US2669152A

US2669152A - Trombone

Info

Publication number: US2669152A
Application number: US144740A
Authority: US
Inventors: Shuman Davis
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1950-02-17
Filing date: 1950-02-17
Publication date: 1954-02-16
Anticipated expiration: 1971-02-16
Also published as: FR1032802A; GB681787A

Description

Feb. 16, 1954 D. SHUMAN TROMBONE INVENTOR Dav/s Shaman Filed Feb. 17, 1950 li a ll E BY fizz g yd z! I ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 16, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TROMBONE Davis Shuman, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application February 17, 1950, Serial No. 144,740

3 Claims. i

The present invention relates to wind instruments and more particularly to slide trombones. Heretofore slide trombones have been made with the bell, mouthpiece and slide almost parallel with the result that the trombonist requires a substantial amount of room in front of him. Very often, the space alloted to an orchestra or band is insufiicient to provide so much room and it is necessary for the trombonist to point the bell downwards so that the bell doe not directly face the audience or dance floor. For this reason the effect of the trombone is diminished or even lost. In addition, when the slide of the straight slide trombone is fully extended, the instrument becomes unbalanced and it is difficult for the trombonist to hold the instrument in proper balance.

I have found that these difficulties can be avoided by inclining the telescopic sections and the slide of the trombone at an angle to the axis of the bell and mouthpiece so that the slide can be moved at an angle to avoid striking a person in front of the trombonist without the necessity of directing the bell away from the audience. Inclining the slide also improves the balance of the instrument since, in normal playing position, the horizontal extension of the slide is not as great as in the conventional trombone and the arm movement is easier and more natural.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a trombone which can be conveniently played in a relatively mall space.

Another object of the invention is to provide a trombone in which the slide is inclined at an angle to the bell.

A further object is to provide a new and improved water pail for wind instruments.

These and other objects and advantages reside in certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts as will hereinafter be more fully set forth and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a trombone embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of my trombone showing the relationship of the mouthpiece, bell branch and slide.

Figure 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged detail elevation of my improved water pail with parts broken away to show internal structure.

Figure 5 is a section taken on line 55 of Figure 4.

In the drawing, my invention is illustrated in connection with a trombone having the usual bell I0, bell section I I, bell bow l2 and bell branch section [3. The usual bell braces l4, l5, and it connect the bell section H and bell branch section l3. connected to the bell branch section l3 by a brace l8. As clearly shown in Figure 1, the axes of the hell [0 and mouthpiece I: which, it is to be understood, are normal to the plane of their respective openings, are substantially parallel so that the trombonist faces in the same direction as the bell.

Telescopic extensions

20 and 2| (Figure 3) project from the bell branch section I3 and mouthpiece II respectively. In my new trombone, the

telescopic sections

20 and 2| are parallel to each other but are connected to the bell branch section [3 and mouthpiece section I! by elbows 53d and lid respectively and are inclined at an angle to the axis of the bell ID. A slide indicated generally at 22 has two

parallel arms

23 and 24 slidably mounted on the

telescopic sections

20 and 2| respectively. The angle of the

telescopic sections

20 and 2| is not critical but I prefer to incline them at an angle of about 45 degrees to the axis of the bell [0 since at this angle and with the instrument in normal playing position, the vertical and horizontal projections are a minimum for a particular position of the slide 22. The

arms

23 and 24 are connected and the slide 22 is operated by a slide brace 25 and, to facilitate the playing of the instrument, a sleeve 26 is rotatably mounted on the slide brace 25 preferably on ball bearings indicated at 21. In playing the instrument the trombonist may grip the sleeve 26 throughout the full range of movement of the slide 22 and thus maintain continuous and firm control of the slide.

The slide 22 is provided with a water key indicated generally at 30. The water key 39 consists of a lever 3| pivotally connected to the slide 22 as indicated at 32. One end of the lever 3| is provided with a plug or stop 33 which closes an opening 34 in the wall of the slide 22. A spring 35 engages the lever 3| to urge the plug or stop 33 to close the opening 34. In any trombone or other wind instrument, water collects as the instrument is played and this water may be eliminated from the trombone by depressing the free end of the water key which raises the stop or plug 33 from the opening 34 and permits the water to run out. Ordinarily this water is permitted to run onto the floor but the water pail The usual mouthpiece I! i rigidly- 3 shown in Figures 4 and 5 eliminates the need for this offensive and messy practice.

My water pail consists of a cylindrical cup 40 which may be of metal, plastic or other suitable material. One end of the cup is open and the side wall adjacent the open end is provided with a notch 4| which is wide enough to pass over the water key lever 3 I. The open end of the cup 40 is placed over the, end of the Water key at the opening 34 and may be secured in position by any suitable means such as a wire 42 extending around the slide 22. The cup 46 is filled with ab: sorbent material 43 such as cotton. When this water pail is used, the water is absorbed by. the material 43 when the water key is actuated and even the absorbent material contained in a small up a t t size f a t mb iet will; be. sufiirient, to take up the water resulting from playing seyeral numbers. When the material 43 becomes soaked it can be readily replaced.

Mynew trombone presents many advantages over the conventional instrument. Because the slide does not come directly toward the mouth, there is less danger of injury to the mouth, lips or teeth while playing in a standing; sitting or permits boys to learn toplay on a standard instrument and the more natural direction of movement permits-more-rapid slide operation and greater technique thus enhancing the scope of the trombone as a solo'instrument.

The angularslide-improves the balance of the instrument even when. the slide-is at its extended position thusreducing thephysical strain on the trombonist and the sleeve on the slide brace aids in eliminating distortion during play. Because theslide is inclined downwardly, the bell will still face the audience and the sound will not become diminished as in the conventional trombone. With myimproved waterpail, the-instrument will besuch as to-satisfy the most fastidious;

Conventional trombones maybe convertedto mynew construction by applying elbows 13a and Lid. and connecting the bell branchsection I? and mouthpiece H: to the telescopic sections and 2t. However, the-bell I] may have tobe shortenedv to keeptheinstrument at thesame-pitch as originally tuned.

The: invention may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embracedtherein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A slide trombone comprising a, bell section including a bell on one end thereof, a bell branch section substantially parallel to said bell section a bell bow connecting the end of said bell section remote from said bell to one end of said bflll. branch. section, a first telescopic section connecte ltqthe opposite end of said bell branch section, a second telescopic section secured to said first telescopic section in parallel relation thereto, and a playing slide for the selection of a normal playing rangeofi tones freely slidably mounted on said telescopic sections, the longitudinal axis of said first telescopic section being angulated with respect tosaid bell branch section in a direction away from the-axis of said bell secti'on so as to form an obtuse included angle of substantially lessthan between the connected ends ofsaid bell branch section and first telescopic section.

2. The slide trombone defined in claim I wherein said included angle lies substantiallyin the plane defined by the longitudinal axes of said bell section and said bell branch section.

3. The slide. trombone defined in claim 2 including a mouthpiece mounted on said second telescopic section, the axes of said mouthpieceand said second telescopic section being relatively angulated to define an angle substantially the same as said: obtuse included angle.

DAVIS SHUMAN.

References Qited? in;v the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D- 65,5l l Wakeman .Aug. 26..192! 2413,5102 Beers Apr., 5., 19,38

FQREIGN PATENTS-- Numb r Country Date. 7

a ce of 11862