FI120167B - Procedure for producing a musical instrument and musical instrument - Google Patents

Description

METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING THE PLAYER AND THE PLAYER

The invention relates to a method of making a player, wherein the player is formed of one or more parts, at least a part of which is made of a mixture of plastic materials containing thermoplastic plastic. The invention also relates to a player, the player consisting of one or more parts, at least a part of which is made of a mixture of a plastic material comprising a thermoplastic plastic.

The body parts of traditionally various wind instruments and guitars are mainly made of wood. Wood is an excellent material in terms of sound technology, 10 because wood is a material that is very rigid in weight, and its vibrational properties generally appeal to the human ear. The ringing length is suitably short, as the tree dampens vibrations appropriately.

The problems of wood are its laborious and relatively slow workability to achieve the shape accuracy and finish required by the finished caller (e.g. desired surface roughness). In addition, the detrimental effects of pores in the wood, possible pitch pockets in the structure of the wood, and other unevenness in the surface are often revealed only when testing a finished instrument. In the worst case scenario, it is noticeable that the large amount of work involved in making the player is wasted and the player has to be abandoned because of its poor sound.

20 In use, wood also has very embarrassing problems due to the swelling and shrinkage (so-called "dampness") caused by moisture in the air. Changes due to humidity also cause problems in finishing the player, as the wood has to be fixed with non-humid parts such as metal strips, tuning machines etc. The problem with wood is still 25 mm. the fact that many species of wood that are well suited for musical instruments are now endangered. For example, ebony and Brazilian rosewood are protected in many countries.

Attempts have been made to avoid problems with the wood player by utilizing various plastic and composite manufacturing techniques. Musical instruments and parts thereof are made of various plastics such as acrylic (PMMA) and other amorphous plastic grades. In addition, there is known a method of blending natural fibers into a thermoplastic plastic material which avoids at least some of the disadvantages associated with wood players. Such a method is excellent from the production point of view as it gives the 2 frame parts a very uniform quality and is directly obtained in its final form without any separate finishing steps.

Players or parts thereof made of thermoplastic plastic and natural fiber have a relatively high thickness, and the method is very well suited to manufacture players or parts thereof having a relatively thick thickness, but it cannot be used to make thin structures. In addition, the process and preparation take a relatively long time.

It is an object of the invention to provide a method of manufacturing a player or parts thereof which eliminates the above-mentioned problems associated with the currently known methods of making instruments and instruments manufactured with them. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide a method by which relatively thin musical instruments or parts thereof can also be manufactured efficiently. It is a further object of the invention to provide a player having good resonance properties.

The object of the invention is achieved by a method of making a musical instrument and a player characterized by what is claimed. The process according to the invention is characterized in that shale or crystalline natural materials are mixed with the plastic material mixture. These are mixed with the plastic material in a sufficient amount to increase the strength of the material mixture. This results in parts that are thinner than before. For example, drums have 20 thinner bodies. In this way, the resonance of the body can be affected and thereby the color and sustain of the sound. In addition, manufacturing will be accelerated and the manufacturing process will be made more industrial and economical in mass production. It also has the advantage of allowing the integration of other mechanical parts from the same material.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, rock materials are used as shale or crystalline natural materials. These are suitably machined to the desired size and, depending on the rock material, either slab or crystalline.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, soapstone, talc, limestone and / or granite are preferably used as rock materials. The first three are easy to work with, for example, grinding, and hard rock material is obtained from granite. Other suitable rock materials may also be used in the process. One, two or more stone materials may be used in the process.

3

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, natural fibers are blended into the material mixture. This kind of plastic / rock material / natural fiber blend gives the player or a part of it a good deal. The stone material provides sufficient rigidity and strength and the natural fiber provides e.g. tuned audio features.

5

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, natural fibers are selected from the group consisting of cellulose fibers, hemp fibers, flax fiber and / or sisal fibers. Other suitable natural fibers may also be used in the process. One, two or more natural fibers may be used in the process.

10

The player according to the invention is characterized in that the player or parts thereof are made of thermoplastic plastic mixed with shale or crystalline natural minerals.

15 A method suitable for manufacturing thermoplastic plastics and for making parts from thermoplastic material is used as a manufacturing method. Such methods include e.g. injection molding, rotational molding and extrusion compression molding. Injection molding also increases the manufacturer's freedom to design the player or part of it as desired without significant increase in manufacturing costs.

The preferred size of the rock material is about 0.001 to 0.05 mm. The amount of rock material in weight percentages will vary from application to application and may be, for example, from about 20 to about 60 weight percent of the weight of the alloy.

When used, natural fibers have a preferred size of from about 0.003 to about 50 mm. The amount of natural fibers in weight percentages varies from application to application and may range from about 25 to about 80 percent by weight of the blend.

Preferably, the composition of the player comprises about 40-80% by weight of plastic material and 20-60% by weight of stone materials. In another embodiment, the material mixture of the player preferably contains from 20 to 80% by weight of plastic material, and the stone materials and natural fibers, respectively, together form the remainder of the material.

Suitable natural fibers are, for example, flax, hemp, that is, wood-based celluloses, cellulose-based conversion fibers (viscose). In various applications, the thermoplastic binder is present in an amount of 20 to 80% by weight. The rock material and the natural fibers are mixed with the binder when it is molten at the material manufacturing stage. The doped natural fibers of the thermoplastic plastic material are preferably relatively short pieces of natural fibers (e.g., about 1-3 mm in length). However, the preferred length of natural fibers may vary depending on the player and the thermoplastic binder used.

Various thermoplastic resins such as polystyrene, modified polyolefins (COC), acrylic or pure polyol-5-resins (PP) are used as binder or matrix. On the basis of the tests carried out, the thermoplastic plastics suitable for bonding the parts of the instruments include at least poly styrene, polylactide, cellulose acetate, cellulose propionate, cyclopropene, metallocene polypropylene or metallocene polyolefin.

It is essential in the compositions of the plastic material used in the manufacture of the player that the natural fibers therein are soft and tensile and that the thermoplastic binder used preferably has a casting temperature below 240 ° C, whereby the natural fibers do not retain their properties well.

The invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments shown, but may vary within the inventive idea of the claims.

Claims (10)

A method of making a player, wherein the player is formed from one or more parts (1, 2) and at least a part of which is made of a mixture of plastic materials containing a thermoplastic material, characterized in that the plastic material mixture is mixed with shale or crystalline natural materials. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that natural fibers are blended into the material mixture. 10 3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that rocky materials are used as slate or crystalline natural material. Method according to Claim 3, characterized in that soapstone, talc, limestone and / or granite are used as the rock material. 5. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that pulp fibers, hemp fibers, flax fiber and / or sisal fibers are used as natural fibers. 6. A player comprising one or more parts, at least a portion of which is made of a mixture of plastics materials with thermoplastic material, characterized in that the player or parts thereof are made of thermoplastic material mixed with shale or crystalline natural minerals. A player according to claim 6, characterized in that natural fibers are mixed in the material mixture. A player according to claim 6, characterized in that the slate or crystalline natural material is rock material. 30 A player according to claim 8, characterized in that the stone materials are soapstone, talc, limestone and / or granite. A player according to claim 6, characterized in that the natural fibers are pulp fibers, hemp fibers, linen fibers and / or sisal fibers.