Conga rim

A drum rim includes inner and outer rim portions. The outer rim portion is smoothly tapered to provide comfort to the hands of the player. An inner rim portion is arranged to engage the drum skin at a position that has a diameter which is less than the central diameter of the drum wire.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to drums, particularly hand-played drums such as 
bongo drums and conga drums, and relates to improved arrangements for 
mounting a natural or synthetic drum skin to the drum body. The skin 
mounting arrangement for such hand-played drums must hold the edges of the 
skin firmly, but should also provide a smooth contoured surface that will 
be comfortable to the player's hands as he strikes the outer edge of the 
drum skin while playing the instrument. 
Latin Percussion, the assignee of the present invention, has marketed bongo 
and conga drums for more than one year with its "Comfort Curve.RTM." rim, 
which is a rim having an inverted J-shaped cross-section, wherein the 
shorter edge of the rim bears against the skin and clamps the skin against 
the drum wire at a diameter that is less than the centerline diameter of 
the drum wire. The rim itself is shown in U.S. Des. Pat. No. 308,217 
granted May 29, 1990. 
The curvature of the top edge of the Comfort Curve rim provides a surface 
that is not sharp when struck by the hand. Nevertheless, long playing can 
still be uncomfortable since the curved portion of the rim projects 
outward into a region that can be struck by the heel of a player's hand. 
Another prior arrangement is a drum rim having a lower cylindrical portion 
and an upper conical portion, wherein the conical portion engages the skin 
against the drum wire. This arrangement provides a smooth and tapered 
exterior surface, which is comfortable to play, but does not provide a 
secure engagement of the skin, since the conical portion engages the skin 
against the wire at a position that is radially outside the wire 
centerline. Accordingly, downward force on the rim tends to pull the skin 
around the wire in a direction that lessens tension on the skin. In 
addition, this arrangement does not provide for positive location and 
angular orientation of the rim. Accordingly, it is possible for the rim to 
be skewed such that the upper portion of the rim engages and clamps the 
skin against the drum body, thereby interfering with the desired skin 
vibrational properties and degrading the tone of the drum. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved drum having a drum rim which is comfortable to the player's 
hands, which provides a positive location of the drum rim and which 
securely tensions the drum skin. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the invention there is provided a drum comprising a 
generally cylindrical drum body having an open top end and a cylindrical 
axis, a skin stretched over said open top end and wrapped around a skin 
wire at its peripheral edge, and a rim for holding and tensioning the 
skin. According to the invention, the rim is comprised of an outer 
circular rim portion having a cross-sectional shape comprising a lower 
cylindrical section extending parallel to the central axis, a radial upper 
section extending perpendicular to the central axis and a conical 
intermediate section having an exterior surface which smoothly joins the 
cylindrical outer surface of the lower section to the radial surface of 
the upper section. The rim includes an inner circular rim portion joined 
to the interior of the outer rim portion and having a lower surface for 
engaging the skin at a diameter less than the central diameter of the skin 
wire and including a sharp corner forming the lower interior edge thereof. 
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the inner circular rim portion 
has a cylindrical shape and a flat lower surface having an outer edge with 
a diameter less than the central diameter of the skin wire. 
For a better understanding of the present invention, together with other 
and further objects thereof, reference is made to the following 
description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and its 
scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
As shown in FIG. 1 a conga drum 10, according to the present invention, has 
a body 12 and a drum skin 14 which is mounted on body 12 by use of 
mounting rim 16, which is tensioned using conventional hooks 18 which 
engage flanges 20 on the body 12. FIG. 2 is a detailed cross-sectional 
view showing the arrangement for mounting skin 12 by use of rim 16 
according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, body 12 is tapered 
in the region of its open top end. Skin 14 covers the open top end of body 
12 and is wrapped around a skin wire 24. 
Drum rim 16 includes an outer rim portion having a lower generally 
cylindrical section 19, an upper radial section 21 and a conical 
intermediate section 23 which smoothly joins lower section 19 and upper 
section 21. Upper section 21 is preferably dimensioned to provide a gap 25 
of about a eight inch between the rim 16 and the body 12 of the drum 10. 
The outer surface of drum rim 16 is smoothly tapered and maintained close 
to drum body 12 to provide a smooth and recessed surface which is out of 
the path of the player's hands when performing on the drum. Drum rim 16 
includes an inner rim portion 22 which in the illustrated embodiment is 
cylindrical and joined to the interior of the outer rim portion, by 
welding or the like. Inner rim portion 22 preferably has a flat lower 
surface and a sharp lower inner edge, which engages the skin to firmly 
hold it around the drum wire 24. It should be noted that because inner rim 
portion 22 engages skin 14 at a position which is at a smaller diameter 
than the central diameter 26 of skin wire 24, there is provided a positive 
location and orientation of the rim. Further, tensioning the drum skin by 
tightening hooks 18 of rim 16 tends to lock skin 14 around wire 24. The 
inventors have discovered that earlier tapered drum rims, wherein the rim 
engages skin 14 at a diameter which is larger than the center line 
diameter of wire 24, do not provide positive location for the drum rim and 
have a tendency to allow the skin to loosen. The present invention avoids 
this problem while also providing user comfort. 
While there has been described what is believed to be the preferred 
embodiment of the prevent invention those skilled in the art will 
recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto, and it 
is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the 
true scope of the invention.