VIOLIN SUPPORT

Abstract: Support for a string instrument belonging to the violin family which, when played upon, is kept in position between the jaw-bone and the collar-bone with the aid of an anatomically well shaped chin rest (15) with a suitable protuberance (10), comprising a bow-member (1) contouring the human body, bendable, during playing in contact with three relative motionless spots on the players body, namely the collar-bone, the chest about between the 2nd and 4th ribs about vertical below the chin tip and the Musculus Trapezius about between the 2nd and the 4th vertebra, between the back-bone and the left shoulder blade; in the part which crosses the collar-bone the bow-member supports a mounting plate (4) arranged to keep the violin in playing position with the assistance of details existing on the instrument; the stringholder cord (24), its saddle (21), and button (17) as well as in contact with the violin' s rounded bottom edge (29); whereby the mounting-plate' s upper part (23) has been given a shape which, when mounted to the violin and seen from the playing position points oblique rearwards, its wedge-shaped tongue (23) being situated between the stringholders cord (24) and the violin's side (28) in contact with the cord and simultaneously with its upper gouverning straight edge (11) in close contact with the stringholders saddle (21) thus wedged in place by the button (17), controls the violin's lateral heel, receives and transfers the necessary thrust in order to keep the violin in the playing position, from the chin, applied to the chin-rest (15) and its protuberation (10) to the bow-body whereby the mounting plate (4) with its lower flat part tangentially pushing against the bottom edge (29) supports with a force which counteracts the one exerted by the flap (23) and by the cord (24) thus also controls the violin's length axis.

Description: VIOLIN SUPPORT TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention refers to a support for string instru¬ ments belonging to the violin family which, when played upon, is kept in position between the jaw bone and the collar bone, suitably with the aid of an anatomically well shaped chin-rest with a suitable protuberance. The need for an ergonomically designed violin support which can be adjusted to the player's body contour and length of neck, also usable with the larger viola and other instruments is well known. PRIOR ART Violinists whose bodyshapes necessitate a support can often not find a really " satisfying one. Some com ersially available supports gradually cause injuries to the spinal column, its muscles and nerves due to their insufficence. Consequently, professionals, after long periods of working with more or less unsuitable modes of playing causing tension ' ed twisted necks and bent head-bearings, tend to be still more frequent cases for medical practitioners, orthopedes and neurologists all over the world. Also, certain designs of supports have negative acoustic influences due to the vibration of the instrument created by their heaviness, unsuitable contact points with the instru¬ ment, e.g. springing hooks and/or strong rubber bands transmitting pressure upon the violin's "corpus" thus affecting an undesirable influence on the instrument's behaviour. Very often such known supports tend to fall off from the instrument. -BUREAU OMPI Analysis of the anatomic functions when playing the violin as well as the mounting possibilities on the instrument have shown that only certain parts of the players body as well as of the violin may be used to attach the support. By using said parts the left shoulder, arm and hand may be relieved from the burden of supporting the instrument in the playing position for the benefit of the physiologically complicated labour of playing. The violinist can thus be able to hold the instrument between the jaw-bone and the collar-bone with an almost normal position of neck and head simultaneously, with minor disturbances affecting the vibrating instrument by attaching the support to its least vibrating spot with but minimal contact surfaces. THE INVENTION ' The ergonomically designed violin support according to the invention is practical in use, may be bent to conform with the players body, adjusted to suit- his neck as well as to the desired horisontal direction in relation to his body. Besides, its insignificant weight and slim dimensions per¬ mits it to be kept in the case close to the violin. The basic idea of the invention will- be described below with reference to the enclosed drawings which show a pre¬ ferred embodiment of the support according to the invention. Figs, la, b, c show the support mounted to the indicated instrument viewed from three positions with some details shown separately for the sake of clarity. The approximate location of the support on the human body is shown in Fig. 2 by an intersection a) through the region of the shoulder blade, showing also the thorax and the collar bone, viewed from the side b) , from behind c) and a view seen from behind-downwards .d) . . OMPI The violin support in the Figs, consists of a bow-member (1) bent ma-inly in a single curve to suit the contour of the human body, with a flat-oval cross-section (14), which with . the instrument in playing position deviates at a suitable angle of about 45 degrees downwards from the indicated pro¬ longed bottom-plane of the instrument, directed against the player where the bow-shanks (32,42) straddles the player's chest and trapezoid muscle, the soft contoured rear shank- -tip (9) rests at a point at the player's back (musculus trapezius) located between the 2:nd and 4:th vertebra and between the spinal column and the shoulder-blade. From this support-point the bow (1) almost contours the body to the collar bone 3-4 (Fig. 2) against which the bow's projecting part (2), adjustable along the bow, rests, suitably covered with an elastic pad (12) . This is the spot where the main load put on the chin-rest plus the load received from the center of gravity of the instrument due to the length of its moment-arm are imposed on the human "clamp", the chin-collar bone. In order to achieve the necessary, suitably stabilisa- tion of the instrument the front-shank is extended downwards and rests, with a suitable foot on the chest, preferably between the 2:nd and the 4:th rib and about vertically below the chin-tip so as to rest upon three during the playing relatively unaffected spots of the body: the collar bone, the front part of the chest and the dorsal part of Musculus Trapezius. The flexible support-bow (1) can be bent or twisted to suit the player's body, the projecting part (2) is adjustable along the bow and the mounting-plate (4) may be altered axially by means of distance-rings (3) in order to attain the best fit to the player's shape. Outsides of the violin's bottom contour the projecting member (2) is provided with a standing pivot (25), directed roughly perpendicularly to the violin's length and cross axis, On the pivot (25) an axially movable mounting plate (4) is hinged, the bent flap (19) of which embraces the pivot (25) so that a slot (6) between the edge of the flap and the flat, area of the plate (4) is left open. Through optional holes (5) with slightly different radial directions, suitably perpendicularly to the pivot (25) and mutually of different suitable heights, a pin (7) of appropriate length is inserted in such a manner that its protuding end is guided in the slot (6). The mounting plate (4), which may be adjustable along the bow, has been given the shape of a trapezoidal tongue (25) which when attached to the instrument is insert¬ ed between the stringholder-cord (24) and the violin side (28) simultaneously with its upper straight edge (11) in contact with the stringholder-cords saddle (21) and wedged against the button (17) , simultaneously in tangential contact with the cord and the edge (29) of the back of the violin. Thus, the pressure from the chin on the chinrest (15) and its cam (10) locks the violin in the playing position. The needed pressure imposed upon the chin-rest (15) and its cam (10) keeps the violin in the playing position. The required pressure imposed on the chin rest is trans¬ mitted by the mounting plate (4) and the pivot (25) to the padded supporting part (12-2) to the collar bone. The in- clination of this area requires the shank's (42) supporting foot (16) against the chest as well as the shank's (32) supporting-foot (9) to rest on the dorsal area of musculus trapezius to give the instrument the necessary directional stability. The bow (1) and the mounting plate (4) are tied together and secured to the violin by a suitable rubberband (10) or similar lashed to plate (4) with the aid of the holes (18), the other end suitably being lashed to the bow (1) in proximity of the bows projecting part (2) and slung over the button (17). The instrument will thus be kept in position along its three main axis and kept acoustically intact since only minimal moments or weights are transferred to the same. Thus, the player's left shoulder, arm and hand are totally free to cope with the difficult physiological funtions which advanced violin playing demands without beeing troubled with the inconvenience of supporting the instrument. Manufactured e.g. in a suitable aluminum alloy, and coated by the Eloxal process or similar will make the material compatible to the skin and to textiles. Surfaces in contact with the instrument will suitably be covered with hide or another suitable material. The violinsupport may be changed in different ways without , abandoning the fundamental principles.

Claims: PATENT CLAIMS 1. . A support for a string instrument belonging to the violin family which, when played upon, is kept in position between the jaw-bone and the collar-bone with the aid of an anatomic¬ ally well-shaped chin-rest (15) having a suitable protuberance (10) , CHARACTERIZED BY comprising a bendable bow-member (1) contouring the human body, which during playing is in contact with three relatively motionless spots on the player's body, viz. the collar-bone, the chest at about between the 2nd. and 4th ribs and about vertically below the chin-tip and the Musculus Trapezius roughly between the 2nd and the 4th vertebra between the back-bone and left -shoulder-blade, the part of member (1) which crosses the collar-bone the bow— member supporting a mounting plate '(4) arranged to keep the violin in the playing position with the aid of details existing on the instrument, viz. the stringholder cord (24), its saddle (21) and button (17) as well as being in contact with the violin's rounded bottom edge (29); whereby the mounting-plate's upper part (23) has such a shape which, when mounted to the violin and seen from the playing position points oblique rearwards, its wedge-shaped tongue (23) located between the stringholder's cord (24) and the violin's side (28) in contact with the cord and simultaneously with its upper governing straight edge (11) in close contact with the stringholder's saddle (21), thus wedged in place by the button (17), controls the violin's lateral heel, receives and trans¬ fers the thrust necessary to keep the violin in the playing position, from the chin, applied to the chin-rest (15) and its protuberation (10) to the bow-body, the mounting plate (4) with its lower flat part tangentially pushing against the bottom edge (29) supporting with a force which counteracts the one excerted by the flap (23) and by the cord (24) thus also controls the violin's length axis. 2. Violin support according to claim 1, CHARACTERIZED BY comprising a suitably in a single curve bent bow-member (1) , of a flat-oval section the mounting plate (4) being secured to the instrument by a suitably fitted rubber cord (20) or similar, suitably attached in holes (18) in the mounting plate (4) , then pulled around the bow (1) close to the contact point with the collar-bone, slung over the button (17) , the bow shanks being directed obliquely downwards as well as off the instrument with the bending curve kept at an angle of about 45 degrees against the imagined prolonged bottom plane of the instrument so that the- bow-shanks straddle the player's left side chest and trapezoid muscle. 3. Violin support according to claim 1 or 2, CHARACTERIZED IN that the bow-shanks are terminated with compatible feet (9, 16) and that the bow (1) in the part (2) below the instruments back is equipped with a suitably shaped load dividing pad (12) and just outside the instrument's bottom edge (29) support a standing pivot (25) which is about perpendicular to the violin-back's length and cross axises, about which a bent flap (19) of the mounting plate grips, dimensioned so as to_ leave a suitingly open slat (6) for the protruding end of the pin (7) locked in position by the embracing flap (19) covering the head (8) of the pin (7) , which may be inserted in one of several holes (5) so as to suit the player, transversing the pivot (25) and allowing selection of the most desirable direction of the instrument in relation to the player, bow (1) like the pin (7) being of variable length so as to achieve a controlled, limited, rotational movement or alternatively a fixation with maximum pin length.

Inventors: RUTHSTROEM O
Applicants: RUTHSTROEM O
Application year: 1980
Main classification: G10G5
IPC codes: G10D3, G10G5