US1412584A - Tone amplifier for stringed instruments - Google Patents

Description

e. vmzr'. TONE AMPLIFIER FOR SIRINGED INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 21?, 1920.

Patented Apr; 11, 1922-.

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wmvcss G. VIRZI.

TONE AMPLIFIER FOR smmcao INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FlLED OCT. 21

Patented-Apr. 11, 1922.

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erusnrrn .vr'nzr, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

" TONE AMPLIFIER non srninenn INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

Application .filed, October 21, 1920. Serial No. 418,414.

T all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, Giusnrrn VIRZI, a subject of the King of Italy, but having declared my intention of becoming a citizen of the United States, and residing at 341 East IEZith Street, New York city, in the county of New Yorkand State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in 7 Tone Amplifiers for Stringed Instruments,.ofwhich the following is a specification.

T-his invention relates to musical instruments and has stringed. instruments such as violins, guitars, cellos, and the like.

Among the objects of, the invention is to provide simple and ellicient means carried 011 or within the body of a musical instru-y ment whereby the tones generated by the strings ,will be modified in timbre or quality and amplified in volumewith respect to tones produced by similar instruments heretofore,

and whereby myimproved instruments are capable of producing sweeter, richer, and otherwise more pleasing results, than would be possiblewithout my improvements.

WV-ith the foregoing and other objects in View the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed,-.and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accom 32111 in drawin s in which like b b J reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line ll of Fig. 2, indicating one preferred form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. 1

Fig. 3 is ahorizontal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 1 but indicating a modified form of my improvement. I

Fig. 5 is another modified form.

Fig. 6 is asectional detail on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a transverse sectional detail, corresponding to a part of Fig. 2, but showing a further modification.

Referring now more specifically to the first set of figures I show a conventional musical instrument in the nature of a violin materiah and they particular reference to and comprising a body 10, bridge 11, tall piece 12, strings 13, bass bar 14, and sounding post 15, all of which are or may be-of conventional or well known construction.

(larried'by any suitable portion of the body 10 are a plurality. of devices in the nature of sounding boards, shown as associated with the bass bar 14 within the body. Any suitable number of .such sounding boards, one or more, maybe employed, and

obviously they may be made of anysuitable maybe attached to any su1table parts of the instrument body. As shown inFigs. 1 and 8 the sounding boards 16 and 17, are attached firstto the bass bar and secondly to each other and are spaced. not only from each other but also from all other portions of the body. As shown-best inFigs. 1 and 3 the sounding board16 is'attached tothe bass bar by means ofa plurality of studs 18. and 19, the stud 18 being located just. within or below the bridge 11, wlnle the studs 19 are located adjacent to the ends of the bass-bar and spaced somewhat farther from the ends of the sounding board be of any l6. Thesesound-ing boards may suitable formin, cross section and outline. As indicatedflthey are of concavo-convex form in cross sectionand relatively long-and slenderand with rounded outlines in plan.

l urthermorems much as possible of the edge or outline of each sounding board is free or unattached with respect to all other parts of the structure.

The next sounding board 17 is shown as being similar in structure to the one before it, and it is attached to the sounding board 16 by means of studslS and 19 arranged similarly to or in alignment with those studs attached to the bass.bar. The studs may be secured by any suitable means to the parts intended to be supported thereby. For this purpose I have used successfully glue for the ends of the studs in connection with a dowel pin 20 extending through both sounding boards and both aligned studs and projecting into the bass bar. This pin may be secured in place by glue or any other suitable means. The stud adjacent to the bass bar may be bifurcated and so straddle the bass bar if desired. Similar dowel pins are shown passing through the studs.

In Fig. i I show the sounding boards 16 and 17 attached to the bass bar 14: as described above, just beneath the bridge 11,

but the ends of the sounding boards are not attached to other portions of the bass bar. I show at 21 a pair of posts attached to the front and rear portions of the back 22 of the body, these posts being attached not far remote tlrom the ends of the sounding board 17 and in alignment between the two sounding boards, and acting as spacers therefor the same as correspondingly located studs in Fig. 1. Dowel .pins 20 may be used to extend through each pair of aligned posts and studs, thereby making most secure these several attachment means.

As will be appreciated from Fig. t the sounding boards will be effectively held in place for all practical purposes and yet they will have sul'licient freedom of action to vibrate in harmony with the tones generated in the strings and transmitted to the body through the bridge.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I show a slight variation in sounding boards 16 and 17 and also in the means for supporting them. These souiuling boards are attached to each other and to the bridge portion of the bass bar 14: by studs 18 and dowel pin 20 in the other forms described. The head and tail ends, however, of these sounding boards are anchored to the head and tail portions respectively oi the body by means of anchor pins 23 and Each of these anchor pins has a forked end 25 embracing an end. portion of a sounding board to which it is glued, while the other end of the pin is proyected into a rigid portion of the body. It will be noted that in this form of the invention each sounding board is straight or flat longitudinally at its ends, but curved transversely intermediate of its ends.

The purpose of Fig. 7 is to indicate that the means for supporting either of any number of sounding boards may be attached to any convenient or suitable relatively rigid parts of the instrument body. In this figure the sounding boards are shown as being supported about midway between their end by means of laterally projecting anchor pins 26 and 27 secured to the side portions of the instrument. Other fastening means may be attached between the sounding boards and ther parts of the instrument in order to make secure the support for the sounding boards.

I claim:

1. In a musical instrument including a hollow body, the combination of a plurality oi. sounding boards in addition to the body, means including one or more studs extending between the sounding boards to hold them in spaced relation to one another, and means to secure the sounding boards to the body.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the instrument body includes a bass l ar and the means for securing the sounding boards to the body includes a stud extending between one of the sounding boards and the bass bar, the sounding boards except for said stud being spaced. from the bass bar.

8. In a musical instrument including a hollow body having a bass bar, the combination ith said body of a plurality of sounding boards within the hollow body, and means to secure the sounding boards to the hollow body, said securing means including studs fixed to the sounding boards intermediate of their ends, the studs being in alignment with one another, and a dowel pin extending through the aligned studs and fixed at one end to said bass bar, and having connection with all. of the sounding boards.

GIUSEPPE VIRZI.

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