Did You Know...
...Chester Carlson was a patent agent who tired of having to make multiple copies of patent applications using the only duplication method available at the time: carbon paper. In 1959 he came up with a new copying system and took it to IBM for evaluation. The "experts" at IBM determined potential sales to be only 5,000 units because people wouldn't want to use a bulky machine when they had carbon paper. Carlson's invention was the xerography process, the company founded on the system is Xerox.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7932453 | Tool for setting an instrument sound post A tool for setting an instrument sound post preferably includes a bent tube, one or more string or polymer lines, a cradle end that grasps the sound post, and an internal locking mechanism to hold the sound post against the tool. In one embodiment, a single line is ... | 04/26/2011 |
| 7928306 | Musical instrument tuning method and apparatus The present disclosure relates to musical instruments and devices. A system is provided which utilizes tonal visualization components incorporating color and/or shape to allow a person to “see” a note or group of notes sounded by an instrument to determine wheth... | 04/19/2011 |
| 7569760 | Peg cutter A peg cutter for the peg elements of stringed musical instruments, comprising a cutting-object receptacle, a blade with at least one cutting edge the position of which relative to the cutting-object receptacle is adjustable, and at least one contact element for the ... | 08/04/2009 |
| 7371955 | Drum tuning key A drum tuning key comprises a handle portion, a barrel portion defining an axis connected to the handle portion, the barrel portion having internal walls defining a cavity extending inwardly along the axis from an end of the barrel portion, the cavity being square i... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7309823 | String-bounding preventing structure for piano A plurality of strings are stretched over a frame, constituting an overall framework of a body of a piano, with their respective rear-end engaging rings engaged by corresponding pins provided on the frame. There is also provided a string-bounding preventing member t... | 12/18/2007 |
| 7301089 | String tuning adjuster A string tuning adjuster is a stick including a first aperture, a second aperture and a third aperture. Each aperture has a different diameter with respect to the others. The first aperture is disposed at a center section of the stick, while the second and the third... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7247780 | Wrench tremolo bar for a guitar A guitar has a wrench tremolo bar thereon, replacing the standard tremolo bar, with the wrench tremolo bar having a desired wrench on at least one end of the wrench tremolo bar, to cooperate with the string fasteners on the guitar, which greatly facilitates tuning, ... | 07/24/2007 |
| 7244882 | Drum key Apparatus and methods for rotating objects in accordance with the invention are disclosed. One embodiment of the invention includes a shaft including a socket opening in at least one end of the shaft and a handle connected to the shaft by a unidirectional bearing. A... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7244884 | Cleaning device for cleaning of metal strings of musical instruments A cleaning device (2) for in-situ cleaning of metal strings (50) on a stringed musical instrument comprising a manually bendable, resilient laminate having a first planar portion and end portion extending out of the plane of the first portion, the lami... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7127970 | Tool for tightening and loosening a wing nut or wing screw that secures a motor vehicle wheel A tool for tightening and loosening a wing nut having several wings that secures a motor vehicle wheel includes has a base element with three detachably attached contact bodies for the individual wings. The bodies serve to transfer the torque needed for tightening a... | 10/31/2006 |
| 7082644 | Handle extension for rotating a crank handle A handle extension for rotating a crank handle includes an elongate shaft having a first end and a second end. A member with a receptacle for engaging the crank handle is mounted at the first end of the shaft. When the second end of the shaft is grasped and a rotati... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7074998 | Stringed instrument tuner holder A tuner holder for stringed instruments. A first embodiment includes (i) a strut, (ii) a shelf extending substantially perpendicular in a first longitudinal direction from the distal edge of the strut, (iii) a hook extending in a second longitudinal direction from t... | 07/11/2006 |
| 6903256 | Holding extension for adding mass to guitar pick A pick-handle is attached to the to the “rear” edge of a conventional pick via a metal shaft. The handle portion is made to be comfortably grasped in the palm of the player's hand while the pick is held in the normal manner between the thumb and forefinger. Stri... | 06/07/2005 |
| 6888056 | Piano string coil lifting and setting apparatus An apparatus (10) for lifting and setting a piano string coil (16) is provided for improving tuning stability. Preferably, the apparatus (10) includes an internal slide hammer portion (12) and a string engaging portion (14) extendi... | 05/03/2005 |
| 6784353 | Musical instrument stringer/tuner device A musical instrument stringer/tuner device for replacing the tuning pegs on guitars. The musical instrument stringer/tuner device includes a housing member being adapted to be attachable to a musical instrument and having top, side, end, and bottom walls with a plur... | 08/31/2004 |
| 6727416 | Piano hammer adjustment apparatus and method for using same The present invention is an apparatus tuning and adjusting pianos. It maybe attached to the existing hammer shank and simulates a piano hammer. The present invention's dimensions and angles are adjustable. As the present invention is moved into strike position on th... | 04/27/2004 |
| 6545206 | Tool for musical instrument A guitar bridge-pin removal tool has a solid body sized to fit in a users hand and opposite surfaces that can be gripped between the thumb and fingers. A channel is disposed across one end of the solid body. Such channel has a main cross section that appr... | 04/08/2003 |
| 6489548 | String changing assist apparatus and method A string assist apparatus and method (10) includes a support (12) and a resilient extension (14) connected to the support (12). When placed in position on an instrument (20), one end (18) of a string (16) is connected to a bridge (22). The string (16) is ... | 12/03/2002 |
| 6482239 | Sound post installer The present invention, in a preferred embodiment, is a new and improved sound post installer that generally comprises a handle, a prong and a positioning hook. More specifically, the handle is an elongated rodlike member that is sized so that it may be ea... | 11/19/2002 |
| 6345449 | Method of sterilization of musical wind instruments A method of sterilizing musical instruments is provided. More particularly, a method of sterilizing musical wind instruments is provided for sterilizing, or at least sanitizing, musical wind instruments without damaging or degrading components of such ins... | 02/12/2002 |
| 6294719 | Musical instrument string winder A string winding device for winding and unwinding the string on a peg of a stringed instrument has a generally cylindrical body with a slot extending inward from one end thereof. The slot has a plurality of sections, which are configured to engage differe... | 09/25/2001 |
| 6284960 | Woodwind instrument reed maintenance device A woodwind instrument reed maintenance device that extends the life of a used reed by removing the tip of the reed by burning. The device achieves extended life, and a brighter or a more projected sound from a used reed due to the cauterization of the woo... | 09/04/2001 |
| 6255575 | String winding and trimming device A device for winding and trimming the strings of a musical instrument is disclosed, the device having an elongated head with an open receptacle on one side and at one end for interengaging the tuning buttons of the instrument. The other end of the head is... | 07/03/2001 |
| 6242678 | Musical instrument open hole cup plug, plug removal/storage tool, and kit A musical instrument open hole cup plug, a plug removal/storage tool, and a kit which includes the tool and a number of the open hole cup plugs. Each plug includes spaced upper and lower circular plates and the upper plate has a lower seating surface for ... | 06/05/2001 |
| 6023015 | Piano hammer shaping tool A hammer shaping tool is designed with two parts: a piano hammer template and a sanding strip. The template's face surface is a mirror of an desirably shaped piano hammer with side walls forming a channel along the face surface of the template. The width ... | 02/08/2000 |
| 6005179 | Woodwind cleaning sleeve The woodwind cleaning sleeve is designed to encase a rigid rod or dowel (20) that assists in pushing the cleaning sleeve through the inside of a musical instrument (22) in order to remove the moisture. The sleeve itself is made of a soft fabric, which pro... | 12/21/1999 |
| 5994636 | Guitar repair tool Clamping tool especially suitable for guitar repair which can be inserted into the sound hole of a guitar, with tensioning means spaced from the point at which force is applied to the instrument.... | 11/30/1999 |
| 5814748 | Pitch raise tuning for digital aural musical instrument tuning Methods and apparatus determine tuning frequencies for an instrument, such as a piano, by sounding at least three musical notes of the instrument. The sounded notes are recorded and digitally filtered to generate directly partial ladders representative of... | 09/29/1998 |
| 5804748 | Sound post installer The present invention is an improvement in the way a sound post is installed into a violin or viola. The present device secures the sound post to the device by using a cradle and wire loop. The sound post is attached to the device and then inserted throug... | 09/08/1998 |
| 5798472 | Drum beater for bass drum equipped with exactly adjustable return spring regulator A return spring regulator incorporated in a drum beater has a regulating nut rotatable with respect to a frame and a regulating bolt screwed into the regulating nut, and a player regulates the tension of a coil spring stretched between an arm member fixed... | 08/25/1998 |
| 5756913 | Automatic piano tuner A piano tuning system having an electronic control circuit which receives sound through a microphone for a piano key. Based upon a comparison of this sound with stored piano fundamental frequencies, signals are sent to a drive unit. An electrically driven... | 05/26/1998 |
| 5736660 | Method of adjusting length of duplex scale portion of piano strings The invention relates to an acoustic piano having a fretbase on which at least one fret node is supported by a fret and an adjacent node spaced from the fret node. Selected piano strings press downwardly upon the nodes and define between the nodes a duple... | 04/07/1998 |
| 5696341 | Guitar string tuning system A tuning knob and tuning knob system for a stringed instrument such as a guitar replaces the existing tuning knob. The present tuning knob is a cylindrical knob with exterior knurls and a central bore therethrough. At one end, the bore is adapted to be re... | 12/09/1997 |
| 5689076 | Drum adjustment apparatus A drum adjustment apparatus (60) is disclosed which retains a drum key (50) on the clothes of a user for ready access in adjusting the tension of drum heads. An envelope (64) mounts the drum key to a rotatable yoke (72) of a spring loaded snap (80) which ... | 11/18/1997 |
| 5686681 | String clamping plate extractor for Floyd Rose tremolo An extractor (30) for removing string clamping plates (26) from Floyd Rose tremolos (20) has a tongue (36) with a pin (38) which can engage hole (27) in plate (26) so that threaded element (42) when rotated will engage saddle surface (23) and apply upward... | 11/11/1997 |
| 5505116 | Stringing accessory for stringed musical instruments Installation and tuning of strings on a musical instrument is aided by an accessory having a socket which fits onto the heads of the string engaging pegs of the instrument. A lever extends sidewardly from the socket and an elongated handle extends from th... | 04/09/1996 |
| 5410939 | Musical instrument string winding device A musical instrument string winding device is set forth for winding the strings on a stringed musical instrument. The device has a hollow housing. A chuck is extended from the housing for receiving a key of a musical instrument. A motor is disposed within... | 05/02/1995 |
| 5388491 | Cello tuning peg A tuning peg for a cello musical instrument where the tuning peg has a tapered cylindrical body which has an axially extending recess therein. A handle is removably mounted to the cylindrical body and has an axially extending connecting member which is ad... | 02/14/1995 |
| 5272953 | String winder tool for musical instrument A musical instrument string winder for engaging a musical instrument knob (e.g. guitar knob) for tightening or loosening a musical instrument string includes a knob socket and a turning handle. The knob socket has an integral gear on one end and a recess ... | 12/28/1993 |
| 5159762 | Regulating rule for grand pianos The present invention enables accurate measuring and regulating operations to be carried out by measuring with a rule the quantity of movement of a hammer in a grand piano during an action mechanism regulating operation for attaining the normal striking o... | 11/03/1992 |
