Abstract:
A stringed musical toy that allows an individual to play notes on the various strings and alter their pitch by changing the configuration of the string bar end. The stringed musical toy has a generally tapered design, resulting in one wide end and one narrow end. A quartet of strings is located within the housing, and can be plucked through a circular opening found on the front panel. The stringed musical toy also has an acoustic pickup, allowing an individual to connect the stringed musical toy to an amplifier, signal processing unit, recorder, or other similar device.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention concerns that of a stringed musical toy that allows an individual to pluck strings creating notes and to alter the pitch of the notes by squeezing a pair of levers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention concerns that of a stringed musical toy that allows an individual to play notes by plucking various strings and to alter the note pitch by squeezing a pair of levers. The toy has a generally tapered housing with a wide end and an opposite narrow end. A quartet of strings is located within the housing, and can be plucked through a circular opening located in the center of the front panel. The stringed musical toy also has an acoustic pickup, allowing an individual to connect the stringed musical toy to an amplifier, signal processing unit, recorder, or other similar device. The back panel is removable. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of a stringed musical toy 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 stringed musical toy 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 stringed musical toy in detail, it is to be understood that the stringed musical toy 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 stringed musical toy is capable of other embodiments and 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 descriptions 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 stringed musical toy. 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 stringed musical toy which has all of the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a stringed musical toy which may be easily and efficiently manufactured and marketed. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a stringed musical toy which is of durable and reliable construction. 
     It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a stringed musical toy which is economically affordable and available for relevant market segment of the purchasing public. 
     Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment when considered with the attached drawings and appended claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of the stringed musical toy. 
         FIG. 2  shows a front view of the stringed musical toy. 
         FIG. 3  shows a rear view of the stringed musical toy after the back panel of the stringed musical toy has been removed. 
         FIG. 4  shows a wide end view of the stringed musical toy. 
         FIG. 5  shows a front view illustrating operation. 
         FIG. 6  shows a top view of a pair of levers and a string stop bar. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 6  thereof, a stringed musical stringed toy embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numeral  2  will be described. 
     As best illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 6 , the stringed musical toy  2  comprises a housing  4  that is preferably a tapered box having a hollow interior  35 . The housing  4  has two ends comprising a wide end  6  and a narrow end  8 , with the width of the housing  4  gradually lessening as it traverses from the wide end  6  to the narrow end  8 . The housing also has a front panel  19  and a back panel  30 . The back panel  30  has a plurality of screw mounts  62  and removably attaches to the front panel  19  via a plurality of screws  64  engaging the screw mounts  62 . On the wide end  6 , the front panel  19  and the back panel  30  comprise a pair of first ears  37  and second ears  39 , respectively, extending outwardly perpendicular to the strings. The pair of first ears  37  and the pair of second ears  39  are vertically aligned. A first pivot slot  22  continuously runs through one of the pair of first ears  37  and one of the pair of second ears  39 . A second pivot slot  24  continuously runs through an opposite one of the pair of first ears  37  and the opposite one of the pair of second ears  39 . The first pivot slot  22  and the second pivot slot  24  removably receive a bolt  60  to create a pivot point. The dimensions of the housing  4  are preferably a wide end  6  width of about 9½ inches, a narrow end  8  width of about 3½ inches, a length of about 23 inches, and a depth of about 3 inches. The dimensions allow a user to squeeze a pair of levers  26 ,  28  which pivot from the first and second ears  37 ,  39 . 
     On either side of the housing  4  are located a pair of levers  26  and  28 . Lever  26  is pivotally attached to a first pivot slot  22  between one of the pair of first ears  37  and one of the pair of second ears  39 , while lever  28  is pivotally attached to second pivot slot  24  between an opposite one of the pair of first ears  37  and the opposite one of the pair of second ears  39 . Each lever  26 ,  28  provides an arm end  50 ,  51  respectively and a string bar end  20 ,  21  respectively, each string bar end  20 ,  21  having pivot apertures  54 ,  55  respectively, therein. Each pivot aperture  54 ,  55  selectively aligns with the first pivot slot  22  and the second pivot slot  24 . A bolt  60  removably engages the first pivot slot  22  and the pivot aperture  54  of lever  26 , while another bolt  60  removably engages the second pivot slot  22  and the pivot aperture  55  of lever  28 . Each arm end  50 ,  51  terminates in an outwardly turned curve  56  to conform to a user&#39;s hand. Normally, the “default” position of each of the levers  26  and  28  are almost parallel to the length-wise dimension of the housing  4 . Squeezing either or both of the levers  26 ,  28  causes the corresponding string bar end  20 ,  21  to move slightly away from the narrow end  8  thereby increasing tension on the selected strings. 
     The stringed musical toy  2  has four internal strings  13 ,  14 ,  15 , and  16  located within the housing  4 . The strings are accessible through an opening  18  located on the front panel  19 . Each string  13 - 16  has two ends comprising a first end and a second end. The first end of each string is removably attached to a tuning peg  9 - 12 , respectively. The tuning pegs are associated with the narrow end  8  of the housing  4 . A bridge  40  runs continuously across the width of the housing  4  hollow interior  35  near the narrow end  8  between the tuning pegs and the opening  18 . The strings  13 - 16  run continuously from the first end to the second end, crossing over the bridge  40  therebetween. 
     The second end of each string  13 - 16  is connected to a string bar end  20 ,  21  by stringing the string through holes in the string bar end. In use the string bar ends  20 ,  21  are internally located within the housing  4 . A string bar stop  25  limits the movement of the string bar ends  20 ,  21  towards the narrow end  8  of the housing  4 . 
     Squeezing lever  26  changes the pitch of strings  15  and  16 , while squeezing lever  28  changes the pitch of strings  13  and  14 . In effect, each of the levers  26 ,  28  serves as a partial tremolo bar for the two strings that are attached to it, allowing an individual to modify the pitch at will for the attached strings. 
     The housing  4  also has a back panel  30  that can be removed allowing an individual to access all components within the housing  4 . 
     The stringed musical toy  2  also has an acoustic output jack  32  that is attached to the wide end  6  of the housing  4 . The acoustic output jack  32  can be used to connect the stringed musical toy  2  to an external device  34  as needed. The external device  34  can be any one of a wide variety of items, including but not limited to an amplifier, signal processing unit, recorder, or other related items. 
     Operation: 
     To use the present string musical toy  2 , strings  13 - 16  must be attached. To attach the strings, a user removes each lever  26 ,  28  from the wide end  6  of the housing  4 . The user then attaches the second end of each string  13 - 16  with the second end of strings  15  and  16  removably attached to the appropriate string bar end through the string holes. Each lever  26 ,  28  is then removably reattached to the wide end  6  of the housing. Then, the first end of each string  13 - 16  is pulled over the bridge  40  and attached to a tuning peg  9 - 12 , respectively. The excess string exits the narrow end  8  of the housing  4 . To play the toy  2 , a user plucks the strings  13 - 16  to create notes while squeezing on the levers  26 ,  28  to selectively change the pitch of the notes played on the strings  13 - 16 . 
     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 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 modifications 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 modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.