Voice recognition dialing unit

5,222,121

43.72.Pf VOICE RECOGNITION DIALING UNIT

Keiko Shimada, assigner to NEC Corporation 22 June 1993 (Class 379/88); filed in Japan 19 June 1989

This patent deals with the protocol used for voice dialing, such as would be useful with a vehicular telephone. The patented aspect of that protocol is the addition of a command word such as "next," which causes the recognizer to abandon the first-recognized called-party name and, in turn, to step through the runner-up candidate names having smaller recog- nition scores. For each candidate name considered, the unit responds by reciting the phone number to be called.--DLR

5,300,730

43.75.Gh DEVICE FOR CONTROLLING MUSICAL

EFFECTS ON A GUITAR

Ira B. Ekhaus, Belmont, MA 5 April 1994 (Class 84/734); filed 7 December 1992

This system for an electric guitar is intended to provide the guitarist with mechanoelectric controls for creating special musical effects (e.g., fre- quency and amplitude modulations) in the amplified tone signals. Vibrations of string 32 on electric guitar 10 are transmitted from pickup 30 on line 50 to electronic musical effect generator 24. Signal conditioning circuit 22 receives control inputs B from a strain gauge assembly 20 on the neck of the guitar and C from strain and pressure measurement assembly 39 on guitar pick 18. Control output signals D, derived by circuit 22 from input signals B and C control the production of the desired musical effects in circuit 24.

5,291,817

43.75.Ef ADJUSTABLE BARREL TUNING

APPARATUS FOR USE WITH A WOODWIND

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

Gary Smith, assigner to Mobile Music, Incorporated 8 March 1994 (Class 84/386); filed 12 January 1993

The mouthpiece 11 of this clarinet connects to two telescoping mem- bers 14 and 22. An internal gear rack 34 on member 22 and internal gear 38 connected to member 14 can be operated by the musician, using adjustment wheel 36, to vary the length of that portion of the overall instrument air

column enclosed within members 14 and 22, thereby controlling the tuning of the instrument. A locking means 40 can be unlocked during adjustment and relocked after adjustment to prevent inadvertent changes in air column length and resultant detuning.--DWM

10 32

20 34

A ICao

49

22

I SIGNAL CONDITIONING

CIRCUIT

ELECTRONIC •j24 MUSICAL

EFFECT

I

I AMPLIPIER• 26

Thus the guitarist manually produces the musical effects by the manner in which the pick 18 and the guitar neck 32 are handled.--DWM

5,293,000

43.75.Hi ELECTRONIC PERCUSSION SYSTEM SIMULATING PLAY AND RESPONSE OF

ACOUSTICAL DRUM

Alfonso M. Adinolfe, Redmond, WA 8 March 1994 (Class 84/730); filed 25 August 1992

Although this drum is intended to have the look, feel, and response of an acoustic drum, it is really an enclosure for a mechanoelectric transducer that provides pulse signals to an amplification system when the drum head is struck by the drumsticks. The entire interior of the drum is filled by foam material surrounding the transducer to "prevent the transducer from being falsely triggered by ambient sound exterior to the drum, by sympathetic vibrations of the drum," and to resist "false triggering due to lightly, inad- vertently hitting the drum stand."--DWM

5,299,484

43.75.Mn BEARING STRUCTURE AND TRANSMISSION STRUCTURE IN PLANO

Muneo Ishida et al., assignors to Kawai Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company

5 April 1994 (Class 84/251); filed in Japan 27 March 1992

In a piano action the hammer rotation occurs around a bearing com- prising a steel pin shaft fixed to the hammer butt, and rotating within holes

1951 J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 96, No. 3, September 1994 Reviews of Acoustical Patents 1951

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