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Stringed musical instrument    
United States Patent6265648   
Link to this pagehttp://www.wikipatents.com/6265648.html
Inventor(s)Steinberger; Richard Ned (420 Hill Top Rd., Nobleboro, ME 04555)
AbstractA stringed musical instrument having an instrument body and an elongated neck along which the strings are stretched. A spring-loaded clamping device is provided by securing the neck to the body while permitting limited pivotal movement of the neck relative to the body. The clamping device includes a spring arranged to provide a biasing force for urging the neck toward a neck seating position on the body, and an adjustment member is moveably mounted on either the neck or the body so as to move in a direction opposing the biasing force of the spring in order to cause the neck to pivot away from the neck seating position, to thereby adjust the angular position of the neck relative to the body to adjust the action of the instrument. An intonation adjustment mechanism is also provided for adjusting the intonation of the instrument, and which advantageously provides for rigidity enhancement by urging the neck against a side of the neck recess to provide a firm, rigid and stable mounting of the neck to the body.



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Drawing from US Patent 6265648
Stringed musical instrument - US Patent 6265648 Drawing
Stringed musical instrument
Inventor     Steinberger; Richard Ned (420 Hill Top Rd., Nobleboro, ME 04555)
Owner/Assignee    
Patent assignment
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Publication Date     July 24, 2001
Application Number     09/312,882
PAIR File History     Application Data   Transaction History
Image File Wrapper   Patent Term   Fees
Litigation
Filing Date     May 17, 1999
US Classification     84/293 84/267 84/291
Int'l Classification     G10D 003/00
Examiner     Hsieh; Shih-Yung
Assistant Examiner    
Attorney/Law Firm     Lerner, David, Littenberg, Krumholz & Mentlik, LLP
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Priority Data    
USPTO Field of Search     84/293 84/267 84/291
Patent Tags     stringed musical instrument
   
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 References Submit all comments and votes
 
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 U.S. References
 
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Market Share
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 Technical Review Submit all comments and votes
 Claims Submit all comments and votes
 


What is claimed is:

1. A stringed musical instrument comprising:

an instrument body having a recess to receive a neck, said recess having a bottom surface;

a longitudinally extending neck having an end and a bottom mounting surface at said end to be received in said recess of said body;

a plurality of strings attached to said body and said neck;

a mounting device engaging said neck and said body for securing said neck in said recess of said body, said mounting device being operative so as to permit said neck to pivot about a pivot axis transverse to the longitudinal extent of said neck between a first position in which said bottom mounting surface of said neck engages said bottom surface of said recess and a second position in which at least a portion of said bottom mounting surface is disposed away from said bottom surface of said recess, and said mounting device comprising at least one bolt having a shaft and a head, said shaft of said bolt being arranged to extend at least partially through said neck and said body and through said bottom surface of said recess and said bottom mounting surface of said neck, and arranged to engage one of said neck and said body, and said bolt being arranged at an inclined angle relative to said bottom surface of said recess;

at least one spring member operatively arranged to provide a biasing force acting on said neck and said body to urge said neck towards said first position, said at least one spring member being arranged about said shaft of said bolt and positioned between said head of said bolt and said one of said neck and said body; and

an adjustment member operatively arranged with respect to said neck and said body so as to oppose said biasing force, said adjustment member being positioned remote from said pivot axis and being moveable so as to cause said neck to pivot about said pivot axis to adjust the angular position of said bottom mounting surface of said neck relative to said bottom surface of said recess to thereby adjust the position of said strings relative to said neck.

2. The stringed musical instrument of claim 1, wherein said recess in said body has a front edge, and wherein said pivot axis is located along said front edge of said recess.

3. The stringed musical instrument of claim 1, wherein said at least one spring member comprises at least one belleville spring washer arranged between said head of said bolt and said one of said neck and said body.

4. The stringed musical instrument of claim 3, further including a plurality of said belleville spring washers arranged between said head of said bolt and said one of said neck and said body.

5. The stringed musical instrument of claim 1, wherein said bolt is inclined along a direction so that said biasing force of said at least one spring member includes a force component along