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US 11,727,907 B2Granted
Electronic control arm for musical instruments
OwnerBenjamin Thomas Lewryinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic vibrato system for a stringed instrument comprises an actuator and microcontroller which are disposed within a chassis. The control arm moves the actuator from a resting position to non-resting, rotated positions. The system is below a face of a stringed instrument such that the system has a disposed fulcrum within the instrument. The rotated positions impart resistive forces on said actuator and imparting control signals. The microcontroller processes said control signal and modulates pitch.
Claims20
A system for modulating an audio output of a string instrument, comprising:
- the string instrument, including:
- a string instrument body defined by a top surface;
- a string;
- and
- a pickup;
- wherein the pickup is configured to produce an electrical signal in response to a movement of the string;
- and
- an actuator system, including:
- a shaft having a longitudinal axis;
- a chassis including a sidewall defined by:
- a plurality of sidewall faces;
- and
- a sidewall through-hole having a sidewall through-hole axis collinear with the longitudinal axis, wherein the sidewall through-hole is configured for the shaft to be fit therein;
- an actuator body including a hub and an extension, the extension including a control arm receptacle, wherein the hub is coupled to the shaft such that the actuator body and the shaft are configured to rotate together about the longitudinal axis in either a first rotation direction or a second rotation direction;
- a resistive mechanism configured to resist a rotation of the actuator body or the shaft about the longitudinal axis in the first rotation direction or the second rotation direction from a resting position of the actuator body;
- and
- an electronic position sensor in operative communication with the actuator body, wherein the electronic position sensor is configured to modulate the electrical signal in response to rotating the actuator body about the longitudinal axis;
- wherein the shaft, the hub of the actuator body, and the resistive mechanism are configured to be disposed within the string instrument body such that neither the shaft nor the hub of the actuator body nor the resistive mechanism extends through the top surface;
- wherein a portion of the extension is disposed within the string instrument body such that the portion of the extension disposed within the string instrument body does not extend through the top surface;
- and
- wherein the extension is configured such that:
- when the actuator body is rotated in the first direction, the portion of the extension disposed within the string instrument body increases;
- and
- when the actuator body is rotated in the second direction, the portion of the extension disposed within the string instrument body decreases.
21 more elements
A system for modulating an audio output of a string instrument, comprising:
- a shaft having a longitudinal axis;
- a chassis including a sidewall defined by:
- a plurality of sidewall faces;
- and
- a sidewall through-hole having a sidewall through-hole axis collinear with the longitudinal axis, wherein the sidewall through-hole is configured for the shaft to be fit therein;
- an actuator body including a hub and an extension, the extension including a control arm receptacle, wherein the hub is coupled to the shaft such that the actuator body and the shaft are configured to rotate together about the longitudinal axis in either a first rotation direction or a second rotation direction;
- a resistive mechanism configured to resist a rotation of the actuator body or the shaft about the longitudinal axis in the first rotation direction or the second rotation direction from a resting position of the actuator body;
- and
- an electronic position sensor in operative communication with the actuator body, wherein the electronic position sensor is configured to modulate an electrical signal in response to rotating the actuator body about the longitudinal axis;
- and
- wherein the shaft, the hub of the actuator body, and the resistive mechanism are configured to be disposed within a string instrument body of the string instrument such that neither the shaft nor the hub of the actuator body nor the resistive mechanism extends through a top surface of the string instrument body;
- wherein a portion of the extension is disposed within the string instrument body such that the portion of the extension disposed within the string instrument body does not extend through the top surface;
- and
- wherein the extension is configured such that:
- when the actuator body is rotated in the first direction, the portion of the extension disposed within the string instrument body increases;
- and
- when the actuator body is rotated in the second direction, the portion of the extension disposed within the string instrument body decreases.
14 more elements
A system for modulating an audio output of a string instrument, comprising:
- a shaft having a longitudinal axis;
- a chassis including a sidewall defined by:
- a plurality of sidewall faces;
- and
- a sidewall through-hole having a sidewall through-hole axis collinear with the longitudinal axis, wherein the sidewall through-hole is configured for the shaft to be fit therein;
- an actuator body including a hub and an extension, the extension including a control arm receptacle, wherein the hub is coupled to the shaft such that the actuator body and the shaft are configured to rotate together about the longitudinal axis in either a first rotation direction or a second rotation direction;
- a resistive mechanism configured to resist a rotation of the actuator body or the shaft about the longitudinal axis in the first rotation direction or the second rotation direction from a resting position of the actuator body;
- and
- an electronic position sensor configured to modulate an electrical signal in response to rotating the actuator body about the longitudinal axis;
- wherein a portion of the extension is disposed within a string instrument body of the string instrument such that the portion of the extension disposed within the string instrument body does not extend through a top surface of the string instrument body;
- and
- wherein the extension is configured such that:
- when the actuator body is rotated in the first direction, the portion of the extension disposed within the string instrument body increases;
- and
- when the actuator body is rotated in the second direction, the portion of the extension disposed within the string instrument body decreases.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.