EP2095360A2

EP2095360A2 - Improvement to harmonica

Info

Publication number: EP2095360A2
Application number: EP07871861A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Jean-Claude Bibollet
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-12-14
Filing date: 2007-12-14
Publication date: 2009-09-02
Also published as: WO2008087297A2; US20100000393A1; FR2910166A1; FR2910166B1; CA2672592A1; US7989687B2; WO2008087297A3

Abstract

According to the invention, the harmonica reed plate (3, 4), which holds at least one vibrating sound-producing reed (301, 401), includes sealing means formed by side walls (301 L, 401 L) and an end wall (301 E, 401 E) extending into the extension of the side faces and the corresponding end face of the slot in which the free part of the sound-producing reed in question (301, 401) oscillates.

Description

Improvement for harmonica

The present invention relates to an improvement for harmonica

There are many types of harmonicas and the main problem encountered with the harmonicas of the prior art is related to the limited sound output of these instruments because of their very design that does not provide a proper seal likely to s' oppose air leaks. Indeed, because of the necessarily arched shape of the sound vibrating blades, the air sucked or blown can easily escape through the windows through which the sound waves oscillate and passing between the curvilinear side edges of the slats and the face blade holders against which said sound blades are fixed. Another important leak is also located at the gap opening located between the free ends of the sound blades and the face of the blade holder against which are fixed said sound blades.

It follows discomfort during the game which both limits the musical performance of the player and especially makes it difficult to access certain specific game techniques known as alterations. The harmonicas of the prior art are also expensive to manufacture and impractical maintenance given the difficult access to the internal arrangements of the instrument.

The arrangements of the instrument proposed in this invention constitute a relevant answer to the aforementioned problems encountered in the harmonicas of the prior art.

Beforehand, to facilitate the description and understanding of this document we first agree that the part of the instrument in contact with the musician's mouth constitutes the back part of the instrument while the opposite part through which the sounds come out Issued is the front part of the instrument. We further agree that the harmonica according to the invention, which may be of symmetrical or non-symmetrical external shape, is here positioned in such a way that its mean longitudinal plane Px is arranged horizontally, said plane Px being the substantially mid-plane -thickness of the instrument and thus passing substantially, at the rear of the harmonica, by the axis of the mouth holes and passing, at the front of the harmonica, near the mid-height of the horn of the instrument. Of course in the case where all the part of the instrument disposed above said longitudinal mean plane Px is identical to the entire part of the instrument disposed below this mean longitudinal plane Px, this plane Px then also constitutes the longitudinal plane of general symmetry of the instrument.

Finally we agree to call blades bladed blades attached to the face of the blade oriented on the inner side of the air channels while the blades said sucked will be the blades fixed against the face of the blade holder located outside the air channels. In the present description, therefore, we will not take into account the fact that the so-called blown blades, whose main purpose is to enter into vibration by emitting a sound when the player blows into the instrument, can in certain game techniques, enter in action even during aspiration. The same applies to so-called aspirated blades that can come into action during blowing in certain game techniques that occasionally force the blades to vibrate under the action of a directional flow of air contrary to that for which they have originally designed, but which, of course, remains their main mode of vibration. In the same way, when the text mentions the term air inlet face, it is always the face through which the air enters to pass through the window concerned and conversely, when the text evokes the Exhaust face term is the face through which the air exits after passing through said window and this always with reference to the type, aspirated or blown, of the lamella associated with the window concerned.

This agreed, the instrument according to the invention consists of the following elements:

- A main body whose peripheral shell allows the gripping of the instrument, said main body being constituted by an elongated bell-shaped hollow element whose front face is open to serve as a flag to the instrument. The rear face of the main body, opposite to the flag, constitutes the mouth of the instrument in which are arranged the mouth holes through which the musician infuses or sucks the air which vibrates sound reeds, or blades vibrating sound, of the instrument. The outer shell of said main body may be symmetrical or not with respect to the mean longitudinal plane Px of the instrument,

An element called box spring or comb arranged in part at least inside the cavity in the main body. This comb, which is or not a monolithic assembly with the main body, consists of a plurality of walls that separate the air channels between them, - At least one blade holder maintained pressed against the corresponding bearing areas of the comb, which support zones are formed in particular by the edge of the walls separating the air channels between them.

- Several vibrating sound blades, free reed type, consisting of thin slats attached by one of their ends to the blade holder by any fastening means such as including rivet, staple, screw, glue, welding point. Under the combined action of the force of the air sucked or blown by the musician and the flexural elasticity of said slats, the free end of these slats can oscillate on either side of a position of equilibrium passing through a window slightly larger dimensions arranged through the plate-bearing concerned.

Pressing means for applying the blade plate (s) against the comb and, if necessary, additional sealing means to prevent air leakage between the different elements: the blade plate or plates, the comb and the main body.

According to a first characteristic of the invention, if not for all of the vibrating sound blades that the instrument has, at least for at least some of said blades, to constitute means intended to ensure optimum sealing by constituting the most accurate baffles and the most airtight possible face of lateral air leakage between said blades and the corresponding air intake face of the blade carrier, the harmonica according to the invention comprises so-called lateral sealing walls whose oriented face of the side of the concerned blade is positioned substantially in the extension of the corresponding lateral face constituted by the edge of the window through which oscillates the free portion of the vibrating sound blade concerned.

According to another feature, the harmonica according to the invention comprises means complementary to the preceding ones for improving the sealing against air leaks engaging between the vibrating free end of the sound blade and the air intake face. of the blade holder. These means can be made in particular by a wall whose face oriented on the side of said blade is advantageously positioned in the extension of the end face formed by the corresponding portion of the window concerned. To optimize this end seal, the end sealing wall is advantageously of curvilinear shape at least in the plane of symmetry of the blade, the curve of said shape being ideally parallel and as close as possible to the curvilinear path described by the free end of the blade during its oscillations. The abovementioned end sealing wall extends on the side where the camber of the concerned blade is oriented when it occupies its rest position, that is to say when it is not activated by any flow of air and this end sealing wall extends beyond the plane passing through the face of the blade holder against which is fixed the sound blade concerned.

According to another characteristic, and according to a first embodiment, the aforementioned lateral sealing walls and end sealing wall respectively extend the corresponding side walls and end wall of the concerned window beyond the plane. passing through the face of the blade holder against which is fixed said vibrating sound blade. The aforementioned extension extends in the half-space oriented towards the air intake face towards which is thus oriented the concavity of the blade at rest which is also the half-space in which is positioned the free arched portion of said vibrating sound blade when the latter occupies its rest position, that is to say when it is not activated by any air flow.

According to an important characteristic, the above-mentioned extensions of the lateral and end faces of the windows extend at least up to the level of the cambered concave face of the sound blade concerned when it occupies its resting position, that is to say ie when it is not activated by any airflow.

According to another characteristic, to generate a rounder and more powerful sound thanks to a more limited exhaust light and opening later during the oscillation of the blade concerned, one or more additional plates also having windows of dimensions appropriate may advantageously be stacked and pressed against the face of the blade holder side air exhaust face that is to say on the side of the face of the blade holder through which the air escapes when is passed through said window in such a way that the faces constituted by the slices of said windows can provide a lateral and end-modulated sealing according to the characteristics sought for the sound.

According to another embodiment, the abovementioned side and end sealing walls are arranged directly in at least one of the blade carriers contained in the harmonica and they consist in part at least by the corresponding lateral and lateral faces. end, of the window concerned, made in a blade holder of sufficient thickness at said window for said side and end walls may be sufficiently high to provide said lateral and end seals by closing all or part of the space between the vicinity of the peripheral edges of the blade concerned when the latter is at rest and the corresponding edges of the window side air inlet face and / or where applicable side air intake face. Each vibrating sound blade supported by this blade holder is fixed to said blade holder by one of its ends while the free portion of this sound blade can oscillate through a window arranged in the blade holder under the force of a flow of air blown or sucked by the harmonicist and said holder-larnes is characterized in that it comprises sealing walls located substantially in the extension of the corresponding side walls of the window concerned.

The aforementioned sealing walls extend from the side where the camber of the blade concerned is oriented when it occupies its rest position, that is to say when it is not activated by any air flow and these sealing walls extend beyond the plane passing through the face against which is fixed the sound blade concerned

According to another embodiment, the aforementioned lateral and end sealing faces are formed in part at least by the corresponding faces of the windows slices arranged in additional plates stacked and pressed against the face of the blade holder oriented on the admission side. air that is to say on the side by which the air enters during its passage through the window that is to say on the side of the face of the blade holder against which is fixed the blade vibrating that it is sucked type or blown type.

According to another characteristic, the aforementioned lateral and end sealing faces are constituted in part at least by the corresponding faces of the windows slices arranged in additional plates stacked and pressed against the face of the blade holder oriented on the exhaust side of the air that is to say on the side by which the air comes out during its passage through the window, that is to say on the side of the face of the blade holder opposite to that against which is fixed the vibrating blade that it is of the sucked type or blown type.

According to a first embodiment, for a vibrating plate concerned, the respective widths of the different windows are identical for all the plates stacked so that the lateral sealing walls thus formed by stacking plates are substantially flat and positioned parallel to the plane. in which the longitudinal axis of the blade moves during its oscillations. According to another embodiment, for a vibrating blade concerned the widths of the different windows are increasing as one moves away from the face of the blade holder against which is fixed the blade concerned so that the lateral sealing faces are then in stairs which can be interesting to avoid undesirable contacts between these side walls of sealing and the free vibrating part of the blade when it oscillates while twisting slightly during certain techniques particular games.

In the embodiments of which the lateral and end sealing means consist of a stack of plates as defined above, for each respective blade the respective lengths of each of the windows provided in said plates can be advantageously degressive at the end. as one moves away from the face of the blade holder against which is fixed the blade concerned and so that the stack of plates is translated by a stepped end wall ensuring optimum sealing of end approaching the best of the curvilinear path described by the end of the blade during its oscillations.

According to another complementary embodiment where appropriate to the above, the aforementioned lateral and end sealing walls are integral with the bed base of the instrument and / or the main body of the instrument and / or the corresponding cap or covers. of the instrument and these sealing walls are formed in part at least by corresponding arrangements of said bed frame and / or the main body and / or hood. According to another characteristic of yet another embodiment, the sealing means consisting of sealing walls as described above are arranged in an element interposed between at least one of the blade holders and the bearing face. corresponding bed base. According to a complementary feature of this embodiment, this intermediate element is advantageously made of a slightly flexible material to ensure a good seal at the faces of the bed base and the blade carrier between which it is sandwiched.

According to an important characteristic, the sharp blades being shorter than the serious blades, it follows that during their vibrations the respective amplitudes of their oscillations are different, the free part of the acute blades therefore moves away less from the part and from other of the plane passing through the attachment face of the blade than does the part free of serious blades which justifies the height of side sealing walls and end sealing in proportion to said lengths of the blades. So that the sounds produced by the different blades are homogeneous with each other, it is therefore very important that the thicknesses of the different areas of the blade holder in which the windows are cut is proportional to these amplitudes and therefore in relation to the length of the different blades. for a stepped reduction in the height of the lateral and end sealing faces provided by the corresponding slices of the windows. These differences in the thickness of the blade carrier may be obtained either by step machining carried out in the thickness of the plate which constitutes said blade carrier or by stacking different additional plates of constant thickness or not but degressive dimensions, and in particular degressive lengths, stacked against the relevant face of the blade holder to form layers. These different additional plates can be assembled together and / or with the blade holder by gluing, clipping, welding or by any other fastening means that can be either definitive or advantageously temporary to allow the separation of said plates to facilitate them. access to sound slides during tuning or repair operations.

According to a preferred embodiment, the face of the blade holder which is pressed against the bed base is advantageously flat to facilitate the achievement of the required sealing while the reliefs constituted by the aforementioned thinning of the blade plate are made on the other side of said blade holder. Thus, the face located on the air intake side of the blade carrier on which the blown blades are mounted will advantageously be flat while the reliefs formed by the above-mentioned step machining will be located on the face of said blade carrier located on the exhaust side of the blade. air. Conversely, for the blade holder supporting the blades sucked the face coming against the bed base being the face of the blade holder located on the exhaust side of the air, it is therefore advantageously this face which will be flat, the reliefs, constituted by the aforementioned step machining, then being located on the face of said blade holder oriented air intake side.

According to another characteristic, on the face of the blade holder oriented on the side of the exhaust air and / or on the face of the blade holder oriented on the side of the air inlet, the edges of certain windows advantageously comprise recesses, chamfers, indentations or spokes intended both to prevent turbulence by facilitating the flow of air and, where appropriate, to allow localized escape air that can begin before the affected blade has reached its point of oscillation farthest from the face against which it is fixed. According to a variant of this embodiment, the blade holder is made in a sufficiently thick plate to provide for the long long blades a sufficient height to ensure the side and end seals as described above and chamfers, recesses or particular machining is performed at the edges of the windows of the less severe blades to reduce only locally and specifically for each of the blades the thickness of the plate, initially identical over its entire surface, to a thickness correlated with the size of the movements of oscillation of the concerned blade.

According to another very important characteristic of a particular embodiment of the invention, at least some vibrating sound blades are fixed in a completely opposite manner to the mode of attachment previously practiced, so that the blown blades are not fixed against the face. the air intake of the blade carrier concerned but against the face of said blade carrier oriented on the side where the air comes out after being passed through the window in which oscillates the free portion of said blades which nevertheless retain the concavity of their camber at rest oriented in a conventional manner that is to say oriented on the side by which the blown air enters said windows. . In the same way the suction blades are not fixed against the air intake face of the blade holder concerned but against the exhaust face of the air, said blades maintaining the concavity of their camber rest oriented classic way that is to say oriented on the intake side of the air sucked.

Such an inverted assembly has the great advantage of enclosing the blade concerned in the thickness of the blade holder and the side and end faces of the window thus ensure that only they already have very good lateral seals and end while also offering exhaust lights, on the side and at the free end of the blade, much larger and opening earlier than in the conventional assembly which results in a very different sound sounds produced by the previous editing.

According to another characteristic, the blades are not fixed against the air intake wall or against the exhaust face of the air but against an intermediate support face positioned between the intake face and the face. exhaust. This intermediate fixing face can be easily made by machining in the thickness of the blade plate or by localized crushing of the blade plate. This intermediate position of attachment of the blade is very advantageous since the sealing means constituted by the slices of the window are then positioned on either side of the median plane positioned between the two extreme positions of oscillation of the blade.

According to a preferred embodiment, the above-mentioned intermediate attachment face may advantageously be positioned closer to the exhaust face of the blade holder than it is to the intake face of said blade holder and this for the purpose to optimize the airtight leakage on the intake side while sufficiently differing the opening to the exhaust to force the free part of said blade to bend to the maximum, thereby generating a powerful sound.

According to a first embodiment, the harmonica according to the invention comprises two blade holders as described above, said blade holders being arranged parallel to each other without necessarily being (automatically) parallel to the average longitudinal plane Px with which they may, on the contrary, be arranged obliquely.

According to another embodiment, the harmonica according to the invention comprises at least two blade-holder plates, at least one of which is arranged obliquely with respect to the mean longitudinal plane Px of the harmonica at an angle advantageously greater than 5 °. (five degrees).

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the harmonica comprises at least a first blade holder disposed obliquely with respect to the average longitudinal plane of the harmonica Px at an angle greater than 5 ° (five degrees) and at least one second blade holder arranged obliquely with respect to the mean longitudinal plane of the harmonica

Px at an angle also greater than 5 ° (five degrees) so that the planes passing through the respective bearing faces of said blade holder against the comb form between them an open dihedee side mouth of the instrument at an angle better than

10 ° (ten degrees).

According to another characteristic of a preferred embodiment of this second embodiment, the harmonica according to the invention comprises two blade-carrying plates on which are mounted all the vibrating sounding blades sucked up and all the vibrating sound waves blown from the instrument, one of these two blade plates can support all the blades sucked alone while the second plate holder The blades alone support all the blown blades or on the contrary each of the two blade-holding plates supporting both blown blades and aspirated blades.

According to another characteristic of a particular embodiment, the respective angles of obliquity of the two blade carriers with respect to the mean longitudinal plane Px are not identical with each other so that the two blade-holding plates are not arranged. symmetrically on both sides of said plane Px.

According to another characteristic of a preferred embodiment, the two blade carriers are arranged symmetrically on either side of the mean longitudinal plane of the harmonica Px so that the two planes passing through their respective bearing faces against the comb form between them an open dihedral either side mouth or side flag of the instrument.

According to another particular embodiment, the harmonica according to the invention comprises a single blade holder on which are mounted all the sound vibrating blades sucked and blown from the instrument.

This single blade holder can be positioned parallel to the longitudinal mean plane Px, or otherwise obliquely to the plane Px or even be arranged perpendicular to the plane Px in at least the vertical plane if not in both vertical and horizontal planes.

According to a preferred embodiment of this version comprising a single blade carrier, the plane passing through one of the two large faces of the single blade carrier constitutes with the average longitudinal plane Px a dihedron whose opening angle is greater than at 5 ° (five degrees) preferably greater than 20 ° (twenty degrees) and in particular greater than 40 ° (forty degrees). According to a preferred embodiment, said angle is between 75 ° (seventy-five degrees) and 90 ° (ninety degrees).

It should be noted that the oblique arrangement of the blade carrier relative to the average longitudinal plane Px as described above results in an optimized flow of air flow which, by ensuring better aerodynamic efficiency, allows to consider the implementation of sound vibration of thicker blades thus more solid and emitting a sound more powerful than the blades of the harmonicas of the prior art in which the flow of air undergoes sudden changes in direction at right angles that slow down its speed and significantly reduce its ability to bend the blades to vibrate. According to another characteristic of this embodiment, in which all the sucked and blown blades are arranged on the same blade holder, the sucked blades are arranged on a row situated closer to the mouth of the instrument than is the second rank consisting of blown blades. According to a particular characteristic of this embodiment, a mouth-hole feeds an air channel, which air channel feeds an aspirated blade and a blown blade, the longitudinal axes of each of these two blades being advantageously aligned with each other. one in the extension of the other. The two sounding blades can be arranged in the same direction or more advantageously in the opposite direction so that they can then be fixed by one or more common rivets sandwiching the blade holder between the fixed part of the suction blade and the fixed part of the blown blade.

According to another important feature of a preferred embodiment of all versions of harmonicas according to the invention described herein, the rear face including the mouth holes of the instrument and the parts of the main body on which comes to apply and move the mouth of the musician in the longitudinal direction of the instrument when playing, and which consist of the mouth face, form a monolithic assembly with the comb consisting of walls separating them air circulation channels opening into the mouth holes. Such an arrangement ensures a total seal between these different components compared to harmonicas of the prior art.

According to another important feature of a preferred embodiment, the harmonica according to the invention comprises a bed base constituting with the mouth a monolithic assembly which is secured by screws or other removable fastening means a single hood , upper or lower, if the instrument has only one blade holder or two covers, one upper and one lower if the instrument has two blade holders. .

Each of the aforementioned hoods advantageously comprises on its inner face walls arranged as reinforcing ribs with which it constitutes a monolithic assembly designated herein as the counter-bed frame. The reinforcing ribs consist of material slats arranged substantially vertically with respect to the average longitudinal plane Px, the vertical median plane of at least some of these chords being advantageously coplanar with the plane vertical median of the corresponding partition wall of the bed base facing said frame so that the blade-holder plate is sandwiched between these two blades of very solid material since arranged both of field. The bed base and the counter-bed frame are pressed one towards the other by clamping means, such as in particular screws, whose axis is advantageously disposed substantially perpendicular to the surface of the blade holder concerned.

According to another feature, tapped holes are arranged in the comb against and / or in the main body to allow the attachment of a microphone and / or to allow the attachment of the harmonica on a support allowing its use without the hands by example when the musician plays the guitar at the same time.

According to another characteristic, the harmonica equipped with at least one blade holder according to the invention is of the tremolos or octave diatonic type of which each mouthpiece serves either a single sound vibrating blade or two sound vibrating blades of the same type, which are therefore either blown or sucked and which are generally tuned together or in a very slight shift to produce a tremolo effect is tuned with an octave shift between one and the other.

According to another feature of a particular embodiment, each of the mouth holes of the instrument is in relation with at least three sound vibrating blades, and ideally four sound vibrating blades, which are all fed by a single common channel. air circulation is fed two by two by two air circulation channels is still fed each by a channel of air of its own.

According to a first embodiment of this harmonica version of which each mouthpiece serves three vibrating sound blades, said three blades are all three of the same type, therefore all three are suction blades or blown blades, two-hole blades. contiguous being against systematically against the opposite type: a mouth hole being in relation with three blades blown while each of the two mouth holes located on either side of the previous is it in relation with three blades sucked or conversely of so that one mouth of two feeds three so-called blown sound blades and one mouth of two feeds three so-called aspirated blades. These three sound waves served by the same mouth hole are tuned together in unison, harmonic and / or slightly offset from each other to generate a tremolo effect. According to another embodiment of the harmonica, each mouth of which is in relation to three vibrating sound waves, two of these three sound waves are both of the blown type or of the aspirated type while the third is of the opposite type. two others and therefore respectively of the sucked type or the blown type, two contiguous holes being systematically cons of the opposite type: a mouthhole being in relation with two blown blades and a blade sucked while each of the two mouth holes located on both sides of the previous one is in relation with two sucked blades and a blown blade. According to this particular embodiment, all the blades of the harmonica carried by the blade-holder (s) positioned on one side of the mean longitudinal plane Px are of the same type, either sucked or blown, and all the blades mounted on the holder (s). blades positioned on the other side of said plane Px are of the opposite type, so respectively blown or sucked.

According to another production method aimed at obtaining optimized results in terms of sound reproduction, at least some of the constituent elements of the harmonica according to the invention are produced by injection of a thermoplastic material and then are covered with a thin metal film. by electroplating or metallization under vacuum or by any other suitable method.

According to one characteristic, the vibrating blades are mounted either on the blade holder or directly on the comb or bed base.

According to a particular embodiment, the bed or comb of the instrument consists of two half-comb which are assembled together in the longitudinal direction of the instrument to form the comb and the blades are mounted directly on these half-comb comb so that these half-combs each play the role of port-blades.

According to another characteristic of a particular embodiment, the blade holder, the comb or said half-combs mentioned above are made by molding aluminum alloys or thermoplastic or thermosetting material while the blades are metallic. Means arranged in the blade holder or, where appropriate in the bed base ensure the attachment of the fixed part of the blade concerned in the exact position required for the proper functioning of the free portion, vibrating, said blade. These fixing means consist on the one hand by means of precise guidance in translation of the fixed part of the blade in the direction of its longitudinal axis which ensure the coplanarity of the longitudinal axis of said blade with the longitudinal axis of the window concerned and secondly immobilization means in translation of the larne which ensure the precise positioning and maintenance of said blade to the required position so that its free end is located at the right distance from the end of the window concerned.

According to another characteristic, the free end of at least some of the vibrating sound blades may be angular in shape such as are the blades of the prior art, but it may also very advantageously be rounded to a radius equal to half the width of the concerned blade or be rounded to a radius of a greater value or less than the width of the blade. Of course the shape and dimensions of the corresponding aperture, or window, arranged in the blade holder and through which this blade passes when it vibrates, are adjusted accordingly to the shape and dimensions of the blade concerned.

According to another characteristic to prevent them from pivoting unwanted around their single fastening rivet the end of the sound blades by which it is secured to the blade holder comprises either one or two straight sides or any other shape coming to bear with accuracy against a shoulder of complementary shape formed in said blade holder.

According to another characteristic of a preferred embodiment, to allow a good holding in hand of the instrument while also ensuring a good diffusion of bass sounds through a sufficiently open flag, the distance separating the mouth face of the the extreme leading edge of the horn at the low notes is greater than the distance between the mouth face and the leading edge of the horn at the high notes.

Other advantages and features will emerge more clearly from the following description of the various embodiments shown by way of nonlimiting examples and represented in the appended drawings in which: FIGS. 1 to 5 show a first embodiment of a harmonica equipped with blade holders according to the invention made from a single plate machined in its thickness.

• Figures 6 to 8 shows a particular arrangement of some areas of the blade carriers shown in the previous figures.

Figures 9 and 10 show a second embodiment of a harmonica according to the invention wherein the blade holders according to the invention are made by stacking several plates tight against each other.

• The views 11 to 14 show a particular blade holder supporting the 10 blown blades of a harmonica, said blade holder being made by stacking plates of different lengths

• The views 15 to 18 show a particular blade holder supporting the blades sucked from a harmonica, said blade holder being made by stacking plates of different lengths in the same way as the blade holder shown in FIGS. 14 with which it constitutes an assembly for equipping a harmonica according to the invention.

• The views 19 to 28 show another embodiment of the blade holder according to the invention for a harmonica to equipped with two blade holders, each of the two blade holders shown in these figures being made with the help of a single plate having areas of different thicknesses.

• The views 34, 35, 36 show another embodiment of a harmonica equipped with two blade holders according to the invention, the sound vibrating blades are fixed against the face of said blade holder oriented side exhaust air

FIGS. 37 to 52 show an embodiment of a harmonica equipped with a single blade holder supporting both the blown blades and the aspirated blades.

Among these views:

- Figures 37 to 41 show the blade holder made with a single plate having areas of different thicknesses.

- Figures 42 to 47 are cross-sectional views showing various details of implementation and operation

- Figures 48 and 49 are two partial longitudinal sections

- Figure 50 is a top view partially cutaway revealing the internal design of the harmonica.

- Figure 51 shows the harmonica as seen from the mouth of the instrument • Figure 52 is a section along the median plane Px showing a particular arrangement of air channels of a harmonica according to the invention.

• Figures 53 and 54 are views showing the rear face of the instrument, so the mouth face of the instrument, in which are implanted the air channel inlet holes.

• Figures 55 to 57 are sectional views along the logitudinal axis of an air channel, showing different embodiments of the sound blades, particularly long sonic blades so serious.

• Figures 58 to 62 are top views showing all or part of sound slats and the corresponding area of the blade holder that supports them. these views show various particular embodiments of sound blades intended to allow controlled air leakage localized at the end zones of said strips.

FIGS. 63 to 65 are cross sections of ends of sound lamellae made in a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said lamellae.

FIGS. 66 to 69 show a first particular embodiment according to the invention of a sound blade and the part of the blade holder which is associated with it.

FIGS. 70 to 73 show a second particular embodiment according to the invention of a sound blade and the part of the blade holder which is associated with it.

FIGS. 74 to 78 show a third particular embodiment according to the invention of two sound blades and the part of the blade holder which is associated with them; and FIG. 78 is a cross section of a harmonica equipped with two carriers. blades as shown in Figs. 74 to 77. FIGS. 79 to 82 show another embodiment of a blade carrier according to the invention.

Before the explanations that follow, it is important to clarify that to make the drawings more readable and more explicit, the thickness of the cutterheads has voluntarily been greatly increased compared to their actual thickness, and the same goes for the vibrating sound blades represented much thicker on these drawings than they are in reality. Similarly, the lateral play and between the lateral edges of the sound blade and the corresponding edges of the window through which it oscillates as well as the play between the end of said blade and the wafer corresponding of said window which in reality are of the order of 1 / 10th of a millimeter have been here greatly increased to facilitate understanding of the drawing.

In views 1 to 8, the harmonica 1 consists of a bell-shaped peripheral shell 100 open on the instrument's side and having on the opposite side constituting the mouth face of the instrument holes through which the harmonicist insufflates or draws air which vibrates the vibrating sound waves through air flow channels. The harmonica shown in these various figures is of the type conventionally called "ten holes" because it has ten mouth holes numbered here from 101 to 110 with reference to the numbers 1 to 10 generally engraved on the mouth face of these instruments, hole 1 corresponding to the lowest note of the instrument and hole 10 to the most acute. Inside the main body 100 the comb or bed base 2 comprises a plurality of walls 20 arranged perpendicularly to the plane Px separating between them the different airflow circulation channels numbered from 201 to 210 in correlation with the mouth holes correspondents.

Two blade holders according to the invention, 3 and 4, arranged horizontally and parallel to the mean longitudinal plane Px of the instrument are held pressed by clamping means against the corresponding faces of the bed base 20 which they sandwich. The blade holder 3 disposed above the bed base 2 supports so-called vibrating sound blades blown, numbered 301 to 310 in correlation with the numbers 1 to 10 carried on the mouth face vis-à-vis each of the corresponding channels. The lower blade holder 4, located below the bed base 2, supports the vibrating sound blades said aspirated, numbered 401 to 410 in correlation with the numbers 1 to 10 carried on the mouth face vis-à-vis each of the corresponding air channels. Blown sound blades 301 to 310 are fixed in a conventional manner against the underside of the upper blade holder 3 thus corresponding to the intake face of the sucked air which corresponds to the normal purpose of this blade holder while the blades aspirated sound 401 to 410 are also fixed in a conventional manner against the underside of the lower blade holder which also corresponds to the intake face of the blown air which corresponds to the normal purpose of this blade holder 4. Each sound blades are positioned opposite a window of appropriate dimensions arranged in the concerned blade holder through which it can oscillate when it is animated by a flow of air to generate a sound. The angles of the free end of the sound waves are advantageously either chamfered, or radially or again, as shown here in FIG. 1, rounded according to a radius substantially equal to the half width of the blade and as much to improve the holding over time of the cutting tools used to produce these blades as to ensure a flow of more fluid air flow at the ends of the blades. The angles of the fixed end of the sound strips by which they are fixed against the blade holder are also advantageously radially as shown in FIG. 1, in the same way as the re-entrant angles positioned at the connection zone between the fixed part and the oscillating part of the sound strips where the sharp reentrant angles of the sound blades of the prior art often constitute a beginning of breaking by concentration of the bending stresses.

According to an important characteristic of the invention, at least in part, if not advantageously throughout the area swept by the free portion of the sound blade when it oscillates, the side faces and the end face of the window at through which said blade 301 or 401 oscillates is extended by walls 301 L, 301 E and 401 L, 401 E, respectively, which extend on the air intake side of said blade carriers beyond the planes P3 and P3 respectively. P4, passing through the fixing faces of said sound blades 301 and 401.

As shown in these figures, the blade holders 3 and 4 are made from profiled plates such that for each of them, the face against which is fixed a sound blade is positioned between the exhaust face of the air and the air intake face of said blade carrier.

In other words, the distance between the bearing face against which is fixed the sound blade and the face of the blade holder located on the exhaust side of the air is less than the distance between said exhaust face of the blade carrier and the end point of the blade holder on the inlet side of the latter.

Or said otherwise, the thickness of the blade holder is greater at the free end of the vibrating sound blade than it is at the area of attachment of said blade against said blade holder.

FIG. 2 shows the resting characteristic positions of the blown sound blade 301 and the extracted sound blade 401.

Figure 4 shows the interest of the proposed arrangements when the harmonica player breaths air into the instrument. The pressure of the air then increases very rapidly inside the channel 201 by exerting a thrust on the one hand against the aspirated blade 401 but rather localized in its part close to its attachment point or it is therefore very little flexible which results in a small outward displacement FS according to the free portion of said suction blade 401 which does not exceed the extreme edges of the extensions of the sealing walls which thus continue to effectively oppose leaks parasitic air and the thrust of the air is exerted on the other hand on the free part, so flexible, the blown sound blade 301 which flexes significantly beyond immediately the upper face, that is to say the air exhaust face, the blade holder 3 which allows the rapid escape of air. This exhaust air causes a sudden drop in the pressure that reigned inside the channel 201 which allows the immediate return of the two sound strips 301 and 401 to their initial positions, the blown blade 301 closing the window again. the exhaust then follows a rise in the air pressure inside the channel 201 which restarts a new cycle identical to the previous one, thus generating sound vibrations following the oscillations of said blade 301 between its two extreme positions represented in fine lines in Figure 4. FIG. 5 shows the operation of the instrument according to the invention during suction which vibrates the corresponding sound blade 401 according to a sequence of actions quite identical to that of the blowing before described the depression inside. the channel 201 being translated by against a thrust tending to bend inward according to Fa the blown sound blade 301. FIG. 5bis shows an alternative embodiment of the harmonica shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. In this FIGS. 5a, the blade holders 3 and 4 comprise counterblades 3010 and 4010 acting as bending abutments for the corresponding sound strips 301 and 401, respectively. Thus, as shown in FIG. 5a, when the aspirated blade 401 is pushed outwards by the high air pressure prevailing in the channel 201 it abuts against the counterblade 4010 to prevent its free end is pushed beyond the extreme edges of the sealing walls 401 L and 401 E and to allow it to play its role as a sealing valve. The operating principle is identical for the counter-blade 3010 during the setting in play of the suction blade 401 which generates a depression in the channel 201 tending to bend inwardly according to the blown blade 301. Of course the camber of the counter-blades 3010 and 4010 are sufficiently pronounced for the corresponding blades 301 and 401 respectively do not come into contact with them during their normal vibrations. These against-blades may also advantageously be made of plastic and / or in another material having a soft and non-noisy contact to avoid any unwanted noise. FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 show an alternative embodiment in which the windows through which the vibrating sound blades oscillate have on their lateral edges situated on the exhaust side of the air of said blade holders 3 and 4 arrangements having the form of curvilinear leaves 3011, 3021, 4011 intended to allow a progressive escape of the air and a channelized flow on either side of the free end of the vibrating sound blade concerned to better dampen its return movements and this for to obtain more felted, more attenuated sounds interesting for certain types of music.

Figures 9 and 10 show another embodiment of a harmonica according to the invention comprising an upper blade holder 5 supporting the blown blades 50 and a lower blade holder 6 supporting the aspirated blades 60 sandwiching the bed base 2. The blade holders 5 and 6 are of the very conventional type and the optimized sealing sought is ensured here by complementary means.

Thus, the means for sealing at the longitudinal edges of the blown sound blades here consist of the walls 21 of the bed base sufficiently close to each other to be located substantially in the extension of the corresponding lateral faces of the window through which the sound wave oscillates concerned.

The tightness at the free end of the sound waves is ensured by the wall 22 constituting the bottom of the air channel, which bottom is advantageously curvilinear at the same time to marry at best the curvilinear path described by the end of the sound blade during its oscillations, thus optimizing the watertightness and also making it possible to constitute a deflector optimally ensuring the orientation and the discharge towards the end zone of the blade of the air flow blown by the player .

Regarding the extracted sound blades sealing at the longitudinal edges of said blades is provided by an additional plate 61 pressed against the underside and therefore against the face side air intake of the respective blade carrier 6. The additional plate 61 is of sufficient thickness so that during their oscillations, the free end of the sound waves does not exceed the underside of said additional plate. Through this additional plate 61 are arranged windows whose side faces are substantially coplanar with the corresponding lateral faces of the windows arranged through the blade holder 6. The face 610 of the windows arranged in the additional plate 61 situated opposite the free end of the sound waves is advantageously inclined and curvilinear for marry at best the curvilinear path described by the end of the sound blades during their oscillations and thus guarantee a better seal against air leaks.

Figures 11 to 14 show another embodiment of a blade holder supporting ten blown sound blades made by stacking six plates of equal thicknesses between them and of different lengths. This stepped design makes it possible to obtain, on the air inlet side, a planar face along the entire length of said blade holder 7 to prevent air leakage at the level of the connection between said intake face of the air. the air and the corresponding support surface of the harmonica base. Another advantage of this embodiment in steps is the fact that the serious and therefore long sound blades can benefit from walls rising on the sides and at the end of the blades sufficiently far to ensure an optimal seal despite their large amplitude of oscillations without, however, acute and therefore short blades are too enclosed to be able to let the air escape. To do this a first plate 7.1 extends over the entire length of the blade holder 7 and it has only windows positioned vis-à-vis the corresponding mouth holes of the bed base and two additional notches 7109 and 7110 in which the overthicknesses constituted by the fastening rivets and by the fastening tabs of the sound strips 709 and 710 become lodged. The second plate 7.2 also extends over the entire length of the blade holder 7; it also includes the ten windows corresponding to the ten sound blades and it also serves as a blade holder for the sound blades 709 and 710 which are fixed against its side facing the air intake side. The plate 7.3 is of a length less than the previous two since its end is between the window of the blade 708 and the window of the blade 709. This plate 7.3 constitutes the blade holder of the sound blades 707 and 708 fed by the air flows S7 and S8.

The incremental stack as described above continues for the following plates, the plate 7.4 whose end is between the blades 706 and 707 serving as blade holder for the sound blades 705 and 706 fed by the corresponding flows S5 and S6, the plate 7.5 whose end is between the blades 704 and 705 serving as a blade holder for the sound blades 703 and 704 fed by the corresponding flows S3 and S4 the plate 7.6 whose end is located between the blades 702 and 703 serving as a blade holder for the sound blades 701 and 702 fed by the corresponding flows S1 and S2 This plate-holder design made by stacking plates is very interesting since it makes it possible on the one hand to economically realize doors -blues very Technically efficient by simply cutting sheet blanks and it also allows immediate and direct access to the sound blades by unstacking and it also allows in case of failure of a sound blade to change only the plate-bearing concerned .

Figures 15 to 18 show a blade holder 8 supporting ten suction sounded blades powered by the ten suction air flows numbered A1 to A10. This blade holder 8 is made by stacking six plates of equal thicknesses between them and of different lengths. This blade holder 8 constitutes the logical complement of the blade holder 7 shown in FIGS. 11 to 14 for equipping a 10-hole diatonic type harmonica comprising two blade holders. All the audible vibrating sound blades supported by this blade holder are here fixed on that, 8.1, of the constituent plates of said blade holder which is closest to the bed against which it rests according to the plane P8.

Of course, these two blade holders shown in FIGS. 11 to 18 can both support both blown sound waves and aspirated sound waves, each of which, depending on its type, is blown or sucked, and its length, itself being in direct correlation with its height of sound, would then be advantageously fixed on that of the constituent plates of said blade holder which is the best positioned, in terms of distance from the corresponding bearing surfaces of the bed base .

FIGS. 19 to 28 show two blade holders carrying one of the ten aspirated blades and the other the ten blown blades of the instrument each of the blade holders is made in a plate whose thickness gradually decreases from acute to treble. which makes it possible to have blade holders whose thickness at the peripheral edges of the windows through which the vibrating blades oscillate is logically related to the amplitude of the oscillations of said blades which are themselves directly related to their free length. As can be seen in Figures 24 to 28 the acute aspirated blades are positioned closer than the low blades of the bearing surface of the blade holder against the corresponding face of the comb or bed base. It follows therefore that at least some, if not all, of the acute aspirated blades supported by this blade holder are therefore positioned closer to the mean longitudinal plane Px of the instrument than are the low blades supported by this same holder. blades which is an asset for these sharp aspired blades always difficult to put in vibration. Figures 29 to 33 show a blade holder made from a plate whose thickness of the edges of the side edges and / or the wall of the window located opposite the vibrating end of the blade is reduced by hollows or counters. We can see that these recesses or counterbore are becoming deeper as we move away from the serious notes associated with long blades to get closer to the short sharp blades and for the reason explained above. before. FIG. 34, 35, 36 show a particular embodiment in which the two blade holders 9 and 10 are arranged obliquely with respect to the mean longitudinal plane Px so that the planes P9 and P10 passing through their side facing the exhaust side of the air passing through their respective windows constitutes an open dihedron at the mouth of the instrument 1. According to an important characteristic, the vibrating sound blades 9.1 and 10.1 are here fixed against the face of the blade holder, respectively 9 and 10, oriented from side exhaust air through the windows of said blade holder. The angle, respectively 9.11 and 10.11, of the face of the window situated between the rivet for fixing the blade and the free vibrating part of the blade is advantageously chamfered to prevent any injury to the sounding blade which may lead to a rupture initiation during of his oscillating movements.

Each of the two blade holders 9 and 10 is also here made from a single plate of a sufficient thickness so that the faces constituted by the slices of the window concerned are sufficiently high so that the longitudinal sides and the end of the free part of said sound blade remain enclosed in the thickness of said window by not exceeding the air intake face of the blade holder concerned during all the time when during its oscillations, said blade is found in the space between its attachment plane and the plane passing through the air intake face of the respective blade carrier as shown in fine lines for the sound blade active respectively 9 in Figure 20 and 10 on Figure 21.

FIG. 34 shows the resting characteristic positions of the blown blade 9 and of the suction blade 10 when no airflow circulates in the air channel 201.

FIG. 35 shows the flow of the blown air which activates the blown blade 9.1 to oscillate between its two extreme positions represented in fine lines in the same manner as FIG. 36 shows the flow of the sucked air flow which activates the aspirated blade 10.1 to oscillate between its two extreme positions represented in fine lines. It is understood all the interest of the inclination of the blade carrier 9 and 10 relative to the mean longitudinal plane Px which allows the flow of air blown or sucked to follow a path requiring only small changes in direction which preserves all their strength to animate thick and therefore solid sound waves and generating a powerful sound.

FIGS. 37 to 41 show a particular embodiment of a single blade holder 11 supporting all the blown sound blades and all the extracted sound waves of the instrument. These blades can be mounted either conventionally, as shown on the section 42, that is to say then being fixed against the face of the blade holder oriented side of the air intake face for the blade concerned but these blades can be advantageously mounted on the contrary, that is to say by being fixed against the face of the blade holder oriented air exhaust side for the concerned blade as shown in Figures 43 to 51. In this embodiment, each of the ten mouth holes feeds a blown blade and an aspirated blade whose respective longitudinal axes are aligned and the two blades are fixed to the blade holder 11 by a single rivet sandwiching said blade holder. between the fixed parts of the two sound waves. The blade holder 11 here consists of a single plate which tapers in stages to go from a thickness e1 at the level of the low blades to a much smaller thickness e5 at the sharp blades. Note that the thickness of the blade carrier can be reduced in successive stages between each window or every two windows as shown in these figures or all three or all four windows. The thickness of the plate constituting the blade holder can also be reduced continuously and degressively in the form of an inclined plane thus giving it a beveled shape and / or in the form of areas or surfaces that are locally concave or else under the shape of locally convex zones or surfaces that bring it from the thickness it has at the level of the bass blades to a reduced thickness at the level of the high notes

The outer contour of the blade holder 11 is here of generally trapezoidal shape to reduce its bulk and the corresponding material cost. Figures 43 and 44 which are cross sections according to the RR marks of Figures 48 to 51 show the operation of the harmonica respectively during blowing and during suction. Figure 45 is a section according to RR of Figures 48 to 51 showing the characteristic positions of the two blades fed by the same air channel when they are at rest.

FIGS. 46 and 47, which are transverse cross-sectional views respectively along the lines SS and QQ of FIGS. 48 to 51, show that the single blade holder 11 is sandwiched between the bearing faces formed by the slices of the walls 130 separating the air channels between them and the walls 120 and 121 integral with the upper cover 12 itself being pushed and pressed against the walls 130 of the bed base by screws 122 passing through the entire upper cover 12 and the blade holder 11 to to be screwed into the main body 13 of the harmonica constituting with the bed and its walls 130 an advantageously monolithic assembly. The vertical axial planes of the walls 120 and 121 integral with the top cover 12 are arranged parallel and even advantageously in the vertical extension of the vertical axial planes of the corresponding walls 130 for separating the air channels. Some of the vertical walls integral with the upper covers 12 bearing the markers 121 extend over only a portion of the width of the blade holder 11 to allow better sound diffusion through wider openings towards the flag of the instrument. Other vertical walls integral with the upper cover 12 bearing the markers 121 extend to the flag of the instrument to provide the upper cover rigidity required so that it can effectively press the blade holder 11 against the bed base without much deform.

As shown in FIG. 47, the single blade holder 11 is inclined with respect to the mean longitudinal plane Px at an angle (Alpha) advantageously between 0 ° (zero degrees) and 45 ° (forty five degrees), preferably between 10 °. ° (ten degrees) and 35 ° (thirty five degrees) and in particular between 15 ° (fifteen degrees) and 30 ° (thirty degrees), this last angular range representing the best compromise between attack incidence against the sound blades of airflow sucked and blown, and the angle of reverberation and projection sounds against the vault formed by the inner face of the top cover and external dimensions of the instrument.

As shown in FIGS. 48, 49 and 50, the additional sealing means required at the sides and at the free ends of the sound waves are here ensured by the corresponding faces of the walls 130 separating the air channels and the walls. 120 and 121 of the hood 12 which are locally positioned in the immediate vicinity of the points through which the edges and the end of Ia concerned blade pass during its oscillations. As shown in FIG. 46, the width of the cover L 3 is smaller than the width L 4 of the lower element 13 constituting the main body of the harmonica, in order to optimize the diffusion upwards and forwards. sounds emitted thanks to a generously open pavilion.

The harmonica is also of generally trapezoidal shape when viewed in plan view as in FIG. 50, which ensures a much more ergonomic grip than with the harmonicas of the prior art, the width L1 on the side of the instrument measured on the side of the bass notes being at least 30% (thirty percent) or even at least 40% (forty percent) higher than the width of the side of the instrument measured on the high notes side.

Means for fixing a microphone can be advantageously arranged at the flag or the side where the instrument is the shortest, so the side of sharp blades or on the contrary side of the low blades.

Figure 51 is a view of the rear face of the instrument showing the mouth area into which the air channels open to form the ten mouth holes numbered from 1 to 10. The ten mouth holes that includes the harmonica shown in this figure 51 are identical to each other.

FIG. 52 is a horizontal longitudinal sectional view along the mean plane P.sub.x showing the air circulation channels according to a particular embodiment in which said channels are of conical shape, the walls which delimit them laterally are not parallel between they as in the provision of the prior art but concurrent in such a way that the dihedron formed by the extension of the planes passing through said walls is an open dihedral side of the mouth of the instrument. When the harmonicist blows in these air channels, this progressive conical shape of the air channel offers, compared to the provisions of the prior art, the advantage of progressively concentrating the flow of air towards the end of the air channel. blade for maximum thrust efficiency. Of course, the lateral flanks of the channels which are here represented as planes may also advantageously be of curved, convex or concave shape and in particular parabolic when viewed in plan view, the harmonica being arranged in the same position as on this view. . The longitudinal axes of the air channels represented in FIG. 52 are parallel to each other but they could equally well be convergent in such a way that said axes so be concurrent on the side of the mouth of the instrument or on the contrary be divergent while being concurrent on the side of the flag of the instrument.

FIGS. 53 and 54 show two alternative embodiments of an embodiment in which the inlet section, or surface, of the mouth holes feeding the acute canals is smaller than the surface of the mouth inlet holes. channels feeding the blades serious.

It should first be noted that in the two arrangements shown in these figures 53 and 54 the spacing E holes are identical between the bass and treble and they are of the same value as the harmonica of the prior art and this so as not to disturb the marks of the play.

The reduction of the section of the entrance holes can be achieved by a progressive reduction, from bass to treble, of the height of said holes as illustrated in FIG. 53, the holes of which go from the height H1, at the level of the bass, at the lower height of H2 at treble level. As shown in FIG. 54, the reduction, from bass to treble, of the inlet section of the mouth holes can also be achieved by progressively reducing the width of said holes, which goes from the width L 1 of the most serious hole. to the smaller width L2 of the acute hole with logical consequence, benefit in terms of the ease of play, the gradual increase in space d1 separating the first two serious holes to a space d2 more important of the space between the two most acute holes.

Of course it is also possible to make this section reduction of the entrance holes by combining the two previous solutions by reducing both the height and width of said mouth holes from acute to acute systematically for each one. holes in increments of two or more contiguous holes.

Such a digressive hole inlet section layout is technically very interesting since it allows the large air flow necessary to animate the serious sound waves that do not otherwise require a large air pressure unlike sharp blades that require high pressure but a much smaller flow rate brought by the smaller holes feeding air channels also acute enough reduced so that the air pressure can reach almost instantly the required level.

Figures 55 to 57 show different particular embodiments of the sound blades including serious blades that require a heavier end. FIG. 55 shows a sound blade whose end has been folded in the form of an open hook on the side of the air intake face, said hook offering the advantage of increasing the height of the end of the blade in such a way that it ensures a greater sealing against the area leaks at the end of the window. Figure 56 shows a blade having recesses, or grooves, transverse on its side facing the side of the exhaust air. It can therefore be said that said face of the lamella is not smooth as are those of the prior art but that it comprises reliefs whose shape and dimensions allow to act on the flow of laminar flow which leads the vibration of said blade thus being able to modify the sound, the texture, of the sound emitted by said blade.

FIG. 57 shows another type of hammer-shaped relief positioned also on the face of the sound blade oriented on the exhaust side of the air, thus oriented on the inner side with respect to the comb for the aspirated blades and oriented on the outer side with respect to the comb. for the blown blade.

FIGS. 58 to 62 show various alternative embodiments of a particular embodiment of the blade holder according to the invention in which, to facilitate certain gaming techniques that require a high execution speed, therefore a quasi vibration instantaneous sound blades, for at least some of the sound blades the blade holder and / or the sound blades concerned comprise special arrangements intended to allow a limited and controlled flow of directed and controlled air leaks located at the level of the zone d end of the blades designed to create very fast laminar flow suitable for driving the blades in vibration without delay.

According to a first embodiment shown in FIG. 58 and its partial enlargement, the controlled air leaks are localized in each of the two end angles of the window whose radius R2 is smaller than the corresponding radius R1 of the sound blade. . In FIG. 59, the width of the window through which the sound wave oscillates is locally widened with respect to the width of the corresponding part of the sound blade. Thus, over a length of value L, measured from the end of the window, advantageously between the half-width and twice the width of the sound blade concerned, the space separating the edge of the sound blade from the corresponding edge of the window and / or the space separating the end of the blade sound of the corresponding end of the window is of a dimension greater than at least three times the value of the space, measured at half the length of said window, separating the edge of said blade from the corresponding adjacent edge of the window. In FIG. 60 it is the end of the sound blade which is reduced in width in such a way that the same values are observed as explained above for FIG. 59. In FIG. notch arranged through its end edge.

In FIG. 61, the sound blade comprises a hole made through its thickness while the window of the blade holder has two notches of curvilinear shape arranged through said blade holder on either side of the lateral edges of the zone. end of the blade.

Figures 63 to 65 show different cross sections of sound blades.

FIG. 63 shows a sound blade having on its face facing the blade holder, and therefore oriented on the exhaust side of the air, a central groove whose longitudinal axis may advantageously be coplanar with the longitudinal axis of said blade. This longitudinal groove has particular vocation to facilitate the flow of a stream of air oriented towards the free end of the sound blade concerned.

FIG. 64 shows a substantially triangular shaped blade having two lateral bevels intended to facilitate the lateral laminar flows. FIG. 65 shows a blade having two longitudinal grooves which can be arranged either parallel to each other or conversely convergent or divergent in the direction of the free end of the sound blade concerned.

FIGS. 66 to 69 show a first mounting of a sound blade on a blade carrier according to the invention to which it is fixed by fastening means directly integrated with said blade holder and which constitute with the latter a monolithic assembly, which can be made directly during the molding of said blade holder. This arrangement offers great ease of assembly for the original equipment while also offering the possibility of later change the sound blade concerned, when it is damaged, without any tools which is a very big advantage over the blade holder of the prior art on which the blades are riveted or welded.

These fixing means are constituted by guide means in translation in the longitudinal direction of the blade collaborating with immobilization means in translation of said blade. The precise guidance of the blade in longitudinal translation, or axial, so according to only one degree of freedom, is provided on the one hand by means arranged laterally on both sides of the blade and secondly by support means arranged above the blade and wedging means disposed below said blade. All of these means ensures the axial guidance in longitudinal translation of the fixed part of this blade in the direction of its longitudinal axis while prohibiting any other movement in the horizontal plane and / or in the vertical plane. The lateral guide means are intended to ensure permanent coplanarity of the longitudinal axis of said blade with the longitudinal axis of the window concerned while the support means and wedging in the vertical direction are intended to guarantee the precise positioning at altitude of the fixed part of the blade in the appropriate position relative to the blade holder required for its proper functioning. Translation immobilization means collaborate with the axial guidance guiding means described above to ensure the positioning and maintenance of said blade to the required position so that its free end is located at the right distance from the end of the window concerned. According to a preferred embodiment, the guide means in axial translation of the blade consist of a tunnel consisting of a groove of which at least part of the length is U-shaped returned closed at the top and open at the bottom. through the thickness of the blade holder, while at least one other portion of said groove is generally U-shaped open upward and closed downwardly. The width of the groove is adjusted precisely to the width of the blade concerned to ensure perfect axial guidance without play of said blade. To prevent any inadvertent translation of said blade when it has reached its exact position, at least one stud, a boss, or a lug, integral with the blade holder or the bed base, collaborates with a hole arranged through the blade or with at least one indentation or on the contrary at least one projection or redan arranged on at least one longitudinal edge of the fixed part of the blade. According to an alternative embodiment, the immobilization in axial translation of the blade is provided by a flexible tab cut in the periphery of the fixed part of the blade coming to wedge against an obstacle, integral with the blade carrier, of suitable shape positioned precisely to the location required to ensure the correct positioning of the blade in the axial direction relative to the window through which oscillates its free portion.

According to this first preferred mode of assembly, the blade is brought to its precise working position by translation through the translation guide tunnel constituted by the succession and alternation of the portions of the open U-shaped groove and portions U-shaped channel open upwards. The width of the tunnel is precisely adjusted to the width of the concerned blade so that the lateral edges vertical sections of the U-shaped groove sections and the vertical side edges of the inverted U-shaped groove sections are positioned in contact against the longitudinal edges of said blade which they ensure the precise axial guidance in the horizontal plane. The respective altitudes of the U-shaped groove section bottoms and the vertices of the inverted U-shaped groove sections that make up the tunnel are designed to be adjusted to the thickness of the sound blade to ensure a smooth positioning. play in the vertical plane of the fixed part of the sound blade being, if necessary to do this, very slightly offset staggered in the vertical direction relative to each other to put said fixed part of the sound blade slightly constrained to alternating flexion in the longitudinal direction.

As soon as the blade has been brought into its working position, its end is lifted by bending deformation so as to pass over the summit face of the lug which is lodged in the corresponding hole of the blade as soon as it has reached his working position. Thus, as shown in the various views 66 to 69, the fastening means therefore comprise at least vertical flanks ensuring the lateral setting cooperating with at least three alternating contact points acting in vertical directions of opposite directions associated with a retaining member. on which hangs, by slight bending deformation, the free portion of the sound blade which is positioned opposite the vibrating free portion of said blade.

These figures also show that, on the side of the face of the blade holder located on the exhaust side of the air, the length L, measured in the axial direction of the sound blade, of the window through which the sound wave oscillates is reduced. at a value d2 less than L. Indeed on the side of the air exhaust face of the blade holder, a connecting wall 800 which crosses the entire width of the window and which is here arranged in the thickness of the blade holder, extends, in the longitudinal direction of the window, over a certain length of the window from the end of said window located on the side of the fixed part of the blade. Of course, this wall 800 which is disposed between the vibrating part of the blade and the face of the blade holder on the exhaust side of the air is of a sufficiently small thickness that the face of this wall 800 located on the inlet side of the air of the blade holder is located below the space swept by the vibrating part of the blade so that there is no contact between it. According to an advantageous embodiment, the length d2 of the window measured at the level of the face of the blade carrier through which the air escapes is less than three quarters of the length L of the window measured at the level of the face. of the blade holder by which the air enters said window. according to a preferred embodiment, the length d2 of the window is less than two-thirds of the length L of the window, and according to a particular embodiment, the length d2 of the window is less than three-fifths of the length L of said window.

FIGS. 70 to 73 show another embodiment of a blade carrier according to the invention in which the axial guiding means of the blade are completed by a counter-blade 990 of slightly conical shape intended on the one hand to absorb the vertical clearance between the upper face of the tunnel and the thickness of the blade so as to maintain the upper face of the fixed part of the plated blade against the underside of the guide tunnel in which it is slid and secondly to ensure for the vibrating part of the blade a rigid lower support despite the overhang due to the distance from the lower support point on which the fixed part of the sound blade is supported. According to another important feature of this embodiment, on the side of the intake face of the air passing through the blade holder, for at least some of the sound waves that the instrument comprises, the opening of the window is reduced. in length by a bridge 991 connecting the two sides of said window stepping over the space traversed by the vibrating part of the blade. On the side of the vibrating blade, the lower face of this bridge 991 consists of two walls arranged substantially in the vertical extension of the lateral faces of the window through which the vibrating part of the sound wave oscillates, the said walls of the bridge being then interconnected. by a vault advantageously curvilinear in the transverse direction of the blade but which could also be rectilinear and parallel to the face of said blade. As shown in particular in Figure 72 In the longitudinal direction of the sound blade, the underside of the bridge is preferably curvilinear and advantageously parabolic pavilion-shaped open towards the free vibrating end of the sound blade and in the aim to ensure a projection and an amplification of the sound vibrations emitted by said blade whose bridge 991 constitutes an acoustic mirror. In the longitudinal direction of the vibrating blade, it can be seen that, as one approaches the vibrating free end of the blade, the inner face of said bridge 991 located on the side of the vibrating blade s' more and more away from the plane passing through the face against which is fixed the sound blade concerned, said lower face of the bridge 991 being arranged obliquely. According to a particular embodiment, the faces of said bridge 991 situated on the side of the vibrating part of the blade may advantageously be coated with a hard material and smooth such as including chromium to further enhance the acoustic reverberation of said bridge.

In this embodiment, for at least some of the sound waves, the length d1 of the opening through which the air enters before energizing the vibrating blade is less than the length L of the window fitted in the blade holder, which length L also corresponds substantially here to the length of the free portion of the sound blade, therefore to the length of the vibrating portion of said blade.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the length d1 of the opening through which the air enters is less than three quarters of the length L of the air passage measured at the level of the face of the blade holder against which is fixed the sound blade concerned. . according to a preferred embodiment, the length d1 of the opening is less than two thirds of the length L of the window, and according to a particular embodiment, the length d1 of the opening is less than three-fifths of the length L of said window.

FIGS. 74 to 78 show an alternative embodiment of a blade holder equipped with a bridge 992 as described above for FIGS. 70 to 73, but the bridge 992 here consists of a connecting wall extending obliquely in the longitudinal direction of the sound blade and extending horizontally in the transverse direction of said blades said connecting wall extending continuously between two adjacent blades. These figures show another way of fixing the sound blades on the blade holder. Indeed, the guide means in axial translation of the blades here consist of tunnels which are closed on all four and whose passage dimensions are adjusted with that of the section of the sound blade concerned while the immobilization means in translation are constituted by a rivet, a screw or a simple pin-shaped pin on which hangs the blade after its free end located on the side of its fixed part, and therefore located opposite its other end free vibrating, has been raised to pass over said pin which is then housed in the corresponding hole in the blade.

According to an alternative embodiment of this method of fixing the sound blades on their blade holder, not shown in these drawings, at least part of the fixed part of the sound blade is of conical shape in the vertical direction and / or in the horizontal direction, so in the sense of its thickness and / or in the sense of its width and it collaborates with a suitable tunnel section, where appropriate advantageously conical also in such a way that the axial translation of the blade to bring it into its working position allows it to fit perfectly and without play in the tunnel constituting a sleeve and both in the lateral direction and in the vertical direction.

According to a first embodiment of this variant, the width and / or the thickness of at least part of the fixed part of at least the blade is decreasing as one approaches its free end. vibrating and for its mounting on the blade holder the blade is then placed by axial translation in the oriented direction of the fixed portion of the blade towards the free vibrating end of said blade before being immobilized in translation by means locking devices consisting of obstacles of complementary shapes arranged on or in the blade and / or arranged on or in the blade holder and / or on or in the bed base and / or on or in the hood concerned and / or against or in the internal face of the main body of the harmonica.

According to another embodiment, the width and / or the thickness of at least part of the at least fixed part of the blade is decreasing as one moves away from its vibrating free end and for its mounting on the blade holder the blade is then placed by axial translation in the direction of the vibrating free end of said blade towards the fixed part of the blade before being immobilized in translation by locking means described above.

According to another feature, part of its length of the fixed part of the blade can be advantageously thinned to facilitate its longitudinal flexion to come hang on the locking means in translation.

According to another embodiment, the sound blades are fixed to the blade holder by bosses, pins or rivets hot crushed or with the aid of an ultrasonic clamping said bosses pins or rivets being advantageously molded at the same time than the blade holder with which they constitute a monolithic assembly made of thermoplastic material or thermosetting material, while the sound slats can be made either of metal alloys or of composite alloys consisting of fibers embedded in synthetic resins is still to be made in a thermoplastic material that it is then possible to attach to the blade holder either by gluing or by ultrasonic welding. As shown, for two contiguous blades, Figure 77, over a portion of their length, each of the windows through which the sound waves oscillate are U-shaped section open on the side of the vibrating blade concerned. Figure 78 shows in cross section a harmonica equipped with two blade holders identical to those shown in Figures 74 to 77. It can be seen that for the upper blade holder which supports the blown blades the opening of at least some of the windows through which the blown blades oscillate is on the air intake side of a shorter length than is the opening through which the air leaves the blade holder. The same goes for the lower blade holder that supports the suctioned blades. On the other hand, as can be seen, the connecting bridge reducing the length of the windows is positioned inside the comb, in the air channel concerned for the blown blades while it is located outside the door. blades and therefore outside the comb or bed base for the blades sucked. This figure 78 clearly shows the interest of said bridge which first acts as a deflector directing the air flow towards the free vibrating end of the blades and this for both the blades sucked for the blown blades. The bladed blade holder bridge located inside the air duct concerned also helps to accelerate the speed of the air flow advantageously and to increase the air pressure at the vibrating end of the air ducts. blades blown due to the progressive conical reduction of said air channel by said bridge. This bridge connecting the two edges of the window over a portion of the length of said window also contributes greatly to limiting air leakage at the vibrating portion of the blade located near the attachment area of said blade.

FIGS. 79 to 82 show a preferred embodiment in which, for at least some sound blades, the openings for admission and exhaust of the air passing through the window through which the vibrating part of the blade concerned oscillates are of lengths, respectively d1 and d2, less than the length L of the air passage measured at the level of the face of the blade holder against which the sound blade concerned is fixed.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the length d2 of the opening through which the air exits after passing through the window, is less than three quarters of the length L of the air passage measured at the level of the face of the blade holder. against which is fixed the sound blade concerned. according to a preferred embodiment, the length d2 of said opening is less than two thirds of the length L of the window, and according to a particular embodiment, the length d2 of the opening is less than three fifths of the length L of said window.

In this embodiment, the window through which the sound wave oscillates concerned is partially masked or covered on the air inlet side by a first bridge 993 and partially concealed or covered also on the air outlet face side. by a second bridge 994 whose arch is oriented facing the arch of the first bridge

These two connecting bridges connecting over a part of their length the two longitudinal sides of the window concerned are in the form of dome or flag open towards the free vibrating end of the blade and they are therefore advantageously of generally elliptical shape or even parabolic.

The first bridge located on the air intake face side is flared in the horizontal plane and in the vertical plane so that its width and height are increasing as one gets closer to the air. free vibrating end of the blade. The legs of the first connecting bridge constituting the flag 993 located on the air intake side are not located in the vertical extension of the lateral faces of the window as are those against the second bridge constituting the flag 994 located on the exhaust side of the air. The special features of these pavilions are mainly used as resonators and amplifiers to amplify the sound volume of the sound vibrations emitted by the sound wave and are also intended to prevent any air leakage by creating obstacles. , baffles, at the relevant lateral edges of the window. According to another feature of a particular embodiment that can be applied to all the foregoing, at least a portion of the free vibrating portion of at least some of the sound waves that the instrument comprises and of course the adjacent edges corresponding windows are advantageously trapezoidal when viewed in plan view so that the width of said blades is then degressive as one approaches the free vibrating end of said blade. This particular shape gives the blade a greater ease of bending in the end zone thanks to the reduced width of the blade in this zone while reinforcing the connection zone between the vibrating part and the fixed part of the blade thanks to a increased width of the blade in this connection area. Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown or described in this document, but it also includes all the technical equivalents and their combinations and it applies equally well to harmonica of the diatonic type as harmonicas chromatic type or polyphonic or low type.

Claims

_1 - Blade holder (7, 8, 11) for harmonica said blade holder supporting sound vibrating blades (301, 401, 701, 710, 801, 810,) each of said sound blades being fixed to said blade holder by the one of its ends while the free portion of said sound blade can oscillate through a window arranged in the blade holder under the force of a flow of air blown or sucked by the harmonica player, said blade holder being characterized in that

the height of at least a portion of at least one lateral face or the end face of the windows through which the flexible part of the sharp vibrating blades of the instrument oscillates is less than the height of the corresponding zone of the window through which oscillates the flexible part of the serious vibrating blades.

2 - blade holder (7, 8, 11) for harmonica according to claim 1 characterized in that the thickness of said blade carrier is decreasing in successive stages of the sharp blades sharp blades.

3 - blade holder for harmonica according to claim 1 characterized in that the thickness of said blade carrier is gradually decreasing acute blades sharp blades.

4- blade holder for harmonica according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 3 characterized in that the thickness of the edges of the side edges of at least some windows and / or the thickness of the edge of the window located against the vibrating end of the blade is reduced by recesses, or countersinks and that the recesses or counterboring made at the acute blades are deeper than those made at the level of the serious notes .

5 - blade holder for harmonica according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 4 characterized in that at least some acute blades aspirated are positioned closer to the average longitudinal plane Px of the harmonica than are the bass blades supported by the same blade holder.

6 - blade holder for harmonica according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 5 characterized in that, for at least some of the windows through which the sound waves vibrate, said blade holder comprises a bridge (991, 994) connecting both sides of said window stepping over the space traversed by the vibrating part of the blade and in that the length (d1), measured in the longitudinal axial direction of the blade concerned, of the opening through which between the air between to cross said window is less than the length (L) of the air passage measured at the level of the face of the blade holder against which is fixed the sound blade concerned.

7 - Blade holder for harmonica according to the preceding claim 6 characterized in that the length (d1) of the opening through which the air enters to animate the sound blade is less than three quarters of the length (L) of the passage of air measured at the level of the face of the blade holder against which is fixed the sound blade concerned.

8 - blade holder for harmonica according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 7 characterized in that, for at least some of the windows through which the sound waves vibrate, said blade carrier comprises a bridge (994) connecting the two side of said window by stepping over the space traversed by the vibrating part of the blade and in that the length (d2), measured in the longitudinal axial direction of the blade concerned, of the opening through which the air comes out after having passed through said window is less than the length (L) of the air passage measured at the level of the face of the blade holder against which the sound blade concerned is fixed.

9 - blade holder for harmonica according to the preceding claim 8 characterized in that the length (d2) of the opening through which the air comes out after passing through the window, is less than three quarters of the length L of the passage of air measured at the level of the face of the blade holder against which the sound blade concerned is fixed.

10 - blade holder for harmonica according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 9 characterized in that the sound blades are fixed to the blade holder on the one hand by means providing precise guidance in axial translation of said blades and on the other hand by translation locking means.

11 - blade holder for harmonica according to claim 10 characterized in that for its mounting on said blade holder the blade is implemented by axial translation in the oriented direction of the fixed portion of the blade towards the free vibrating end of said blade and is immobilized in translation by locking means consisting of obstacles of complementary shapes arranged on or in the blade and or arranged on or in the blade holder and / or on or in the bed base and / or against or in the internal face of the main body of the harmonica.

12 - blade holder for harmonica according to claim 10 characterized in that for its mounting on said blade holder the blade is implemented by axial translation in the direction of the vibrating free end of said blade to the fixed part of the blade then is immobilized in translation by locking means consisting of obstacles of complementary shapes arranged on or in the blade and or arranged on or in the blade holder and / or on or in the bed base and / or against or in the internal face of the main body of the harmonica.

13 - blade holder for harmonica according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 12, characterized in that at least some of the sound waves comprise arrangements allowing directed and controlled air leaks located at the end zone of said sound blades. .

14 - blade holder for harmonica according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 13 characterized in that at least a portion of the free vibrating part of at least some of the sound waves that includes the instrument and of course the edges corresponding adjacent windows concerned are advantageously of trapezoidal shape when viewed in plan view so that the width of said blades is then degressive as one approaches the free vibrating end of said blade.

15 - harmonica equipped with a blade holder according to any one of the preceding claims 1 to 14 characterized in that the inlet surface of the mouth holes feeding the acute channels is less than the surface of the inlet holes d the mouth of the channels feeding the bass blades and that the spacing (E) of the holes remain identical between the bass and treble.