Patent Application
20180204545
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The chromatic harmonicas is known. Typically, a chromatic harmonica comprises a comb, a valve slide, and a mouthpiece. The comb comprises comb reed chambers. The valve slide is normally metal and comprises a slide button. The mouthpiece comprises numerous mouthpiece holes, into which a player inhales and exhales to make different sounds. The mouthpiece is normally rigid metal or plastic.
To form various pitches, a player inhales or exhales in the holes of the mouthpiece and moves the valve slide to direct air between two different reed chambers per mouthpiece hole. When the valve slide is not activated, air is directed to a reed chamber containing a blow and draw reed, forming one pitch. When the player activates the valve slide by pressing the slide button, air from the mouthpiece is redirected to a different reed chamber containing different blow and draw reeds with different pitches. For example, when the slide button is not activated, a player forms a “C” note when blowing into a mouthpiece hole. When the slide button is activated, the “C” note will sharp up a half step to a “C-sharp”. When the slide button is released, a torsion or compression spring attached to the valve slide spring moves the valve slide back to its original position.
Harmonica players often cup their hands at the back of the harmonica in order to shape the tones they play. Conventional chromatic harmonica slide buttons are located at the front of the harmonica, which makes hand cupping difficult.
To keep the valve slide moving freely and to prevent the valve slide from binding, a small gap exists between the mouthpiece, valve slide, and harmonica comb. This has the unfortunate effect of allowing air to leak when playing the harmonica. This in turn affects the player's ability to vibrate and control the harmonica reeds. The reduced airflow also lowers the volume of the reeds played.
To compensate for air leaks, small flaps of material called “windsavers” (or “valves”) are attached to each reed slot on the opposite side of the location where each reed is attached to the reed plate. The windsavers shut and stop air from flowing through a draw reed when the player exhales to play a blow reed. They also stop the air from flowing back through the blow reed when the player inhales to play a draw reed. Windsavers complicate the construction and maintenance of the chromatic harmonica and prevent a player from using a desired technique known as “interactive reed bending.” This bending technique utilizes both reeds in a particular reed chamber of the harmonica to produce a musical note distinct from the blow or draw note that can be obtained from that chamber. Interactive reed bending implies producing a lowering of pitch by shaping the mouth and restricting the airflow in the oral cavity while blowing or drawing. This stimulates the reed not normally played when either blowing or drawing to produce a note higher than it would if it were being played in the normal manner, but lower than that of the higher pitched reed. A chromatic harmonica with windsavers attached to lower pitched reeds in each reed chamber prevents the lower pitched reeds from vibrating when the higher pitched reed is played and thus does not allow interactive reed bending to occur. If the windsavers on the lower pitched reeds are removed then interactive reed bending is possible, but most conventional chromatics are not airtight enough to function well without windsavers on all the reeds.
Many chromatic harmonicas with screw-on mouthpieces require the player to carefully adjust the mouthpiece screws in order to achieve maximum air tightness without binding the slide valve. Other chromatics use some means of creating a fixed gap between the mouthpiece, valve slide, and comb face and cannot be adjusted. Creating the minimum sliding tolerance gap in the mouthpiece/slide valve assembly when manufacturing a conventional chromatic harmonica is a challenging and time-consuming process. The time and labor required to manufacture and inspect parts with exceptionally exacting tolerances drives up the cost of the harmonica. As a result, manufacturers often increase the sliding tolerance gap in the mouthpiece/valve slide assembly so that the instrument can be quickly and cheaply manufactured. Increasing the sliding tolerance in the mouthpiece/slide valve has the obvious disadvantage of decreasing the air tightness of the instrument. Players often have to modify such instruments to improve the air tightness of the mouthpiece/valve slide assembly.
The objective of this invention is to improve the playability of the Chromatic Harmonica by decreasing air leaks in the mouthpiece/valve slide assembly.
The present invention comprises a Chromatic Harmonica with a flexible mouthpiece, for example, comprised of rubber, and a valve slide constructed from a low friction material such as Polyterafluoroethylene (PTFE), Polyoxymethylene (POM, also known as acetal), or PTFE-filled Acetal homopolymer. The low friction of the slide material allows the valve slide to move freely without a gap in the mouthpiece/valve slide assembly.
The inner face of the rubber-like flexible mouthpiece rests directly on the low friction valve slide and pressure from the player's mouth creates an airtight seal between the mouthpiece, valve slide, and comb face. The flexibility of the mouthpiece allows it to conform to the face of the valve slide when pressed against the comb face and eliminates the need for perfect flatness in the mouthpiece interior, slide valve and comb face. Since this design relies on mouth pressure to create the seal, the need to carefully adjust the mouthpiece screws is eliminated. Because the mouthpiece, valve slide, and comb face do not require a gap with an exact tolerance and perfect flatness, the manufacturing process would be much simpler and faster than a conventional Chromatic Harmonica. The speed and ease of the valve slide movement and air tight seal in the mouthpiece can be furthered enhanced by using a silicone based lubricant or any other lubricant that is compatible with the materials used to construct the mouthpiece, slide valve, and comb face.
Unfortunately, the conventional Chromatic Harmonica button/spring configuration cannot be used with the flexible mouthpiece because the mouthpiece is not rigid enough to prevent the spring from pushing the slide valve away from the comb face when the slide button is pushed. Other conventional Chromatic Harmonica that use compression springs also cannot be used with the flexible mouthpiece because the lack of the mouthpiece's rigidity causes instability when the button is pushed. A new slide button configuration is also necessary.
The new button configuration is disposed in the rear of the Chromatic Harmonica, and a bar connects both the button and the valve slide so that when the button is pushed, the valve slide moves horizontally along the face of the comb. The button comprises a cylinder which inserts into a hole in the rear of the Chromatic Harmonica, which, along with two columns, keeps the bar-button-valve slide connection stable. The cylinder has a compression spring wrapped around it, so that when the button is depressed, the spring pushes the button, bar, and valve slide back to their original positions. The two columns also prevent the player's lips from getting pinched by the bar when the button is pushed.
Having the button in the rear of the Chromatic Harmonica also makes it easier for a player to cup his hands at the back of the Chromatic Harmonica
The result is an improved chromatic harmonica with improved air tightness, a simpler assembly, in which all or half of the windsavers can be removed. The Chromatic Harmonica is easier and quicker to manufacture. Disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly becomes quick and easy and a player will have greater control and volume. The desired technique of interactive reed bend is available to the player allowing greater expressiveness with the instrument
As shown in
For a flexible mouthpiece to function on a Chromatic Harmonica, the button and spring configuration must be re-configured so that the spring does not push the valve slide away from the comb body, or does not rock when the button is pressed.
As shown in
All features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying claim, abstract, and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
Although preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, various modifications and substitutions may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention has been described by way of illustration and not limitation.
