String puller for string instruments

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side perspective view of an exemplary steel guitar having the pitch adjustment device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is partial top perspective view of a pitch adjustment device according to the present invention, shown for two strings of the steel guitar of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2A is an enlarged, side view of the roller nut shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is partial bottom perspective view of a pitch adjustment device according to the present invention, shown for two strings of the steel guitar of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a partial side of a pitch adjustment device according to the present invention, shown for two strings of the steel guitar of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is partial side perspective view of a pitch adjustment device according to the present invention, shown for two strings of the steel guitar of FIG. 1, with a first pitch adjustment device in the actuated position.

FIG. 6 is partial side perspective view of a pitch adjustment device according to the present invention, shown for two strings of the steel guitar of FIG. 1, with a second pitch adjustment device in an actuated position.

FIG. 7 is partial side perspective view of a pitch adjustment device according to the present invention, shown for two strings of the steel guitar of FIG. 1, with a second pitch adjustment device in an actuated position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the pitch adjustment device 100 of the present invention will be described in connection with an exemplary instrument, in this case a steel guitar 10. It should be understood that the pitch adjustment device 100 and other related features are not limited to a steel guitar 10 as shown and described, but can be applied to any stringed instrument. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment on a steel guitar. Moreover, although the steel guitar 10 is shown with a single neck, it is common for steel guitars to have two necks, a front neck and a rear neck, as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,631. It should be understood that the present invention can easily be applied to both necks of a dual neck steel guitar.

The steel guitar 10 comprises a frame 12 having a head end 13 and a tail end 15. A plurality of strings (in this example, the guitar 10 has 10 strings) generally indicated at 19. The head end of each string 19 passes over a first string support 20 and then is operatively coupled to a first pitch adjustment device 100 which is attached to the head end 13 of the frame 12. The tail end of each string 19 is operatively coupled to a second pitch adjustment device 200 which is attached to the tail end 15 of the frame 12. There is a first pitch adjustment device 100 and a second pitch adjustment device 200 for each of the strings 19. All of the first pitch adjustment devices 100 and second pitch adjustment devices 200 are substantially identical for each string, and therefore it is sufficient to describe these assemblies for just one of the strings 19, although assemblies for two strings are shown in FIGS. 2-7. The assemblies for the other strings are substantially identical, except that the location of some components will vary in order to accommodate each of the assemblies for each of the strings. For example, as can be seen in FIG. 1, the location of each of the first pitch adjustment device 100 varies so that all 10 devices 100 can fit on the head end 13 of the guitar 10.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-7, the first pitch adjustment device 100 comprises a pivotable lever 102 pivotally coupled to a key frame 110 which is fixed to the head end 13 of the frame 12. The pivotable lever 102 pivots about an axis, which in the embodiment of FIG. 3, comprises a tuning shaft 114 of a tuning key 112. The axis of rotation of the pivotable lever 102 does not have to be the tuning shaft 114. For example, a separate pivot point spaced apart from the tuning shaft 114 can be provided using a rod or other suitable device for rotatably coupling the lever 102 to the head end 13 of the frame 12. In such case, the entire key frame 110 is not fixed to the frame 12 but is instead attached to the lever 10 such that the entire key frame 110 pivots along with the lever 102.

The tuning key 112 is attached to the upper end of the lever 102 and the lower end of the lever 102 passes through an aperture in the frame 12. A first end 106 of a pull rod 104 is operably coupled to the lower end of the lever 102. The second end 108 of the pull rod is operably coupled to an actuation apparatus 109 (see FIG. 1). The actuation apparatus may comprise a system of rocking assemblies and/or pedals such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,631 for moving the pull rod 104 axially to the right (to pivot the lever 102 in the counter-clockwise direction) and to the left (to pivot the lever 102 in the clockwise direction). The actuation apparatus may bias the pull rod 104 in a first direction (either left or right) to the normal position (de-actuated or non-actuated position) and then move the pull rod 104 in the opposite direction to the actuated position. The normal position versus the actuated position of the pull rod 104 and the lever 102, and the direction of movement for actuation (right or left for the pull rod 104, counter-clockwise or clockwise for the lever 102), will be reversed depending on the desired result of actuation (i.e. raising the pitch or lowering the pitch of the string 19). In the configuration as shown in FIGS. 2-7, moving the pull rod 104 to the left rotates the lever 102 clockwise, thereby lowering the tension and pitch of the string 19. Moving the pull rod 104 to the right rotates the lever 102 counter-clockwise thereby raising the tension and pitch on the string 19.

A forward stop 20 is provided on the frame 12 which limits the movement of the lever 102 in the counter-clockwise direction. In the embodiment shown in the figures, the forward stop 20 is simply the right edge of the aperture in the frame 12 through which the lever 102 passes. The forward stop 20 may be fixed or it may be adjustable, such as by providing an adjustable screw or bolt which is placed to limit the movement of the lever 102 in the counter-clockwise direction. An adjustable second stop 22 is provided on the key frame 110 to limit the rotation of the lever 102 in the clockwise direction. The second stop 22 comprises a screw which can be adjusted to adjust the position of the second stop 22.

The tuning key 112 comprises the tuning shaft 114 and an adjustment member 116 operably coupled to the tuning shaft 114. The tuning key 112 is operably connected to the key frame 110 by rotatably coupling the tuning shaft 114 to the key frame 110 so that the tuning shaft 114 may rotate relatively freely relative to the key frame 110. This may be accomplished by simply inserting the tuning shaft 114 through an aperture in the key frame 110 and using a screw, rivet or other suitable fastener to retain the tuning shaft 114 in the aperture of the key frame 110. The tuning shaft 114 and aperture in the key frame 110 are properly sized to allow the tuning shaft 114 to rotate within the aperture. The head end of the string 19 is secured to the tuning shaft 114 of the tuning key 112 by inserting the end of the string 19 through a transverse hole in the tuning shaft 114, and then a portion of the string 19 is wound around the tuning shaft 114.

As with a standard guitar, the tuning key 112 is used to tune the string 19 (for example, in the open tuned pitch) by rotating the tuning shaft 114 of the tuning key 112 to adjust the tension of the string 119 thereby adjusting the pitch. The adjustment member allows adjustment of the tuning key 112 by rotating the tuning shaft 114. The tuning adjustment accomplished using the adjustment member 116 is independent of the pitch adjustment provide by pivoting the pivotable lever 102, as described below. In other words, the adjustment member 116 rotates the tuning shaft 114 while the pivotable lever 102 remains stationary. The adjustment member 116 may be a structure provided on the tuning shaft 114, such as a knob for allowing manual adjustment, or a screw head or hex head for receiving a tuning tool such as a screw driver or wrench, or other suitable device. Or, as shown in FIG. 3, the adjustment device 116 may comprise a worm gear 118 having a knob 120. The worm gear 118 is rotatably coupled to a bracket 124. The worm gear 118 couples to a mating gear 122 provided on the tuning shaft 114. The bracket 124 is secured to the lever 102. In order to retain the proper tension and pitch on the string 19, the tuning key 112 should have a retaining device for preventing the tuning shaft 114 from unintentional rotation. If not retained in a tuned position, there can be unintended and unwanted rotation of tuning shaft 114 causing the string 19 to go out of proper tune. The retaining device may simply be a frictional fit between the tuning shaft and an aperture of a bracket through which is passes. In the embodiment of FIGS. 2-7, the worm gear 118 functions as both the adjustment device for the tuning shaft 114 and as a retaining device because a worm gear as configured will inherently resist rotation in response to the torque on the mating gear 122 created by the tension of the string 19.

The tuning key 112 is mounted on the pivotable lever 102 such that pivoting the lever 102 causes the tuning key 112 to pivot thereby adjusting the tension on the string 19 while the rotational position of the tuning shaft 114 relative to the lever 102 remains unchanged. Said another way, when the pivotable lever 102 is pivoted, the entire tuning key 112 pivots such that the string tension changes, but the tuning position of the tuning key 112 itself remains unchanged so that when the lever 102 is returned to the normal position, the pitch of the string returns to the open tune pitch.

The operation of the pitch adjusting mechanism 100 is fairly straightforward. As discussed above, the pitch adjusting mechanism 100 can be configured for raising or for lowering the pitch of the string 19 from the normal position (i.e. open tune position of the string 19). Assuming that the position of the mechanism 100 as shown in FIG. 4 is the normal, or open pitch position, the mechanism 100 is configured to lower the string pitch upon actuation when moved to the position shown in FIG. 5. The actuation apparatus is configured to bias the lever 102 against the forward stop 20. The pitch adjusting mechanism 100 is then actuated by operating the actuation apparatus which moves the pull rod 104 to the left as shown in FIG. 5. The pull rod 104 pushes the lever 102, thereby pivoting the lever 102 and the tuning key 112 in a clockwise direction. The clockwise rotation of the tuning key 112 rotates the tuning shaft 114 in a clockwise direction thereby reducing the tension on the string and lowering the string pitch. However, the tuning key 112 and tuning shaft 114 do not rotate relative to the lever. The lever 102 stops when the limit of the second stop 22 is reached. Still, the tension and pitch of the string 19 is lowered by this movement. When the actuation apparatus is released (or reversed if not biased to the normal position), the pull rod 104 moves to the right and the lever 102 and tuning key 112 pivot in a counter-clockwise direction back to the position shown in FIG. 4, thereby raising the tension and pitch of the string 19. When the lever 102 returns to the normal position set by the forward stop 20, the string will have returned to the original open pitch because the rotational position of the tuning shaft 114 relative to the lever 102 was not changed by the pivoting of the lever 102 and tuning key 112.

In the configuration where the axis of the lever 102 is not coaxial to the axis of the tuning shaft 114, the operation of the pitch adjustment mechanism 100 is the same as described above, except that the movement of some of the components differs slightly. The pivoting of the lever 102 pivots the tuning key 112 such that the tuning shaft 114 revolves around the axis of the lever 102 rather than purely rotating as described above. Still, such motion of the tuning key 112 (and its tuning shaft 114) changes the tension and thus, the pitch of the string. Moreover, since the rotational position of the tuning key 112 and tuning shaft 114 relative to the lever 102 do not change upon the pivoting of the lever 102. Thus, upon return of the lever 102 to the normal position, the open pitch of the string 19 is maintained.

To configure the pitch adjusting mechanism 100 to raise the pitch of the string 19 when actuated from the normal position to the actuated position, simply reverse the normal position and actuated position, and reverse the direction of movement of the moving parts.

The pitch adjusting mechanism may further comprise a bridge nut 130 (string support) which defines the head end of the scale of the string 130, similar to the nut on a standard guitar. The bridge nut 130 of the present invention comprises a nut housing 131, a pivot 134 coupled to the housing 131 and a rolling nut 132 pivotally mounted on the pivot 134. The pivot 134 may comprise a rod 135 received in an aperture of the rolling nut 132 such that the rolling nut 132 may pivot about the rod. The rolling nut 132 preferably pivots in a plane which is substantially parallel to the axial direction of the string 19. The nut housing 131 and/or pivot 134 may receive all or several of the rolling nuts 132 for each string, or there may be a separate nut housing 131 and/or pivot 134 for each string 19.

As best shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 2A, the rolling nut 132 is a plate-like structure having circumferential surface 136. The circumferential surface has a curved portion 138 and a knife-edge surface 140 which is formed by a sharp ledge extending radially inward from the curved portion 138. The rolling nut 132 is oriented such that the end point of the contact of the rolling nut 132 with the string at the head end of the scale of the string is the knife-edge surface 140. The rolling nut 132 pivots about the pivot 134 to maintain the contact of the knife-edge surface 140 at the substantially the same point on the string 19 when the string 19 moves in response to actuation of the pitch adjusting mechanism 100. A return stop 142 is provided to limit the rotation of the rolling nut 132. The knife-edge surface 140 provides for the optimum string sound and resonance. The pivoting action prevents, or at least minimizes, unwanted squeaking of the string that can occur if the string 19 were to slide on the knife-edge surface 140 when the string moves in response to actuation of the pitch adjustment device 100.

Turning now to the tail end 15 of the guitar 10, the second pitch adjustment device 200 will be described. The second pitch adjustment device 200 comprises a bridge mount 202 which is attached to the tail end 15. A string puller 204 is attached to the bridge mount 202. The string puller 204 comprises a housing 206 having a mounting lug 208 and a pair of opposing plates 210 extending from the mounting lug 208. The opposing plates 210 have three sets of coaxial apertures 216, 217 and 218 vertically spaced apart. The upper end of a puller lever 212 is received between the plates 210 and is pivotally mounted on a pivot 214. The pivot 214 comprises a rod which is received in one of the sets of apertures 216, 217 or 218. In FIGS. 2-5, the pivot 214 is set in the aperture 218 and in FIG. 7 the pivot 214 is set in the aperture 216.

The upper end of the puller lever 212 comprises a circumferential surface 220, very similar to the circumferential surface 136 of the rolling nut 132 (see FIGS. 4-7). The circumferential surface 220 has a curved portion 222 and a knife-edge surface 224 which is formed by a sharp ledge extending radially inward from the curved portion 222. The knife-edge surface 224 is oriented such that the end point of the contact of the rolling nut circumferential surface 220 with the string 19 at the tail end of the scale of the string 19 is the knife-edge surface 224. In addition, through the normal pivoting of the puller lever 212, the end point of contact of the string 19 is the knife-edge surface 224. A string attachment 221 is also provided on the lever 212 for securing the tail end of the string 19 to the lever 212. The string attachment 221 can comprise a fitting have a grooved head for looping the string 19 around or any other suitable structure for securing the string 19. The string 19 extends from the string attachment 221, and over the circumferential surface 220 to the knife-edge surface 224.

The three sets of apertures 216, 217 and 218, allows a choice for the radius of the lever arm between the pivot 214 and the tension of the string on the circumferential surface 220. For example, apertures 216 provide the smallest lever arm (for example ¼″) which would be most appropriate for the string 19 having the least amount of tension. This is true because this string applies the least force which must be overcome to pivot the puller lever 212. The apertures 217 provide a medium lever arm (for example 5/16″) which may be suitable for the middle strings. And the apertures 218 provide the largest lever arm (for example ⅜″) which is most appropriate for the strings having the greatest tension. By utilizing differing radii for the pivoting of the upper end of the puller lever 212, the amount of force required to actuate the respective puller levers 212 for each string can be made more uniform. Thus, if the levers 212 are operably coupled to foot pedals, for example, the force required by the musician to push the pedals coupled to their respective strings can be to some extent matched. FIG. 6 shows the motion of puller lever 212 with the pivot 214 located in the middle aperture 217, while FIG. 7 shows the motion of the puller lever 212 with the pivot located in the lower aperture 217.

The lower end of the puller lever 212 extends through an aperture in the tail end 15 of the frame 12. A forward stop 226 is provided which limits the movement of the lever 212 in the clockwise direction and an adjustable second stop 228 is provided to limit the rotation of the lever 212 in the counter-clockwise direction. The second stop 228 comprises a screw which can be adjusted to adjust the position of the second stop 228.

A first end 236 of a pull rod 234 is operably coupled to the lower end of the lever 212. The lower end of the lever 212 may have a plurality of vertically spaced apart positions for coupling the pull rod 234 in order to provide varying lever arms for the same reasons described above. The second end 238 of the pull rod is operably coupled to an actuation apparatus (not shown). The actuation apparatus may comprise a system of rocking assemblies and/or pedals such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,688,631 for moving the pull rod 234 axially to the right (to pivot the lever 102 in the counter-clockwise direction) and to the left (to pivot the lever 102 in the clockwise direction). The actuation apparatus may bias the pull rod 234 in a first direction (either left or right) to the normal position (de-actuated or non-actuated position) and then move the pull rod 234 in the opposite direction to the actuated position. The normal position versus the actuated position of the pull rod 104 and the lever 212, and the direction of movement for actuation (right or left for the pull rod 234, counter-clockwise or clockwise for the lever 212), will be reversed depending on the desired result of actuation (i.e. raising the pitch or lowering the pitch of the string 19). In the configuration as shown in FIG. 3, moving the pull rod 234 to the left rotates the lever 212 clockwise, thereby raising the tension and pitch of the string 19. Moving the pull rod 234 to the right rotates the lever 212 counter-clockwise thereby lowering the tension and pitch on the string 19.

The operation of the second pitch adjusting mechanism 200 is similar to the operation of the first pitch adjusting mechanism 100. As with the first pitch adjusting mechanism, the second pitch adjusting mechanism 200 can be configured for raising or for lowering the pitch of the string 19 from the normal position (i.e. open tune position of the string 19). Assuming that the position of the mechanism 200 as shown in the solid lines of FIGS. 6-7 is the normal, or open pitch position, the mechanism 200 is configured to raise the string pitch upon actuation. The actuation apparatus would typically be configured to bias the lever 212 against the second stop 228. The pitch adjusting mechanism 200 is then actuated by operating the actuation apparatus (not shown) which moves the pull rod 234 to the left. The pull rod 234 pulls the lever 212, thereby pivoting the lever 212 in a clockwise direction (as shown by the arrows in FIG. 6-7) to the position shown by the phantom lines in FIGS. 6-7. The clockwise rotation of the lever 212 increases the tension on the string 19 and raises the string pitch. The lever 212 is stopped when the limit of the forward stop 226 is reached. When the actuation apparatus is released (or reversed if not biased to the normal position), the pull rod 234 moves to the right and the lever 212 pivots in a counter-clockwise direction thereby lowering the tension and pitch of the string 19. When the lever 212 returns to the normal position set by the second stop 228, the string 19 will have returned to the original open pitch.

To configure the second pitch adjusting mechanism 200 to lower the pitch of the string 19 when actuated from the normal position to the actuated position, simply reverse the normal position and actuated position, and reverse the direction of movement of the moving parts.

As shown in FIGS. 2-7, and described above, each string has a first pitch adjusting mechanism 100 at its head end and a second pitch adjusting mechanism 200 at its tail end. It is preferably to configure the first and second pitch adjusting mechanism 100 and 200, such that one of the mechanisms raises the string pitch upon actuation and the other mechanism lowers the pitch upon actuation.

While embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. The invention, therefore, should not be limited, except to the following claims, and their equivalents.

String puller for string instruments

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CPC

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