Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
  • G10D—STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDIONS OR CONCERTINAS; PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; AEOLIAN HARPS; SINGING-FLAME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G10D1/00—General design of stringed musical instruments
  • G10D1/04—Plucked or strummed string instruments, e.g. harps or lyres
  • G10D1/05—Plucked or strummed string instruments, e.g. harps or lyres with fret boards or fingerboards
  • G10D1/08—Guitars
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
  • G10D—STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDIONS OR CONCERTINAS; PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; AEOLIAN HARPS; SINGING-FLAME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G10D1/00—General design of stringed musical instruments
  • G10D1/04—Plucked or strummed string instruments, e.g. harps or lyres
  • G10D1/05—Plucked or strummed string instruments, e.g. harps or lyres with fret boards or fingerboards
  • G10D1/08—Guitars
  • G10D1/085—Mechanical design of electric guitars
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
  • G10D—STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDIONS OR CONCERTINAS; PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; AEOLIAN HARPS; SINGING-FLAME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G10D3/00—Details of, or accessories for, stringed musical instruments, e.g. slide-bars
  • G10D3/06—Necks; Fingerboards, e.g. fret boards
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
  • G10D—STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; WIND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDIONS OR CONCERTINAS; PERCUSSION MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; AEOLIAN HARPS; SINGING-FLAME MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G10D3/00—Details of, or accessories for, stringed musical instruments, e.g. slide-bars
  • G10D3/22—Material for manufacturing stringed musical instruments; Treatment of the material
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T29/00—Metal working
  • Y10T29/49—Method of mechanical manufacture
  • Y10T29/4957—Sound device making
  • Y10T29/49574—Musical instrument or tuning fork making

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a neck connection for a stringed instrument, comprising at least a body and a neck, both the neck and the body being made of plastic.
• Such a neck connection for a stringed instrument for example an acoustic guitar
• a stringed instrument for example an acoustic guitar
• US-A- ,873,907 The body of the known guitar is made from an aramid mat, a layer of carbon fibres and over that a layer of silk, all of this being embedded in a gel coat.
• the neck of the known guitar is made of a foam which is covered with a woven layer, over which a decorative fabric is fixed. The neck is also embedded in a gel coat.
• a disadvantage of the known neck connection is that it con- sists of two parts, so that two parts still have to be fixed to each other before the final neck connection is ready. This inevi ⁇ tably involves alignment tolerances, so that neck connections pro ⁇ quizd in this way always differ slightly from each other. Fixing together two separate parts also costs effort and money.
• a stringed instrument has to meet many requirements, of which the following are the most important:
• the invention provides a neck connection for a stringed instrument which is characterized in that the body and the neck are in one piece and the neck connection comprises at least fibre structures and side fibre structures moulded into the plastic, which fibre structures and side fibre structures extend both in the neck and in the body.
• the fibre structures and the side fibre structures are in the form of a band.
• the neck connection provision is also made for a core, and the fibre structures and the side fibre structures can rest against the core and be positioned by it in the body.
• the fibre structures and side fibre structures can consequently be positioned firmly in a desired place, while mould- ing compound is placed in a mould, by means of which the stringed instrument is manufactured.
• the plane of the band- shaped fibre structures lies substantially at right angles to the plane of the band-shaped side fibre structures.
• the fibre structures comprise four bands placed on top of one another, and the side fibre structures comprise two band parts running largely parallel, each of which band parts consists of three bands placed on top of one another.
• the fibre structures and side fibre structures preferably comprise at least one band of a first length, at least one band of a second length, and at least one band of a third length, the first, second and third lengths not being equal to one another.
• the bands of the fibre structures and the side fibre struc- tures can also be of equal width and thickness over their entire length, the width preferably being approximately 25 mm.
• the bands of the fibre structures and the side fibre struc ⁇ tures are preferably made of a unidirectional carbon fibre embedded in a laminating resin.
• Said carbon fibres can simply be laid paral- lei to the hypothetical force lines in the neck connection, so that they lie in the correct direction. Moreover, they can be laid in the correct place, namely as outer fibres in a thin-walled tubular profile.
• the cross-section of the fibres viewed in a direction at right angles to the force lines, is simple to adapt to the bending moment line.
• the plastic is, for example, thermosetting resin filled with hollow glass beads. This means that the major part of the material used can remain lightweight and the structure can have properties very closely corresponding to those of wood. The material also has reasonable flexibility and compression strength and has a pleasant damping character.
• thermosetting resin has so many hollow glass beads per cm 3 that a total density of approximately 0.5-0.8 kg/1 is achieved therewith.
• Conventional thermosetting resins have a specific gravity of 1 to 1.5 kg/1, so that a con ⁇ siderable weight saving can be achieved with this measure. This means that less attention need be paid to the quantity of material used, which allows greater freedom for the shape of the body.
• the body can consequently be made a conventional shape in which the volume is 3 to 5 1 and the front surface is approximately 0.1 m 2 , with all the advantages which this gives, without the total weight being unnecessarily high.
• the invention also provides a method for the production of a neck connection for a stringed instrument of the type mentioned in the preamble, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: a. applying a release agent to a mould; b. putting in the desired number of fibre structures; c. placing the core in the desired position; d. putting in the desired numbers of side fibre structures, making use of the core as the positioning means; e. closing the mould; f. connecting the mould to an injection pump; g. injecting moulding compound into the mould; h. allowing the moulding compound to harden; i. releasing the mould.
• a gel coat can be applied to the mould with a brush or an airless spray gun between the above-mentioned steps a. and b. Steps b. and c. can also be transposed.
• the invention will be explained with reference to a figure, which gives a diagrammatic view of a stringed instrument according to the invention, partially showing the internal structure thereof.
• reference number 1 indicates the body of a stringed instrument, for example an electric guitar.
• the shape illustrated is shown only by way of example. Any other shape is possible, while the body shown can also be designed for other stringed instruments, such as a violin.
• the body 1 and the neck 2 of the stringed instrument are in one piece.
• the core 6 Inside the body is a core 6, which fulfils various functions.
• the core 6 provides a cavity in the moulded product of the body 1, by means of which the sound of the body 1 can be adapted.
• the core 6 provides a support or a positioning means for fibre structures 31-33, 41-43, 51-53 which will be discussed fur- 5 ther below.
• the core 6 provides a space for electronics for the electronic stringed instrument, which stringed instrument, if the core wall is made of a metal which remains present in the product, is also situated in a Faraday cage in order to give pro- tection from interfering radiation.
• the total weight of the body can be adapted by means of the core.
• the core On account of the filling pressure of on average 1.5 x 10 5 Pa which occurs, the core must be compression-resistant. However, the core must not be too rigid or expand so greatly that rapid tempera- ture changes produce stresses in the moulded product as a result of the exothermic reaction of the moulding resin.
• a core made of aluminium of deep-drawing qual ⁇ ity such an aluminium box, filled with glass pearls in order to absorb the pressure of the moulding com- pound, is situated in a mould (not shown) in which the stringed instrument is formed.
• the core 6 is used, inter alia, for giving support to fibre structures 31-33, 41-43, 51-53, the function of which will now be explained.
• the fibre structures preferably con- sist of fibre bands, i.e. of fibres woven to the form of bands, which are preferably carbon fibres.
• These fibres may be "spun", possibly mechanically, in the mould during the production process.
• the term "fibre bands” will always be used below, because such bands are preferred, but the invention is by no means restricted to the use of band-shaped fibre structures.
• the fibre structures 31-33, 41-43, 51-53, impregnated with laminating resin and placed around the core 6, are preferably posi- tioned as shown in the figure.
• three fibre bands 41-43 lie against the underside of the core 6.
• the three fibre bands 41-43 project partially beyond the core 6.
• the fibre bands 41-43 also project beyond the core 6, but over a much greater distance, namely on into the neck 2 of the stringed instrument.
• the fibre bands 41-43 are preferably curved in shape. Excellent accessibility of the highest positions of the neck are achieved by this, while the pick-up element can be placed very close up against the neck.
• First side fibre bands 31-33 are shown in the figure at the rear side of the core 6, projecting slightly beyond the core at the left side. At the right side of the core 6 the first side fibre bands 31-33 curve slightly towards the centre of the core 6, and then extend through a further bend on into the neck 2 of the stringed instrument. The flat side of the side fibre bands 31-33 is positioned substantially at right angles to the flat side of the bands 41-43. Finally, the second side fibre bands 51-53 are situated at the front side of the figure and are preferably of the same shape and structure as the first side fibre bands 31-33, albeit mirror- inverted relative to a plane parallel to the first side fibre bands 41-43 and through the centre of the core 6.
• a design advantage of the three groups of fibre bands is that the fibres 31-33; 41-43; 51-53 together form a threa-point fastening from the neck to the body, so that the neck seems to "take root” in the less strong moulding resin, and the forces are transmitted in the optimum man ⁇ ner to the resonating body.
• the fibres of the various fibre bands 31-33, 41-43, 51-53 can be made of different materials. They need only meet the requirement that they adhere to the resin types used for the laminating resin and the moulding resin and produce sufficient rigidity.
• the fibres must also have a high resistance to deformation (high modulus of elasticity), and the resistance to creep must be as great as poss ⁇ ible.
• a preferred embodiment has unidirectional carbon fibres.
• the fibre bands can be, for example, 25 mm wide.
• the width of the fibre bands need not be the same over the full length of the bands.
• the rigidity of the neck connection can be adjusted separately from place to place by varying the width of the bands along the length. In other words, the total section of the fibres can be adapted to the force influence expected at each point in the neck.
• the desired rigidity per zone can also be adapted by select-ing a length A of the fibre bands 31, 41, 51 which is different from length B of the fibre bands 32, 42, 52 and then the length C of the fibre bands 33, 43, 53.
• the figure shows that over the length A, B and C respectively the total number of bands at the underside and the two side edges is always 1, 2 and 3 respectively.
• these numbers can also be selected differently, depending on the required rigidity of the body 1 , the neck 2 and the transi ⁇ tion from the body 1 to the neck 2.
• thermosetting resin is used as the moulding compound.
• hollow glass beads it is possible in this case to use 3M glass bubbles with, for example, a nominal diameter of 50 to 70 ⁇ m and a wall thickness of 1 to 3 ⁇ m.
• Suitable thermosetting resins are, for example: UP (unsaturated polyester), PU (polyurethane) , EP (epoxy) or vinyl ester with MEKP hardener. These resin types are suitable both for the laminating resin of the fibre bands 31, 32, 33; 41, 42, 43; 51, 52, 53 and for the moulding resin. Other resin types are also conceivable. Through a suitable choice of numbers of beads per cm 2 , it is thus possible to achieve a low density of 0.5 - 0.8 kg/1.
• Low-pressure injection technology is a good choice for the original shaping (moulding) with glass beads.
• the pressure does not have to be very high, for the beads can easily slide over one an- other, so that a moulding compound with better moulding and filling properties is produced.
• the only reason for pressure being used is the very low weight. Without pressure, i.e. by force of gravity, it takes too long for a mould to be filled.
• the following method steps are carried out: a. applying a release agent to a mould (not shown) ; b. putting in the desired number of bottom fibre bands 41, 42, 43; c. placing a core 6 in the desired position; d.
• the core 6 is putting in the desired numbers of side fibre bands 31, 32, 33 and 51, 52, 53 respectively, making use of the core 6 as the positioning means; e. closing the mould; f. connecting the mould to an injection pump (not shown); g. injecting the moulding compound into the mould; h. allowing the moulding compound to harden; i. releasing the mould.
• the stringed instrument is then ready for fur ⁇ ther finishing.
• the core 6 is placed in such a way that, after hardening, it projects slightly from the neck connection, so that it can be opened.
• the glass beads situated therein are then removed, following which the core 6 is suitable for the accommoda- tion of, for example, electronics.
• the core 6 is also so much higher than the width of the side fibre bands 31, 32, 33, 51, 52, 53 that there is sufficient room in the mould for the moulding com ⁇ pound to be able to run along the core 6 and along the side fibre bands 31, 32, 33, 51, 52, 53 into the space behind the core 6 near the neck 2.
• the fibre bands 41, 42, 43 are also narrower than the width of the core 6, so that moulding compound can also flow through below the core 6 in the direction of the neck 2.
• a gel coat can also be applied to the mould with a brush or an airless spray gun between the above-mentioned steps (a) and (b) .
• steps (b) and (c) can also be transposed, so that the fibre bands 41, 42, 43 are situated against the top side of the core 6.
• the mould must then be formed in such a way that, after hardening, the core pro ⁇ jects from the neck connection at the underside.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
• Multimedia (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Stringed Musical Instruments (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

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Publications (1)

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Family Applications (1)

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Citations (5)

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• 1994
  • 1994-05-25 NL NL9400857A patent/NL9400857A/nl not_active Application Discontinuation
• 1995
  • 1995-05-23 AU AU24560/95A patent/AU2456095A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1995-05-23 DE DE69506103T patent/DE69506103T2/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 1995-05-23 US US08/737,790 patent/US5911168A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1995-05-23 EP EP95918776A patent/EP0760994B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 1995-05-23 WO PCT/NL1995/000178 patent/WO1995032494A1/en active IP Right Grant

Patent Citations (5)

Non-Patent Citations (4)

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