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Description  |
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FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to stringed musical instruments and
particularly to violins. More specifically, this invention is concerned
with plastic violins and to providing such plastic violins with acoustic
properties and tones which match those of high-grade wood violins.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The classical construction of the violin is over one hundred years old. As
stated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,362, the shape of the violin and the beauty
of its tone is the product of fine materials, long hours of painstaking
efforts by skilled craftsmen, and extended periods of aging and
adjustment, all of which have resulted in a costly instrument. Recognizing
that such violins, which are hand made and fabricated from high grade wood
are expensive, attention has been directed to making stringed instruments,
including violins, from non-wooden materials, such as, for example,
plastics, in order that such instruments can be factory-made,
inexpensively. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,427,915 discloses a violin
having front and back plates made from non-wooden materials intended to
match the acoustic properties of a high-grade violin. According to said
patent, this is accomplished by the application of certain "mathematical
rules" for selecting materials having suitable combinations of density,
flexural modules, and damping factors.
According to another patent, i.e., U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,442, foamed
materials of various synthetic resins have been used for making vibrating
plates of sound instruments, such as, piano or guitar. Such resins include
polystyrene, polyvinylchloride and the like.
Thus, while it has generally been recognized that plastic violins can be
made less expensively than wood violins, it has also been recognized that
plastic violins do not exhibit the acoustic quality and tone consistency
of wood violins. The disparity in acoustic qualities of these different
violins is primarily due to difficulties inherent in the properties of
plastic materials. When made of plastic, variations in pressure and
ambient temperature can cause the neck portion of the violin to bend
forward thus causing variations in the tension of the violin strings and,
consequently, variations in the height of the string relative to the
finger board. Moreover, when the neck of a plastic violin bends, it
remains bent and does not return to its original shape or position. These
variations make it very difficult to tune up the strings and practically
impossible to play the violin with consistent notes or tunes.
It is an object of this invention to provide a plastic string instrument,
particularly a plastic violin, having the same acoustic properties as
high-grade wood violins.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a plastic violin
construction which is stabilized against bending of the violin's neck due
to variations in ambient temperatures and changes in pressure.
It is another object of this invention to provide a plastic violin
construction which has a relatively fixed and constant height from the
strings to the finger board regardless of the pressures exerted on the
strings and irrespective of the variations in ambient temperatures.
It is also a feature of the present invention to provide plastic violins
which can be mass-produced and factory-made inexpensively as compared to
hand-made wood violins.
Other objects and features of the present invention will be more readily
understood from the ensuing detailed description and the accompanying
drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with this invention, a plastic violin is provided with means
for stabilizing the height between the finger board and the top surface of
the violin. This is achieved by placing an elongated reinforcing bar below
the finger board and bonding it thereto. The reinforcing bar has a
relatively flat portion, an upright portion and a relatively inclined
portion which is coterminous with the finger board. An elongated
stabilizing bar is disposed in the violin body and has a proximal end
which is wedged or pressed against the upright section of the reinforcing
bar, and a distal end which is received by a threaded screw disposed at
the lower end of the violin. By adjusting the screw, the stabilizing bar
can be biased forward so that the proximal end of the stabilizing bar can
press against said upright section, and vice versa. In this manner, the
change in tension of the springs resulting from change in height of the
string relative to the finger board surface can be adjusted to keep the
height constant for consistent tone.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are employed to designate
like parts:
FIG. 1 is a top view of a typical violin with the neck portion not shown;
and
FIG. 2 a side elevational view, partly in section, showing a plastic violin
similar to FIG. 1 but incorporating the novel features of the present
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that the general appearance and
construction of the plastic violin of the present invention is the same as
conventional violins such as, for example, the violin shown in U.S. Pat.
No. 3,699;836. Thus, the violin has a finger board 1, a bridge 3, a tail
piece 5, a post 7 and strings 9. These parts are attached to and are
carried on plastic sound box 11 defined by two panels; a front panel 13
and a rear panel 15, connected to each other by side walls (not shown).
The panels 13, 15 which make up the sound box 11 each has an upper bulged
portion 17 and a lower bulged portion 19 with a curved portion or bout 21
therebetween. The upper sound portion 15 includes the usual pair of sound
holes 23 and 25. The lower bulged portion has a chin rest 26.
Referring now to FIG. 2 the violin has a neck portion 27, the scroll 29,
tuning pegs 31 and the knots 33. An elongated reinforcing wooden bar 35 is
securely fixed to the finger board 1 which, in the present invention, is
made of a plastic material. The reinforcing wooden bar 35 can be either
cemented, bonded or otherwise pressure fitted into the finger board 1 and
thus serves to reinforce the finger board and prevent it from bending due
to variation in pressure and/or temperature of the plastic. The
reinforcing wooden bar 35 is substantially coextensive with the finger
board 1 along its upper surface 35a and is defined at its lower section by
a relatively flat portion 36 and upright portion or shoulder 37 and an
inclined portion 38 which abuts the bent segment la of the finger board 1
as shown in FIG. 2.
As it was previously explained, one difficulty with plastic violins is that
changes in pressure and/or temperature cause the neck portion 27 of the
violin to bend thus, causing variations in tensions in the strings 9, due
to change in the distance or height "h" between the surface of the finger
board 1 and the top surface of the top panel 13 of the violin. These
variations make it very difficult to tune up the strings of a plastic
violin to play consistent notes. Therefore, and in accordance with the
present invention, an elongated wooden stabilizing bar 39 is provided in
the hollow section of the violin body, between the front and rear panels
13, 15. The stabilizing bar 39 has a proximal end 39a which abuts and is
wedged against the shoulder 37 of the reinforcing wooden bar 35, and a
distal end 39b which is received by an externally threaded compensating
screw 41, with the screw 41 being manipulable by threading to thereby
increase or decrease the pressure exerted by the proximal end 39a of the
reinforcing wooden bar 35 against the surface 37. Thus, by adjusting the
screw 41, it is possible to compensate for he change in tension of the
strings 9 so as to maintain a relatively constant and stable distance "h"
between the surface of the finger board 1 and the top surface 13. This
distance ideally is about 21 mm in violins.
As is further shown in FIG. 2, a post 43 serves to securely retain the tail
piece 5 by anchoring the tail piece extension 45. The pin 47 serves to
attach the post 43 to the tail piece 5.
Thus, the provision of the reinforcing bar 35, the stabilizing bar 39 and
the adjustable compensating screw 41 in accordance with the present
invention affords means for adjusting the tension in the violin strings
and maintaining relatively constant the height between the finger board
and the top surface of the violin. These combine to insure playing the
plastic violin with the same tone consistency as a wooden violin violin
irrespective of any significant change in ambient pressures and
temperatures.
Apart from the reinforcing bar 35 and the stabilizing bar 39, the violin is
made entirely of plastic. Therefore, it can be fabricated by molding and
hence the production of such plastic violin lends itself to ready mass
production. Consequently, plastic violins can be made less expensively
than their counterpart wooden violins while retaining the tone and sound
qualities of the well known wooden violin.
A variety of plastics may be used to fabricate the violin body and the
finger board of the plastic violins. Thermoplastic polymers are generally
preferred as the materials of construction for such violins. For example,
as it is currently contemplated, heat resistant polystyrene is recommended
to form the sound board, i.e., the top of the violin, while high impact
polystyrene is recommended for the rear panel and edge walls of the
violin. In general, however, other thermoplastic polymers can be used to
form the sound board and/or the base of such violins.
It is understood that changes, and/or modifications may be made in the
construction of plastic violins which are suggested by or obvious from the
foregoing detailed description. Such changes and/or modifications are
nevertheless within the scope of the present invention. Also, while the
present invention has been described with specific reference to violins,
it has broader applicability to other stringed musical instruments such as
guitars ukeleles, and the like.
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