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US 2019/0295514 A1Published application
Foldable Stringed Instrument
AssigneeCiari Guitars, Inc.
InventorJonathan David SPANGLER
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A foldable stringed instrument having a neck and/or body that may assume a reduced profile by folding an upper neck portion away from the playing position through the use of a translating bridge assembly and a translating truss assembly, wherein the foldable stringed instrument is capable of housing or otherwise being coupled to any of a variety of electronics or electrical components (e.g. a smart phone or tablet computer) having one or more applications (apps) for driving the operation, functionality and/or effects associated with the foldable stringed instrument.
Claims22
A foldable stringed instrument, comprising:
- a body having an upper surface, a lower surface, a lower recess formed within said lower surface, and a string aperture extending between said upper and lower surfaces;
- a neck assembly coupled to said body, said neck assembly including an upper neck portion moveably coupled to a lower neck portion, said lower and upper neck portions each including a generally flat upper surface with a plurality of spaced apart frets disposed along at least port of said upper surface;
- and
- a translating bridge assembly disposed within said lower recess of said body, said translating bridge assembly including a string anchor configured to selectively tension and detension a set of musical strings coupled to said string anchor which extend through said string aperture to said upper surface of said body and over said first and second neck portions, wherein linear movement of said translating bridge assembly in a first direction relative to said body increases tension applied to said musical strings to create a tensioned string state, and wherein linear movement of said translating bridge assembly in a second direction relative to said body decreases tension applied to said musical strings to create a detensioned string state such that said upper neck portion may be moved relative to said lower neck portion into a position adjacent to said lower surface of said body.
1 more element
10-13. (canceled)
(canceled)
A foldable stringed instrument, comprising:
- a body having an upper surface, a lower surface, a lower recess formed within said lower surface, and a string aperture extending between said upper and lower surfaces;
- a neck assembly coupled to said body, said neck assembly including an upper neck portion moveably coupled to a lower neck portion, said lower and upper neck portions each including a generally flat upper surface with a plurality of spaced apart frets disposed along at least port of said upper surface;
- a translating string anchor located within said lower recess dimensioned to be translated in a first linear direction towards said lower neck portion and a second linear direction away from said lower neck portion;
- and
- a string roller positioned adjacent to said string aperture dimensioned to facilitate a reversal in direction of a set of musical strings coupled to said translating string anchor through said string aperture and over said generally flat upper surfaces of said upper and lower neck portions;
- wherein moving said translating string anchor in said first linear direction increases the tension in said musical strings to create a tensioned string state such that the foldable stringed instrument may be played, and
- wherein moving said translating string anchor in said second linear direction decreases the tension in the musical strings to create a detensioned string state such that said upper neck may be folded relative to said lower neck.
4 more elements
A foldable stringed instrument, comprising:
- a body having an upper surface, a lower surface, a lower recess formed within said lower surface, and a string aperture extending between said upper and lower surfaces;
- a neck assembly coupled to said body, said neck assembly including an upper neck portion moveably coupled to a lower neck portion, said lower and upper neck portions each including a generally flat upper surface with a plurality of spaced apart frets disposed along at least port of said upper surface;
- a translating string anchor located within said lower recess dimensioned to be translated in a first linear direction towards said lower neck portion and a second linear direction away from said lower neck portion, said translating string anchor dimensioned to be coupled to a set of musical strings which are passed through said string aperture and over said generally flat upper surfaces of said upper and lower neck portions, wherein moving said translating string anchor in said first linear direction increases the tension in said musical strings to create a tensioned string state, and wherein moving said translating string anchor in said second linear direction decreases the tension in the musical strings to create a detensioned string state;
- and
- a translating truss assembly dimensioned to be selectively moved in a linear manner within alignment recesses formed in said upper and lower neck portions when said upper and lower neck portions are in linear alignment, wherein moving said translating truss assembly in a first linear direction locks said upper neck portion in linear alignment with said lower neck portion, and wherein moving said translating truss assembly in a second direction allows said upper neck portion to be folded relative to said lower neck portion when said musical strings are in said detensioned string state.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.