Floating staccato waffle disk

Details Floating staccato waffle disk Floating staccato waffle disk

1999-12-17

2001-06-12

Hsieh, Shih-Yung (Department: 2837)

Music

Instruments

Drums

C084S41100A, C084S415000, C084S417000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06245979

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to drums, and in particular to damping or muffling devices for snare drums.
Particularly when used in marching bands, the snare drum ideally exhibits a sharp stick articulation which is, however, diminished noticeably by unwanted overtones from the snare side drum head, particularly if the drum head includes Kevlar reinforcing.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to improve the snare drum so as to retain the player's stick articulation, by eliminating or significantly diminishing unwanted overtones over a wide range of tuning.
In one embodiment, the invention is directed to a drum insert comprising a thin, flexible sheet of material having an overall area substantially congruent with that of the bottom drum head, and a multiplicity of irregularities distributed substantially uniformly over at least about 20% of the area of the sheet.
In another embodiment directed to an improved snare drum, the insert is in the form of a muffler disk lying freely on the upper side of the bottom drum head within the drum volume. The disk comprises a thin, flexible sheet of material substantially congruent with the lower drum head, and having a multiplicity of irregularities distributed substantially uniformly thereon for damping the vibration of the bottom and drum head when the top drum head is struck during play.
Preferably, the sheet material of the insert is a polymeric film having a thickness of about 10-20 mils, and in particular, the material can be a polyester film having a thickness of about 14 mils. In general, the flexible material used as the insert is capable of absorbing and dampening the accepted range of a marching snare drum. The insert is preferably made of the same material as the snare side drumhead.
The irregularities can be in the form of holes, preferably of varying size, occupying at least about 20% of the overall area of the insert. In an alternative embodiment, the irregularities can be raised and lowered regions, formed as by heat stretching or embossing of the film material.
Because in use, the insert remains flexible even at its periphery, no standing vibrations are generated which could otherwise give rise to extraneous noise not normally associated with snare drums. However, with the preferred feature of retaining a substantially uninterrupted, solid rim around an inner region which exhibits the irregularities, the overall circular shape of the insert is retained even during vigorous movement and play of the drum during marching. In the preferred embodiment, in which the irregularities are holes of differing size, the insert is so flexible as to bend substantially vertical when held at the periphery.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5493942 (1996-02-01), Wolf
patent: 5986196 (1999-11-01), Behrenfeld

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