Cushioned swivel hook for stringed instruments

A wall-mounted hook for hanging a string instrument from a neck proximate a head having pegs for tuning strings comprising a wall-mounting plate having a protruding base, a yoke having a shaft and two prongs extending from said shaft, said prongs being spaced to engage said instrument around said neck thereof proximate said tuning head, and means for securing said shaft to said base and for allowing said yoke to swivel on said base about an axis of said shaft.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to a wall-mounted hook from which is hung a stringed 
musical instrument having a large flat-backed sound box and a long neck. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
It is customary to store a stringed musical instrument when not in use in 
such a way as to protect its sound box, neck and tuning head from damage 
due to something being dropped on it or something bumping into it. The 
slightest crack in the sound box, which is normally made of thin sheets of 
wood, will totally destroy the musical sound that it is expected to 
produce, and the slightest bump on a tuning key may cause the tuning pin 
to loosen its attached string so that retuning the instrument becomes 
necessary. 
Small instruments, such as a violin, are normally stored in its carrying 
case while not in use, and very large instruments, such as a bass violin, 
which is sometimes plucked rather than played with a bow, are normally 
stored up right in a stand. But there is no convenient way to store 
stringed instruments of intermediate sizes, such as guitars, including 
electronic guitars, except in their carrying case. Since such instruments 
are quite large, as compared to a violin (or fiddle), it is customary not 
to store the instrument in a case except for carrying, and sometimes not 
even then. 
An object of this invention is to provide a way to store a stringed 
instrument of intermediate size having a large sound box (or the 
equivalent in an electronic guitar) that is substantially flat-backed and 
has a long neck for strings stretched across an opening in the sound box 
(or the equivalent in an electronic guitar) to tuning pins in a head at 
the end of the neck. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, a wall mounted hook is provided 
with two prongs coated with resilient material to form a yoke closely 
fitted around the neck of the instrument proximate the tuning head from 
which the instrument is hung. The prongs extend from a base on a wall 
plate to engage the instrument around the neck proximate the head, and at 
the same time slope down and then up under the instrument head at the end 
of the neck like tines of a fork under the head. The ends of the prongs 
turn up sharply to prevent the instrument from sliding off the prongs, as 
may be the case in the event of an earthquake, for example. 
Since the head designs of such stringed instruments are not always 
symmetrical, particularly in the case of electronic guitars, the head may 
extend on one side further down the neck than the other. Consequently, the 
instrument will not hang down straight, and if not, the head may not rest 
on a prong on one side of the yoke. In that case, the instrument may not 
hang securely. Consequently, the base of the yoke is mounted on a wall 
plate by swivel means to allow the yoke to turn on an axis of the base 
until the instrument hangs with its center of gravity on a vertical axis 
intersecting the axis of the base. This swivel means thus permits the wall 
mounted yoke-type hook to self adjust so that the instrument hangs 
securely straight down with the head on both sides of the neck resting on 
a prong of the yoke.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
FIG. 1 illustrates a preferred embodiment of a hook 10 wall-mounted by 
screws through holes in a metal plate 11. The hook is shown in use for 
hanging a guitar (shown in phantom lines) from its yoke 12 comprising two 
prongs 12a and 12b coated with resilient material, preferably rubber, 
closely fitted around the neck 13 of the guitar proximate the tuning head 
13a. 
In this illustration, the head of the guitar is shown to be symmetrical so 
that the guitar is in fact suspended from the hook prongs against the 
bottom of the head with the yoke 12 horizontal, as shown in FIG. 2. In 
some instances, the head is not symmetrical, and when one side of the head 
extends further down the neck than on the other side, the guitar would not 
hang vertically because the one side would engage a prong while the other 
would not. Consequently, the hook 12 of two prongs 12a and 12b is provided 
with means for a shaft 14 shown in FIG. 3 to swivel in a cylindrical base 
15 case as a unitary part of the plate 11. The guitar having an 
unsymmetrical head will then cause the yoke to swivel until the guitar is 
hanging in a vertical position with both sides of the head resting on the 
prongs 12a and 12b. 
The guitar head 13a cannot slip off the ends of the prongs 12a and 12b 
because they not only slope down and then up like tines of a fork in order 
to cradle the head of the guitar, but also are turned up sharply at their 
ends, as shown in FIG. 4. The extent of the downward slope is made 
sufficient to assure that the guitar head will be positioned a distance 
from the wall on which the plate 11 is mounted just enough for the back of 
the guitar sound box to be clear of the wall. The extent of the upward 
slope is then made sufficient to accommodate the thickness of the guitar 
head. 
The preferred means for allowing the yoke to swivel in the cylindrical box 
15 will now be described with reference to FIG. 5. The shaft 14 is 
provided with a square or cylindrical projection 16 on the right side as 
viewed in FIG. 5 which fits into a square channel 17 cut in the 
cylindrical wall 18 of the base 15. An annular square channel 19 is also 
cut in the plate 11 just under the cylindrical base 15. The yoke 12 is 
shown in its normal orientation. To insert its shaft 14 into the 
cylindrical base 15, the yoke must be rotated 180.degree. until its prongs 
12a and 12b are inverted. Once the shaft is inserted by passing the square 
projection 16 along the channel 17 and the projection 16 reaches the 
annular square channel, the yoke 12 is again rotated 180.degree. to place 
it in the position shown in FIG. 3. The yoke 12 may then swivel almost 
180.degree. in either clockwise of counter clockwise direction without 
risk of the shaft slipping out of the base. The yoke cannot slide out 
because of the projection 16 in the annular channel 19, but it may swivel 
to allow any guitar hung on the yoke 12 to seek a position with the center 
of gravity of the guitar positioned on a vertical plane passing through 
the axis of the shaft 14. 
The shaft 14 and prongs 12a and 12b of the yoke 12 are cast in metal, as is 
the wall-mounted plate and cylindrical base 15, in order to support heavy 
string instruments such as electronic guitars. However, these parts may be 
cast in any rigid material, such as Bakelite, which is not subject to cold 
under the weight of the string instrument at normal room temperature 
ranges. However, metal is preferred because of its greater strength. 
The means for allowing the yoke 12 to swivel on the base 15 may be 
implemented in other ways, such as by forming the base 15 to be solid and 
of smaller diameter and forming the shaft 14 to be a hollow cylinder that 
fits over the solid cylindrical base. The function of the projection 16 
and annular square channel 19 in preventing the yoke from sliding off the 
base may be accomplished by forming an annular ridge on the wall inside 
the hollow cylindrical shaft with an internal diameter just slightly 
greater than the outer diameter of the solid cylindrical base. An annular 
groove is then formed on the solid cylindrical base to receive the annular 
ridge on the inside wall of the hollow shaft. Once the ridge snaps into 
the annular groove, the yoke cannot slide off the base under normal use. 
Still other modifications and materials will occur to those skilled in the 
art. Consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover 
equivalent modifications and materials.