US2104388A - Cup mouthpiece for brass instruments - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 4, 1938. A. A. LUNOW CUP MOUTHPIECE FOR BRASS INSTRUMENTS Filed June 4, 1936 Patented Jan. 4, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFKIE CUP MOUTHPIEGE FOR BRASS INSTRU- MENTS Claims.

My present invention provides an improvement in Cup mouthpieces for brass instruments, such as cornets and the larger brass instruments of the type wherein cup or bell-shaped mouth- 5 pieces are employed.

The standard cup mouthpieces for wind instruments are provided with interiors that are surfaces of revolution; that is, from the axis of the bell, the radial sections at all places are alike, and the rims of the mouthpieces are circular. Such mouthpieces are very satisfactory in the production of the lower notes, but are not ideal for the production of the higher notes. I found by experiment that the ideal mouthpieces can be r produced by a modification of the standard mouthpiece which consists in inwardly or downwardly bulging the upper wall of the mouthpiece, at a place between the circular rim and the axial air passage of the mouthpiece. The structure, by which the improved result above generally indicated is accomplished and the reasons therefor will be more fully disclosed in the following description of a preferred form of the improved mouthpiece.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the improved mouthpiece, and wherein like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a front end elevation of the mouth- Fig. 2 is an axial section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

The cup or bell 5 of the mouthpiece is provided with the customary stem 6 and has the customary circular rim 1. For a short distance inward, to wit: approximately to the point 8, the interior of the cup is a true surface of rotation around the axis of the stem 6. If the cup were an ordinary or standard cup, its interior would continue to be a surface of rotation of the curved line 9 and the dotted curved line Ill.

The feature of this invention consists in forming the interior of the cup in its upper portion with an inwardly bulging segment II. The inner surface l l, which on the section line 2, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, is brought much closer to the upper lip of the player than is the line ID. This segment I l, as shown in Fig. 1, is preferably extended through rather less than the upper half of the cup, and at its radial line (a) will blend into the remaining interior of the bell, which latter is formed by rotation of the line 9. The reasons for the improvement in the action of this modified mouthpiece is substantially as follows: The player in producing low notes directs the blast of air downward toward the axis of the stem 6 and toward the surface 9, which latter is much further from the upper wall than is the surface Il In the production of higher notes, the air is blown more in an upwardly direction and against or toward the surface H It has been found that, for the easy production of high notes, the surface against which the air is directed should be much closer to the upper lip than for the production of low notes. The surface II in this improved mouthpiece is, of course, relatively close to the upper lip so that the air space between the upper lip of the said surface is relatively small as compared with the surface in a standard mouthpiece in which the entire interior of the mouthpiece is a surface of revolution.

Extensive use of this improved mouthpiece, not only by myself, but other expert oornetists and players of wind instruments, has thoroughly demonstrated the fact that with this improved mouthpiece, the high notes can be produced with much greater ease than with the standard mouthpiece, and moreover, the low notes can be produced with the same ease and facility as with the standard mouthpiece.

Experiments have demonstrated that the best form of the mouthpiece requires not only the features above particularly described, but that the rim of the cup or bell should not only be round, but that it should be concentric to the axis of the stem, and its outer surface should be in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of the stem.

Also, the interior of the rim for some considerable distance inward should be a true surface of rotation around the axis of the stem and that the upper bulge should be substantially as illustrated and described.

The above described form of the mouthpiece, irrespective of any additional features or attachments, is herein claimed. However, I have found that for many purposes the roller feature of my prior Patent No. 1,842,681 of date January 26, 1932-, may be added to advantage for action on the lower lip. In this arrangement, the roller I2 is inserted in a recess of the lower portion of the rim cup, and it is pivoted on a stem or pin l3. This roller, when applied, should be at the lower portion of the cup while the bulge must be in the upper portion of the cup. The purpose of the roller is to give a more easy adjustment of the lower lip of the player, and it is a feature claimed per se in my prior patent, above identified.

What I claim is:

1. A cup mouth piece for wind musical instruments, the interior of which in its upper portion is inwardly bulging so that it comes closer to the rim of the mouth piece than does the lower surface of said cup, the interior of the rim of said cup being circular and concentric to the longitudinal axis of the cup.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the outer surface of the rim is in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cup.

3. A cup mouth piece for wind musical instruments, having a hollow tubular stem, the interior of the cup at its lower portion being a surface of rotation around the longitudinal axis of said cup and stem, and said cup in the upper portion of its interior having a surface projected inward and toward the rim of the cup beyond the surface that would be produced by a continuation of the surface of rotation of the lower interior portion of the cup, the interior of the rim of said cup being circular and concentric to the longitudinal axis of the cup.

4. The structure defined in claim 3 in which the rim of said cup is concentric to the longitudinal axis of said cup and stem, and the outer portion of which is in a plane substantially perpendicular to the axis of said stem.

5. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said cup is provided in the lower portion of its 15 rim with a roller for the purposes specified.

ARTHUR A. LUNOW.

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