EP2196987A1 - Saddle for a string instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

The nut (3) has guide structures (4) for guiding strings running over the nut, and including an upper surface that is in contact with the strings, where the nut is made by injection molding. The structures are made of a fiber-reinforced polymer e.g. fluorine-containing polymer, with a coefficient of sliding friction that is less than 0.4. The polymer comprises 25 percent weight of reinforcing fibers including glass fibers or carbon fibers. The guide structures are smoothed by machining.

Description

The present invention relates to a saddle for a stringed instrument having guide structures for guiding the strings passing over the saddle. The invention further relates to a equipped with at least one such saddle string instrument itself.

In stringed instruments, in particular plucked fingerboard instruments and stringed instruments, the strings are played at least at one of their longitudinal ends, e.g. Even at both of their longitudinal ends violins are passed over a so-called saddle, before being fixed with their respective longitudinal end in corresponding devices, in guitars at the head e.g. accumulate in the so-called vertebrae tension and relaxable. This saddle has the task to keep the strings off the fingerboard and spaced from each other and clamp defined in a support point. The saddle thus forms one of the fixed ends of the vibrating strings. Thus, the saddle is also significantly involved in the sound production of the stringed instrument. About him the vibration of the string and thus the sound thus generated is transmitted to the instrument body, which is also stimulated to resonate with the so transmitted sound or sound.

In order to obtain optimum sound transmission here, an important feature of the saddle is its hardness. The harder the material of the saddle, the better better is the sound transmission and the lower are loss of attenuation, which leads to a reduction in the sound volume and sonority of the instrument. In traditional instrument making, bone and ivory have been and will be used for the material of the saddle since this material is particularly hard.

Another important feature of the saddle, especially the areas in which the strings are guided and firmly abut the saddle, is the least possible friction. A high frictional resistance at this point of the instrument causes namely that the vibrating string that moves on the saddle after a decay of the vibration can not easily move back into a fully relaxed rest position. This can ultimately lead to a change in length and thus detuning of the instrument. Again, in particular bone is a particularly suitable material, as this u.a. Contains friction reducing substances.

However, the use of bone for the manufacture of saddles is problematic: bones are a natural material, with each piece individually grown and structured. Where, in the manufacture of instruments by instrument makers, when selecting the piece of material and the device of the particular instrument, it is still possible to test individually different saddles and select the most suitable piece for the instrument currently being built, this is in today's industrial production of stringed instruments, e.g. Guitars, not possible in large numbers. Rather, it is essential here to specify a material for the saturated material which reliably and reproducibly produces a consistent result in industrial-scale application and repeated production with reproducible material properties suitable for production on an industrial scale.

In the current instrument industry, especially in the construction of guitars, is widely used for the manufacture of the guitar saddle an acrylic-bound mineral material, which is traded by the US chemical company DuPont under the brand Corian® and is available. However, this material is still in need of improvement in terms of hardness and in particular not yet optimal in its friction properties. The friction of the material of the saddle plays an important role especially in a developed by the same inventor under the brand PowerTune® currently in electric guitars manufacturer Gibson built-in automatic tuning system. In this automatic tuning system there is a fast tuning (in fractions of seconds), in which the arranged at the head of the guitar vertebrae are adjusted by motor driven. If the material of the saddle in such a method does not have excellent sliding properties, it may happen that with an adjustment of the string tension, the string does not slippage optimally over the saddle and the string tension along the longitudinal direction of the string is not evenly distributed. Thus, in the short string portion between the saddle and the vertebra, after the tuning of the guitar string, a higher tension prevails than in the long, vibrating portion, which is correctly tuned. If the string is struck now, it moves with its end on the saddle, so that it "slips" and increases the string tension in the oscillating area above the bridge or fingerboard, so the string detuned. In particular, for such applications of automatic tuning, it is therefore of particular importance that the saddle has a material with very good sliding properties.

This is where the invention starts. With her a saddle is to be specified, which is formed in particular in the region of the guide surfaces with which the strings come into contact, on the one hand hard, on the other hand, with very good sliding properties equipped material.

This object is achieved by a saddle with the features of claim 1. Advantageous developments of such a saddle are given in the dependent claims 2 to 8. In claim 9, finally, an inventive string instrument is called, which has such a novel saddle.

The essential aspect of the invention is to produce at least the surface of the guide surfaces, but preferably the entire saddle, from a composite material, namely a fiber-reinforced polymer, wherein this has a sliding friction coefficient μ _G of less than 0.5, in particular less than 0.4. The fiber reinforcement of the polymer contributes significantly to the hardness and thus the favorable sound quality, while the claimed low sliding friction for a reliable and immediate slippage of the string over the saddle in a tuning process as well as for a consistent tension on the entire string even after the renewed Resting after a hit. In other words, the fiber reinforcement provides for the good sound of the instrument, the low coefficient of sliding friction for a consistent and reliable good mood.

As a polymer base, a halogen-containing, in particular fluorine-containing polymer has been found to be particularly suitable. Of the fluoropolymers that can be used in accordance with the present invention, perfluoropolymers are particularly preferred because they have lower coefficients of friction than incompletely fluorinated polymers. Particularly preferred here is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), since this has the lowest coefficient of friction of all fluoropolymers. Equally suitable, as having a similarly low coefficient of friction, is ethylene / tetrafluoroethylene copolymer (ETFE). As reinforcing fibers, in particular glass fibers or carbon fibers are considered, with glass fibers being preferred because of the lower cost.

For the purposes of the invention particularly suitable because on the one hand good hardness equipped, on the other hand still with low sliding friction, a material has been found in which the reinforcing fibers in a proportion of at least 15 wt .-%, in particular 20-35 wt .-% , more preferably about 25 wt .-% are contained in the fiber-reinforced polymer.

Although it is within the scope of the invention not to manufacture the saddle completely from the material according to the invention, but rather to provide for example only inserts formed from the material into the guide structures (eg notches) for the strings, it is preferred to manufacture the saddle entirely from this material , In this way, in particular the very good properties in terms of hardness and thus sound design of the material used for the entire saddle; and it simplifies the production as a whole, since not in a separately manufactured saddle in a further production step additional inserts or deposits must be fitted and fixed there. A particularly simple way of forming a saddle according to the invention as a whole from the polymer material is to injection-mold it. Injection molding is also possible for a fiber-reinforced polymer, for example, the reinforcing fibers may already be contained in a granulate of the starting material used.

In order to achieve an additional reduction of the friction, in the saddle according to the invention at least the surface areas of the guide surfaces with which the strings are in contact can be smoothed by machining.

Fig. 1

den Kopf einer Gitarre mit einem darauf angeordneten Sattel;

Fig. 2

den am Kopf der Gitarre angeordneten Sattel aus Fig. 1 in vergrößerter, dreidimensionaler Ansicht; und

Fig. 3a

bis 3c in drei verschiedenen Ansichten, einer Ansicht von hinten (vom Ende des Kopfes der Gitarre her) in Fig. 3a, einer Ansicht von oben in Fig. 3b und einer Ansicht von der Seite in Fig. 3c, des erfindungsgemäßen Sattels.

Further advantages and features of a saddle according to the invention will become apparent from the following description of an embodiment with reference to the accompanying figures. Showing:

Fig. 1

the head of a guitar with a saddle placed on it;

Fig. 2

the saddle arranged at the head of the guitar Fig. 1 in enlarged, three-dimensional view; and

Fig. 3a

to 3c in three different views, one view from the back (from the end of the head of the guitar) in Fig. 3a , a view from above in Fig. 3b and a view from the side in Fig. 3c , of the saddle according to the invention.

In the figures is schematically illustrated and illustrated a saddle 3, as it is arranged for example on a guitar head 1 ( Fig. 1 ). In the FIGS. 2 and 3 the saddle 3 is then shown again in different views detached from the guitar head 1.

In the saddle 3 a notch 4 are introduced for each of the six guitar strings in this case, in which the guitar strings are safely out. In the direction of the guitar head 1, the strings thus guided in the saddle 3 through the notches 4 continue, and with their ends on each of the vertebrae 2, to which the strings on or from which the strings can be unwound to adjust the string tension. The saddle 3 worried by its height also that the guitar strings with their the guitar head 1 opposite vibrating areas are free in the air, so that they can be freely excited to vibrate. About the saddle 3, the vibrations of the string are introduced into the guitar body, so that the saddle 3 contributes to the formation of sound.

With regard to the mechanical dimensions, the saddle 3 shown in the figures corresponds to known models. The special feature of this saddle is the material of which it is made. This material is a fiber-reinforced polymer with a sliding friction coefficient μ _G of less than 0.5, in particular less than 0.4.

The saddle in this embodiment is preferably formed from a fluorine-containing fiber-reinforced polymer, in particular from PTFE or ETFG.

As a particularly suitable material, a glass fiber reinforced ETFE has been found, as offered by the US supplier DuPont under the trade name Tefzel® HT-2004. This is a reinforced with 25 wt .-% glass fiber material of the trade name Tefzel®, an ETFE.

This material has on the one hand by the glass fiber reinforcement a particularly high degree of hardness and can pass on the sound waves generated by the vibrating strings particularly good and low loss, he also has a particularly low coefficient of sliding friction of 0.31 at a relative speed of 3 m per minute ( 10 feet / minute) and a supercharging pressure of 6.9 bar (100 psi).

In addition, this material has excellent resistance to conventional solvents, acids and bases and is therefore particularly durable.

Due in particular to the excellent sliding properties of the saddle according to the invention is particularly suitable for use in conjunction with fast operating automatic tuning devices, such as those marketed under the brand PowerTune® and used in guitars Gibson voice units. But it also brings in self-contained significant advantages with it due to the high hardness and good tonal properties and low friction, for a good voice quality of the guitar or other equipped with such a saddle string instrument (eg mandolin, ukulele, violin, bass and the like .).

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1

guitar head

2

whirl

3

saddle

4

score

Claims (9)

A saddle for a stringed instrument having guide structures for guiding the strings passing over the saddle (3), characterized in that at least the surface of the guide structures (4) in contact with the strings is made of a fiber reinforced polymer having a sliding friction coefficient μ _G of less than 0.5, in particular less than 0.4. Saddle according to claim 1, characterized in that the fiber-reinforced polymer is a halogen-containing, in particular fluorine-containing, polymer. Saddle according to claim 2, characterized in that the polymer is a PTFE or ETFE. Saddle according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the reinforcing fibers are glass fibers or carbon fibers. Saddle according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the reinforcing fibers in a proportion of at least 15 wt .-%, in particular from 20 to 35 wt .-%, particularly preferably from about 25 wt .-% are contained in the fiber-reinforced polymer. Saddle according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it consists entirely of the fiber-reinforced polymer. Saddle according to claim 6, characterized in that it is made by injection molding. Saddle according to one of claims 6 or 7, characterized in that the at least the surfaces of the guide structures (4), which are in contact with the strings, are smoothed by machining. A stringed instrument comprising at least one saddle (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 8.

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