Stringed musical instrument

A stringed musical instrument including a bowl portion having an open upper end and a closed lower end. The bowl portion has a pair of diametrically opposed openings therein downwardly of the open upper end. The open upper end has a cover secured thereto. An elongated rod extends through the pair of diametrically opposed openings of the bowl portion. The elongated rod has opposed ends disposed outwardly with respect to the bowl portion. A first opposed end is disposed in proximity to the bowl portion. A second opposed end is disposed remotely with respect to the bowl portion. A bridge is secured to the cover of the bowl portion. A length of steel wire is provided having a first end secured to the first opposed end of the elongated rod. The length of wire has a second end extending over the bridge for coupling with respect to the second opposed end of the elongated rod.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a stringed musical instrument and more 
particularly pertains to producing musical sounds for entertainment. 
The use of musical instruments are known in the prior art. More 
specifically, musical instruments heretofore devised and utilized for the 
purpose of creating music are known to consist basically of familiar, 
expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad 
of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed 
for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. 
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,322 to Ray, Sr. discloses a stringed 
musical instrument comprised of strings stretched along a curved bow. U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,235,145 to Adams, Jr. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,757 to Plummer 
each disclose additional stringed instruments. 
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objective and 
requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe a stringed 
musical instrument for producing musical sounds for entertainment. 
In this respect, the stringed musical instrument according to the present 
invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs 
of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily 
developed for the purpose of producing musical sounds for entertainment. 
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a 
new and improved stringed musical instrument which can be used for 
producing musical sounds for entertainment. In this regard, the present 
invention substantially fulfills this need. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In the view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of 
musical instruments now present in the prior art, the present invention 
provides an improved stringed musical instrument. As such, the general 
purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in 
greater detail, is to provide a new and improved stringed musical 
instrument which has all the advantages of the prior art and none of the 
disadvantages. 
To attain this, the present invention essentially comprises a bowl portion 
having an open upper end and a closed lower end. The bowl portion has a 
pair of diametrically opposed openings therein downwardly of the open 
upper end. The open upper end has a paper cover secured thereto. An 
elongated rod extends through the pair of diametrically opposed openings 
of the bowl portion. The elongated rod has opposed ends disposed outwardly 
with respect to the bowl portion. A first opposed end is disposed in 
proximity to the bowl portion. A second opposed end is disposed remotely 
with respect to the bowl portion. A bridge is secured to the paper cover 
of the bowl portion. A length of steel wire is provided having a first end 
secured to the first opposed end of the elongated rod. The length of wire 
has a second end extending over the bridge for coupling with respect to 
the second opposed end of the elongated rod. A tension rod is secured to 
the opposed second end of the elongated rod. The tension rod is coupled 
with the second end of the length of steel wire. A bow portion is provided 
and is comprised of a curved bamboo portion having opposed ends. The bow 
portion includes a length of string that extends between the opposed ends 
of the curved bamboo portion. 
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features 
of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that 
follows may be better understood, and in order that the present 
contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, 
additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter 
and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention 
in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its 
application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the 
components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the 
drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being 
practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood 
that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose 
of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon 
which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the 
designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the 
several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, 
that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions 
insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present 
invention. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved stringed musical instrument which has all the advantages of the 
prior art musical instruments and none of the disadvantages. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved 
stringed musical instrument which may be easily and efficiently 
manufactured and marketed. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved stringed musical instrument which is of durable and reliable 
construction. 
An even further object of the present invention is to provide a new and 
improved stringed musical instrument which is susceptible of a low cost of 
manufacture with regard to both materials and labor, and which accordingly 
is then susceptible of low prices of sale to the consuming public, thereby 
making such a stringed musical instrument economically available to the 
buying public. 
Even still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and 
improved stringed musical instrument for producing musical sounds for 
entertainment. 
Lastly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved stringed musical instrument including a bowl portion having an 
open upper end and a closed lower end. The bowl portion has a pair of 
diametrically opposed openings therein downwardly of the open upper end. 
The open upper end has a cover secured thereto. An elongated rod extends 
through the pair of diametrically opposed openings of the bowl portion. 
The elongated rod has opposed ends disposed outwardly with respect to the 
bowl portion. A first opposed end is disposed in proximity to the bowl 
portion. A second opposed end is disposed remotely with respect to the 
bowl portion. A bridge is secured to the cover of the bowl portion. A 
length of steel wire is provided having a first end secured to the first 
opposed end of the elongated rod. The length of wire has a second end 
extending over the bridge for coupling with respect to the second opposed 
end of the elongated rod. 
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various 
features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with 
particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this 
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating 
advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should 
be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there 
is illustrated preferred embodiments of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular, to FIG. 1 thereof, 
the preferred embodiment of the new and improved stringed musical 
instrument embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention 
and generally designated by the reference number 10 will be described. 
Specifically, it will be noted in the various Figures that the device 
relates to a stringed musical instrument for producing musical sounds for 
entertainment. In its broadest context, the device consists of a bowl 
portion, an elongated rod, a bridge, a length of steel wire, a tension 
rod, and a bow portion. Such components are individually configured and 
correlated with respect to each other so as to attain the desired 
objective. 
The bowl portion 12, preferably constructed of clay, has an open upper end 
and a closed lower end. The bowl portion 12 has a pair of diametrically 
opposed openings 14 therein downwardly of the open upper end. The open 
upper end has a paper cover 16 secured thereto. Alternately, a plastic 
cover could be utilized. 
The elongated rod 18 extends through the pair of diametrically opposed 
openings 14 of the bowl portion 12. The elongated rod 18 has opposed ends 
disposed outwardly with respect to the bowl portion 12. A first opposed 
end 20 is disposed in proximity to the bowl portion 12. A second opposed 
end 22 is disposed remotely with respect to the bowl portion 12. 
The bridge 24 is secured to the paper cover 16 of the bowl portion 12. The 
bridge 24 is constructed of either wood or plastic and has a generally 
trapezoidal configuration with a wider end positioned on the paper cover 
16. 
The length of steel wire 26 has a first end 28 secured to the first opposed 
end 20 of the elongated rod 18. The length of wire 26 has a second end 30 
extending over the bridge 24 for coupling with respect to the second 
opposed end 22 of the elongated rod 18. 
The tension rod 32 is secured to the opposed second end 22 of the elongated 
rod 18. The tension rod 32 is coupled with the second end 30 of the length 
of steel wire 26. The tension rod 32 includes a handle portion 34 that 
will allow for the rotation of the tension rod 32 whereby the steel wire 
26 will either tighten or loosen according to the desires of the user. 
The bow portion 36 is comprised of a curved bamboo portion 38 having 
opposed ends 40. The bow portion 36 includes a length of string 42 that 
extends between the opposed ends 40 of the curved bamboo portion 48. The 
bow portion 36 is used by pulling it across the length of steel wire 26 at 
different angles and at different locations along its length to produce a 
variety of sounds. 
As to the manner of usage and operation of the present invention, the same 
should be apparent from the above description. Accordingly, no further 
discussion relating to the manner of usage and operation will be provided. 
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the 
optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to 
include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and the 
manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and 
obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to 
those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are 
intended to be encompassed by the present invention. 
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the 
principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modification and 
changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired 
to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and 
described, and accordingly, all suitable modification and equivalents may 
be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.