Optical display interface for electronic tuner for musical instruments

A display interface for an electronic tuner for tuning a musical instrument, which comprises:

• a plurality of separately illuminatable light emitting devices;
• a cylindrically-shaped light pipe, the light pipe having a plurality of individually illuminatable segments arranged in a continuous circular array, each segment being optically coupled to a respective light emitting device and being illuminatable thereby;
• and
• individually illuminatable indicia corresponding to musical notes disposed in a circular arrangement, the indicia being optically coupled to respective segments of the light pipe and being illuminatable thereby for viewing by a user of the electronic tuner.

A method of displaying to a user of an electronic tuner for a musical instrument whether a played note is in tune and the intonation of the played note with respect to a reference musical note, which comprises the steps of:

• providing a display interface operatively coupled to the electronic tuner, the display interface having a plurality of separately illuminatable light emitting devices situated in a continuous, closed loop arrangement;
• illuminating a first light emitting device of the continuous, closed loop arrangement of light emitting devices to correspond to a reference musical note in response to a played note on the musical instrument, the first light emitting device being illuminated in a first color;
• and
• illuminating a second light emitting device of the continuous, closed loop arrangement of light emitting devices which is different from the first light emitting device in response to the played note, the second light emitting device being illuminated in a second color which is different from the first color, the relative angular distance between the second light emitting device and the first light emitting device being proportional to the intonation of the played note with respect to the reference musical note.

A method of displaying to a user of an electronic tuner for a musical instrument whether a played note is in tune and the intonation of the played note with respect to a reference musical note, which comprises the steps of:

• providing a display interface operatively coupled to the electronic tuner, the display interface having a plurality of separately illuminatable light emitting devices situated in a continuous, closed loop arrangement;
• illuminating a first light emitting device of the continuous, closed loop arrangement of light emitting devices to correspond to a reference musical note in response to a played note on the musical instrument, the first light emitting device being illuminated in a first color;
• and
• sequentially illuminating light emitting devices of the continuous, closed loop arrangement of light emitting devices other than the first light emitting device in a second color different from the first color in response to the played note and in a first rotational direction if the played note is flat with respect to the reference musical note and in a second rotational direction opposite to the first rotational direction if the played note is sharp with respect to the reference musical note.

An electronic tuner for tuning a musical instrument, which comprises:

• a display interface, the display interface including:
• a plurality of spaced apart, separately illuminatable light emitting devices situated in a continuous circular array;
• a cylindrically-shaped light pipe, the light pipe having radially extending slits formed therein to define individually illuminatable segments, the light pipe being situated in proximity to the circular array of light emitting devices, wherein each segment of the light pipe is illuminatable by a respective light emitting device;
• and
• a disc-shaped note dial, the note dial being situated in proximity to the light pipe, the note dial having illuminatable indicia on a surface thereof corresponding to musical notes, the indicia being illuminatable by the light pipe for viewing by a user of the electronic tuner;
• and
• a microcontroller, the microcontroller being operatively coupled to the display interface and selectively illuminating the light emitting devices.

An electronic tuner for tuning a musical instrument, which comprises:

• a display interface, the display interface including:
• a plurality of separately illuminatable light emitting devices;
• a cylindrically-shaped light pipe, the light pipe having a plurality of individually illuminatable segments arranged in a continuous circular array, each segment being optically coupled to a respective light emitting device and being illuminatable thereby;
• and
• individually illuminatable indicia corresponding to musical notes disposed in a circular arrangement, the indicia being optically coupled to respective segments of the light pipe and being illuminatable thereby for viewing by a user of the electronic tuner;
• and
• a microcontroller, the microcontroller being operatively coupled to the display interface and selectively illuminating the light emitting devices.

A display interface for an electronic tuner for tuning a musical instrument, which comprises:

• a plurality of spaced apart, separately illuminatable light emitting devices situated in a continuous, closed loop arrangement;
• a display cover, the display cover having an outer wall and an inner wall spaced apart from the outer wall, and a plurality of spaced apart dividing walls extending transversely between the outer wall and the inner wall, the outer and inner walls and the plurality of dividing walls defining therebetween a continuous arrangement of display cover segments, each of the display cover segments being aligned with a corresponding one of the light emitting devices and having a first open end to at least partially receive therethrough the corresponding one of the light emitting devices;
• and
• a light diffuser, the light diffuser being in optical communication with each segment of the display cover and each light emitting device of the continuous, closed loop arrangement of light emitting devices.

An electronic tuner for tuning a musical instrument, which comprises:

• a display interface, the display interface including:
• a plurality of spaced apart, separately illuminatable light emitting devices situated in a continuous, closed loop arrangement;
• and
• a microcontroller, the microcontroller being operatively coupled to the display interface and selectively illuminating the light emitting devices.

An electronic tuner for tuning a musical instrument, which comprises:

• a display interface, the display interface including:
• a plurality of spaced apart, separately illuminatable light emitting devices situated in a continuous, closed loop arrangement;
• and
• a display cover, the display cover having an outer wall and an inner wall spaced apart from the outer wall, and a plurality of spaced apart dividing walls extending transversely between the outer wall and the inner wall, the outer and inner walls and the plurality of dividing walls defining therebetween a continuous arrangement of display cover segments, each of the display cover segments being aligned with a corresponding one of the light emitting devices of the continuous, closed loop arrangement of light emitting devices and at least partially receiving therein the corresponding one of the light emitting devices;
• and
• a microcontroller, the microcontroller being operatively coupled to the display interface and selectively illuminating the light emitting devices.