Musical instrument tuning apparatus

Claim 2

Tuning apparatus for a musical instrument the notes of which are intended to be frequency-distributed in accordance with a known mathematical formula, said apparatus comprising a strobe wheel mounted for rotation, an elongated shaft for rotating said wheel operatively connected thereto, said shaft including an elongated non-stepped unidirectionally tapered outside surface of revolution extending at least partially along its length, the taper of said surface directly relating to said known mathematical formula, and substantially constant-speed drive means for driving said shaft, said drive means including means infinitely adjustable to impart drive to said shaft an an infinite number of points distributed in unbroken adjacency along the full length of said surface, thus to drive the shaft at different speeds.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said mathematical formula is F n =F O × b n , where F n is the desired frequency of the nth note above the lowest note of the instrument, F O is the frequency of the lowest note in the instrument, n is the number of the desired note above the lowest note in the instrument, and b = 1.0594631.

Claim 4

Tuning apparatus for a musical instrument, the notes of which are intended to be frequency-distributed in accordance with a selected-logarithmic relationship, said apparatus comprising a strobe wheel mounted for rotation, an elongated shaft for rotating said wheel operatively connected thereto, said shaft including an elongated, non-stepped logarithmically tapered outside surface of revolution extending at least partially along its length, the logarithmic taper of said surface directly relating to said selected logarithmic relationship, and substantially constant-speed drive means for driving said shaft, said drive means including means infinitely adjustable to impart drive to said shaft at an infinite number of points distributed in unbroken adjacency along the full length of said surface, thus to drive the shaft at different speeds.

Claim 5

Tuning apparatus for a musical instrument, the notes of which are intended to be frequency-distributed in accordance with a selected-logarithmic relationship, said apparatus comprising a strobe wheel mounted for rotation, an elongated shaft for rotating said wheel operatively connected thereto, said shaft including an elongated, non-stepped logarithmically tapered outside surface of revolution extending at least partially along its length, the logarithmic taper of said surface directly relating to said selected logarithmic relationship, and substantially constant-speed drive means for driving said shaft, said drive means including means infinitely adjustable to impart drive to said shaft at an infinite number of points distributed in unbroken adjacency along the full length of said surface, thus to drive the shaft at different speeds.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the length of said surface is sufficient to cover a two-to-one ratio of frequencies.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said drive means comprises an elongated substantially uniform-diameter drive shaft, and said adjustable means comprises an endless band coupling said drive shaft and said first-mentioned shaft.

Claim 8

Apparatus for turning a strobe wheel to assist in the tuning of a musical instrument, where the intended frequency intervals between the notes of the instrument are determined in accordance with a known mathematical formula, and the wheel is provided with strobe markings spaced in accordance with such intervals said apparatus comprising an elongated rotary drive shaft having an elongated uniform-diameter cylindrical drive surface, means operatively connected to said drive shaft for rotating the same at a substantially constant speed, an elongated rotary output shaft adapted to be drivingly connected to such a strobe wheel, mounted for rotation in side-by-side substantially parallel adjacency with respect to said drive shaft, said output shaft including an elongated drive-receiving surface which is unidirectionally non-steppedly tapered along its length with a taper directly related to said mathematical formula, an endless-type drive band operatively interconnecting said drive shaft and said output shaft for imparting rotary drive from the former to the latter, and means for adjusting the position, along the respective lengths of said shaft, where said band engages the shaft, said taper establishing substantially equal-distance intervals along said shaft for the driving positions of said band which positions result in turning of such a strobe wheel at respective rates directly related to the successive adjacent notes in such an instrument.

Claim 9

Apparatus for turning a strobe wheel to assist in the tuning of a musical instrument, where the intended frequency intervals between the notes of the instrument are determined in accordance with a known mathematical formula, and the wheel is provided with strobe markings spaced in accordance with such intervals said apparatus comprising an elongated rotary drive shaft having an elongated uniform-diameter cylindrical drive surface, means operatively connected to said drive shaft for rotating the same at a substantially constant speed, an elongated rotary output shaft adapted to be drivingly connected to such a strobe wheel, mounted for rotation in side-by-side substantially parallel adjacency with respect to said drive shaft, said output shaft including an elongated drive-receiving surface which is unidirectionally non-steppedly tapered along its length with a taper directly related to said mathematical formula, an endless-type drive band operatively interconnecting said drive shaft and said output shaft for imparting rotary drive from the former to the latter, and means for adjusting the position, along the respective lengths of said shaft, where said band engages the shaft, said taper establishing substantially equal-distance intervals along said shaft for the driving positions of said band which positions result in turning of such a strobe wheel at respective rates directly related to the successive adjacent notes in such an instrument.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said mathematical formula is F n =F 0 × b n , where F n is the desired frequency of the nth note above the lowest note in the instrument, F 0 is the frequency of the lowest note, n is the number of the note above the lowest note, and b = 1.0594631.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the length of said taper along said output shaft is sufficient to cover an octave of notes.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the length of said taper along said output shaft is sufficient to cover an octave of notes.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said adjusting means comprises means engageable with said drive band for shifting it back and forth along said shafts.

Claim 14

The apparatus of claim 8, wherein said adjusting means is infinitely adjustable.