Supporter for supporting sound tubes to be hung therefrom and method of producing the same, and musical instrument

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9916820-B2
Application number	US-201715458301-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 14, 2017
Priority date	Mar 22, 2016
Publication date	Mar 13, 2018
Grant date	Mar 13, 2018

Abstract

A musical instrument includes a supporter for supporting a plurality of sound tubes to be hung therefrom using wires. The supporter includes at least one hanger bar and a plurality of hanger pins extending from the at least one hanger bar toward a hanging side of the at least one hanger bar from which the sound tubes are hung. The at least one hanger bar and the hanger pins are integrally formed in one piece.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A supporter for individually suspending each of a plurality of sound tubes each provide with a wire, the supporter comprising:
at least one hanger bar configured to be disposed higher than a tallest one of the plurality of sound tubes; and
a plurality of first hanger pins integral with the at least one hanger bar and extending outwardly from one side of the at least one hanger bar from which the plurality of sound tubes are suspendable,
wherein each of the plurality of first hanger pins is configured to receive the wires from two sound tubes, among the plurality of sound tubes, to enable each of the plurality of first hanger pins to partially suspend the two sound tubes using the wires thereof, and
wherein each pair of adjacent hanger pins, among the plurality of first hanger pins, is configured to suspend one of the plurality of tubes using the wire thereof.

2. The supporter according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one hanger bar is configured to suspend the plurality of sound tubes along two rows.

3. The supporter according to claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of second hanger pins integral with the at least one hanger bar and extending outwardly from an opposite side of the one side of the least one hanger bar so that the plurality of first hanger pins and the plurality of second pins extend outwardly in opposite directions from the at least one hanger bar.

4. The supporter according to claim 1 , wherein:
the at least one hanger bar is configured to extend in a first direction parallel to a horizontal plane, and
each of the plurality of first hanger pins extends in a direction parallel to the horizontal plane and perpendicular to the first direction.

5. The supporter according to claim 3 , wherein:
the plurality of first hanger pins are configured to suspend a first set of sound tubes, among the plurality of sound tubes, along one of the two rows,
the plurality of second hanger pins are configured to suspend a second set of sound tubes, among the plurality of sound tubes, along the other of the two rows,
the at least one hanger bar is configured to extend in a first direction parallel to a horizontal plane,
each of the plurality of first hanger pins extends in a second direction parallel to the horizontal plane and perpendicular to the first direction, and
each of the plurality of second hanger pins extends in a third direction parallel to the horizontal plane and opposite to the second direction.

6. The supporter according to claim 5 , wherein:
the plurality of first hanger pins extend in the second direction from mutually different positions of the at least one hanger bar in the first direction, and
the plurality of second hanger pins extend in the third direction from mutually different positions of the at least one hanger bar in the first direction.

7. The supporter according to claim 6 , wherein:
adjacent two of the plurality of first hanger pins are configured to receive the wire of one first sound tube, among the first set of sound tubes, to suspend the one first sound tube, and are spaced apart from each other in the first direction by a distance larger than a width of the one first sound tube, and
adjacent two of the plurality of second hanger pins are configured to receive the wire of the one second sound tube, among the second set of sound tubes, to suspend the one second sound tube, and are spaced apart from each other in the first direction by a distance larger than a width of the one second sound tube.

8. The supporter according to claim 7 , wherein:
each of two opposite ends of the wire of each the plurality of sound tubes has an anchor,
each of the plurality of first hanger pins has a first recess at a distal portion thereof sized to receive two anchors from two sound tubes, among the first set of sound tubes, and
wherein each of the plurality of second hanger pins has a second recess at a distal portion thereof sized to receive two anchors from two sound tubes, among the second set of sound tubes.

9. The supporter according to claim 7 , wherein:
the wire of each of the plurality of sound tubes is looped,
each of the plurality of first hanger pins has a first pair of spaced grooves at a distal portion thereof, each of the first pair of spaced grooves is configured to receive the looped wire from one of two sound tubes, among the first set of sound tubes, and
each of the plurality of second hanger pins has a second pair of spaced grooves at a distal portion thereof, each of the second pair of spaced grooves is configured to receive the looped wire from one of two sound tubes, among the second set of sound tubes.

10. The supporter according to claim 5 , wherein:
the at least one hanger bar comprises a first hanger bar and a second hanger bar attached together so that the first and second hanger bars are configured to extend in the first direction,
each of the plurality of first hanger pins is integral with the first hanger bar and extends from the first hanger bar in the second direction, and
each of the plurality of second hanger pins is integral with second hanger bar and extends from the second hanger bar in the third direction.

11. The supporter according to claim 1 , wherein:
each of two opposite ends of the wire of each of the plurality of sound tubes has an anchor,
each of the plurality of first hanger pins is configured to receive two anchors of two sound tubes, among the plurality of sound tubes, and
each pair of adjacent hanger pins, among the plurality of first hanger pins, is configured to suspend one of the plurality of tubes using the two anchors thereof.

12. The supporter according to claim 11 , wherein each of the plurality of first hanger pins has a recess sized to receive the two anchors from two sound tubes, among the plurality of sound tubes.

13. The supporter according to claim 1 , wherein:
each of the plurality of sound tubes has a looped wire,
each of the plurality of hanger pins is configured to independently seat two looped wires of two sound tubes, among the plurality of sound tubes, and
each pair of adjacent hanger pins, among the plurality of hanger pins, is configured to suspend one of the plurality of tubes using the looped wire thereof.

14. The supporter according to claim 13 , wherein each of the plurality of hanger pins has a pair of spaced grooves at a distal portion thereof, each of the pair of spaced grooves is configured to receive the looped wire from one of two sound tubes, among the plurality of sound tubes.

15. A musical instrument comprising:
a plurality of sound tubes each with a wire; and
a supporter configured to individually suspend each of the plurality of sound tubes using the wires thereof and comprising:
at least one hanger bar configured to be disposed higher than a tallest one of the plurality of sound tubes; and
a plurality of first hanger pins integral with the at least one hanger bar and extending outwardly from one side of the at least one hanger bar toward a hanging side of the at least one hanger bar from which the plurality of sound tubes are suspended,
wherein each of the plurality of first hanger pins is configured to receive the two wires from two sound tubes, among the plurality of sound tubes, to enable each of the plurality of hanger pins to partially suspend the two sound tubes using the wires thereof, and
wherein each pair of adjacent hanger pins, among the plurality of hanger pins, is configured to suspend one of the plurality of tubes using the wire thereof.

16. The musical instrument according to claim 15 , wherein:
each of t

Assignees

• Yamaha Corp

Inventors

• Inoue Hideyuki

Classifications

• G10D13/08 Primary

  Multi-toned musical instruments with sonorous bars, blocks, forks, gongs, plates, rods or teeth · CPC title