US3487742A - Inner tone for a musical instrument - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 6, 1970 W. L. MILLS Mmm INNER TONE FOR A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed March 1, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Q Q Q 2 m:

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United States Patent 3,487,742 INNER TONE FOR A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Warren L. Mills, 5742 Maryland Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60637 Filed Mar. 1, 1968, Ser. No. 710,447

Int. Cl. Gd 7/02 US. Cl. 84-384 10 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A construction for a flute or similar wind instrument which avoids the necessity for soldering directly to the instrument tone chamber. The construction consists of an elongated outer metal housing, with the metal tone chamber located substantially coaxially therein. Set screws with pads on their inner ends are threaded through the wall of the outer housing and clampingly and supportingly-engage the tone chamber. The tone chamber has integral tone ducts extending outwardly through apertures provided in the wall of the outer housing with washers of deformable sealing material surrounding the ducts and sealing them relative to the apertures. Key posts are soldered, or otherwise rigidly-secured on the outer housing, and valves, with activating keys, are provided for the tone ducts, being pivoted on the key posts.

This invention relates to musical instruments, and more particularly to wind instruments of the type employing a metal tone chamber.

A main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved musical wind instrument structure which involves relatively simple components, which is inexpensive to fabricate and which provides a high degree of tonal beauty and tonal purity, hitherto not obtainable with the previously known constructions.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved musical wind instrument assembly which employs simple and inexpensive parts, which is durable in construction, and which avoids impairment of the resonance qualities of the tone chamber thereof by eliminating the necessity of soldering directly to the wall of the tone chamber and thereby avoiding the necessity of heating the material of the chamber, or otherwise causing it to change its crystalline structure.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved musical wind instrument of the type employing a metal tone chamber, the instrument employing a tone chamber which is not cycled through wide temperature excursions during the process of manufacture of the instrument, namely, which is not exposed to extreme heat, as has heretofore been the case with metal wind instruments where the key posts thereof have been soldered directly to the walls of the tone chambers, the construction, therefore, being such that the resonance, tone and responsiveness of the instrument are greatly improved because of the substantially uniform crystalline structure of the metal tone chamber employed therein.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a metal flute employing the improved construction of the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical crosssectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged transverse vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 33 of FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 6 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 3, but with the supporting screws for the inner main tone chamber omitted and with the key posts, valves, keys and other parts omitted, illustrating the construction in an early stage of the assembly thereof.

FIGURE 7 is a transverse vertical cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 6, but showing the supporting screws for the main inner tone chamber in place, supporting the inner tone chamber in a substantially coaxial position relative to the outer housing of the instrument.

Much of the tonal beauty and purity of some musical instruments, and specifically the flute, depends upon the material of which they are made, and the care and treatment in the process of manufacture. The extent to which it is possible to avoid soldering and heating this material greatly enhances the tone of the instrument and-the responsiveness thereof to the musicians efforts.

The better and more expensive flutes are made of sterling silver, platinum, gold, or iridium platinum. In all cases in which these expensive metals are used, great care is taken to avoid any operation, such as heating and soldering, that might change the molecular, or crystalline structure of the metal and thus, destroy its resonating qualities. In most cases, these instruments are made of cold drawn tubing. It is however, necessary to fasten the key posts which support the key mechanism to the tubing. This is ordinarily done by drilling into the tubing or fastening a rib or metal strip alon gthe length of the tubing by soldering, and in this step of the process the undesiraable heating of the metal must be performed. A prime purpose of the present invention is to provide a structure in which this heating is unnecessary.

It has also been determined that by employing a very thin tube, the quality of the tone is greatly improved. In the prior devices known in the art, this thinness is limited, because of the necessity of maintaining at least a thickness necessary to support the key mechanism and also to avoid denting and bending in the course of ordinary handling.

Another important purpose of the present invention is to enable very thin material to be employed for the tone chamber of the instrument. Also, as is obvious, since platinum, gold, and silver are very expensive materials, by employing a relatively thin tone chamber, the quantity of the material is reduced, which also reduces the price of the eventual musical instrument constructed in accordance with the present invention.

As will be presently explained, the construction of the present invention will result not only in an instrument of excellent and greatly improved tonal beauty and clarity, but will also result in a requirement for only about onehalf as much of the above-named expensive metals in an instrument of a given size. The reason for this is that in the construction of the present invention an inner section is employed which is the only portion contributing to the production of the tone, which inner portion is the only section made of an expensive material such as platinum, gold, or silver. In the construction of the present invention the outer section, which has no part in producing the tone, may be made of a less expensive suitable metal.

In the present invention, a cold drawn tube of relatiyely small wall thickness made of either silver, gold, platinum, or. iridium platinum may be employed, with the tone holes cold drawn from the main tubing.

Referring to the drawings, 11 generally designates an improved metal flute constructed in accordance with the present invention. The flute 11 consists of a head joint 12, a center joint 13, and a foot joint 14 whose end portions are telescopically interengaged, as is clearly shown in FIGURES 1 and 2. Each of the components of the in strument 11 is generally of similar construction comprising an inner and outer section, as will be subsequently described, the inner section comprising relatively thin metal tubing provided with cold drawn duct portions.

Thus, as shown in FIGURE 2, the head joint 12 comprises a thin-walled inner metal tube 15 which is located substantially coaxially within an outer housing tubular section 16. The inner tube 15 is made of one of the aforesaid, relatively expensive metals, such as platinum, gold, silver, iridium platinum, or the like, whereas the outer housing section 16 is made of a suitable less expensive metal. A conventional mouthpiece 17 is rigidlysecured on the outer section 16, in any suitable manner, as by soldering, or the like, and is provided with an inwardly-directed duct portion 18 which extends through and is snugly-received in an air intake hole 19 provided in the inner tubular section 15. A cork plug 20 is provided in the end portion of inner tube 15, being mounted on the shank 21 of a stud axially secured to a cap member 22 provided at the outer end of the head joint assembly, the cap having a reduced shank portion 23 snugly-engaged in inner section 15 and being formed with annular grooves receiving the end rim portions of sections 15 and 16, as shown in FIGURE 2. The cork plug 20 is wedginglyreceived in and provides an end seal for inner tube 15, and may be adjusted longitudinally in position by rotating the cap 22. This shifts the plug 20 longitudinally because of the threaded engagement axially therethrough of screw stud 21. The instrument may, therefore, be tuned by shifting the position of the sealing cork 20.

It will be seen that the inner tube 15 is maintained coaxial with the outer housing section 16 at the outer end thereof by the cap member 22. The inner tube 15 is also supported in coaxial relation to outer housing section 16 by the provision of three evenly-spaced, coplanar, inwardly-projecting radial abutment screws 24 threadedlyengaged with housing section 16 adjacent the opposite end of head joint 12, each abutment screw 24 being provided with an inner tip 25 of suitable deformable cushioning material, such as fiber material, the tips 25 being substantially hemisp-herically-shaped with their convex surfaces supportingly-engaged with the inner tube section 15, Each deformable supporting tip 25 has a stud portion 26 ccmented in a recess 27 provided in the inner end of the associated screw 24, as shown in FIGURE 5.

The center joint 13 and the foot joint 14 are constructed generally in a manner similar to that described above in connection with the head joint 12. Thus, the center joint has an inner tubular section 28 and an outer housing section 29, said sections being slightly enlarged at their rear ends to define skirt portio'lns 30 and 31 to telescopically-receive the forward end portions of sections 16 and 15 of head joint 12, in the manner illustrated in FIGURE 2. Similarly, the foot joint 14 comprises an inner tubular section 32 and a tubular outer housing section 33 formed respectively at their rear ends with the slightly enlarged skirt elements 34 and 35 telescopically-receiving the forward ends of the sections 15 and 16 of center joint 13, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The inner sections of the center joint 13 and the foot joint 14 are coaxially-supported in their outer housing sections by spaced, fiber-tipped, inwardly-directed radial supporting screws 24 located adjacent the opposite end portions of said joints and being similar to those described above in connection with the head joint 12.

It will be seen from FIGURE 2 that the telescopicallyconnected head joint, center joint and foot joint can be readily detached from each other to facilitate the transportation and storage of the instrument.

The center joint and foot joint sections of the instrument are provided with valves and tone holes spaced in a manner to provide the required musical scale tones. Thus, as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the center joint 13 has its inner tubular member 28 formed with the drawn outwardly-directed tone ducts 36 and 37, the ducts 36 being arranged in a longitudinal row in a plane inclined counterclockwise with respect to a vertical plane, as viewed in FIGURE 3, whereas the ducts 37 are arranged in another lane inclined clockwise from the vertical, as viewed in FIGURE 3. The ducts 36 and 37 extend upwardly through apertures 38 and 39 formed in the outer housing section 29 through sealing bushings 40 of fiber, or other suitable deformable material secured in the apertures and sealinglyengaging the tone ducts, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4. The sealing bushings or washers 40 may be of any suitable deformable material, such as fiber, deformable plastic material, or the like.

The top ends of the ducts 36 and 37 are normally engaged by conventional tone hole valves 41 having sealing pad elements 42 engageable with the rim portions of the tone ducts to seal said ducts when the valves are in their normal depressed positions. The valves are operated in a conventional manner, being carried by arms 43 rigidly-secured to longitudinal pivot shafts 44 pivoted on post elements 45 rigidly-secured to outer housing member 29, by any suitable means, such as soldering, or the like. The pivot shaft 44 is rotated by a conventional operating mechanism, such as the conventional key 46 pivoted on posts 47, 47 likewise secured to outer housing member 29 by soldering, or any other suitable means.

The foot joint 14 is provided with tone ducts, valves and keys arranged in a conventional manner and being constructed similarly to the tone ducts, valves and key mechanism above-described in connection with the center joint 13.

The respective joints of the instrument are assembled by first inserting their inner tone chamber tubular portions therein and then centering said tubular portions with respect to their outer housing portions by adjusting their fiber-tipped clamping screws 24. Thus, as shown in FIG- URES 6 and 7 illustrating the various stages of assembly of the center joint 13, the inner tubular section 28 is first inserted into the outer housing member 29 and moved so that its duct elements 36 and 37 register with their associated apertures 38 and 39. The fiber-tipped clamping screws 24 are then threaded into their tapped openings and adjusted in a manner to render the inner tubular section 28 substantially coaxial with the outer housing section 29, as shown in FIGURE 7. Thereafter, the sealing washers 40 may be installed in the aperture 39 around the tone ducts 36 and 37, and the various post elements 45 may be soldered to the outer housing section to allow the various valves and their operating mechanisms to be installed for final completion of the assembly process. In the case of the head joint 12, the mouthpiece 17 is soldered to the outer section 16 with its duct portion in a position to be snugly-engaged through a receiving aperture provided therefor in the inner tubular section 15. This operation may be performed before the insertion of the inner section 15 into the outer section 16.

Because of the fact that the tone ducts must be arranged in at least two planes, as above-described, for reasons involving the gradation of the musical scale and the positioning of the required key mechanisms, the planes containing the center lines of the respective rows of ducts cannot be radial, but must be located so that they intersect a considerable distance below the axis of the instrument, as shown in FIGURES 3, 6 and 7. This arrangement is necessary to facilitate the assembly of the various joints, namely, to facilitate the insertion and positioning of the inner tubular sections in the outer housing sections of the respective joints. This structural feature is obvious from FIGURE 6 wherein it is seen that the inner section 28 must be elevated from its starting position engaging the bottom of the outer housing section 29, but sufficient clearance must be available to allow the inner section 28 to be inserted in the outer housing section 29 and to allow the inner section 28 to be longitudinally moved through the housing section 29 to a position wherein its drawn tone duct elements 36 and 37 register with their associated apertures 38 and 39. The tubular inner section 28 must then be elevated from the position of FIGURE 6 to the position of FIGURE 7, namely, to a centered position in the housing section 29, whereupon the tone ducts 36 and 37 rise through the apertures 38 and 39 into proper positions relative to said apertures, namely, with the rim portions projecting outwardly short distances beyond the periphery of the housing section 29 so that they can be properly engaged by their associated valve pads 42. Thus, the planes of the tone ducts 36 and 37 are located in planes which intersect approximately at an angle of 45 relative to each other and on a line spaced a considerable distance below the center line of the instrument, as viewed in FIGURES 3, 6 and 7. This distance of said line of intersection from the center line of the instrument is approximately equal to the radius of the inner tubular section 28, but is not necessarily limited to such a value.

It will be seen from the above description that the assembly of the instrument can be performed without the necessity of applying heat to the inner tubular section of any component of the instrument, and that each inner tubular section can be fabricated from thin-walled cold drawn tubular material having the best tonal characteristics for the purpose. Since no heat is involved in the fabrication of either section, no changes in their molecular or crystalline structure are made by the fabrication process and hence, there is no deterioration in their resonating qualities.

It will further be seen that the relatively fragile thinwalled inner tubular sections are protected against mechanical damage and against accumulation of dirt or other foreign materials by being protectively surrounded by their outer housing sections. The heat applied to the outer housing sections in soldering the post elements 45 thereto, or in soldering any other necessary attachments thereto does not affect the tone quality of the instrument, since said tone quality is essentially determined by the physical characteristics of the inner tubular sections of the instrument.

It will be further understood that because of the relative small thickness of the inner sections, the tone ducts 36 and 37 can 'be readily formed by cold drawing.

The supporting screws 24 may be of any suitable type any may be provided with any suitable type of tool engaging recess at their outer ends. Thus, the screws 24 may be provided with diametral grooves 60 at their outer ends adapted to be engaged by a conventional screwdriver blade.

What is claimed is:

1. In a musical wind instrument, a body portion comprising a relatively thin-walled metal inner tubular section, an outer tubular housing section surrounding said inner section, inwardly-projecting abutment means adjustably-engaged with said outer section and supportinglyengaging said inner section to hold the inner section within and spaced from the inner surface of the outer section, said outer section being formed with at least one tone duct aperture, at least one outwardly-extending tone duct integrally-formed on said inner section and extending through said aperture, deformable sealing means mounted in the aperture surrounding and sealing same relative to the tone duct, and valve means pivotally-mounted on the outer section and including a movable sealing element operatively-engageable with the outer end of the tone duct.

2. The musical wind instrument of claim 1, and wherein said inwardly-projecting abutment means comprises a plurality of spaced screws threadedly-engaged through the wall of said outer section.

3. The musical wind instrument of claim 2, and wherein said screws are provided at their inner ends with deformable pads.

4. The musical wind instrument of claim 3, and wherein said deformable sealing means comprises a bushing of fiber material.

5. The musical wind instrument of claim 2, and wherein said outer section is formed with a plurality of tone duct apertures located in at least two different longitudinal planes, and said inner section has a corresponding number of integral outwardly-extending tone ducts received in said apertures and sealing means in each aperture surrounding the tone duct therein, and wherein said valve means includes respective movable sealing elements operatively-engageable with the ends of the tone ducts.

6. The musical wind instrument of claim 5, and wherein said longitudinal planes intersect in a region located opposite the tone duct apertures with respect to the center line of said outer section.

7. The musical wind instrument of claim 6, and wherein the tone ducts are formed on the tubular inner section by cold drawing.

8. The musical wind instrument of claim 7, and wherein said longitudinal planes are approximately at to each other.

9. The musical wind instrument of claim 8, and wherein said screws are arranged in groups, at least one group comprising a plurality of screws located adjacent an end of the body portion.

10. The musical wind instrument of claim 9, and wherein the screws of the group are located in a common transverse plane.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,801,187 4/1931 Artley et al 84-380 RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner LAWRENCE R. FRANKLIN, Assistant Examiner

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