Additively manufactured acoustic violin

Abstract

An acoustic violin or viola that employs additive manufacturing technology, e.g., selective laser sintering and/or multi-jet fusion processes, to wholly build the body of an acoustic violin (or viola) of a polymer that can match the feel and sounds of wooden violins and violas. The exemplary instrument matches the feel and sound of wooden violins and violas and includes (i) an additively manufactured polymer body as a sound box for amplifying sounds produced by strings, the body having a top and a bottom connected by ribs and having a thickness profile to amplify a pre-defined acoustic profile; and (ii) an additively manufactured polymer neck fixably coupled to the body, the neck having a reinforcing rod that, in combination with the neck, provides a stiffness-to-weight ratio to generate a pre-defined acoustic profile.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.