US3878748A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Oral cavity controlled electronic musical instrument
Assignee: Individual
•
Filing: 1974-03-21
•
Granted: 1975-04-22
•
Expires: 1994-03-21
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for electrically producing musical sounds wherein a cavity resonator is formed by a hollow body defining a cavity having a constant configuration with a small opening communicating with the oral cavity of the mouth of a player and a change in the size of the oral cavity changes the resonant frequency and thereby the fundamental frequency of the sound produced. A vibrating cone in a closed chamber produces sound waves in the cavity resonator. An electric amplifier is driven by electric oscillations corresponding to monitored sound energy from the cavity resonator and the amplified oscillations are coupled back to the vibrating member to sustain the motion of the vibrating member. In one form, a coil on the vibrating cone and moving therewith is wrapped on a portion of a magnet producing a back emf to monitor the sound waves in the cavity resonator and also convert the amplified electric oscillations received from the electric amplifier to a physical oscillatory force to drive the vibrating cone. In another form a second sensing coil is mounted on the vibrating cone to move therewith and is inductively coupled to the first coil and magnet to monitor the sound energy. A pressure sensitive volume control facilitates control of the amplitude of the sound output with breath pressure. A range multiplier provides a three octave sound range. In yet further forms, a microphone may be mounted either in a closed chamber part of the cavity resonator opposite the mouthpiece or in a chamber portion of the cavity resonator adjacent and in communication with the mouthpiece to monitor the sound waves therein and provide corresponding electric oscillations that will drive the electric amplifier.
Inventors
- 👤 Larry A Spence
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 11:35
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10H; G10H3/00; G10H3/12; G10H3/24; G10H2210/00; G10H2210/155; G10H2210/265; G10H2210/271; G10H2210/275; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S84/00; Y10S84/10
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 31
Claim 1
Independent Claim
174 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sound, the steps of: confining a mass of air in a first cavity having a constant configuration communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening to form a cavity resonator, placing the lips of a player over the opening and setting the size of the player''s oral cavity to establish a selected resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and oral cavity, vibrating the confined mass of air in the first cavity to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth through the small opening between the first cavity and the oral cavity, monitoring the sound energy directly within said first cavity to produce electric oscillations corresponding to the monitored sound energy and substantially in phase with the vibrations of the mass of air in the first cavity and at the same time transforming amplified electric oscillations to an oscillatory physical force capable of sustaining the sound energy in the first cavity, and amplifying the monitored electric oscillations prior to said transformation into electric oscillations.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
174 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sound, the steps of: confining a mass of air in a first cavity having a constant configuration communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening to form a cavity resonator, placing the lips of a player over the opening and setting the size of the player''s oral cavity to establish a selected resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and oral cavity, vibrating the confined mass of air in the first cavity to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth through the small opening between the first cavity and the oral cavity, monitoring the sound energy directly within said first cavity to produce electric oscillations corresponding to the monitored sound energy and substantially in phase with the vibrations of the mass of air in the first cavity and at the same time transforming amplified electric oscillations to an oscillatory physical force capable of sustaining the sound energy in the first cavity, and amplifying the monitored electric oscillations prior to said transformation into electric oscillations.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
174 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sound, the steps of: confining a mass of air in a first cavity having a constant configuration communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening to form a cavity resonator, placing the lips of a player over the opening and setting the size of the player''s oral cavity to establish a selected resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and oral cavity, vibrating the confined mass of air in the first cavity to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth through the small opening between the first cavity and the oral cavity, monitoring the sound energy directly within said first cavity to produce electric oscillations corresponding to the monitored sound energy and substantially in phase with the vibrations of the mass of air in the first cavity and at the same time transforming amplified electric oscillations to an oscillatory physical force capable of sustaining the sound energy in the first cavity, and amplifying the monitored electric oscillations prior to said transformation into electric oscillations.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
174 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sound, the steps of: confining a mass of air in a first cavity having a constant configuration communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening to form a cavity resonator, placing the lips of a player over the opening and setting the size of the player''s oral cavity to establish a selected resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and oral cavity, vibrating the confined mass of air in the first cavity to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth through the small opening between the first cavity and the oral cavity, monitoring the sound energy directly within said first cavity to produce electric oscillations corresponding to the monitored sound energy and substantially in phase with the vibrations of the mass of air in the first cavity and at the same time transforming amplified electric oscillations to an oscillatory physical force capable of sustaining the sound energy in the first cavity, and amplifying the monitored electric oscillations prior to said transformation into electric oscillations.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sounds as set forth in claim 1 including the further step of changing the size of the oral cavity to change the resonant frequency of the cavity resonator and thereby the sound output.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
24 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sounds as set forth in claim 1 wherein said monitoring and transforming steps are carried out simultaneously.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sounds as set forth in claim 1 further including the further step of increasing the range of frequency of the monitored electric oscillations followed by the transforming of the electric oscillations of increased range to corresponding sound waves in the atmosphere.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
31 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sounds as set forth in claim 1 further including the step of converting the monitored electric oscillations to corresponding sound waves in the atmosphere.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
47 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sounds as set forth in claim 5 further including the step of applying breath pressure to the first cavity to control the amplitude of the sound energy prior to converting the monitored electric oscillations to sound waves in the atmosphere.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
177 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sound, the steps of: confining a mass of air in a first cavity having a constant configuration communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening to form a cavity resonator, placing the lips of a person over the opening and setting the size of the person''s oral cavity to establish a selected resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and oral cavity, vibrating the confined mass of air in the first cavity to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth through the small opening between the first cavity and the oral cavity, monitoring the sound energy directly within said first cavity to produce electric oscillations corresponding to the monitored sound energy and substantially in phase with the vibrations of the mass of air in the first cavity, amplifying the monitored electric oscillations, and transforming the amplified electric oscillations to an oscillatory physical force that is applied to the mass of air in the first cavity to sustain the sound energy in the first cavity and oral cavity.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
177 words
In a method of electrically producing musical sound, the steps of: confining a mass of air in a first cavity having a constant configuration communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening to form a cavity resonator, placing the lips of a person over the opening and setting the size of the person''s oral cavity to establish a selected resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and oral cavity, vibrating the confined mass of air in the first cavity to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth through the small opening between the first cavity and the oral cavity, monitoring the sound energy directly within said first cavity to produce electric oscillations corresponding to the monitored sound energy and substantially in phase with the vibrations of the mass of air in the first cavity, amplifying the monitored electric oscillations, and transforming the amplified electric oscillations to an oscillatory physical force that is applied to the mass of air in the first cavity to sustain the sound energy in the first cavity and oral cavity.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
202 words
In an electric musical instrument, the combination comprising: a hollow body defining a first cavity having a constant configuration for confining a mass of air and communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening in the body to form a cavity resonator, said body having a mouthpiece forming a passage into the first cavity through said small opening, said mouthpiece being adapted to receive the lips of the player so that with the oral cavity of the mouth of the player of the instrument there is formed a resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and player''s oral cavity, a vibrating member in the first cavity for vibrating the confined mass of air to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth between the first cavity and the oral cavity through the small opening, means for monitoring the sound energy directly within said first cavity to produce electric oscillations corresponding to the monitored sound energy and substantially in phase with the vibrations of the mass of air in the first cavity and providing corresponding electric oscillations to an oscillatory physical force capable of sustaining the sound energy in the first cavity, and an amplifier for amplifying the monitored electric oscillations.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
202 words
In an electric musical instrument, the combination comprising: a hollow body defining a first cavity having a constant configuration for confining a mass of air and communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening in the body to form a cavity resonator, said body having a mouthpiece forming a passage into the first cavity through said small opening, said mouthpiece being adapted to receive the lips of the player so that with the oral cavity of the mouth of the player of the instrument there is formed a resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and player''s oral cavity, a vibrating member in the first cavity for vibrating the confined mass of air to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth between the first cavity and the oral cavity through the small opening, means for monitoring the sound energy directly within said first cavity to produce electric oscillations corresponding to the monitored sound energy and substantially in phase with the vibrations of the mass of air in the first cavity and providing corresponding electric oscillations to an oscillatory physical force capable of sustaining the sound energy in the first cavity, and an amplifier for amplifying the monitored electric oscillations.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
42 words
In an electric musical instrument as set Forth in claim 8 wherein said vibrating member is the cone of a loudspeaker having a voice coil affixed to the cone and a magnet adjacent the cone on which the voice coil is wrapped.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
41 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 8 wherein said vibrating member is mounted in said body and divides the body so there is a closed chamber opposite the mouthpiece to equalize the pressure on the vibrating member.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
48 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 8 further including a second electric amplifier to amplify the output of the first mentioned amplifier and a loudspeaker coupled to the second electric amplifier to convert the amplified electric osciallations to corresponding sound waves in the atmosphere.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
37 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 9 wherein said voice coil and magnet function to both monitor the vibrations of the vibrating cone and transform amplified electric oscillations to the oscillatory physical force.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
56 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 12 further including a bridge circuit coupled between the voice coil and the input of said electric amplifier and detector means coupled to the bridge whereby a resonant vibrating condition in the cavity resonator causes an unbalance in the bridge that is detected by the detector.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
19 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 13 wherein said detector means is a differential amplifier.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
30 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 13 wherein said detector means is in the form of a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
56 words
In an musical instrument as set forth in claim 9 further including a sensing coil affixed to the vibrating cone and inductively coupled to a magnet, said sensing coil being coupled to the input of said electric amplifier to monitor the sound energy produced by the vibrations of the vibrating cone and provide corresponding electric oscillations.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 16 wherein said voice coil is driven by the amplified electric oscillations at the output of said electric amplifier.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
36 words
In an musical instrument as set forth in claim 17 including a null circuit associated with said voice coil and sensing coil to null out unwanted oscillations in the sensor coil produced by the voice coil.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
37 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 8 further including a range multiplier means coupled to the output of the electric amplifier to increase the range of frequency of the amplified monitored electric oscillations.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
153 words
In an electric muscial instrument as set forth in claim 19 wherein said range multiplier means includes: a frequency multiplier for multiplying the frequency of the electric oscillations at the output of the electric amplifier; a first signal generator for producing a first electric signal of a selected frequency; a first mixer for mixing the output of the frequency multiplier and said first signal generator to provide sum and difference outputs and the output of the electric amplifier; a band pass filter coupled to said first mixer to pass either the sum or difference frequency only; a second signal generator for providing a second electric signal; a second mixer for mixing the output of the band pass filter with said second electric signal to provide only a difference frequency output that falls within the audio range; and an envelope detector coupled to the second mixer to provide a relatively pure audio output signal.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
29 words
In an electric musical instrumnet as set forth in claim 8 further including a volume control means for controlling the amplitude of the electric oscillations from the electric amplifier.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
149 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 21 wherein said volume control means includes; a hollow body with a pair of opposed walls; a flexible membrane dividing the hollow body into a pair of closed chambers; meAns coupling the air pressure in the cavity resonator with that of one of said closed chambers; a transformer secondary winding mounted on each of said walls; and a transformer primary winding mounted on said membrane and normally disposed at a null position in relation to said secondary winding, the amplified electric oscillations at the output of said electric amplifier being coupled to the primary winding whereby increases and decreases in the pressure in the closed chamber as a result of exhaling and inhaling at the mouthpiece moves the primary winding to an off null position causing a change in the amplitude of the electric oscillations in the secondary windings.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
249 words
In an electric musical instrument, the combination comprising: a hollow body defining a first cavity having a constant configuration for confining a mass of air and communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening in the body to form a cavity resonator, said body having a mouthpiece forming a passage into the first cavity through said small opening, said mouthpiece being adapted to receive the lips of the player so that with the oral cavity of the mouth of the player of the instrument there is formed a resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and player''s oral cavity, a vibrating member in the first cavity for vibrating the confined mass of air to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth between the first cavity and the oral cavity through the small opening, transducer means including a coil wrapped on a portion of said vibrating member to move therewith and a magnet with said coil wrapped around a portion of the magnet to transform electric oscillations applied thereto to an oscillatory physical force capable of sustaining the motion of the vibrating member, a microphone adjacent to the vibrating member and opposite from the mouthpiece to monitor the sound energy produced by the motion of the vibrating member and provide corresponding electric oscillations; and an electric amplifier driven by the monitored electric oscillations, the amplified electric oscillations being coupled back to said coil and transformed into oscillatory physical forces to sustain the motion of the vibrating member.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
249 words
In an electric musical instrument, the combination comprising: a hollow body defining a first cavity having a constant configuration for confining a mass of air and communicating with external surrounding air through a small opening in the body to form a cavity resonator, said body having a mouthpiece forming a passage into the first cavity through said small opening, said mouthpiece being adapted to receive the lips of the player so that with the oral cavity of the mouth of the player of the instrument there is formed a resonant frequency for the combined first cavity and player''s oral cavity, a vibrating member in the first cavity for vibrating the confined mass of air to generate sound energy that is transmitted back and forth between the first cavity and the oral cavity through the small opening, transducer means including a coil wrapped on a portion of said vibrating member to move therewith and a magnet with said coil wrapped around a portion of the magnet to transform electric oscillations applied thereto to an oscillatory physical force capable of sustaining the motion of the vibrating member, a microphone adjacent to the vibrating member and opposite from the mouthpiece to monitor the sound energy produced by the motion of the vibrating member and provide corresponding electric oscillations; and an electric amplifier driven by the monitored electric oscillations, the amplified electric oscillations being coupled back to said coil and transformed into oscillatory physical forces to sustain the motion of the vibrating member.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
48 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 23 wherein said vibrating member is mounted in said body and divides said body so there is a closed chamber opposite the mouthpiece to equalize pressure on the vibrating member, said microphone being mounted in said closed chamber.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
20 words
In an electric musical instrument as set forth in claim 23 wherein said microphone is mounted in said first cavity.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-04-21 | 1978-10-21 | 1979-04-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-04-21 | 1982-10-21 | 1983-04-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-04-21 | 1986-10-21 | 1987-04-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |