Rotating Clarinet Thumb Rest for Reduced Playing Fatigue
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing thumb rests for wind instruments, despite allowing pre-adjustment for optimal positioning, can cause fatigue, stiffness, and unpleasant pressure sensations during prolonged playing due to fixed playing postures.
Innovation Solution
A thumb rest design with a permanently connected bearing and thumb stop, featuring a joint that allows for continuous rotational freedom during play, ensuring a varied and stable playing posture by maintaining mobility and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the thumb rest is fixed in a predetermined position and orientation, then the device structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the player experiences fatigue and discomfort during prolonged playing due to fixed posture
Solution Approach 1:
The thumb rest is designed with a joint connecting it to the bearing piece, allowing the thumb rest to rotate and change orientation dynamically during playing. This dynamic capability enables the player to maintain a varied and comfortable posture, resolving the contradiction between structural simplicity and playing comfort.
2Duration of action of moving object
If the thumb rest allows pre-adjustment for optimal positioning, then the initial playing comfort is improved, but the player still experiences fatigue during extended playing sessions
Solution Approach 1:
The joint enables continuous adjustment of the thumb rest orientation during playing, allowing the player to adapt to varying playing conditions and maintain comfort over extended periods, thus extending the duration of comfortable playing.
Solution Approach 2:
The joint allows changes in the orientation parameter of the thumb rest during playing, enabling the player to vary the playing posture and prevent fatigue, thereby extending comfortable playing duration.
3Ease of operation
If the joint allows continuous rotation during playing, then playing comfort is maintained, but the device becomes more complex and difficult to manufacture
Solution Approach 1:
The joint provides the necessary rotational freedom for playing comfort while being designed as a straightforward mechanical connection that does not significantly complicate the manufacturing process, achieving a balance between operational ease and manufacturability.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~4
AI summary
The invention relates to a thumb rest (1) for a wind instrument, in particular a clarinet (3), comprising an adapter (4) for attaching the thumb rest (1) to a body (2) of the wind instrument, a bearing piece (6) arranged on or formed by the adapter (4), and a thumb stop (7) arranged on the bearing piece (6). According to the invention, the thumb stop (7) and the bearing piece (6) are pivotally connected to each other by a joint (8), which provides a permanent degree of rotational freedom of the thumb stop (7) relative to the bearing piece (6), so that the thumb stop (7) is permanently rotatable relative to the bearing piece (6).