Abstract:
A drum cart for supporting and transporting a drum set between locations. The drum cart includes support arms, a handle, wheels and a support bracket adapted to releasably couple a bass drum to the drum cart and place the bass drum into a performance position by lying the drum cart on the ground horizontally.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates generally to dollies or carts for transporting musical drum sets and, in particular, to a cart adapted to both transport a drum set to a performance venue as well as hold and support the drum set during performance. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Currently, multiple trips are required to move a drum set or percussion set from home to the place of performance and back. Stand drum set-ups require the user to assemble and then disassemble a number of components, including but not limited to stands required to hold drums, cymbals and other percussion instruments. Each assembly or disassembly of the drum set can take upwards of half an hour or more, depending on the size and number of components in the drum set. Inevitably, multiple trips are required to then move the disassembled components from the home into the vehicle for transport, then from the vehicle to the place of performance where the set is then reassembled. 
     Additionally, when preparing for a gig, often the drum set will be assembled in a performance staging area while other gigs are performing on stage. This permits the drummer to place each of the components into their proper playing position which frequently varies from drummer to drummer. There is no present system which permits a user to move the components of an entire drum set, once assembled in their proper playing position, from the staging area to the performance area. Rather, the drummer must make multiple trips from staging to performance areas, carrying individual components and then replacing those components in their proper playing position. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a system that permits a band member or stagehand to transport all pieces of a drum set in only one trip. Additionally, none of the present drum transportation systems provide easy portability of an entire drum set, once assembled in their proper playing position, from the staging area to the performance. 
     SUMMARY 
     In accordance with an aspect of the invention, the drum cart broadly includes support arms, a handle disposed between the support arms, a base and wheels for transporting the cart between locations. The drum cart further includes support brackets disposed between the lower end of the support arms and having channels to receive the tension rods of a base drum to semi-permanently affix the base drum to the drum cart. In transport, the drum cart and bass drum are vertical. To place the drum cart and into performance position on stage or in a staging area, the drum cart is lowered horizontally to the ground so that the wheels and handle rest on the ground and the bass drum head faces outwardly away from the drummer. 
     The drum cart further includes T-joints attached to the support arms and can receive the stands of additional drum components or extension arms for attaching additional drum components. The T-joints are moveable around the frame of the drum cart to permit a drummer to place to different drum set components in the drummer&#39;s preferred playing position. The T-joints also permit the extension arms or drum stands to be rotated in different directions when the drum has been removed in order to keep the extension arm or stand within the footprint of the drum cart and permit easier transport. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of the subject matter sought to be protected, there are illustrated in the accompanying drawings embodiments thereof, from an inspection of which, when considered in connection with the following description, the subject matter sought to be protected, its construction and operation, and many of its advantages should be readily understood and appreciated. 
         FIG. 1  is perspective view of a drum support system in the performance position, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded, perspective view of a bass drum and bass drum support brackets, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a spring clip within the bass drum support brackets depicted in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is an exploded view of T-shaped brackets, according to an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5 . is side view of the drum support system depicted in  FIG. 1 , in the transport position and including a drum set. 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of the drum support system depicted in  FIG. 1 , in the performance position and including a drum set. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     While the present invention is susceptible of embodiments in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings, and will herein be described in detail, embodiments, including a preferred embodiment, of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention, and is not intended to limit the broad aspect of the invention to embodiments illustrated. As used herein, the term “present invention” is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed invention and is instead a term used to discuss exemplary embodiments of the invention for explanatory purposes only. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of a drum cart  10  of the present invention is shown. The drum cart  10  includes a frame having two generally straight support arms  12 , a flat base  18  disposed between the support arms near a set of wheels  14 , and a handle  16  disposed between the support arms  12  opposite the base  18 . The base  18  is optionally removable. In an embodiment, the cart contains a single wheel disposed between the support arms  12 . 
     Rear and front support brackets  20 ,  22  near the base  18  are adapted to receive a bass drum via the bass drum&#39;s tension rods, as depicted in  FIG. 2 . The support brackets  20 ,  22  are generally arcuate in shape to mirror the cylindrical body of a bass drum. Front support bracket  22  is removable and used in an embodiment when the drum cart includes the base  18 . Alternatively, in an embodiment, the base  18  can be removed. When the base  18  is removed, front support bracket  24 , which includes a plurality of feet  26  for resting the drum cart  10  on the ground, is attached. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , a bass drum  40  includes drum hoop  42 , typically made of metal, wood, or other material, that is used to hold the drum head  44  against the drum shell  46  via tension rods  48  inserted through claw hooks that hold the drum hoop  42 . To attach the bass drum  40  to the drum cart  10 , the tension rods  48  are removed and channels  28  of support brackets  20 ,  22  (or  24 ) are respectively aligned with the holes in the flange of the drum hoop  42 . The tension rods  48  are then respectively reinstalled through the flange holes and the channels  28  of support brackets  20 ,  22 . Additionally, a tension rod  48  is inserted through a spring clip  50  disposed on the support brackets  20 ,  22 , as show in  FIG. 3 . The spring clip is loaded to snap over one of the support arms  12 , thereby releasably coupling the bass drum to the lower portion of the drum cart  10 . Thus, once releasably coupled, the bass drum  40  can only be removed from the drum support  10  by disassembling and removing the tension rods. 
     The cylindrical body of the bass drum  40  is mounted co-axial with the support arms  12 . When assembled the drum head  44  lies flat against the base  18  of the cart. As such, when the drum cart  10  is wheeled in a vertical or semi-vertical position, the bass drum  40  is also in a vertical position. At the staging area or performance location, the drum cart  10  is lowered horizontally so wheels  14  and handle  16  rest on the ground, placing the bass drum in a normal, horizontal playing position so it can be played, with the drumhead  44  facing toward the spectators, as seen in  FIGS. 5 and 6 . 
     In an embodiment, the drum cart  10  can include optionally removable T-joints  60  respectively coupled to the support arms  12  via clamps  64  disposed within each limb of the T-joint, such as those shown in  FIG. 4 . The T-joints  60  are adapted to permit fastening of other drum components to the drum cart  10 . For example, a floor tom can be attached to the drum cart  10  by connecting the T-joint  60  to an existing floor tom&#39;s support legs  65  mounted at a 90-degree angle to the support arms  12 , shown in  FIG. 1 . Additionally, cymbals can be attached to the drum cart  10  by connecting the T-joints  60  to cymbal stands at 90-degree angles to the support arms  12 . Cymbal stands may, in some cases, also be self-supported by the bass drum  40 . A snare drum stand  70  may be connected at a 90-degree angle to the support arms  12  to permit attachment of a snare drum. For assembling a hi-hat, an extension arm  75  and additional T-joint  60  are attached to a hi-hat stand, the extension arm  75  thereby facilitating the positioning of the hi-hat into the proper arrangement for performance. During transport, the hi-hat extension arm  75  is rotated so that it is co-axial with the vertical support arms, as depicted in  FIG. 5 . 
     Once the desired components of the drum set are properly coupled to the drum cart  10 , the drum set can be configured in either the transport position, as shown in  FIG. 5 , or the performance position, as seen in  FIG. 6 . In transport, all but the bass drum of the drum set components are removed from their performance position on their respective stands and stacked on the bass drum between the support arms. If an extension arm has been coupled to the drum cart  10  via a T-joint, such as the extension arm attached to a hi-hat stand, the extension arm can be radially rotated so that the arm is parallel to the support arms  12  defining the footprint of the drum cart. Thus, all drum components are contained within the footprint of the frame, permitting easy transport and storage. A band member or stage hand then grasps the handle  16  to wheel the drum cart  10  much like a standard dolly or wheelbarrow, depending upon the configuration. 
     Upon arrival at the staging area in the transport position, the drum cart  10  is placed with the support arms  12  horizontal and parallel with the floor, with the handle and wheels resting on the floor. The bass drum  40  is thereby placed into the performance position with the drum head  44  facing away from the drummer. Any drum stands or cymbal stands attached to T-joints are raised or lowered to their desired height. Attached extension arms  75  are outwardly rotated so as to place the attached drum stand into its proper position. The remaining drum components, such as a cymbal, hi-hat, floor tom or snare drum, can then be easily assembled on their respective stands and placed into the drummer&#39;s preferred performance positions. The footprint of the drum set in its performance position is then established. Because all components are assembled and semi-permanently fixed to the frame in the performance position, the present invention further permits simple transport of the entire drum set within the footprint by simply lifting the handle slightly off the ground and rolling the drum cart via the wheels from the staging area to the performance area without having to reassemble the set on stage, or disassemble the set before removing the set from the stage. 
     While the invention has been described with respect to specific examples including presently preferred modes of carrying out the invention, those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous variations and permutations of the above described systems and techniques that fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.