Adaptable Ligature with Multidirectional Pivot for Wind Instruments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ligatures for single-reed wind instruments fail to provide uniform clamping pressure, leading to variations in sound quality and dynamics across the musical register, with limited adaptability to different mouthpiece brands and models, and often result in reed damage due to pressure concentration.
Innovation Solution
A ligature with a multidirectional pivoting system, incorporating a ball-and-socket mechanism and transverse screws, allows for adjustable and uniform contact with the mouthpiece table, enabling the reed to vibrate freely while maintaining consistent clamping force across varying table angles and mouthpiece designs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fixed ligature is used to clamp the reed on the mouthpiece, then the reed is securely held, but the clamping pressure is not uniform leading to variations in sound quality and dynamics
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies the dynamics principle by making the ligature body rotatable around an axis, transforming a fixed static structure into a dynamic adjustable one. This allows the ligature to adapt its angle and position to match different mouthpiece table angles, ensuring uniform clamping pressure across varying mouthpiece designs while maintaining secure reed holding.
2Manufacturing precision
If a ligature is designed for a specific mouthpiece brand and model, then it provides optimal fitting for that mouthpiece, but it lacks adaptability to different mouthpiece brands and models
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements universality by designing a ligature with a rotatable body that can accommodate multiple mouthpiece types and brands. The rotation mechanism allows the same ligature to adapt to different table angles and mouthpiece geometries, making a single ligature design universally compatible across various mouthpiece models while maintaining precise fitting through adjustable positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic rotation capability enables the ligature to transform from a mouthpiece-specific fixed design into a universal adaptable component. By allowing the ligature body to rotate and align with different table angles, the same ligature can be used across multiple mouthpiece brands and models, achieving both precision fitting and broad compatibility.
3Strength
If a ligature exerts pressure on the reed to secure it on the mouthpiece, then the reed is firmly clamped, but pressure concentration can damage the reed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by distributing the clamping pressure across multiple contact points along the ligature band rather than concentrating it at a single location. The rotatable body design ensures that pressure is evenly distributed along the contact surface between the ligature and the reed, preventing localized stress concentrations that could damage the reed while maintaining overall secure clamping.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to a ligature for single-reed wind instruments that comprises a main multidirectional pivot system allowing the reed to vibrate freely while providing all possibilities of clamping force both to minimal contact and to extreme fit, and which adapts to table angle thereby optimizing the relationship between fitting and sound quality.