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Anair horn is apneumatic device designed to create a loud noise for signaling purposes. It usually consists of a source which producescompressed air, which passes into ahorn through areed or diaphragm. The stream of air causes the reed or diaphragm to vibrate, creating sound waves, then the horn amplifies the sound making it louder. Air horns are widely employed asvehicle horns, installed on largebuses,semi-trailer trucks,fire trucks,trains, and someambulances as a warning device, and on ships as a signaling device.
An air horn consists of a flaring metal or plastichorn or trumpet (called the "bell") attached to a small air chamber containing a metalreed ordiaphragm in the throat of the horn. Compressed air flows from an inlet line through a narrow opening past the reed or diaphragm, causing it to vibrate, which createssound waves. The flaring horn serves as an acoustic impedance transformer to improve the transfer of sound energy from the diaphragm to the open air, making the sound louder. In most horns it also determines thepitch of the sound. When vibrated by the diaphragm, the column of air in the horn vibrates instanding waves. The length of the horn determines thewavelength of the sound waves generated, and thus thefundamental frequency (pitch) of the note produced by the horn. The longer the horn, the lower the pitch.
Larger air horns used on ships andfoghorns function similarly to awhistle; instead of a diaphragm the air escapes from a closed cylindricalresonator chamber through a precisely shaped slit directed against a knife edge (fipple). The air blowing past the knife edgeoscillates, creating sound waves. The oscillations excitestanding waves in the resonator chamber, so the length of the chamber determines the pitch of the note produced.
In trucks and buses, the air horn is powered with compressed air from the vehicle'sair brake system. In trucks, a cord mounted on the ceiling of the operator's cab is pulled or in buses, a valve lever on the side of the dashboard is pushed down or pulled up to open the valve, supplying varying amounts of air to the horn. Thus, an outstretched hand reaching upward and pumping is a signal to the driver of an air horn equipped vehicle, requesting a toot. In modern trucks and buses, the horn is actuated by a button on the steering wheel (just like a normal car horn). Some trucks and buses have both electric and air horn, selectable by a switch on the dashboard. This is to prevent the use of the powerful air horn in populated areas.
Many fire trucks, ambulances, and other large emergency vehicles operate air horns as a means of warning vehicles to clear theright-of-way.
There are also electronic horns for emergency vehicles, which produce a similar easily recognizable sound. These are typically integrated into the same system as the vehicle's electronic siren, and sound through the same speakers. In the last several decades, electronic sound systems with more widely varying frequencies have been chosen as common supplemental warning systems.
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Originally, diesel locomotives were equipped with truck horns. After an accident in which a driver mistook a train for a truck, the need for a unique-sounding train horn became clear.[1] Consequently, North American trains now have at least two horns with different tones forming the airhorn, that sound simultaneously,[citation needed] creating aharmonic interval orchord. Each individual horn is called a "chime". Three and five-chime configurations are the most common, but two chime horns also exist.[2]
Fifteen to twenty seconds before entering alevel crossing, federal law requires locomotives to sound their horns in a standard warning sequence. This succession consists of two long, one short, and one long horn sounding repeated as necessary until the locomotive clears the crossing. Exceptions to federal law occur in locations with established quiet zone ordinances that prohibit sounding locomotive horns.[3]
In recent years, it has become a fad for bicycle, car, and truck enthusiasts to install large air horns on their vehicles.[4] Some jurisdictions do not allow an airhorn to be attached, whether or not it can be activated.[citation needed]
Cyclist Yannick Read attached a train horn to his bicycle and set theGuinness World Record for the world's loudest bicycle horn.[5]
Portable air horns are also readily available packaged with a can of compressed gas as the air source. These are often sounded by fans atsporting events such asAmerican football,basketball,ice hockey, andassociation football, and at other events such asgraduations, andpolitical conventions.
Small versions are sometimes used asbicycle horns, since they yield a louder warning sound than traditional bicycle bells or bulb reed horns.
Another use is as anon-lethal weapon for self-defense, mainly as anauditory distraction to get away from an attacker. For outdoor activities like hiking, hunting, cross-country skiing, canoeing, fishing, an air horn can be handy to frighten away unwanted or aggressive wildlife, signalling for help and to announce one's location.
Additionally, air horns (especially those that containfluorocarbons) have the potential to be abused as a substitute forrecreational drugs since many such refrigerants can beinhaled for a quick and dangerousintoxication.[6][citation needed]
The air horn is used for signaling goals, home runs, touchdowns, and other points in various sports:
NHL arenas normally employ two horns—a high-pitched horn (or a siren, as in the home arenas of theBoston Bruins andMontreal Canadiens) that announces the end of the period (or the start ofinstant replay reviews), and a much louder horn sounded when the home team scores and/or wins a game. Some MLB and NFL stadiums use horns for similar purposes, such as when a member of the home team hits ahome run ortouchdown. In many places, air horns are used for signaling the end of the period or quarter on scoreboard systems.
The idea of a goal horn in NHL ice hockey is said to have begun in 1973, whenBill Wirtz, then-owner of theChicago Blackhawks, liked the sound of the Kahlenberg Q-3 on his yacht so much that he had another Q-3 mounted inside of the team's home arena,Chicago Stadium, to be sounded whenever the Blackhawks scored a goal.[7] Since then, every NHL, AHL (with the exception of theChicago Wolves, who instead use a siren and fireworks), ECHL, SHL, and CHL team has picked up a horn, including many more leagues.
Inmixed martial arts, an air horn is commonly used to signal the end of a round as opposed to the bell used inboxing andprofessional wrestling.However,CZW, GCW, and otherindependent wrestling companies allow air horns, while major companies such asWWE andIMPACT Wrestling have banned them.
The air horn is a popular sample inreggae music. Jamaican dancehall music was the first musical genre to use the effect, and has been using the airhorn sample for over 26 years, in live shows as well as on mixtape recordings, and in Puerto Ricanreggaeton, a reggae hybrid genre since the late '80s and '90s.[8] The sound effect has been used inhip hop music as well.
The "Air Horn Orchestra" gathered at theNorth Carolina Governor's Mansion every Wednesday for 30 weeks from April 13, 2016, until November 2, 2016, to protest the state'sPublic Facilities Privacy & Security Act, also known then as House Bill 2, and GovernorPat McCrory by making aloud, disruptive noise.[9][10][11][12] The 30th and final performance on November 2 was expected to set theGuinness World Record for the number of simultaneously sounding air horns, having had 342 participants. This was the last performance owing to the gubernatorial election six days later.[13]
The Islanders and hockey fans everywhere can thank the Chicago Blackhawks for pioneering the now-ubiquitous trend during the 1973 Stanley Cup Final against Montreal. Hawks owner Bill Wirtz liked the sound of the horn on his yacht and had it installed at Chicago Stadium..."(He) decided it would be a great thing to have in his arena," Erick Kahlenberg, vice president of Kahlenberg Industries told the Daily News...Kahlenberg's uncle Karl sold Wirtz the yacht horn and now the company supplies more than a dozen NHL teams with their own goal horns, which are the same devices you find on boats, trains, trucks and in one case, an aircraft carrier. When the Blackhawks moved from Chicago Stadium to the United Center in 1994, they took the goal horn with them. By then, goal horns had become a staple of NHL games around the league.