US2380689A - Attachment for musical string instruments - Google Patents

Description

y 31, 1945- T. F. GOODWIN 2,330,689

ATTACHMENT FOR MUSICAL STRING INSTRUMENTS Filed Oct. 4, 1945 gwuem bor/ Thomas J? G'ooow/n, f

Patented July 31, 1945 ATTACHMENT FOR MUSICAL STRING INSTRUMENTS Thomas F. Goodwin, Muldrow, Okla. Application October 4, 1943, Serial No. 504,939

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an attachment for a musical string instrument, and the primary obiect of the invention is the provision of a device which will permit a person, while playing a musical instrument wherein the hands are fully utilized, to play accompaniments on a string musical instrument, such as a guitar, through the'use of a foot movement and the construction of the device is such that it may be easily and quickly applied and removed from the string instrument when desired.

With these and other objects in view as will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

For a complete understanding of my invention,

reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating an attachment applied to a fragmentary portion of a string instrument and constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view showing the device in applied position on the instrument.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 5 indicates an elongated supporting element or bar on which are formed oppositely extendin supporting members 6 and 1. The supporting members 6 and I are located substantially intermediate the ends of the supporting element or bar 5 and one of the supporting members has attached thereto a bow shaped attaching element 8 terminating in a clamp 9 including a set screw I whereby the supporting element or bar may be mounted on a sound box 10' ofa guitar or similar string musical instrument.

By referring to Figure 1 it will be seen that the clamp will permit the mounting of the device on the instrument by applying the clamp to a top wall of the sound box, the usual opening I I of the sound box permitting the clamp to be easily and quickly applied to said wall.

The attaching element 8 arranges thesupporting element 5 above the top wall of the sound box and at a selected inclination relative thereto and locating the member 1 adjacent to and directly over the top wall of the sound box and on which is journaled a gear [2. Mounted on one face of the gear I! are groups of actuating pins l3 adapted, during the rotation of the gear II in a step by step manner, to impart movement to strikers 14 each of elongated formation and constructed of flexible material with one end secured offsets 16 of the strikers will cause said strikers to be flexed and quickly freed so that they will strike the selected strings of the musical instrument to produce musical tones as an accompani- .ment to music produced on another musical instrument played by the same person.

A rack bar It is pivotally and slidably mounted on the element 5, as shown at it, the latter being provided with a slot 20 to receive the pivot. One end of the rack bar has fastened thereto a flexible operating element 2i operating through a guide eye 22 applied to the lower end of the member 5. The flexible element 2| is adapted to be connected to a foot treadle (not shown). Connected to a pin 23 on the element I and to one end of the rack bar ll is a; coil spring 24 acting to normally sustain the rack bar in itsuppermost position and disengaged from the teeth of the gear 12, so that when a pull is made on the flexible element 2| inthe direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1, the rack bar I8 is caused to pivot and slide relative to the element 5 becoming engaged with the teeth of the gear I! and thereby impart I movement to said gear. This movement is sumcient to cause a pin to engage an oifset I of a striker I4 and flex said striker so that on the pin becoming disengaged therefrom rapidly, permits said striker to strike a string of the musical instrument and thereby produce a musical tone As soon as the pull on the flexible element is released, the spring 24 restores the rack bar II to its initial position, as shown in Figure 1, ready to again operate the gear a partial turn by the next pull placed on said flexible element throughthe movement of the foot of the player.

while I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination and arrangement or parts may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is:

1. In an attachment for a string musical instrument, a supporting bar, means for securing said bar to a sound box of a string instrument, spring fingers constituting flexible strikers carstrikers carried by said bar and normally spaced a limited distance from the strings of the instrument and eachprovided with an offset, a rotatable element mounted on said barand including spaced pins adapted to engage and disengage the oil'sets' or the strikers upon rotation of saidv rotatable element and thereby flex the strikers to cause rapid engagement and disengagement with the strtings to create musical tones and manually operated means for operating said rotatable element to ,eiiect a step by step rotation of said rotatable member.

3. In an attachment for string musical instruments, a supporting bar, means for. detachably mounting said bar on a sound box of a string instrument, spring fingers constituting flexible strikers mounted on said bar and normally spaced a limited distance from strings of the instrument, a gear Journaled on said bar and including pins, said strikers having oiisets to be engaged and disengaged by the pins during the assopea manually operated means for electing movement i oi the rack bar.

4. In an attachment for string musical instruments, a supporting bar, means for detachably mounting said bar on a sound box or a string instrument, spring fingers constituting flexible striking elements mounted on said bar and normally spaced a limited distance from strings of the instrument, a gear Journaled on said bar and including pins, said striking elements having oilsets to be engaged and disengaged by the pins during the rotation of the gear in a step by step movement for flexing the strikers to bring about rapid engagement and disengagement thereof with the strings to produce musical tones, a rack bar'pivotally and slidably mounted on said supporting member, and adapted for movement into position for engaging said gear, a spring connectedto the rack bar and to said supporting member ior normally sustaining the rack bar disengaged from the gear, and a manually operable flexible element connected to the rack bar for imparting pivotal and sliding movement or the, rack bar to eitect engagement with the gear and to effects step by step rotation of the gear.

THOMAS 1". GOODWIN.

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