Patent Publication Number: US-2005132868-A1

Title: Microtuner for stringed musical instruments

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to a microtuner for stringed musical instruments, such as guitars, violins, cellos and other stringed musical instruments.  
      2. DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART  
      Musical instruments utilize a variety of technologies to produce desired sounds. Stringed instruments utilize concepts involving acoustical physics, audio engineering and even materials science. Many devices reflected in the related art make use of these concepts when used in conjunction with a stringed musical instrument.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,657 issued to Dunnette, outlines simple rotational friction pegs in the head of a stringed musical instrument (typically a ukelele), provided with a tension-receiving member for the strings disposed between the instrument nut and the machine head. Each string is looped in a circle about the member, and it is found there is a marked reduction in the tendency for the instrument to detune under the string tension.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,812 issued to Franzmann, outlines the use of a device for continuous pitch variation with rotary support levers, which connect an extension piece of the neck flexibly with the body of the instrument. A rotary string holder. is mounted on the extension piece of the neck and a ribbon connects the string holder with one of the rotary support levers (via a roller). A tension spring connects one of the rotary support levers with the extension piece of the neck, or as a second possibility, with the body of the instrument.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 4,878,413 issued to Steinberger, outlines the use of a device for clamping and tuning strings, which extend longitudinally between and past the nut and bridge of a stringed musical instrument. The device includes a base with a plurality of threaded shank elements. A plurality of threaded nuts, are each threaded on a respective shank element. A plurality of actuators are each threaded on a respective threaded shank proximate to a respective threaded nut for selectively applying clamping pressure to a string position between a respective actuation method and threaded nut by rotating to a respective threaded nut and shank element.  
      U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,151 issued to Enserink, outlines the use of a locking apparatus for a string of a stringed musical instrument, which also includes a tuning mechanism for the string, a locking mechanism, which includes a locking cam arranged rotatably about a point of rotation and a locking wall, with the cam and locking wall positioned relative to each other in such a way that the string can be locked in between them.  
      U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,589,653, 5,684,256 and 5,696,335 issued to Rose, outlines the use of an improved tuning system, which permits a guitar player to quickly and easily accomplish simultaneous pitch and harmonic tuning of a guitar. The tuning system provides improved strings, which allow for a more rapid and simple replacement of those strings. The tuning system also allows the strings to remain in tune for a significantly longer period of time than other tuning systems found in the prior art.  
      German Pat. No. DE 4019370 granted to Gunnar, outlines the use of a device for applying tension to a string of a stringed musical instrument, which has an L-shaped lever and which is mounted on a pivot. There is a roller mounted on a spindle at the outer end of the shorter arm of the L-shaped lever and fine adjustment of the string tension provided by a screw, which acts on the longer arm of the L-shaped lever near its outer end. There is also a coarse adjustment provided by a second screw, which acts on the midpoint of the longer arm of the L-shaped lever.  
      Great Britain Pat. No. 2304224 granted to Woolls, outlines the use of a saddle assembly for a string terminated in a ball end of a stringed musical instrument, which has a saddle body adapted for adjustable mounting on the musical instrument. The saddle body has a bridge over which the string extends and a releasable securing means to secure to the saddle body the ball end of a string passing over the bridge.  
      Although each of the devices outlined in the preceding patents are novel and useful, what is really needed is a lever lock and micro fine tuner that is easy to install and does not require any modification to the stringed musical instrument being modified. Such a device would be very useful and would be well received in the marketplace.  
      None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a microtuner for stringed musical instruments solving the aforementioned problems is desired.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The invention is a microtuner for stringed musical instruments with a headstock and individual strings, and includes a roller cam assembly, which receives an individual string, and a tuner assembly, which receives the individual string from the roller cam assembly, and adjustably presses down onto the individual string. There is also a lever lock string system assembly that pinches down onto the individual string and releasably locks it into a single position and a clamp assembly that secures the microtuner to the headstock. The cam of the microtuner can also be made of a variety of materials to produce an overall sharper sound or an overall softer sound.  
      Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a microtuner for stringed musical instruments that is easy to install and does not require modifications to the instrument the microtuner is applied to.  
      It is another object of the invention to provide a microtuner for stringed musical instruments that utilizes a lever lock and roller cam technology for each individual string on a stringed musical instrument.  
      It is a further object of the invention to provide a microtuner for stringed musical instruments that can be used with or without a tremelo.  
      It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes.  
      These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is an environmental, perspective view of the first embodiment of a microtuner for stringed musical instruments, according to the present invention.  
       FIG. 2  is a rear perspective view of the microtuner for stringed musical instruments.  
       FIG. 3  is a side perspective view of the microtuner for stringed musical instruments.  
       FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view alone line  4 - 4  from  FIG. 3  of the microtuner for stringed musical instruments.  
       FIG. 5  is an overhead view of the second embodiment of the microtuner for stringed musical instruments. 
    
    
      Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
      The present invention is a microtuner  10  for a stringed musical instrument with a headstock HS and individual strings IS, as are shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 .  
      As shown in  FIG. 3 , the microtuner  10  comprises a roller cam assembly  20 , which receives and saddles an individual string IS, a tuner assembly  30  which receives the individual string IS from the roller cam assembly  20  and adjustably presses down onto the individual string IS, a lever lock string system assembly  40  that pinches down onto the individual string IS and releasably locks it into a single position and a clamp assembly  50  that secures the microtuner  10  to the headstock HS.  
      As is also depicted in  FIG. 3 , the microtuner  10  and the tuner assembly  30  include an adjustable screw  31  with a bottom end  32 , that threads an aperture  33  on a casing  34  and can be screwed down or screwed up towards the individual string IS below the adjustable screw  31 . The adjustable screw  31  has a horizontal shim  35  between the bottom end  32  and the individual string IS. The top of the adjustable screw  36  is knurled for manual tightening or loosening adjustment on the individual string. Note that a single microtuner  10  is designed to be installed on each individual string IS, which are assembled together to form a complete microtuner device.  
       FIG. 3  also depicts a lever lock string system assembly  40 , which is a modified lever  41  and fulcrum  42 . The proximal end of the lever  43  can be manually pushed down to lock the lever lock string assembly  40  in a single position that will hold the individual string IS in a downward locked position with the distal end of the lever  44 . The proximal end of the lever  43  can also be pulled up to release the individual string IS from a locked position. There is also an assembly of riveted supports  45  for the fulcrum  42  and lever  41  so that the lever lock string assembly  40  can repeatedly be used to lock and unlock an individual string IS.  
      Referring back to  FIG. 2 , the back of the microtuner  10  and the clamp assembly  50  has a ball hinge clip  52 , that is used to releasably wrap around the headstock HS of the stringed musical instrument. The clamp assembly  50  is also cushioned and flattened  54  to comfortably hold the microtuner  10  in place against the back of the headstock HS of a stringed musical instrument.  
      With reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the microtuner also includes a roller cam assembly  20 , again for each individual string. A roller cam  21  rotates on a removable cam pin or axle  23 . This allows the cam to be replaced, or cleaned, or the assembly to be lubricated. The axle is mounted within opposed walls of a cam housing  24  and, in turn, the housing is securely mounted by an allen head screw  22  which is screwed into the device block. Within the base of the housing  24  is a recess for a keeper washer  25 . The washer is fixed within its recess so as to hold the screw firmly with respect to the housing, but allows the screw  22  to rotate, to clamp the housing firmly in place. Additionally, however, the screw  22  may be loosened slightly, thus to adjust the housing vertically just a bit, and thus also the cam  21  for even finer adjustment of an individual string. Of course, the screw may be backed all the way out to change the housing and cam. As will be appreciated from  FIGS. 3 and 5 , the screw axis is offset far enough from its cam so that a small allen wrench (not shown) will have an interference free engagement with the head of the screw  22 .  
      The microtuner  10  cam  21  can be made of hard metal material, such as steel or brass, to produce a harder and brighter sound. The microtuner  10  cam  21  can also be made of soft nonmetal material, such as plastic or graphite, to produce softer and warmer sounds. The variations of the composition of the cam  21  are points of novelty of the microtuner  10  and are not limited to the composition materials outlined in this application. As is depicted in  FIG. 5 , the microtuner  10  can also utilize a plurality of wood screws  60  to secure the microtuner  10  to the headstock HS of the stringed musical instrument. This can be a second embodiment of the microtuner  10  for a more permanent installation than the first embodiment of the microtuner  10  using the clamp assembly  50 .  
      Use of the microtuner  10  is straightforward. The microtuner  10  is user installable in minutes by just removing the nut, and clamping assembly  50  in place, restring, tune, lock and play without going out of tune. No matter how the stringed musical instrument is played, either with or without a tremelo (not shown), the microtuner  10  provides a tool less string lock system, microtuning, string height adjustment and roller cam for each individual string IS. The microtuner  10  even provides the ability to break a string and continue playing on a tremelo system, with proper tremelo setup. A cam kit is available to provide different cam  31  arrangements for each individual string IS to make unique and individual sound set-ups, to have more control over the sound from the stringed musical instrument. The added mass of the microtuner  10  to the headstock HS adds more sustain and helps to balance the stringed musical instrument.  
      It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.