NO345695B1

NO345695B1 - Shock-proof transportation case for double-bass

Info

Publication number: NO345695B1
Application number: NO20190137A
Authority: NO
Inventors: Eliseev Igor V
Original assignee: Eliseevcases As
Priority date: 2019-02-02
Filing date: 2019-02-02
Publication date: 2021-06-14
Also published as: NO20190137A1

Description

Title

Shock-proof transportation case for double-bass.

The object of the invention

The transportation case solves several issues pertaining to the safety and the cost of the transportation of a large-sized musical instrument – double-bass.

Historically, during the transportation process, the cases could not provide enough protection for the instrument from: impact damage, shifting inside the case; condensate formation; as well as sudden humidity, air pressure, and temperature changes. Other important issues have been: unavoidable wear and tear of the case, which resulted in a need to replace locks and handles, and the case itself on a regular basis; as well as the necessity of having to purchase different cases for different instruments because they all vary in size. Lastly, due to the extra-large size and heavy weight of the cases available on the market, double-bass transportation remains very expensive to this day, and often results in airlines not allowing the case aboard the aircraft, even in the cargo compartment. The invention itself is a combination of various materials and technologies that have never been used all together in one musical instrument case:

- Both top shell (5) and bottom shell (6) of the case are made of the extradurable shock-proof sandwich panel (Fig. 4) that consists of two layers of reinforced fiberglass fabric (12) with porous filler (13) between them. This provides not only extra strength, but also extra light weight.

- The case has six integrated handles (2), seven locks (3) and two hinges (1).

Locks are located in the niches to protect them from the lateral impacts. Four handles are located in the niches, except for the top handle (2.a), and a bottom handle (2.b) that serves a dual purpose by also propping the case when it is standing vertically.

- Inside the case, the double bass is placed on the lodgments (9, 10) attached to the bottom shell (6) by means of stainless rope vibration isolators (11, Fig. 5). In order to make the case adjustable to instruments of all sizes, the upper

lodgement (9) is attached to rails (8) that allow it to slide up and down to provide a perfect fit.

- The stainless rope vibration isolators (11, Fig. 5) are made in the form of two securing bars (14) that are connected with each other by the stainless rope (15).

- A pressure equalization valve (7, Fig. 6) is used to prevent condensate formation and provide air circulation by passing it through but blocking any moisture – this results in pressure and temperature equalizing, and the dew point does not set in. The valve is shown in Fig. 6, and it looks like a bolt with a thread with microholes (19) in the sides of the top part. Under the top cover (16) there is an additional filter (18), under which there is a water-repelling membrane (17). There is also a sealant (20) under the top part to ensure impermeability.

It is known in the prior art to aim at solving some of the issues described above:

US 2017206870 A1, issued to Steinhauser on July 20, 2017, which is considered to represent the prior art closest to the subject matter of the present application, details a musical instrument case that comprises a housing, a storage region, and a fixing unit that can be adjustable in order to adapt the musical instrument case to different sizes of musical instruments.

Similarly, US 4531632 A, issued to Weber on July 30, 1985, describes a case for stringed instruments comprised of a hinged outer casing with inserts to hold the instrument. In particular, one part of the insert is adjustable longitudinally to fit instruments of different sizes.

WO 2018009947 A1, issued to Bernheim and Martin on January 11, 2018, relates to controlling the atmospheric humidity in a closed environment, such as transport or storage cases of instruments, by means of a humidity control apparatus installed in the casing.

Similarly, US 2008264815 A1, issued to Allen on November 30, 2008, describes a rigid transport case for weaponry, which is suitable for transporting musical instruments, which may comprise a pressure release valve that is designed or set to open at a predetermined pressure, for example when flown in an airplane.

CN 203435843 U, issued to Wang on February 19, 2014, details a musical instrument case with an outer shell and an inner liner that is connected to the outer shell via springs.

And CN 207956562 U, issued to WUXI HONGYAN DEVFLEX CO LTD on November 12, 2018, relates to a transport case with steel wire rope vibration isolators.

CN 203733455 U, issued to CHANGZHOU SHENYING CARBON FIBER COMPOSITES CO LTD on July 23, 2014, describes a violin family case comprised of an upper and lower shells, that at made a three-layer composite structure comparable to the sandwich panel of the present application.

None of the examples combine the teachings of US2017206870A1/US4531632A and CN203435843U/CN207956562U to form an adjustable shock-absorbing system of Claim 1.

Description

A transportation case for double bass, comprising a top shell (5) and a bottom shell (6), which are connected by two hinges (1) and seven locks (3); six handles (2) are attached to the outside surface: two to the top shell and four to the bottom shell; the bottom shell is fitted with a pressure equalization valve (7) attached to the case’s neck and a set of two wheels (4) attached to the bottom corner of the outside surface of the shell; internally, the case is characterized by the following features: the top lodgement (9) is adjustable and is attached to the bottom shell via rope vibration isolators (11) and railings (8), the bottom lodgement (10) is nonadjustable and is attached to the bottom shell via rope vibration isolators (11).

Brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 is a side view of the present invention.

Fig. 2 shows the inside of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a sectional drawing of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a drawing of the sandwich panel.

Fig. 5 is a drawing of the stainless rope vibration

isolator.

Fig. 6 is a drawing of the pressure valve.

Detailed example

The user of the transportation case would open the case as shown in Fig. 2, adjust the upper lodgement (9) to the size of the double-bass by sliding it on the upper lodgement rails (8), put the double-bass inside, and close the case on all 7 locks. The case is ready for transportation. To ensure the instrument safety and product warranty, we strongly insist that before using the transportation case, the user must place the double-bass inside a densely padded soft case, and then puts it inside the transportation case.

Claims

Patent Claims

Claim 1. A transportation case for double bass, comprising a top shell (5) and a bottom shell (6), which are connected by two hinges (1) and seven locks (3); six handles (2) are attached to the outside surface: two to the top shell and four to the bottom shell; the bottom shell is fitted with a pressure equalization valve (7) attached to the case’s neck and a set of two wheels (4) attached to the bottom corner of the outside surface of the shell; internally, the case is characterized by the following features: the top lodgement (9) is adjustable and is attached to the bottom shell via rope vibration isolators (11) and railings (8), the bottom lodgement (10) is non-adjustable and is attached to the bottom shell via rope vibration isolators (11).
Claim 2. The top and bottom shells recited in Claim 1, wherein said parts consist of a sandwich panel.
Claim 3. The sandwich panel recited in Claim 2, wherein said panel is fabricated from two layers of reinforced fiberglass (12) with porous material (13) inbetween them.

Patentkrav 1:

En transportkasse for kontrabass, bestående av topplokk (5) og bunnlokk (6), som er koblet sammen av to henglser (1) og syv låser (3); seks håndtak (2) er festet til den utvendige overflaten: to til topplokket og fire til bunnlokket; bunnlokket er utstyrt med en trykkutgjevningsventil (7) på kassens hals og et sett med to hjul (4) festet til det nedre hjørnet av utside-overflaten til skallet; innsiden er karakterisert med de følgende kjennetegn: topp-festet (9) er justerbart og er festet til bunnlokket via tau vibratorisolatorer (11) og skinner (8), bunnfestet (10) er ikke-justerbart og er festet til bunnlokket via tauvibratorisolatorer (11)

Patentkrav 2. Topp- og bunn-lokket omtalt iPatentkrav 1, består av sandwichpanel.

Patentkrav 3. Sandwich-panelet omtalt iPatentkrav 2, består av to lag med forsterket fiberglass (12) med porøst materiale (13) imellom.