Music – Instruments – Drum and cymbal beaters
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-28
2001-12-04
Nappi, Robert E. (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Drum and cymbal beaters
C081S422000, C081S422000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06326534
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a stand for a musical instrument and, more particularly, to a stand for a percussion instrument such as, for example, high-hat cymbals.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The high-hat cymbals form a drum set together with a bass drum, a snare drum, a set of tom toms, a floor tom and a side cymbal. Only one drummer sits on a chair among the percussion instruments, and performs music through those percussion instruments. Accordingly, the percussion instruments are to be arranged on a floor within the reach of drummer's hands. Although the drummer strikes the snare drum, the tom toms, the floor tom and the side cymbal with sticks, the bass drum and the high-hat cymbals are usually actuated by the drummer's foot. Foot pedals are placed on the floor near the chair, and are linked with a bass drum beater and a rod, respectively. The rod is connected to the upper high-hat cymbal, and the upper high-hat cymbal is opposed to the lower high-hat cymbal. When the drummer steps on the pedals, the bass drum beater strikes the skin of the bass drum, and the rod clashes the upper high-hat cymbal against the lower high-hat cymbal. The space within the reach of drummer's hands is so narrow that the drummer is to arrangc the percussion instruments closely. For this reason, the percussion instrument is expected to occupy the floor as narrow as possible.
FIGS. 1 and 2
show a typical example of the stand for the high-hat cymbals. The stand for the high-hat cymbals is hereinbelow referred to as “high-hat stand”. The prior art high-hat stand is put on a floor FL, and keeps the high-hat cymbals
1
spaced therefrom. One of the high-hat cymbals
1
is stationary, and is labeled with reference
1
A. The other of the high-hat cymbals
1
is movable, and is labeled with
1
B. The movable cymbal
1
B is spaced from the stationary cymbal
1
A, and is clashed against the stationary cymbal
1
A for generating indefinite pitched sound.
The prior art high hat stand comprises a telescopic guide
2
, an extension rod
9
, a pedal mechanism
3
and a foldable tripod
4
. A spring unit
6
, plural pipes
7
/
8
, a suitable coupling and a thumbscrew constitute the telescopic guide
2
, and the extension rod
9
is slidable inside the telescopic guide
2
. The extension rod
9
is inserted into the telescopic guide
2
, and projects from the upper end of the pipe
8
and the lower end of the spring unit
6
. The stationary cymbal
1
A is fixed to the upper end of the pipe
8
, and the movable cymbal
1
B is fixed to the extension rod
9
. The pedal mechanism
3
is connected to the lower end of the extension rod
9
.
As will be seen in
FIG. 2
, the spring unit
6
includes a cylindrical case
6
a
, a return spring
10
and a retainer ring
6
c
. The cylindrical case
6
a
is fixed to the lower end of the pipe
7
, and the retainer ring
6
c
is fixed to the extension rod
9
. The return spring
10
is accommodated in the cylindrical case
6
a
, and is connected at one end thereof to the retainer ring
6
c
and at the other end thereof to the bottom portion of the cylindrical case
6
a
. Thus, the return spring
10
upwardly urges the extension rod
9
at all times. This results in that the movable cymbal
1
B is spaced from the stationary cymbal
1
A under the condition that no force is exerted on the pedal mechanism
3
. When the extension rod
9
is pulled into the telescopic guide
2
, the movable cymbal
1
B is clashed against the stationary cymbal
1
A.
The coupling is attached to the pipe
7
, and prohibits the pipe
8
from coming out of the other pipe
7
. The pipe
8
is extendable from and retractable into the pipe
7
, and the thumbscrew fixes the relative position between the pipes
7
and
8
.
The foldable tripod
4
includes three legs
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
, retainer rings
17
/
19
and three foldable stays
18
a
/
18
b
/
18
c
. The three legs
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
are connected at upper ends thereof to the retainer ring
17
, and the retainer ring
17
is fixed to the pipe
7
. The other retainer rint,
19
is fixed to the cylindrical case
6
a
, and is closer to the floor FL than the retainer ring
17
. The three legs
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
are angularly spaced at 120 degrees from one another. The foldable stays
18
a
/
18
b
/
18
c
are connected at the inner ends thereof to the retainer ring
19
and at the outer ends thereof to the legs
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
. When the stays
18
a
/
18
b
/
18
c
are stretched, the legs
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
brace the telescopic guide
2
on the floor FL, and keeps the guide
2
and, accordingly, the high-hat cymbals
1
upright.
The pedal mechanism
3
includes a pedestal
11
, a foot pedal
12
, a heel
13
, a connecting, rod
14
and a texible connector
15
. The pedestal
11
has an L-letter shape, and is formed of light metal such as aluminum alloy. The pedestal
11
is broken down into a base plate
11
A and a frame
11
B. The base plate
11
A is placed on the floor FL, and the cylindrical case
6
a
is fixed to the frame
11
B. Thus, the pedestal
11
makes the floor FL receive the weight of the telescopic guide
2
, and the foldable tripod
4
keeps the telescopic guide
2
upright on the floor FL.
The heel
13
is connected through the connecting rod
14
to the base plate
11
A. The connecting rod
14
spaces the heel
13
from the base plate
11
A by a predetermined distance. The connecting rod
14
is only expected to space the heel
13
from the base plate
11
A, and the diameter is 6 millimeters. The foot board
12
is hinged at one end thereof to the heel
13
and at the other end thereof to the extension rod
9
through the flexible connector
15
. The flexible connector
15
is, by way of example, formed of leather, and changes the rotation of the foot pedal
12
around the heel
13
to the straight motion of the extension rod
9
.
When a drummer depresses the foot pedal toward the floor FL, the foot pedal
12
is driven for rotation, and the flexible connector
15
converts the rotation to the straight motion. Then, the extension rod
9
is pulled down against the elastic force of the return spring
10
, and the movable cymbal
1
B is clashed against the stationary cymbal
1
A. When the drummer releases the foot pedal
12
, the return spring
10
pulls up the extension rod
9
, and spaces the movable cymbal
1
B from the stationary cymbal
1
A.
As described hercinbcltric, the narrower the occupation area, the closer the percussion instruments. If the legs
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
are long and widely spread, the high-hat sand occupies wide area, and other percussion instruments are sparsely arranged around the drummer. The drummer may find it hard to beat the farthest percussion instrument. On the other hand, if the legs
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
are short and narrowed, the high-hat stand is unstable, and feel the arrangement on the floor overcrowded. While a drummer is performing the drum set, the drummer is liable to hit his leg against the leg
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
, and bring down the high-hat stand.
Although the leg
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
of the prior art high-hat stand is evenly spaced from the other legs
16
b
/
16
c
/
16
a
at 120 degrees, another prior art high-hat stand has a trapezoid, the legs of which are unevenly spaced. The legs are assumed to be corresponding to the legs
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
. The leg
16
b
is located at the back of the foot pedal, and each of the other two legs
16
a
/
16
c
is spaced from the leg
16
b
at 15 degrees. This means that the leg
16
a
is spaced from the leg
16
c
at 150 degrees. There is not any leg on both sides of the foot pedal, and the drummer is less liable to hit his foot against the legs. However, the arrangement of legs makes the prior art high-hat stand more unstable than the evenly arranged legs
16
a
/
16
b
/
16
c
. When drawing a perpendicular line from the contact spots of the leg corresponding to the leg
16
a
/
16
c
to the extension line of the pedestal of the pedal mechanism, the perpendicular line is shorter than tha
Lockett Kim
Nappi Robert E.
Ostrolenk Faber Gerb & Soffen, LLP
Yamaha Corporation
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