Percussion Instrument Resonance Body Vertical Stacking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional percussion instruments with multiple tone bars face challenges in achieving ideal sound characteristics while maintaining compactness, as optimizing the resonance box and body for low tones or multiple bars often results in large dimensions, making them cumbersome for transportation and storage, and compromises in design negatively impact sound quality.
Innovation Solution
A percussion instrument design featuring a resonance body assigned to each tone bar, with a cover plate having openings that can be sealed, allowing for flexible positioning and exchange of tone bars, and a neck connecting the sound hole to the resonance chamber, enabling efficient sound transmission and adjustable geometry to optimize sound quality without increasing volume.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the resonance box and resonance body are optimized for specific frequency bands of tone bars, then ideal sound characteristics are achieved, but the dimensions of the percussion instrument become large
Solution Approach 1:
The patent repositions resonance bodies from a traditional horizontal arrangement to a vertical arrangement within the resonance box. Multiple resonance bodies are stacked one above another, utilizing the vertical dimension (z-direction) rather than only horizontal space. This dimensional change allows optimal resonance body volumes for different frequency bands to coexist without increasing the overall footprint of the instrument, thereby maintaining ideal sound characteristics while reducing the instrument's horizontal dimensions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested configuration where multiple resonance bodies are arranged in a compact, space-efficient manner within the resonance box. The resonance bodies are positioned to utilize overlapping projections and shared structural spaces, with smaller resonance bodies fitting into available spaces around larger ones. This nesting approach maximizes the use of internal volume while minimizing the external dimensions of the resonance box.
2Length of stationary object
If the resonance box is reduced in size to make the percussion instrument compact, then transportation and storage become easier, but the sound characteristics deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
By transitioning from a horizontal to a vertical arrangement of resonance bodies, the patent compresses the instrument's footprint in the x-y plane while extending utilization in the z-direction. This allows the resonance box to maintain smaller horizontal dimensions for compactness while preserving the necessary volume and spatial relationships for optimal sound characteristics through vertical stacking of properly dimensioned resonance bodies.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent assigns specific resonance bodies with optimized local geometries and volumes to particular frequency bands and tone bar positions. Each resonance body is locally tailored with appropriate dimensions, wall thicknesses, and cavity volumes to match the acoustic requirements of its associated tone bar. This localized optimization ensures that even in a compact configuration, each resonance body maintains its sound-generating quality without compromise.
3Device complexity
If fixed positioning of resonance bodies is used relative to tone bars, then structural simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different tone bars is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces adjustable and movable elements in the coupling between tone bars and resonance bodies. Mounting positions for resonance bodies are made可调 through adjustable brackets, sliders, or repositionable fastening mechanisms that allow vertical and horizontal adjustment within the resonance box. This dynamic positioning capability enables the same instrument structure to accommodate different tone bar configurations, lengths, and frequencies while maintaining proper alignment and acoustic coupling.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs universal mounting structures and standardized interfaces that can accommodate multiple tone bar types and configurations. The resonance bodies are positioned and secured using adjustable mechanisms that work with various tone bar dimensions and positions. This universal approach allows a single resonance box design to serve multiple purposes and adapt to different instrument configurations without requiring custom modifications.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design allows for a compact percussion instrument with improved sound characteristics, enabling efficient use of space and easy adjustment to different tone bars without compromising sound quality, while allowing for interchangeable components to enhance sound transmission and maintain optimal resonance.
Implementation Method 1
a resonance body assigned to each tone bar... with a cover plate having openings that can be sealed, allowing for flexible positioning and exchange of tone bars, and a neck connecting the sound hole to the resonance chamber, enabling efficient sound transmission and adjustable geometry to optimize sound quality
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a percussion instrument having at least two tone bars, each with an upper and lower side and at least one resonance box with at least one resonance body, wherein the resonance body consists of a neck and a resonance chamber.