and 36 comprises an anti-rotation pin coming to fit precisely in the window of the blade sucked for the inner spoiler 36 and in the window of the blown blade for the outer spoiler 35

The Figures 48 to 50 show that at least some of the sound blades of the instrument are associated with at least one if not two fins, respectively 33 and 34, arranged on either side of the single blade holder 21. These two fins are asymmetric tapered cross section and their respective longitudinal axes extend in the longitudinal direction of the instrument substantially parallel to the plane Px.
The first fin 33 is disposed inside the relevant channel through which it passes right through the longitudinal direction of the instrument and its leading edge located closest to the mouth is positioned substantially opposite the free end of the suction blade 38 while the second fin 34 is implanted on the other side of the single blade holder, so between the outer face of the blade holder and the inner face of the cover. This second fin 34 is implanted such that its leading edge located closest to the flag of the instrument is positioned substantially opposite the free end of the blown blade 39. Each of these two fins has a slightly convex face that we will call intrados and a second face whose convexity is much more accentuated than we will call extrados, said extrados being oriented in the direction of the blade holder both for the inner fin 33 as for the outer fin 34.

The figure 49 shows the operation of these arrangements when the player blows into the air circulation channel associated with the aspirated blade 38 and the blown blade 39. The fin 33 divides the flow of initial blown air into two streams: a main stream and a secondary stream. The main flow passes between the underside of the fin 90 and the wall of the comb constituting the hood and closing the channels on their third side, This main air flow follows an almost straight path to reach by the shortest path the part free of blown sound blade 39.
At the same time, the second flow, considered as the secondary flow, bypasses the upper surface of the inner fin 33, passing between said extrados and the corresponding inner face of the blade carrier and between the extrados and the convex face of the deflector. internal spoiler 36. Due to the greater convexity and consequently the greater length of the extrados compared to that of the intrados, this secondary flow therefore follows a longer path than that which follows the main flow which imposes an increase velocity in the area of the extrados to the air streams of the secondary flow entrained in their race by the air streams of the main flow.
By Venturi effect, this rapid flow of the air streams of the secondary flow causes a slight depression in the area of the free end of the aspirated blade 38 which results in a suction acting on the free portion of the aspirated blade 38 tending to bring closer to the blade holder, along F1, the free portion of the suction blade 38 which thus closes the corresponding window formed in said blade holder. The depression created by the Venturi effect being low it allows only a slight bending of the suction blade just sufficient for it to be placed in the thickness of the blade holder by closing the window beneficially in the manner of a valve but this depression is not strong enough to cause parasitic oscillation said aspirated blade 38 which is perfect.
The secondary flow then slides on the convex wall of the spoiler 36, thus spanning the attachment zone of the blown blade to join the main flow and both then escape towards the instrument horn, causing the blade to oscillate. blown 39 during their passage through the corresponding window

The figure 50 shows, it, the operating principle of these arrangements when the player sucks in the air flow channel associated with the aspirated blade 38 and the blown blade 39. The air flow sucked between mainly in the harmonica directly by the opening 230 arranged through the cover and positioned vis-à-vis the area of the free end of the suction blade 38, a complementary flow however arrives from the flag of the instrument. Throughout the flag extends a burette 28 of triangular curvilinear section serving as an aerodynamic springboard for the air streams sucked by the flag which are thus mainly directed between the underside of the outer fin 34 and the corresponding inner face of the cover 23 and then follow a path almost rectilinear to reach by the shortest path the free part of the sound blade aspired 38.
A minority of sucked air threads, however, passes between the extrados of the outer fin 34 and the corresponding outer face of the blade holder and between said extrados and the convex face of the outer spoiler-deflector 35. Again, because of the greater convexity and consequently the greater length of the extrados compared to that of the intrados, this minority flow follows a longer path than that which follows the main flow from of the flag which imposes an increase of speed in the area of the extrados to the air streams of the secondary flow entrained in their race by the air streams of said main flow in provence of the flag of the instrument.
By Venturi effect, this rapid flow of the air streams of the minority flow causes a slight depression in the area of the free end of the blown blade 39 which results in a suction exerted on the free portion of the blown blade 39 tending to bring closer to the blade holder, according to F2, the free portion of said blown blade 39 which thus closes the corresponding window formed in said blade holder. Again, the depression created by the Venturi effect is low it allows only a slight bending of the aspirated blade just sufficient for it to be placed in the thickness of the blade holder by closing the window beneficially in the manner of a valve but this depression is not strong enough to be able to cause unwanted oscillation said blade blown 39 which is perfect.
The minority flow then slides on the convex wall of the outer spoiler 35 and spanning the attachment zone of the suction blade to join the other two flows and all three then move towards the mouth of the instrument by causing oscillation the blade sucked 38 during their passage through the corresponding window

The invention is not limited to the embodiments shown or described herein, but it also includes all technical equivalents as well as combinations thereof as encompassed by the claims below.

Claims (10)

1. Harmonica comprising:

   - a reed comb (7,22) or wind chest in the thickness of which a plurality of air flow channels (30,31,220) are made, said reed comb supporting at least one plate forming a blade-holder (4,5,21) on which tonal blades (400,500,211,212) are fitted, made to oscillate by the air flows generated by the harmonica player,

   - a peripheral shell enabling the harmonica to be held by hand, said shell comprising at least one cover (10,23) performing amplification of the sounds and projection of the latter in the direction of the horn of the instrument,

   - a mouthpiece (2) having an outer surface in which mouthpiece holes (200) open out via which the harmonica player sucks or blows air making the tonal blades of the instrument oscillate, each of the mouthpiece holes (200) leading to two air flow channels (30,31) each supplying at least one blown tonal blade (500) and at least one sucked tonal blade (400),

   - said two air flow channels (30,31,220) supplied by the common mouthpiece hole are arranged side by side being separated from one another by a separating wall arranged transversely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the instrument and substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal mid-plane Px, which is positioned substantially at mid-thickness of the instrument and of the mouthpiece and at mid-thickness of the horn,

   - an air distributor (6) placed between the mouthpiece (2) and the reed comb (7), said air distributor (6) being designed to selectively direct the air blown or sucked by the player towards one (30) or the other (31) of the two air flow channels supplied by a mouthpiece hole (200), common to said two air channels (30,31), said air distributor (6,25) being in the general form of a ladder formed by two longitudinal parts arranged substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the instrument and connected to one another by transverse members (60),

   said harmonica (1) being characterized in that:

   - a blade-holder (21) is sandwiched between a pressing cover (23) and the corresponding surface of the reed comb (22) by the action of pressing means tending to move said pressing cover towards said surface of the reed comb, the pressing means comprising at least one clamping screw (37) which is positioned in a partition separating two adjacent air flow channels (30, 31, 220) from one another, the respective longitudinal axes of which channels are divergent when moving away from the mouthpiece surface of the instrument in the direction of the horn of the instrument, such a divergent arrangement of the channels thereby providing a progressive width rapidly sufficient for the clamping screw concerned (37) to be able to be fitted as close as possible to the mouthpiece surface of the instrument without encroaching on the inside of an air flow channel,

   - the longitudinal axis of at least one of the clamping screws (37) is positioned at a distance from the bottom mouthpiece surface of the instrument at the distance separating said mouthpiece surface from the bottom of the air flow channel (220) supplying the lowest bass blade of the instrument.
2. Harmonica according to claim 1, characterized in that the longitudinal axis of said clamping screw (37) is positioned at a distance from the bottom mouthpiece surface of the instrument at the distance from said mouthpiece surface at which the bottom of the shorter of the two air flow channels adjoining the wall in which the above-mentioned clamping screw is fitted is situated.
3. Harmonica according to claim 1, characterized in that:

   - the longitudinal axes of the two blades (400,500) supplied by the same air flow channel (30,31) are coplanar with the longitudinal axis of said air channel (30,31), the two blades, one sucked and the other blown, supplied by the same channel are therefore arranged facing one another on each side of the plane Px of general symmetry of the instrument,

   - for each of the two air flow channels (30,31) supplied by a common mouthpiece hole (200), the air distributor (6) moves by axial translation in the longitudinal direction of the instrument from its first position in which it blocks off the entrance of the second air flow channel (31) and directs the air flow to the first channel (30) supplying at least one first blown blade and at least one first sucked blade, to its second position in which it blocks off the entrance of the first air flow channel (30) and directs the air flow to the second channel (31) supplying at least one second blown blade and one second sucked blade,

   - the air flow channels (30,31) are both only closed on their two lateral surfaces by separating walls arranged parallel to one another and positioned perpendicularly to the plane Px of general symmetry of the instrument, and the absence of separating walls arranged in the longitudinal direction of the instrument, common to harmonicas of the prior art, thereby enables the blade-holders to be moved towards one another in order to obtain a reduced thickness of the reed comb resulting in a reduction of the general thickness of the harmonica which makes the latter easier to hold including when a microphone is held in the palm of the hand.
4. Harmonica according to claim 1, characterized in that the transverse parts (60) of the air distributor are of streamlined shape and their width, measured in the longitudinal direction of the instrument, globally decreases progressively when moving away from their surface located closest to the horn of the instrument towards their surface located closest to the mouthpiece surface of the instrument.
5. Harmonica according to any one of the foregoing claims 1 to 4, characterized in that at least some of the surfaces of the sliding air distributor (25) comprise sealing baffles (253) which extend in the longitudinal direction of the instrument and which are formed by cheeks and/or ribs and/or grooves of complementary dimensions and shapes to perfectly mate with complementary cheeks and/or ribs and/or grooves arranged in the corresponding surfaces of the mouthpiece part (24) and/or of the reed comb (22) and/or of the covers (23) against which said distributor slides.
6. Harmonica according to claim 1, characterized in that:

   - it comprises a single blade-holder (21) supporting all the sucked blades (211) and all the blown blades (212),

   - the sucked blades (211) and blown blades (212) are arranged in line and head-to-tail on each side of the blade-holder concerned, their respective longitudinal axes being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the single air channel (220) which supplies them, and the oscillating free parts of said tonal blades extend in two directions diametrically opposite to one another,

   - the air flow channels (220) arranged in the reed comb (22) do not pass through the whole of the thickness of the reed comb so that said channels are closed by a wall extending in the longitudinal direction of the harmonica, said longitudinal wall of the reed comb thus forming one of the two outer longitudinal surfaces of the peripheral shell of the instrument,

   - the single blade-holder (21) is arranged obliquely with respect to the longitudinal mid-plane (Px) of the instrument passing substantially at mid-thickness of the instrument and therefore passing substantially at mid-thickness of the mouthpiece and at mid-thickness of the horn,

   - the longitudinal mid-plane (Px) dissects said blade-holder (21) in an area comprised between the two opposite free ends of the lowest bass sucked blade (211) and of the lowest bass blown blade (212) both supplied by a common channel (220).
7. Harmonica according to claim 1, characterized in that:

   - for at least some of the tonal blades, the window through which the blade concerned oscillates is partially covered by a deflector (15,16,800,700) positioned beyond the area swept by the oscillating part of the tonal blade concerned,

   - the end of the deflector (16,17,800,700) located on the same side as the free end of the tonal blade concerned is situated at a distance (Da,Ds) from the end of the window located on the same side as the free end of said blade, comprised between a quarter and three quarters of the total length (La,Ls) of the window through which said blade oscillates,

   - each of the deflectors (15,16,700,800) is in the form of a tunnel the end of which is closed to form a cul-de-sac, the opening of the tunnel being oriented in the direction of the free end of the tonal blade with which this deflector is associated, whereas the roof of said tunnel moves progressively away from the blade-holder on which its base is pressing, when moving progressively towards the free end of the tonal blade with which it is associated,

   - each of the deflectors (16,700) associated with a blown tonal blade is positioned inside the wind chest (7) and is therefore closed on three of its sides either by walls descending from its roof to join the surface of the blade-holder against which it is pressing or directly via the side walls separating the air channels when it forms a monolithic assembly with the wind chest,

   - each of the deflectors (15,800) associated with a sucked blade is located outside the wind chest and is closed on three of its sides either by walls belonging directly to said deflector which join with the blade-holder to provide the tightness to the air flows concerned or directly by ribs of the counter wind chest or of the cover concerned when said deflector forms a monolithic assembly with either one of the latter.
8. Harmonica according to claim 1, characterized in that:

   - it comprises at least one blade-holder (21) on which sucked blades (211) and blown blades (212) are fitted arranged in line and head-to-tail on each side of the blade-holder concerned, their respective longitudinal axes being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the air channel (220) which supplies them and the oscillating free parts of said tonal blades extending in two directions diametrically opposite to one another,

   - the air flow channels (220) arranged in the reed comb (22) do not pass through the whole of the thickness of the reed comb so that they are closed by a wall extending in the longitudinal direction of the harmonica, said longitudinal wall of the reed comb thus forming one of the two outer longitudinal surfaces of the peripheral shell of the instrument,

   - at least some of the pairs of tonal blades are associated with a deflector (26,27) covering a part of the length of the window of the blade-holder through which the first tonal blade of the channel concerned oscillates, which blade is either a sucked blade (211) or a blown blade (212),

   - the above-mentioned deflector (26,27) is extended by a flexible thin strip (260,270) extending in the opposite direction to the free end of the tonal blade whose deflector it constitutes, and this flexible strip constitutes the check valve of the second tonal blade supplied by the air channel concerned (220),

   - the width of the above-mentioned flexible strip (260,270) is slightly larger than the width of the window through which said second tonal blade oscillates, which blade is of the opposite type from the first blade, therefore respectively either a blown blade (212) or a sucked blade (211),

   - when the air flow is in the opposite direction to that which corresponds to the type of the second tonal blade, it presses the flexible strip against the surface of the blade-holder thereby completely sealing off the air flow window of this second tonal blade and thereby forcing the whole of the air flow to pass through the window of the first blade the type of which, sucked or blown, duly corresponds to the direction of the current air flow.
9. Harmonica according to claim 1, characterized in that:

   - It comprises a single blade-holder (21) supporting all the sucked blades (211) and all the blown blades (212),

   - at least some of the tonal blades of the instrument are associated with two fins, respectively (33) and (34), located on each side of the single blade-holder (21),

   - these two fins are of asymmetric streamlined cross-section and their respective longitudinal axes extend in the longitudinal direction of the instrument substantially parallel to the plane Px,

   - the first fin (33) is arranged inside the channel concerned through which it passes from one side to the other in the longitudinal direction of the instrument, and its leading edge located closest to the mouthpiece is positioned substantially facing the free end of the corresponding sucked blade (38) so that, by Venturi effect, when the player blows into this air channel, the fin (33) generates a slight negative pressure in the area of the free end of the sucked blade (38), which results in a suction exerted on the free part of said sucked blade (38) tending to move the free part of this sucked blade (38) towards the blade-holder, which part thus beneficially closes the corresponding window arranged in the blade-holder concerned,

   - the second fin (34) is fitted on the other side of the blade-holder, therefore between the outer surface of the blade-holder and the inner surface of the cover, and its leading edge located closest to the horn of the instrument is positioned substantially facing the free end of the corresponding blown blade (39) so that, by Venturi effect, when the player sucks in this air channel, the fin (34) generates a slight negative pressure in the area of the free end of the blown blade (39), which results in a suction exerted on the free part of said blown blade (39) tending to move the free part of this blown blade (39) towards the blade-holder, which part thus beneficially closes the corresponding window arranged in the blade-holder concerned.
10. Harmonica according to claim 1, characterized in that:

    - it comprises at least one blade-holder on which sucked blades (38) and blown blades (39) are fitted arranged in line and head-to-tail on each side of the blade-holder concerned, their respective longitudinal axes being parallel to the longitudinal axis of the air channel which supplies them, and the oscillating free parts of said tonal blades extend in two directions diametrically opposite to one another,

    - the air flow channels (220) arranged in the reed comb (22) do not pass through the whole of the thickness of the reed comb so that they are closed by a wall extending in the longitudinal direction of the harmonica, said longitudinal wall of the reed comb thus forming one of the two outer longitudinal surfaces of the peripheral shell of the instrument,

    - at least some of the windows through which said sucked tonal blades (38) and blown tonal blades (39) oscillate are partially covered by deflectors in the form of spoilers (35,36) arranged head-to-tail on each side of the blade-holder, said deflectors each constituting a boss advantageously of convex aerodynamic shape in the longitudinal direction enabling the air streams to pass, with the least possible disturbance, above the area in which both the rivet or the fixing screw of the blades and the vertical edge of the end of each of the windows situated on the same side as the fixed part of the tonal blade concerned are positioned,

    - each of these spoilers (35,36) is formed by a wall of complex curved shape at least in the longitudinal axial direction of the tonal blades concerned, said wall being positioned beyond the space swept by the blades when their maximum oscillations take place, and said spoiler continuously covers both a part of the tonal blade pressed against the same surface of the blade-holder as itself, and therefore also the corresponding part of the window which is associated with said blade, and also a part of the window through which the tonal blade fixed to the opposite surface of the blade-holder oscillates,

    - the internal spoilers (36) are positioned inside the air flow channels and can be added-on and secured to the blade-holder or they can also advantageously form a monolithic assembly with the reed comb, then being independent from the blade-holder,

    - the external spoilers (35) are arranged between the outer surface of the blade-holder and the corresponding inner surface of the cover (23) and they can also be either added-on and be secured to the blade-holder or be joined to one another to form a streamlined part according to the required convex transverse profile, said part extending substantially in the longitudinal direction of the instrument and being joined to the ribs of the cover (23) if required,

    - both of the deflectors-spoilers concerned (35,36) extend continuously in the longitudinal direction of the two corresponding tonal blades (38,39) over an overall length such that, from the two opposite ends of the windows concerned, the two opposite ends of each of said deflectors-spoilers are situated at distances, respectively da1 and ds1 for the external deflector (35) and da2 and ds2 for the internal deflector (36), which are less than three quarters of the length, respectively Da and Ds, of the windows through which the tonal blades concerned (38,39) oscillate.

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