Combination whistle

This invention relates to a whistle and is more particularly, but not exclusively, concerned with a dog whistle of the combination type.

Combination dog whistles have been made for more than 80 years. Nevertheless, it is believed that all operating parameters have not been optimised in a single design and there still tends to be a number of problems associated with such whistles that, as yet, have not been overcome. Combination dog whistles usually have a first mouthpiece at one end with an associated sound chamber having an air vent, and a second mouthpiece at the other end also with an associated sound chamber having an air vent. A pea or cork ball is usually provided in one of the sound chambers.

One problem which arises with conventional combination whistles is that the movement required to change ends to enable the whistle to be blown alternately at both ends is somewhat clumsy and takes a longer time than is desirable when issuing commands to a dog.

Another problem that may occur is the pea (or cork ball) "sticking" in the vent of its sound chamber during blowing. This problem has been around for many years and tends to be a nuisance but has not yet been obviated.

A further problem which is extremely important resides in the fact that when the combination whistle is blown gently it produces a lower frequency than when it is blown very hard; as pressure increases through the blowing range so does the frequency. A large frequency range produced when blowing such whistles gently or hard can cause confusion on the part of the dog trained to respond to the sound of the whistle. Of course, it is of paramount importance that clear command signals can be conveyed to the dog in a reliable manner which can be easily repeated. The conveyance of such reliable signals may make all the difference, for example, between a champion dog winning a trial and the dog simply not hearing and realising what task he is required to carry out according to the sound of the whistle.

Thus, it is believed to be important that the frequency variation possible when blowing the whistle gently or hard is restricted more than is the case with present whistles of this type which, as previously explained, can cause confusion on the part of the dog.

Equally, it is important that the correct signal can be conveyed to the dog over different working distances and it is believed that parameters have not been optimised in such whistles to convey clear signal information to the dog more particularly over a long distance. Usually one sound chamber of the combination whistle (not containing a pea) is used to give a quite clear and specific command in a relatively narrow frequency range that will be used for close work (short distances) but with some dogs (long ear channel dogs) it has been discovered that a wider frequency variation is needed over a longer distance to be more effective. Thus, the features selected to be included in the particular dog whistle combination need to be correlated with the particular type of dog that the whistle is to be used for.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a whistle which at least alleviates one or more of the aforementioned problems or to provide a whistle which is improved in at least some respect.

According to the present invention there is provided a combination whistle in which the two air vents open at opposite sides of the body of the whistle so that the whistle can be blown from either end with the associated air vent exhausting in an upward direction without the need when changing ends to turn the whistle about a vertical axis.

At least one of the sound chambers may contain a pea, cork ball or other like element, and in this event the said chamber is preferably provided with a protuberance arranged to project into the associated vent thereby to prevent the element from becoming stuck or lodged in the associated vent when air is blown into the chamber through the associated mouthpiece.

Usually, the protuberance will be provided at the inner end of an airflow directing means or ramp provided in an air passage connecting the relevant mouthpiece to the associated chamber.

Preferably, the protuberance includes an inclined surface positioned adjacent to the vent, said surface extending at 45° ± 5° relative to a transverse plane perpendicular to the axis of the sound chamber. If this angle were smaller the protuberance would restrict the exhausting of air through from the vent and cause stalling of the element.

Preferably, the protuberance provides a flat end wall preferably of .3175 ± .0175 cm which preferably extends generally at right angles to the axis of the sound chamber and which is preferably positioned below, and adjoining the bottom of, the inclined surface. Altering the dimensions of the wall varies the frequency of the sound chamber.

Preferably, the end wall is positioned on a central axis of the sound chamber and adjoins respective upright wall portions on either side of the end wall which are angled outwardly towards the associated mouthpiece of the sound chamber.

The sound chamber may be defined in part by a peripheral edge extending at 15° ± 5° to the transverse axis of the sound chamber.

Preferably, the sound chamber is provided with a conical or non-flat end remote from said protuberance. Where a conical end is provided as aforesaid the internal angle of the cone is preferably 150° ± 5°. This angle is important because greater or smaller angles affect the movement of the element and the trill effect produced by the element and the consistency of the frequencies generated.

The or each airflow directing means or ramp is preferably provided with air turbulence means which may be in the form of one or more blind holes in order to restrict the frequency variation.

The sound chamber is preferably adapted in order to produce a trill sound frequency on average of about 3400 ± 50 hertz in a range preferably about 2700 to 3500 hertz.

At least one of the mouthpieces may be provided with means such as a rib extending around the mouthpiece to enable it to be gripped and held by the teeth.

Many advantageous features of the present invention will be evident from the following description and drawings.

An embodiment of a combination dog whistle will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

• FIGURE 1 shows a side view of the whistle;
• FIGURE 2 shows a central longitudinal section taken through an upper part of the whistle;
• FIGURES 2A and 2B are end views corresponding to FIGURE 2 looking in the direction of arrows 'E' and 'F' respectively;
• FIGURE 3 is an underneath plan view of the upper part of the whistle shown in FIGURE 2;
• FIGURE 4 is a side view of said upper part of the whistle shown in an inverted position;
• FIGURE 5 is a plan view corresponding to FIGURE 4 (a view in the direction of arrow "A" in FIGURE 1);
• FIGURE 5a is a cross-section taken on the line BB of FIGURE 5;
• FIGURE 6 shows an enlarged detail view of part of FIGURE 3;
• FIGURE 6a shows a sectional side view detail corresponding to FIGURE 6, and
• FIGURE 6b shows a further detail of the upper part of the whistle;
• FIGURE 7 is a central longitudinal section through a lower part of the whistle shown in an inverted position;
• FIGURES 7A and 7B are end views corresponding to FIGURE 7 looking in the direction of arrows 'G' and 'I' respectively;
• FIGURE 8 is a top plan view of the lower part of the whistle;
• FIGURE 9 shows a side view of the lower part of the whistle;
• FIGURE 10 is an underneath plan view of the lower part of the whistle (corresponding to a view of the whistle in the direction of arrow "B" in FIGURE 1;
• FIGURE 11 shows an enlarged detail of FIGURE 8;
• FIGURE 11a shows a sectional side view detail corresponding to FIGURE 11;
• FIGURE 11b shows a further detail of the lower part of the whistle;
• FIGURE 12 shows an enlarged detail view of part of FIGURE 9;
• FIGURE 12a shows an enlarged top view looking in the direction of arrow "C" in FIGURE 12; and
• FIGURE 12b shows an enlarged detail end view looking in the direction of arrow "D" in both FIGURES 12 and 12a.

Referring to the drawings, a combination dog whistle comprises a body 1 formed in two parts, namely an upper part 2 (see FIGURES 2,3,4 and 5) joined to a lower part 3 (see FIGURES 7,8,9 and 10). Eight integral pegs p provided on the upper part (see FIGURES 2 and 6b) are engageable during assembly of the whistle in associated holes h formed in the lower part (see FIGURES 7 and llb).

FIGURE 1 shows a side view of the assembled whistle with a notional split line between the upper and lower parts being denoted X-X.

As shown in FIGURE 1, the left end of the whistle has a mouthpiece 3' leading to a first sound chamber 4 having a vent V₁, and the right end of the whistle has a mouthpiece 6 communicating with a sound chamber 5 provided with a vent V₂. The vents V₁ and V₂ open at opposite sides of the body of the whistle.

A central transverse hole 7 is formed in a solid part of the body 1 of the whistle so that it is not in communication with either of the sound chambers 4 and 5, this hole being used for a lanyard or cord so that the whistle can be carried on the user's neck or wrist in well known manner.

In FIGURE 1 the whistle is shown in the position in which it is placed when the right hand mouthpiece 6 is required to be used, i.e. with the associated vent V₂ positioned to vent air upwardly. To bring the left hand mouthpiece into a position for use, i.e. with its associated vent V₁ arranged to exhaust upwardly, the only movement that is needed is turning of the whistle about a generally horizontal axis corresponding generally to the axis of the hole 7. There is no need to turn the whistle about a vertical axis which would make it less easily manoeuvrable.

In order to understand the internal structure of the whistle 1 the upper and lower parts 2 and 3 are shown in some detail in FIGURES 2 to 6b and FIGURES 7 to 12b respectively.

The sound chamber 5 provided at the right hand end of the whistle as shown in FIGURE 1 is defined by a part 2a formed in the upper part 2 in co-operation with a part 3a formed in the lower part 3 of the whistle (FIGURES 2,3,7 and 8). It is to be noted that the chamber parts 2a,3a come together to define a generally cylindrical chamber 5 having a conical end defined by part-conical surfaces 2b and 3b respectively.

FIGURES 2 and 7 depict the angle of the cone with respect to a transverse plane perpendicular to the axis of the chamber 5 as being 15° resulting in a conical end to the chamber which is of shallow conical shape having an internal angle at the apex of 150°.

The sound chamber 4 is also cylindrical and is formed in a similar way, being defined by a part 2d formed in the upper part 2 of the whistle body and a part 3f formed in the lower part 3, except that it has a flat end face 4a.

A pea or cork ball (not shown) is located in sound chamber 5 but no pea is provided in chamber 4.

As shown in detail in FIGURE 6, the part 2d of the sound chamber 4 in the upper part of the whistle body is bounded on three sides by a raised rib r which during assembly is seated in a receiving groove g on three sides of the part 3f of the sound chamber formed in the lower part 3 of the body (FIGURES 6 and 6a). A similar rib and groove arrangement is provided around the sound chamber 5.

The vents V₁, V₂ are each provided with a tapering generally curved edge forming an air splitter.

The air splitter edge of vent V₁ is at 59° to a transverse plane of the whistle and the air splitter edge of vent V₂ is at 51° to a transverse plane of the whistle. These angles are critical for regulating the exhausting of air from the vents which is extremely important for frequency control.

The whistle body is preferably made of polycarbonate material. The two parts 2 and 3 of the body are joined together during manufacture by ultrasonic welding, the pegs p engaged in the holes h and the ribs r engaged in the grooves g providing melt points to ensure an airtight joint.

The chambers 4 and 6 communicate with their respective mouthpieces 3' and 6 through passages defined in the body of the whistle by longitudinal channels formed, respectively, in the upper and lower parts of the body, the mouths of the channels being closed by ramps R and 2c formed in the lower and upper parts respectively. Each ramp acts to direct the airflow produced by blowing the whistle at the relevant end into the associated sound chamber and towards the associated air splitter which thereby produces a whistling sound.

The rectangular inclined surfaces of the airflow directing ramps 2c and R are marked with crossing diagonal lines for ease of illustration.

The air flow directing ramp R (see FIGURES 7,8 and 12) of the lower part 3 of the whistle 1) is provided with a specially shaped protuberance 3c at the end of the ramp remote from the associated mouthpiece 6. It is to be noted that the right hand end of the part 3a of the sound chamber (as shown in FIGURE 12a) is defined by a peripheral edge 3d which also extends at 15° to a transverse plane perpendicular to the axis of the sound chamber 5 matching the angle of the conical end 3b of the sound chamber, until it meets the parallel, upright edges 3e and 3f of the protuberance 3c (see FIGURE 12b) where a thin flat end wall W of width .125" (.3175 cm) is provided opposite the conical end of the chamber 5.

The effect of the shape of the protuberance 3c is to provide a downwardly inclined polygonal (near trapezoidal) shaped surface 3g positioned in the vent V₂. The angle of the surface 3g relative to a transverse plane is 45° as will be evident from FIGURE 12 of the drawings. Thus, the protuberance 3c can be thought of as a three-dimensional compounded angle configuration and has been specifically designed to restrict or prevent the pea or cork ball (not shown) in the sound chamber 5 from becoming stuck or lodged in the vent V₂, this being a common problem with pea type whistles. The diameter of the pea/cork ball will be very slightly greater than the axial dimension d of vent V₂ (see FIGURE 5).

The 45° angle of the protuberance is important in order to allow sufficient air to exhaust through the vent.

Furthermore, the conical end shape 2b, 3b of the sound chamber 5 more particularly in combination with the protuberance 3c acts to create a distinctive trill when air is blown into the mouthpiece 6. The conical shape 2b,3b of the sound chamber 5 induces the pea or cork ball to "bounce around" or reverberate irregularly continuously during blowing to create a distinctive trill as the pea or cork ball rolls around the surface defining the sound chamber 5. The creation of the unique trilling sound is important as it will enable the listener (i.e. a dog) to recognise the particular whistle. Once a particular dog has been trained, he should always recognise this unique sound.

It is to be emphasised that the design of dog whistle as described has been the subject of many months of research into optimising parameters thereof so there should be much more effective control of the whistle. Thus, the dimensions and relative dimensions of various parts of the whistle are very important and in some cases critical (to within certain tolerances) to achieve the consistency and control over the sound quality required.

Regarding the conical shape 2b,3b of the end of sound chamber 5 and the protuberance 3c, it is believed that said conical shape contributes about 75% of the improved trill frequency obtainable with the protuberance contributing about 25% of the effect.

The whistle as shown should produce from the whistle element sound chamber 5 an average frequency of 3400 ± 50 hertz where the maximum frequency is 3500 hertz and the minimum frequency is 2700 hertz. There are considerable fluctuations in frequency during the act of blowing the whistle. The frequency variations taper off as the breath is exhausted. This variation in frequency provides the distinctive trill of the whistle that is thought to be achieved by way of the conical end shape 2b,3b of the chamber and protuberance 3c.

The average frequency produced via the mouthpiece 3' and vent V₁ (i.e. from the pealess end of the whistle) is 5400 hertz.

The sound produced by blowing into the mouthpiece is further modified by air turbulator means in the form of one or more blind holes H in the airflow directing ramps 3c and R such as that shown in the ramp R (see FIGURES 12 and 12a).

The function of each air turbulator means is to create turbulence within the air flow in the relevant mouthpiece 3' or 6 to more accurately control the frequency variation of the whistle 2. Usually, it will be important in the whistle to produce a fairly narrow frequency band thus minimising the possibilities of confusion on the part of the dog who will be trained to respond to a number of different frequency commands. When known whistles of this type are blown gently a lower frequency is produced than when the whistle is blown very hard and as the pressure increases through the blowing range, so does the frequency. The air tubulators should have a stifling effect on this frequency growth so that even when the whistle is blown very hard the frequency variation will be dramatically restricted even if not removed completely.

The holes H also serve to reduce the mass of the plastics material of the whistle body, thereby avoiding sink marks which can occur during the moulding process.

The combination whistle provides a mouthpiece 6 at the right hand end which is to be blown in the orientation shown in FIGURE 1 with the vent V₂ of the associated sound chamber 5 which contains a pea, opening upwardly. In addition to this, the left hand end of the whistle 1 is provided with mouthpiece 3' having a pea-less sound chamber 4, and this mouthpiece is to be blown with the whistle in an inverted orientation to that shown in FIGURE 1 so that vent V₁ will also point upwardly when mouthpiece 3' is used. In previous proposals, the sound chamber air vents and air splitters have always been located generally on the same side of the whistle. This has meant that in order to use each of the whistle elements of the combination, the whistle as a whole has to be turned about a generally vertical axis.

With the whistle shown in the drawings this is not the case and whichever mouthpiece 3' or 6 is used, the associated vent is directed generally upwardly and away from the person blowing into the mouthpiece. Advantageously, the reason for this design development is that in research conducted in the Anechoic sound chamber at Birmingham University, it has been discovered that when a whistle is blown with an air vent directed downwardly towards the ground, the ground and the body of the person blowing into the whistle may absorb approximately 20% of the sound volume of the whistle meaning that the whistle may be much more inefficient than would otherwise be the case with the vent of the sound chamber opening upwardly and away from the person blowing the whistle.

In practice, designing the combination whistle with vents which can easily be brought to a position in which they exhaust upwardly, has meant a dramatic effect on the distance the whistle can be effectively heard and on the audibility of the sound at any distance when either mouthpiece 3' or 6 is used.

As shown in FIGURES 2 and 3, the upper part 2 of the whistle 1 is provided with a semi-cylindrical groove 2e which mates with a similar semi-cylindrical groove 3i of the lower part 3 of the whistle in order to form the hole 7 for a lanyard (not shown) of the whistle.

An additional important feature is the provision of a rib T around each of the mouthpieces 3'and 6 as shown in FIGURE 1. This rib enables the mouthpiece to be gripped firmly between the teeth. On other combination dog whistles of this type it tends to be a major fault that because no such ribs are provided, particularly on the "pealess" end of the combination whistle, the whistle can be blown out of the mouth during very hard blowing.

It is to be understood that the scope of the present invention is not to be unduly limited by the particular choice of terminology used herein. Moreover the invention includes any novel and inventive feature disclosed herein either alone or in combination with any one or more other such features.