Assembly for transmitting airborne acoustic waves, which can be combined with a musical wind instrument having side holes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12300202-B2
Application number	US-202218708170-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 21, 2022
Priority date	Dec 3, 2021
Publication date	May 13, 2025
Grant date	May 13, 2025

Abstract

An assembly for transmitting airborne acoustic waves, configured to be combined with a musical wind instrument having side holes, which instrument comprises a tubular body defining an air column and extending locally substantially along a first axis, the transmission assembly comprising: a device for emission of airborne acoustic waves in the air column, comprising an actuator which is separate from the tubular body and able to transform an electrical signal into airborne acoustic waves; a device for reception of airborne acoustic waves, comprising: a microphone suitable for receiving, after their propagation in the air column, the waves transformed by the actuator, the microphone being positioned off-centre with respect to the first axis; a transformation device suitable for transforming the waves received by the microphone into an electrical signal that is characteristic of a configuration of blocking of the side holes of the instrument.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An airborne acoustic wave transmission assembly configured to be combined with a musical wind instrument with side holes comprising a tubular body defining an air column, the tubular body extending locally substantially along a first axis (X), said transmission assembly being configured to be disposed removably inside the tubular body of the instrument, the transmission assembly comprising:
An emitting device (E) for emitting airborne acoustic waves in the air column comprising:
a first fixing structure for fixing to the tubular body of the instrument;
an actuator configured for transforming an electrical signal into airborne acoustic waves that propagate in the air column;
an intermediate element for fixing the actuator to the first fixing structure configured to separate the actuator from the tubular body;

an airborne acoustic wave reception device (R) comprising:
a second fixing structure for fixing to the tubular body of the instrument;
a microphone linked to the second fixing structure, the microphone being configured for receiving, after the propagation thereof in the air column, the airborne acoustic waves emitted by the actuator, the microphone being positioned off-center with respect to the first axis (X);
a transformation device linked to the second fixing structure and configured for transforming the airborne acoustic waves received by the microphone into an electrical signal characterizing a configuration of plugging of the side holes of the instrument,

the tubular body comprising a stop, in which the first fixing structure comprises a guideway, the guideway being configured to guide the emission device (E) along the tubular body to the stop.

2. The transmission assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the intermediate element for fixing the actuator to the first fixing structure is an insulating membrane configured to prevent a transfer of acoustic mechanical waves from the actuator to the tubular body, the intermediate element being made of foam, rubber or plastic.

3. The transmission assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the airborne acoustic wave reception device (R) comprises a device configured for positioning the second fixing structure with respect to the tubular body.

4. The transmission assembly as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the device configured for positioning the second fixing structure comprises at least three spot contacts between the second fixing structure and the tubular body configured to block the airborne acoustic wave reception device (R) in rotation around the first axis (X).

5. The transmission assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the actuator is a piezoelectric actuator, a piezoelectric pad, a loudspeaker or an electrodynamic exciter.

6. The transmission assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the microphone is a wideband microphone.

7. The transmission assembly as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a device configured for detecting a position of a key of the instrument linked to the transformation device.

8. The transmission assembly of claim 7 , wherein the device configured for detecting a position of a key of the instrument comprises at least two magnetometers and one magnetic field emitter.

9. The transmission assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the airborne acoustic wave reception device (R) further comprises a loudspeaker linked to the transformation device, said loudspeaker being configured to convert the electrical signal characterizing a configuration of plugging of the side holes of the instrument into a musical audible note.

10. The transmission assembly as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the airborne acoustic wave reception device (R) further comprises a temperature sensor linked to the transformation device, and configured to supply the transformation device with temperature information, the transformation device being configured to take account of temperature when transforming the airborne acoustic waves received by the microphone into the electrical signal characterizing a configuration of plugging of the side holes of the instrument.

11. A musical wind instrument with side holes intended to selectively produce acoustic sounds and electric sounds, comprising a transmission assembly as claimed in claim 1 .

12. The musical wind instrument with side holes as claimed in claim 11 , wherein said instrument is a saxophone or a clarinet or a flute or an oboe or a bassoon.

Assignees

• Commissariat Energie Atomique

Inventors

• Bolzmacher Christian
• Geray Alexis
• Lamy Sylvie
• Orefice Pierre-Henri
• Saint-Alme Kevin

Classifications

• G10H2220/461

  Transducers, i.e. details, positioning or use of assemblies to detect and convert mechanical vibrations or mechanical strains into an electrical signal, e.g. audio, trigger or control signal · CPC title

• G10H2220/351

  Environmental parameters, e.g. temperature, ambient light, atmospheric pressure, humidity, used as input for musical purposes · CPC title

• G10H3/125

  Extracting or recognising the pitch or fundamental frequency of the picked up signal · CPC title

• G10H1/14

  during execution {(voice controlled instruments G10H5/005)} · CPC title

• G10D9/00

  Details of, or accessories for, wind musical instruments (accordions or concertinas G10D11/00) · CPC title