US1413929A - Mouthpiece for wood-wind musical instruments - Google Patents

Description

W. NAUJOKS AND E. McLAUGHLIN.

' MOUTHP| ECE FOR woon wmo MUSICAL lNSTRUME-NTS. APPLICATION FILED MAYH, 1921.

1,413,929. Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

I mm eurons AND nvnnnrr MQLAIIGHLIN, or Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

' MOUTHPIECE ron WOOD-.WIND MusIcAr. INSTRUMENTS.

To all 210 7mm may concern! Be it known that we',.WILnmM. and EVERETT MGLAUGHLIN, citizens of the United States, and residents of Los Angeles,

in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mouthpieces for \Vood-WVind Musical Instruments,l of which the following is a specification- This invention relates to mouthpleces of the character employed in wood w nd musical instruments, for example, clarinet-s and Saxophones. h

An object of the invent on 1S to so construct the mouthpiece that the heat of the players mouth will not soften the mouthpiece to such an extent asto cause the wall thereof to get out of shape.

In the clarinet and some other types of wood wind musical instruments, the' bore of the mouthpiece is small with respect to the outside diameter, so that the walls are com- I pa-ratively thick and are not readilysoftened by the heat of the players mouth. .Therefore, in this type of'instrument there is very V little tendency for the shape or size ofthe mouthpiece bore to be changed or for the of the reed to be affected. On the contrary, it is necessary to make bore of the mouthpiece of a saxophone relatively large, thus entailing comparatively thin walls which are subjected to softening, by the heat of the players mouth, to such a degree that after being used a short time'the shape and size of the bore change and the lay of the reed is affected, thus making it necessary to throw away the mouthpiece and substitute a new one therefor. g

Another object of this invention is to prevent change of shape and size of the mouthpiece bore and of the lay of the reed.

To effect the foregoing objects, a metal insert is provided on which the reed is mounted and vibrates. lWhile it is not new to employ a metal insert'for clarinets and other instruments having small bore mouthpieces, it has not beenpossible heretofore to employ the metal insert for the mouthpieces of saxophones, for the reason that the existing inserts are not so construotedas to admit of a relatively large bore for the mouthpieces. By this invention we make possible the application of a metal insert to the mouthpieces of Saxophones. Though the invention is especially useful in connection with Saxophones, for the reasons given NAUJOKS Specification of Letters Patent. Pate t d A1113 i Application filed. May 11,

1921. Serial No. 468,517. 1

above, it is to be understood that it is not limited thereto but that it can be used to advantage with other wood wind instru hard rubber or other non-metallic material of the character preferred for the construction of the mouthpieces of wood wind musical instruments, the.upper portion of the body forming a plane face 2 to receivethe plane face 3 of a metal insertindicated in general by the character 4;. This insert 4 may be made of germansilver or, any other suitablemetal. The inetal insert- 4- 'is fastened by'pins 5 or any other suitable means to the body 1 and is provided with an opening 6 over whichthe reed. not shown ex" tends in a manner well understood in this art. As is well'known, it isnecessaryfor the lay of the reed to be such that there is more or less space between it and the mouthpiece opening so that thereed will be caused to vibrate when the player blows through i the mouthpiece. This necessary space for vibration of the reed is ordinarily secured by slightly bevelingoff the face against which the reed vibrates, that is to say, the face of the body of the mouthpiece or, in the case of the metal insert of clarinet mouthpieces. the outer face of such insert. The insert 4; is provided with a slightly beveled face 7 of this description, the thicker portion of the insert being substantially midway between the ends of the opening 6 as indicated at 8. It will be understood from the construction hereinafter to be describedthat this beveled face is notabsolutely nec essary and that it may be increased by the user of the instrument at any time by filing or grinding it off.

The construction thus far described is not new. To provide for a desirable amount of space between. the reed and'the tip of the insert, without the necessity of beveling theface 7 to too great a degree, we reduce the thickness of the insert from the portion 8 to the rear end of the insert or, in other words, bevel the insert towards its rear end as shown at 9 so as to elevate the :t'orward end of the reed when it is in place on the insert, and thus space the forward end of the reed from the iorward end of theinsert, even though the beveling of-the front end of the unit be omitted. It the tip of the insert were beveled to a comparatively thin edge, there would not be suliicient metal to be afterwards removed by the owner of the instrument in the event that he so desired. By the construction just describei'l, we are enabled to leave suflicient metal at the tip so that it can be subsequently made thinner, and at the same time we have provided for initially spacing the tip of the reed from the tip of the insert without thickenin, the insert to such degree as would cut down the diameter of the bore 9 of the mouthpiece or increase the outside diameter of the mouthpiece.

A mouthpiece constructed as above described will last for many years without the shape and dial'neter of the bore or the lay of the reed being in the least affected by the warmth of the players mouth. This is of considerable advantage, for the reason that once the player has established the lay oi the reed to suit him it will remain perfectly adjusted. whereas with the saxophone moutlr pieces at present employed it is necessary for the players to constantly replace them and re-adjust the lay of the reeds every time new mouthpieces are adopted.

'VVe claim:

1. In a mouthpiece of the character described, the combination of a body having a bore and cut away on its upper face, and a metal insert mounted on said. upper face and provided with an opening communicating;

with the bore, said insert being; reduced in thickness from a point lying between the ends of the ol.)ening to the rear end oi? the insert.

2. in a mouthpiece of the character dcscribed, the combination of a body having a bore and having a Hat upper face, and a metal insert provided with a plane taco seated on the Hat itace oi the body, the insert being provided with an'opening communicating; with the bore. and the insert being reduced in thickness from a point lying: between the ends ot the opening to the rear end of the insert.

3. In a mouthpiece of the character dcscribed. the combination oi a body having a bore and having a fiat upper face, and a .ie=.:al insert provided with a plane face seated on the flat face of the body, the insert being provided with an opening communieating with the bore and the insert having its outer face beveled From a point lying between the ends of the opening to the opposite ends of the insert.

4.111 a mouthpiece of the character described the combination of a body having a bore and cut away on its upper face, and a metal insert mounted on said upper face and provided with an opening communicating); with the bore. said insert being thicker :uljacent the opening;- and having a beveled outer lace extending trom the thiczer portion to the rear endaof the insert so as to elerate the front endof a reed mounted on said beveled face.

Pvigued at Los Angreies, California, this :Tih day of May. i921. I

VILL WT NAUJOKS. EVERE .lT MoLAUGTILI N. Vi itnesses Gnonen H. HILES, L. BELLE WEAVER.

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