The present invention relates to a cleaning tool for wind instruments, especially to a saxophone cleaning tool.
The saxophone is a type of woodwind instrument. Keep the instrument in optimal operating condition with regular maintenance and care. After each use, moisture can buildup in the body. Without proper cleaning and drying, lots of problems arise. For example, bacteria/bacterium grown in the moisture may cause health-problems for saxophone players, and even generate terrible smell/order after a period of time. The moisture also causes damages to the instrument, especially leather pads which are easy to swell and deform after long-term contact with the moisture. And this not only lead to poor fit of the keys but also influence the sound quality.
Swabs available on the market are broadly used to clean the interior of a main body of saxophones. The swab generally includes a piece of cloth and textile fabric such as absorbent cotton fabric with soft texture in a diamond shape or other shapes, a pull end (or portion) with a smaller width, and a string with a weighted end which is formed by a heavy object such as a metal part mounted therein. The width of the swab is partially increased from the pull end toward the other end thereof.
In order to clean the saxophone by using the swab, first remove the mouthpiece and the neck from the instrument. Insert the string into the saxophone through the bell and the string is descending naturally to reach the bow due to the weighted end. Then make the saxophone upside down so that the string is passed through an opening at the other end of the main body connected with the neck. Next pull out the string to make the swab pass through the tube and clean an inner surface of the tube. Repeat the above process several times to remove moisture and dirt in the tube.
However, in order to pass the string of the swab through the bell and get the string out from the tube opening at the other end of the main body, users need to turn the saxophone upside down. During each passing of the string through the main body for cleaning, the saxophone is placed upside down once. The user usually need to hold the instrument with one hand and operate the swab for cleaning with the other hand while doing an upside down operation. The instrument has larger volume and certain weight so that the upside down operation gives pressure and causes problems to users, even veterans. The instrument is easily damaged once not being held firmly or sliding down. Thereby the upside down operation is not user-friendly and the cleaning process is not efficient.
Moreover, the most common types of saxophones include alto and tenor saxophones with a bit different tube diameters. Based on requirements for manufacturing the instrument itself and components that produces sounds, a tone hole column 2c with different heights is formed on an inner surface 2b of a tube 2 close to a tube opening 2a for connection with a neck, as shown in
Thus the saxophones with different tube diameters and tone hole column 2c having different heights should be taken into consideration in the design of the cleaning tool. There is room for improvement and there is a need to provide a cleaning tool which is operated smoothly during cleaning of different types of saxophones having tubes with different diameters and tone hole column with different heights such as alto saxophones and tenor saxophones.
Therefore, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a saxophone cleaning tool which includes a cleaner, a first pull body, and a second pull body. The cleaner is provided with a cleaning surface used for cleaning an inner surface of a tube of the saxophone. One end of the first pull body is connected with a first connection portion of the cleaner while the other end thereof is placed into the tube through a tube opening of the tube and then descending naturally to a curved portion of the tube. One end of the second pull body is connected with a second connection portion of the cleaner while the other end thereof is placed into the tube through a bell opening of the tube and then descending naturally to the curved portion. A free end of both the first and the second pull bodies is provided with an assembly portion and a magnetic member so that the assembly portions are connected with each other by the magnetic members magnetically attached to each other.
Thereby users can effortlessly pass the cleaning tool through the tube of the saxophone to form a loop by connection of the two free ends of the cleaning tool, without turning the saxophone upside down. Repeated and cyclic cleaning is provided fast by users who pull the loop upward obliquely easily. Not only the operation of the cleaning tool is easy and labor-saving, the cleaning process is also fast and safe. The user-friendly design suits users' needs.
Moreover, users can determine whether the cleaner is added with at least one supplementary cleaning member, or selectively connect the cleaner with one of the supplementary cleaning members for cleaning the saxophone in a continuous and cyclic manner. Therefore, the applicability of the cleaning tool is improved and the cleaning tool is broadly applied to cleaning of alto and tenor saxophones having tone hole columns with different heights under the premise of ensuring the cleaning performance.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein:
As shown in
Refer to
The cleaner 10 consists of a first connection portion 11, a second connection portion 12, and at least one cleaning surface 13 which is formed between the first connection portion 11 and the second connection portion 12 and used for cleaning an inner surface 2b of a tube 2 of the saxophone. In a preferred embodiment, the cleaning surface 13 is formed on both an inner surface and an outer surface of the cleaner 10.
The first pull body 20 is composed of a first connection end 21, a first free end 22, a first assembly portion 23, and a first magnetic member 24. The first connection end 21 is connected with the first connection portion 11 of the cleaner 10 while the first free end 22 is placed into the tube 2 through a tube opening 2a of the tube 2 and then is allowed to descend naturally, as shown in
The second pull body 30 includes a second connection end 31, a second free end 32, a second assembly portion 33, and a second magnetic member 34. The second connection end 31 is used for connection with the second connection portion 12 of the cleaner 10 while the second free end 32 is placed into the tube 2 through a bell opening 2e and then is allowed to descend naturally. A length of the second pull body 30 is long enough for the first free end 22 to reach the curved portion 2d of the tube 2. Both the second assembly portion 33 and the second magnetic member 34 are disposed on the first free end 22. The second assembly portion 33 is detachably connected with the first assembly portion 23 of the first pull body 20 while the second magnetic member 34 is magnetically attached to the first magnetic member 24 before the first assembly portion 23 and the second assembly portion 33 connected to each other.
The first assembly portion 23 can be one of a ring and a hook while the second assembly portion 33 is the other one, the hook or the ring. As shown in
In this embodiment, the cleaner 10 includes a cleaning body 10a on which the cleaning surface 13 is formed.
A strip-like connecting body 14 is connected with the cleaning body 10a and composed of one end thereof which forms the first connection portion 11 and the other end thereof which forms the second connection portion 12. In an embodiment, the connecting body 14 is directly sawn on the cleaning body 10a by common sewing processes and approximately extended along a middle portion of the cleaning body 10a so that the cleaning body 10a can be spread out smoothly.
In this embodiment, the connecting body 14, the first pull body 20 and the second pull body 30 which are connected integrally and having a part of the same long strip as a main part of themselves. The main part of the connecting body 14, the first pull body 20 and the second pull body 30 is not limited to the strip. It can also be in the form of a rope, a string, a cord, etc.
The cleaning body 10a can be a piece of absorbent cloth, scrub cloth, or their combinations. As the name suggests, the absorbent cloth is made of water absorbent material such as cotton fabric. As to the scrub cloth, the cleaning surface 13 of the scrub cloth provides better scrubbing and cleaning effect due to material characteristics or special types of weave.
The cleaning body 10a is sheet-shaped such as a common piece of cloth with suitable shapes and sizes, which is able to be adjusted according to a thickness of the sheet-shaped cloth. It is easily understood that no matter how the sheet-shaped cloth is squeezed, the cleaning surface 13 of the cleaning body 10a is indeed in contact with the inner surface 2b of the tube 2 for cleaning when the cleaning surface 13 is formed on each of two surfaces of the cleaning body 10a of the piece of cloth.
One of the first magnetic member 24 and the second magnetic member 34 is a metal part, and the other one is a magnet. In order to ensure that the first free end 22 is allowed to descend and reach the curved portion 2d of the tube 2 faster and smoother, the first magnetic member 24 is designed into a metal part with a certain weight. Thus the first magnetic member 24 not only provides magnetic adhesion but also works as a heavy object which helps the descending of the first free end 22. There is no need to arranged a weighted object additionally. As to the second magnetic member 34, it can be designed into a magnet which is having a smaller volume but with a sufficient magnetic adhesion force.
In this embodiment, the cleaning tool 1 can be operated for cleaning while the tube 2 is placed and fixed. For example, the tube 2 is held and positioned on a common saxophone stand or a fixing frame 3, as shown in
Next the second free end 32 of the second pull body 30 is mounted into the tube 2 through the bell opening 2e and then is allowed to descend naturally. Similarly, the second end 32 is allowed to descend naturally and reach the curved portion 2d to get closer and contact with the first free end 22 by the second pull body 30 itself and a weight of the second magnetic member 34 which is the magnet at the second free end 32. Thus the first free end 22 and the second end 32 are connected to each other in certain degrees due to magnetic adhesion between the first magnetic member 24 and the second magnetic member 34. Now users only need to pull the second pull body 30 upward and the second free end 32 together with the first free end 22 connected is easily brought out through the bell opening 2e.
Later the magnetically attached first magnetic member 24 and the second magnetic member 34 are separated from each other. Instead of the magnetic adhesion, now the ring-shaped first assembly portion 23 and the hook-shaped second assembly portion 33 are locked and connected with each other so that the cleaning tool 1 is connected firmly to form a loop. Thereby the user can hold the tube 2 easily with one hand and pull the cleaning tool 1 upward obliquely at the tube opening 2a continuously with the other hand. Or the cleaning tool 1 is moved upward and pulled out of the tube opening 2a hand over hand. As shown in
It should be noted that the cleaning process mentioned above is not limited to the condition that the tube 2 is held and positioned at the saxophone stand or the fixing frame 3. The user can operate the cleaning tool 1 by using a single hand or both hands after the tube 2 being fixed by a saxophone strap. Or the tube 2 is held and fixed between two legs for cleaning while the user is seated.
Refer to
Moreover, the supplementary cleaning member 100a or 100b is provided with at least one cleaning plane 101 for cleaning the inner surface 2b of the tube 2 and a supplementary connection member 102 which is detachably connected with the auxiliary connection member 130, as shown in
Furthermore, in the embodiment shown in
As shown in
The auxiliary connection member 130 of the cleaner 10 and the supplementary connection member 102 of the supplementary cleaning member 100a or 100b are not limited to the above hooks and rings mentioned above. They can also be in other forms of the detachable fasteners such as hooks and loops of touch fasteners (Velcro), a button and a loop (or a buttonhole), or a pair of interlocking discs of a snap fastener.
It should be noted that the cleaner 10 in this embodiment is, but not limited to a single cleaning body 10a. Users can determine whether the cleaning body 10a is used alone or in combination with at least one of the supplementary cleaning members 100a 100b according to their needs. For example, the cleaner 10 of the cleaning tool 1a itself alone is suitable for cleaning the tube 2 of an alto saxophone in which the tone hole column 2c on the inner surface 2b is having a higher height by the design of the cleaning body 10a with suitable shape, size and thickness.
Moreover, the supplementary cleaning members 100a, 100b having suitable shape, size, and thickness in combination with the cleaner 10 can be applied to cleaning of different types of saxophones. For example, there are two supplementary cleaning members 100a, 100b with different sizes in this embodiment. A width between two sides of the supplementary cleaning member 100b is smaller than that of the supplementary cleaning member 100a. When users choose to add the supplementary cleaning member 100a on the cleaner 10, an assembly of the cleaner 10 with the supplementary cleaning member 100a can be used for cleaning the tube 2 of an alto saxophone in which the tone hole column 2c on the inner surface 2b is having a lower height, and the tube 2 of a tenor saxophone with the tone hole column 2c having a lower height or an intermediate height.
When users choose to dispose the supplementary cleaning member 100b on the cleaner 10, the assembly of the of the cleaner 10 with the supplementary cleaning member 100b can be applied to clean the tube 2 of an alto saxophone in which the tone hole column 2c on the inner surface 2b is having an intermediate height, and the tube 2 of a tenor saxophone in which the tone hole column 2c on the inner surface 2b is having a higher height.
The tube 2 of the alto saxophone is having a bit smaller bore diameter than the tube 2 of the tenor saxophone and a space in the alto saxophone which allows the cleaner 10 to pass through is smaller when the tone hole column 2c is having a higher height. Thus there is no need to add the supplementary cleaning member 100a or 100b on the cleaning tool 1a while being used for cleaning the alto saxophone with the tone hole column 2c having a higher height. Likewise, either the supplementary cleaning member 100a or the supplementary cleaning member 100b can be selected and attached to the cleaning tool 1a for cleaning the tenor saxophone in which the tone hole column 2c on the inner surface 2b is having a lower height. Thereby the cleaning tool 1a can be used to clean both the alto saxophone and the tenor saxophone having the tone hole column 2c with different heights.
The operation of the cleaning tool 1a in this embodiment is about the same as that of the cleaning tool 1 of the above embodiment.
The cleaner 10 is not limited to the single cleaning body 10a mentioned above. It can also include at least two cleaning bodies 10a. For example, the cleaner 10 includes two cleaning bodies 10a, as shown in
In summary, the cleaning tool 1, 1a for saxophones according to the present invention has the following features and effects.
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, and representative devices shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalent.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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110201116 | Jan 2021 | TW | national |
110214735 | Dec 2021 | TW | national |
Number | Date | Country |
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2482327 | Feb 2012 | GB |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20220246118 A1 | Aug 2022 | US |