1 Field of invention

When instruments such as guitars and basses are stored openly, e.g. in a stand, dust particles are quickly deposited. Many people, especially those with many instruments (professional and semi-professional guitarists, music shops or music schools), spend a lot of time dusting and cleaning these instruments.

Sensitive or very expensive instruments in particular should also be stored in an environment with a certain temperature and humidity to avoid long-term damage.

2 State of the art

Guitars and basses are often stored with the help of stands in order to save space. This type of storage hardly protects the instruments. Also, the space above the stand is usually lost.

Very rarely, guitars are stored in showcases or cabinets. These are usually custom-made, primarily to present the instrument. These are often very expen- sive.

For transport, there are already a variety of bags, cases or similar containers that provide mechanical protection as well as protection from dust.

With all these solutions, however, the guitar is exposed to the temperature and humidity of the room in which the container/furniture is located.

3 Describtion

The solution presented here combines many advantages of the solutions used so far:

It is a piece of furniture in which several instruments are accommodated at the same time.

The instruments are placed in drawers (see drawing 1-B) in which a suitable holder or fit is accommodated. This ensures that the instrument is adequately accommodated without being damaged or scratched.

In each drawer, two guitars or basses are placed opposite each other, with the area of the necks overlapping next to each other (see drawing 2).

When closed, this furniture offers secure protection against dust. To this end, each drawer is pressed all the way round against a sealing lip when it is closed (see drawing 3).

The chest of drawers/cupboard has several drawers of identical construction. These drawers can be fully pulled out so that instruments can be easily inserted or removed.

The main material the furniture is made of is wood, (medium density fi- breboard, blockboard, chipboard, but also other woods and materials can be basically used).

In addition to the drawers, space is also provided for the technical equipment of the furniture. This space is located on one side next to the drawers (see drawing 5-B).

The piece of furniture is constructed in such a way that it can receive many further modifications in the form of individual modules. The most important of these modules is a module for air conditioning and regulating the temperature and humidity inside the furniture:

A continuous air flow is generated inside the furniture (see drawing 4), which, in addition to an air filter and a heater, also contains a small ultrasonic nebuliser, with the help of which the circulating air can be humidified with nebulised water from a small tank. The air flow is guided evenly past all instruments by the structural separation of the individual drawers with intermediate shelves which have openings at suitable points.

A micro-controller regulates the desired temperature and humidity.

To increase the temperature, heating is used, to reduce the temperature, ambient air is drawn in through a filter, the resulting excess pressure is auto- matically released at a suitable point via a flap valve.

To increase the humidity, water is sprayed into the air flow. If necessary, ambient air is drawn in again to reduce the humidity.

If the air flow cannot be regulated because the ambient air is too humid or too warm, a warning is given optically or optionally acoustically or via app.

A sensor in the middle of the air flow measures temperature and humidity. It sends its signal to the micro-controller to enable control.

One of the most important features of this solution is its modularity and retrofittability.

Equally important is the assembly as a kit with instructions. The final as- sembly is usually done by the customer.

In order to be able to use the active features (modules), the furniture is supplied with power via a plug at the back.

A small water tank is located behind a small flap on the technical side.

The drawers can be locked. Either a purely mechanical or a combined (me- chanical and electrical) locking system can be installed. The electric lock can then also be controlled by app or timer or similar.

The piece of furniture is kept simple and in the normal version has no handles protruding forwards. Instead, there is a recess on the narrow side of the drawer that can be reached into with the fingers to open a drawer.

This solution offers a safe, dust-free storage and archiving option in a modern appealing design.

The space above the furniture can be used as with an ordinary chest of drawers.