Abstract:
An improved music stand for upright pianos includes a forwardly extending base plate and a back plate extending generally perpendicular to the base plate upwards therefrom. A rear rail-engaging plate extends rearwards from the back plate and the base plate, the rail-engaging plate having an arcuate cross-section curvature operative to fit over and frictionally engage at least a portion of the piano rail on the upright piano whereby the improved music stand is removably supported on the upright piano.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PROVISIONAL PATENT  
       [0001]     This application claims priority based on a provisional patent, specifically on the Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/691,906 filed Jun. 17, 2005. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Technical Field  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to music stands for pianos and, more particularly, to an improved music stand for mounting on an upright piano which includes a forwardly extending base plate, a back plate extending generally perpendicular to the base plate upwards therefrom and a rear rail-engaging plate extending rearwards from the back plate and base plate, the rail-engaging plate having an arcuate cross-section curvature to frictionally engage the piano rail on the upright piano thus providing an improved support structure for sheet music.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0005]     Upright or studio pianos are popular for many different reasons, including the fact that they do not occupy a large floor space yet produce a vibrant piano sound. They are popular for teaching piano lessons as well as for being used in size-limited performance spaces. In general, upright pianos include an area above the keyboard which is used as a music stand to support sheet music for the piano player. To retain the sheet music on the upright piano, the majority of upright pianos also include a raised rail which extends parallel to the keyboard in front of the body of the upright piano such that sheet music may be placed against the upright portion of the piano and be prevented from sliding forwards by the sheet music piano rail. However, the use of this rail is not always a simple matter as the sheet music tends to collapse downwards and fall into an unviewable position and further, due to the relatively small size of the sheet music piano rail, the turning and repositioning of the pages of sheet music can be made quite difficult. There is therefore a need for an improved sheet music stand for use with an upright piano which addresses and solves many of the problems not solved by the sheet music piano rail.  
         [0006]     Several devices have been proposed in the prior art which attempt to address and correct these deficiencies found in connection with the sheet music piano rail of the upright piano. These include such devices as Pepper, U.S. Pat. No. 556,064 and Chappell et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,491,277. Each of these devices attempt to improve upon the piano rail previously used for supporting sheet music, but they do not fully address and correct the problems encountered in displaying and using sheet music, particularly in that the Pepper device is only useable with one particular kind of sheet music stand which is found on only a very small number of upright pianos and the Chappell device actually provides only an incremental improvement over the standard piano rail in that it simply adds a slightly upwardly tilted base plate which provides only a small improvement over the piano rail in retaining sheet music thereon. There is therefore a need for an improved music stand for upright pianos which provides a relatively large surface for displaying sheet music and which quickly and easily mounts to virtually any upright piano having a sheet music piano rail.  
         [0007]     Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved music stand for upright pianos.  
         [0008]     Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved music stand for upright pianos which includes a forwardly extending base plate, a back plate extending generally perpendicular to the base plate upwards therefrom and a rear rail-engaging plate extending rearwards from the back plate and base plate, the rail-engaging plate having an arcuate cross-section curvature to frictionally engage the piano rail on the upright piano thus providing an improved support structure for sheet music.  
         [0009]     Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved music stand for upright pianos which is formed out of an acrylic plastic material which is translucent and rigid to enhance the appearance of the piano while still efficiently supporting sheet music thereon.  
         [0010]     Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved music stand for upright pianos which may be quickly and easily mounted on the piano rail on the piano when the piano is in use, so that sheet music may be securely and prominently displayed on the improved music stand, and when the piano is not in use, the improved music stand may be quickly and easily removed from the piano merely by disengaging it from the piano rail thereby allowing the appearance of the piano to be unencumbered.  
         [0011]     Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide an improved music stand for upright pianos which is relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and which is safe, efficient and effective in use.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0012]     The present invention provides an improved music stand for upright pianos includes a forwardly extending base plate and a back plate extending generally perpendicular to the base plate upwards therefrom. A rear rail-engaging plate extends rearwards from the back plate and the base plate, the rail-engaging plate having an arcuate cross-section curvature operative to fit over and frictionally engage at least a portion of the piano rail on the upright piano whereby the improved music stand is removably supported on the upright piano.  
         [0013]     The improved music stand for upright pianos as thus described provides a substantial advantage over other music stands found in the prior art. Whereas the majority of music stands require additional mounting devices such as screws or the like to secure them on the piano, the present invention instead utilizes the already existing piano rail to removably mount the music stand on the piano, thus generally eliminating the possibility of damage being done to the piano during installation and removal of the music stand. Furthermore, because the improved music stand provides a relatively large area for support of the sheet music, it provides a significant improvement over those music stands found in the prior art. Also, as the back plate preferably is of a translucent material with a clear color, the natural beauty of the piano can be clearly seen through the music stand, as opposed to the numerous prior art devices found which are opaque and can actually detract from the appearance of the piano. It is therefore seen that the improved music stand for upright pianos of the present invention provides a substantial improvement over those music stand devices found in the prior art.  
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0014]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the improved piano music stand of the present invention mounted on a piano and supporting sheet music; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 2  is a detailed side elevational view of the present invention showing how the rail-engaging plate frictionally engages the piano rail on the upright piano.  
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]     The improved music stand  10  of the present invention is shown best in  FIGS. 1 and 2  as including three main structural elements, the first being a back plate  12  which, in the preferred embodiment, would be a clear, molded plastic, generally flat plate having a height of approximately 8″ to 16″, a width of approximately 12″ to 24″ and a thickness of approximately ⅛″ to ¼″, depending upon the construction materials used in connection with the back plate  12 . Of course, it is not necessary that the back plate  12  have a clear color, as the color and opacity of the back plate  12  is not critical to the present invention. It has been found, however, that when a person has paid a substantial sum of money for a piano, the natural beauty of the piano should be seen, and thus the inclusion of the clear back plate  12  in the present invention is desirable.  
         [0017]     Mounted at the base of back plate  12  and extending forwards and outwards therefrom is a base plate  14  which, in the preferred embodiment, would be constructed of the same material as back plate  12  having similar thickness and width, but would have a depth of approximately 1″ to 4″ depending upon the amount of sheet music intended to be supported by the improved music stand  10  of the present invention and the size of the piano  50  on which the improved music stand  10  is to be mounted. It is also preferred that the base plate  14  be constructed as being clear, although, as was discussed previously, it is not strictly necessary to forsake color and design should such coloration and design imprinting be desirable.  
         [0018]     Taken together, the back plate  12  and base plate  14  form a general L-shaped music stand section which provides a relatively large and accessible location on which to display and support sheet music  60 , as shown best in  FIG. 1 . However, the back plate  12  and base plate  14  will not be able to perform their intended functions unless the improved music stand  10  is able to be supported on the piano  50 . The support mechanism by which the back plate  12  and base plate  14  are supported on the piano  50  provides the significant inventive element of the improved music stand  10  of the present invention, specifically as it is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  as the rail-engaging plate  16  which extends rearwards from the base of back plate  12  opposite base plate  14 . On the majority of upright pianos  50 , a piano rail  52  would extend parallel with the keyboard and be positioned above the keyboard on a shelf  54  or the like, and in general the piano rail  52  would be semi-cylindrical in shape with the rounded top wall  53  of the piano rail  52  engaging the base of the sheet music when the sheet music is placed on the piano  50 . When the improved music stand  10  of the present invention is used on the piano  50 , rail-engaging plate  16  is designed to frictionally engage the rounded top wall  53  of piano rail  52  as shown best in  FIG. 2 . To accomplish this, the rail-engaging plate  16  would have an arcuate cross-sectional curvature which approximates the curvature of the rounded top wall  53  of piano rail  52  to provide sufficient frictional contact between the rail-engaging plate  16  and rounded top wall  53  to prevent the improved music stand  10  from sliding of the piano rail  52 . As can be seen best in  FIG. 2 , the rail-engaging plate  16  would have an arch of approximately 60° to 150°, depending upon the amount of frictional contact desired between the rail-engaging plate  16  and piano rail  52  and the particular design of the piano  50  on which the improved music stand  10  is to be mounted. It has been found, however, that an arcuate shape of approximately 90° to 120° provides sufficient frictional contact between the rail-engaging plate  16  and rounded top wall  53  of piano rail  52  to substantially prevent any unintentional sliding or disengagement of the improved music stand  10  from the piano  50 . It is thus seen that the arcuate shape of the rail-engaging plate  16  is critical to the proper functioning of the improved music stand  10  of the present invention and therefore constitutes a major portion of the inventive aspects of the present invention.  
         [0019]     The use of the improved music stand  10  of the present invention could not be simpler in that one need merely position the rail-engaging plate  16  on the piano rail  52  and lean the back plate  12  rearwards until it contacts the piano  50 , as shown in  FIG. 1 . The arcuate cross-sectional shape of the rail-engaging plate  16  engages the piano rail  52 , specifically rounded top wall  53  of piano rail  52 , thus preventing the improved music stand  10  from sliding off of the piano  50  and providing a relatively large and easily accessible display area for the sheet music  60 . Just as importantly, however, is that the improved music stand  10  of the present invention may be quickly and easily removed from the piano  50  merely by disengaging the rail-engaging plate  16  from the piano rail  52 . This might be necessary, for example, in situations where the piano  50  also serves a decorative function and quick and simple removal of the improved music stand  10  of the present invention permits the beauty of the piano  50  to be fully displayed. When it is time to use the piano  50 , however, the improved music stand  10  may be quickly and easily replaced on the piano  50  as described above. The improved music stand  10  of the present invention thus provides a substantial improvement over those devices found in the prior art.  
         [0020]     It is to be understood that numerous additions, modifications and substitutions may be made to the improved music stand  10  of the present invention which fall within the intended broad scope of the above description. For example, the size, shape and construction materials used in connection with the back plate  12 , base plate  14  and rail-engaging plate  16  may be modified or changed so long as the functional features of the improved music stand  10  are neither degraded nor destroyed. Also, it may be desirable to adjust the angle between the base plate  14  and back plate  12  to accommodate various types of pianos  50  to provide a better display area for sheet music  60  positioned thereon and such modifications should be understood to be part of this disclosure. Finally, the exact diameter and curvature of the rail-engaging plate  16  may be modified or changed to accommodate various types of piano rails  52  used on various types of upright pianos, and so long as the rail-engaging plate  16  includes an arcuate cross-sectional shape, the specific curvature and size of the rail-engaging plate  16  is not critical to the present invention so long as it fulfills its intended purpose of frictionally mounting the improved music stand  10  on the piano  50 .  
         [0021]     There has therefor been shown and described an improved music stand  10  which accomplishes at least all of its intended purposes.