US1041422A - Tuning device. - Google Patents

Description

G. E. BROOKS.

TUNING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 20, 1912,

Patented Oct. 15, 1912.

WWW/mm GUY E. BROOKS, 0F DAPHNE, ALABAMA.

TUNING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 15,1912.

Application filed January 20, 1912. Serial No. 872,403.

[a all whom it may concern and useful Improvements in Tuning trees, or which the following is a speci- The present invention relates to improvements in pitch or tuning devices and has particular application to devices of this char-acts which are utilized for tuning or adjustin the pitch of stri ged musical inst uncnts such as violins, mandolins banjos guitars and the like.

This class of tuning devices usually employ one or more tubes designed to be sounded so as to properly tune the instrument, the 'et'ore, in carrying out the present invention it is my purpose to provide a device of this character which will include among other features one or more tubes and a mouth piece tor the same to facilitate the sounding thereof.

Furthermore, I aim to provioe a device of this character in which the mouth piece may be ada )ted to register with any one of the several tubes employed and be rigidly secured to the device to prevent the accidental displacement or loss of the same.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a tuning device wiich will include a plurality of tubes arranged in such a manner as to be movable relatively to the mouth piece so that the latter may be held in the mouth of an operator and the tubes brought into registration therewith so as to give the tone desired whereby the strings of the instriuuent may be adjusted in accordance with such tone, thus facilitating the tuning of the instrument.

it. still further object of the present invention is the provision of a device of this character which may be neld at all times in the mouth of an operator thereby leaving his hands free to properly tune the instrument.

ll ith the above and other objects in view which shall appear as the description progrosses the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth in and falling within the scope of the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which has been illustrated a simple embodiment of the invention and which I now consider to be the preferred form of the invention; Figure 1 is a top plan view or" a tuning device constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view of the same, and Fig. a is a detail perspective view or" the mouth piece, the same being shown detached from the tuning pipes.

Similar reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings in detail. the device as shown comprises a plurality of tubes 1 which may be provided interiorly with any form of reed or other suitable form of tuning appliance and are constructed of any suitable or preferred material. These tubes are preferably arranged in alining openings in spaced pa 'allel plates 2 and 3 arranged one above the other and adapted to rigidly secure the tubes in assembled position. In the present instance, the tubes four in number although any number of the same may be employed, according to the number of strings upon the instrument being tuned, are shown as being arranged in the form of a square and are adapted to be revolved on a common axis, that is the tubes are designed to travel in a circular path about the center line of the plates 2 and 3.

A mouth piece 4 is carried by a standard 5 arranged centrally of the tubes 1 and disposed in alining apertures formed in the plates 2 and 3. Encircling the standard 5 oi the mouth piece is a helical contractile spring 6 located between the plates 2 and 3 and designed to exert its tension upon the standard to engage the mouth piece with one of the tubes when the said mouth piece is in alinement therewith. The mouth piece 4i consists preferably of a tube 7 of curved outline and provided atits upper end with indentations 8 formed upon the opposite sides of the tube and designed to permit the device as a whole to be retained in the mouth of the operator. The lower or tuning pipe engaging end of the mouth piece is of reduced circular contour in cross section and adapted to enter the upper end of any of the tubes when the latter have been brought into alinement with the said mouth piece, the spring 6 exerting its tension to bring about the said engagement between the mouth piece and tubes.

In use, the mouth piece 4 is placed in the mouth oi: the operator and the tubes rotated upon the standard 5 to bring any one of the said tubes into alinement with the mouth piece after which the tubes may be released to permit the spring 6 to actuate the latter to bring the alining tube into engagement with the mouth piece whereby the operator may blow into the mouth piece and through the tubes to sound the desired tone, Thus, it will be seen that the hands or" the operator are free to properly tune the stringed instrument in accordance with the tone of the tuning device.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying; drawing, the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains, and while I have described the principle of operation of the invention, together with the device which II now consider to be the best embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the device shown is merely illustrative, and that such changes may be made when desired as are within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is 1. A pitch or tuning device comprising a pair of plates spaced apart, a standard passed through said plates centrally thereof and rotatable and slidable relatively thereto, a plurality of tuning pipes secured in said plates concentrically of the standard, and a mouth piece attached to one extremity of the standard and movable from one tun ing pipe to another to register therewith.

2. A pitch or tuning device comprising a pair of plates spaced apart, a standard passed through said plates centrally thereof and rotatable and slidable relatively there to, a plurality of tuning pipes secured in said standard, a mouth piece attached to one extremity of the standard and movable from one tuning pipe to another to register therewith, and means for holding; the mouth piece in engagement with said pipes.

8. A pitch or tuning device comprising a pair of plates spaced apart, a standard passed through said plates centrally thereof and rotatable and slidable relatively thereto, a plurality of tuning pipes secued in said plates concentrically of said standard, a

mouth piece attached to one extremity of the standard and movable from one tuning pipe to another to register therewith, and a spring encircling said standard and having one extremity secured thereto and the Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of l-atents, Washington, D. C.

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