A muffler for raising the audible pitch of an internal combustion engine's exhaust note that includes an enclosed case having an inlet and an outlet, and a plurality of flow-directing components which are adapted to subdivide an inlet flow into a plurality of discrete interior flows, including a fir
A muffler for raising the audible pitch of an internal combustion engine's exhaust note that includes an enclosed case having an inlet and an outlet, and a plurality of flow-directing components which are adapted to subdivide an inlet flow into a plurality of discrete interior flows, including a first interior flow providing the shortest flow length through the muffler between the inlet and the outlet, a second interior flow having a flow length at least about twice the length of the first interior flow, and one or more intermediate flows following by-pass passages to split off from the second interior flow between the inlet and the outlet and having flow lengths between the flow lengths of the first and second flows.
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1. A muffler for raising an audible pitch of an internal combustion engine's exhaust note, comprising: an enclosed case having an inlet and an outlet; anda plurality of flow-directing components adapted to subdivide an inlet flow into a plurality of discrete interior flows comprising: a first discre
1. A muffler for raising an audible pitch of an internal combustion engine's exhaust note, comprising: an enclosed case having an inlet and an outlet; anda plurality of flow-directing components adapted to subdivide an inlet flow into a plurality of discrete interior flows comprising: a first discrete interior flow passage providing the shortest flow length through the enclosed case between the inlet and the outlet;a second discrete interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet and having a flow length at least about twice the flow length of the first interior flow passage; andat least one discrete intermediate interior flow passage following a by-pass passage, and wherein the at least one intermediate interior flow passage splits off from the second interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet;wherein the plurality of flow-directing components comprises: a plurality of interior deflector assemblies, each spanning a distance between a top and a bottom of the enclosed case and comprising a parallel surface and a transverse surface extending from a backside of the parallel surface, andat least one side deflector assembly spanning a distance between a top and a bottom of the enclosed case and extending from a sidewall of the enclosed case into a gap between the transverse surfaces of at least two of the plurality of interior deflector assemblies to form the tortuous passage for the second interior flow passage. 2. The muffler of claim 1, wherein the inlet is in an inlet end of the enclosed case and the outlet is in an outlet end of the enclosed case; wherein the first interior flow passage follows a substantially-direct passage between the inlet and the outlet; and wherein the at least one intermediate interior flow passage is at least one shortcut flow passage following a by-pass passage, and wherein the at least one shortcut flow passage splits off from the second interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet. 3. The muffler of claim 2, wherein the at least one of the shortcut flow passages recombines with the second interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet. 4. The muffler of claim 2, wherein the at least one of the shortcut flow passages recombines with the first interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet. 5. A muffler for raising an audible pitch of an internal combustion engine's exhaust note, comprising: an enclosed case having an inlet and an outlet; anda plurality of flow-directing components adapted to subdivide an inlet flow into a plurality of discrete interior flows comprising: a first discrete interior flow passage providing the shortest flow length through the enclosed case between the inlet and the outlet;a second discrete interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet and having a flow length at least about twice the flow length of the first interior flow passage; andat least one discrete intermediate interior flow passage following a by-pass passage, andwherein the at least one intermediate interior flow passage splits off from the second interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet; wherein the inlet is in an inlet end of the enclosed case and the outlet is in an outlet end of the enclosed case; wherein the first interior flow passage follows a substantially-direct passage between the inlet and the outlet; wherein the second interior flow passage follows a tortuous passage between the inlet and the outlet; wherein the at least one intermediate interior flow passage is at least one shortcut flow passage following a by-pass passage; wherein the at least one shortcut flow passage splits off from the second interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet; wherein the at least one of the shortcut flow passages recombines with the first interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet; andwherein the plurality of flow-directing components comprises:a plurality of interior deflector assemblies, each spanning a distance between a top and a bottom of the enclosed case and comprising a parallel surface orientated substantially-parallel to a longitudinal center axis of the enclosed case and a transverse surface extending from a backside of the parallel surface and oriented transverse to the longitudinal center axis, andat least one side deflector assembly spanning a distance between a top and a bottom of the enclosed case and extending from a sidewall of the enclosed case and oriented transverse to the longitudinal center axis,wherein the parallel surfaces of the interior deflector assemblies are aligned to form the substantially-direct passage for the first interior flow passage,wherein the at least one side deflector assembly is positioned in a gap between the transverse surfaces of the interior deflector assemblies to form the tortuous passage for the second interior flow passage, andwherein the parallel surfaces of the interior deflector assemblies are staggered outwardly along the length of the substantially-direct passage to form by-pass passages between flow-directing components for the shortcut flow passages. 6. The muffler of claim 5, wherein parallel surfaces of the interior deflector assemblies are alternately aligned about the longitudinal center axis to form the substantially-direct passage through a center of the enclosed case. 7. The muffler of claim 5, wherein parallel surfaces of the interior deflector assemblies are substantially aligned adjacent a sidewall of the enclosed case to form the substantially-direct passage along a sidewall of the case. 8. The muffler of claim 5, wherein the transverse surface is a curved surface coupled at both ends to the backside of the parallel surface. 9. A muffler for raising an audible pitch of an internal combustion engine's exhaust note, comprising: an enclosed case having an inlet and an outlet; anda plurality of flow-directing components adapted to subdivide an inlet flow into a plurality of discrete interior flows comprising: a first discrete interior flow passage providing the shortest flow length through the enclosed case between the inlet and the outlet;a second discrete interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet and having a flow length at least about twice the flow length of the first interior flow passage; andat least one discrete intermediate interior flow passage following a by-pass passage, and wherein the at least one intermediate interior flow passage splits off from the second interior flow passage between the inlet and the outlet;wherein the plurality of flow-directing components includes at least one elongate flow directing plate forming connected parallel flow passages along opposite sides of the at least one elongate flow directing plate, the connected parallel flow passages forming the second interior flow passage, an opening by-passing at least a portion of the connected parallel flow passages to form the first interior flow passage, and at least one additional opening by-passing at least a portion of the connected parallel flow passages to form the at least one intermediate interior flow passage. 10. The muffler of claim 9, wherein the at least one elongate flow directing plate spans a distance between a top and a bottom of the enclosed case and has a first end offset from a first end portion of the enclosed case with a relatively wide gap connecting the parallel flow passages along opposite sides of the at least one elongate flow directing plate to form the second discrete interior flow passage and a second end offset from a second end portion of the enclosed case with a relatively narrow gap by-passing the parallel flow passages along opposite sides of the at least one elongate flow directing plate to form the first discrete flow passage. 11. The muffler of claim 10, wherein the flow-directing components further comprise a deflector flange extending from the second end of the elongate flow directing plate into the relatively narrow gap to further define the first discrete flow passage. 12. The muffler of claim 11, wherein the first end of the elongate flow directing plate is rounded. 13. The muffler of claim 10, wherein the flow-directing components further comprise at least one deflector wedge extending into the relatively narrow gap from the second end portion to further define the first discrete flow passage. 14. The muffler of claim 10, wherein the at least one additional opening by-passing at least a portion of the connected parallel flow passages to form the at least one intermediate interior flow passage includes an opening through the at least one elongate flow directing plate. 15. The muffler of claim 10, wherein the first end portion is arcuate to help direct flow from one parallel flow passage to the other parallel flow passage around the first end of the elongate flow directing plate. 16. The muffler of claim 10, wherein the at least one elongate flow directing plate is two elongate flow directing plates.
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