Locking mechanism for percussion musical instrument
AssigneeBilldidit Inc.
InventorWilliam Joseph Coady
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A high hat cymbal has a magnetic clutch that engages the top cymbal and allows it to be controlled by a standard high hat foot pedal. When the drummer's foot is removed from the high hat foot pedal, the magnetic clutch strikes a mechanical arm, which causes the magnetic clutch to disengage without any action, required on the part of the drummer. The top cymbal can be re-engaged by the magnetic clutch so that the high hat foot pedal can now be operated again, simply by depressing the high hat foot pedal. A trip bar may be provided to provide for automatic disengagement of the clutch mechanism.
Claims28
A locking mechanism for a musical percussion instrument comprising a pair of upper and lower cymbals, wherein the lower cymbal is fixedly mounted on a tubular support, and the upper cymbal can be raised or lowered by means of a foot-operated control rod extending within the tubular support, the locking mechanism comprising:
- a magnetic clutch mechanism mountable on the control rod for releasably bringing said upper cymbal into engagement with the control rod, and wherein the magnetic clutch mechanism includes respective first and second mating surfaces which in their normal position are engaged with each other by magnetic attraction, said mating surfaces being tiltable relative to each other;
- and
- wherein said clutch mechanism includes a trip member operable upon actuation to tilt at least one of said mating surfaces so as to at least partially separate mating surfaces and thereby break the engagement and allow said upper cymbal to fall onto said lower cymbal.
A hi-hat cymbal set, comprising:
- a pair of upper and lower cymbals, wherein the lower cymbal is fixedly mounted on a tubular support, and the upper cymbal can be raised or lowered by means of a foot-operated control rod extending within the tubular support, the locking mechanism;
- and
- a magnetic clutch mechanism mountable on the control rod for releasably bringing said upper cymbal into engagement with the control rod, and wherein the magnetic clutch mechanism includes respective first and second mating surfaces which in their normal position are engaged with each other by magnetic attraction, said mating surfaces being tiltable relative to each other;
- and
- wherein said clutch mechanism includes a trip member operable upon actuation to tilt at least one of said mating surfaces so as to at least partially separate mating surfaces and thereby break the engagement and allow said upper cymbal to fall onto said lower cymbal.
A releasable locking kit for a high hat cymbal set, comprising:
- a pivotal hook member mountable on a control rod of the high hat cymbal set;
- a block fixedly mountable on a cymbal holder that is slidably mounted on the control rod, said block being engageable by the pivotal hook member to releasably lock the cymbal to the control rod;
- and
- an overhanding trip bar for pivoting said hook member when the cymbal is raised beyond a certain height to release said cymbal from locking engagement with the control rod.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.