Patent Publication Number: US-7906718-B1

Title: Drum and drum stand coupler

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a coupler and particularly to a coupler to couple a drum and a drum stand. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     On percussion instruments, a drum stand usually is used to hold drums of different sizes. Referring to  FIG. 1 , a conventional drum has an upper side and a lower side coupled respectively with an upper drum rim a and a lower drum rim b, and a plurality of lugs c attached annularly on the drum shell at the upper side and lower side. The upper drum rim a and each lug c at the upper side of the drum shell are fastened by a bolt d longitudinally running through the lug c to hold an upper drum head of the drum tightly. Similarly, the lower drum rim b and each lug c at the lower side of the drum shell also are fastened by another bolt d longitudinally running through the lug c to hold a lower drum head of the drum tightly. A conventional drum and drum stand coupler includes an upper coupler  1  and a lower coupler  2 . The upper coupler  1  has a top and the lower coupler  2  has a bottom that are extended horizontally leftwards and rightwards in an arched manner to form a wing  3 . The wing  3  has a slot running through up and down and coupled with an elastic pad  4 . The pad  4  has a longitudinal hole run through by the bolt d to engage with the lug c to fasten the drum and the coupler together. The upper coupler  1  further has a plate  5  extended longitudinally downwards. The plate  5  has side plates  6  respectively on the left side and right side bent towards the drum. Each side plate  6  has a longitudinal sliding slot. The lower coupler  2  has a pair of upright planks  7  located longitudinally upwards on the left side and right side to be disposed on the inner side of the side plate  6  in a staggered manner. The upright plank  7  has a strut  8  on an outer side coupled in the sliding slot. The side plate  6  has a bolt  9  on an outer side running through the sliding slot to fasten the upright plank  7 . Thus the upper coupler  1  and the lower coupler  2  can be fastened together. The plate  5  further is fastened to a fixture f on the surface to couple with a drum stand (not shown in the drawing). 
     The drums of different sizes generate different sound, and the drum height and the size of the drum shell impacts the sound. The coupler has to couple with drums of varying heights and different drum shells and also couple to a drum stand. The conventional coupler previously discussed can adjust only the elevation distance of the upper and lower couplers  1  and  2 , but is not adaptable to the drum shells of greater size differences. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary object of the present invention is to solve the shortcoming of the conventional drum and drum stand coupler that is not adaptable to drum shells of greater size differences. The present invention provides a drum and drum stand coupler that has a first coupler and a second coupler each has an adjustment slot on the left side and right side run through by a transverse fastener to couple with a longitudinal fastener on the outer side of the drum shell. Thus it is applicable to the drum shells of greater size differences to fasten the drums and drum stand. 
     To achieve the foregoing object, the drum and drum stand coupler according to the present invention is to hold a drum which includes an upper drum rim and a lower drum rim, and a drum shell with a plurality of lugs attached annularly on the upper side and lower side thereof. The upper drum rim, lower drum rim and lugs are coupled through a plurality of longitudinal fasteners. The coupler of the present invention comprises a first coupler, a second coupler and a distance adjustment means. 
     The first and second couplers are formed in an arched shape and located on the circumference at the upper side and lower side of the drum shell, and have respectively an elongate adjustment slot on the left side and right side run through by a transverse fastener to couple with the longitudinal fastener. 
     The distance adjustment means longitudinally couples the first and second couplers, and comprises a first guiding member and a second guiding member. The first guiding member has an upper end fastened to the first coupler. The second guiding member has a lower end fastened to the second coupler. The first and second guiding members are plates coupled in an up and down manner and staggered on an outer side and an inner side, and are coupled together through at least one fastening element. 
     By means of the structure set forth above, the elongate adjustment slot of the first and second couplers can be run through by the transverse fastener to couple to the longitudinal fastener. Thus it can be used to couple a plurality of drums with greater size differences of drum shells with a drum stand. Moreover, the first and second guiding members are formed in plates in contact with each other on the outer side and inner side, thus can withstand a greater strength to prevent vibrating. 
     In addition, as the first and second guiding members are coupled in an up and down manner and staggered on the outer side and inner side, the longitudinal distance of the first and second couplers can be adjusted according to varying heights of the drums. Moreover, the fastening elements are positioned in a three-point manner to couple the first and second couplers, hence a firmer fastening effect can be achieved. 
     The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the embodiment and accompanying drawings. The embodiment serves merely for illustrative purpose and is not the limitation of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a fragmentary perspective view of a conventional coupler and a drum. 
         FIG. 2  is a fragmentary perspective view of the coupler and a drum according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded view of the coupler of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the coupler of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5A  is a fragmentary top view of the coupler fastening to a smaller drum according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 5B  is a fragmentary top view of the coupler fastening to a larger drum according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 2 through 4 , the present invention aims to provide a drum and drum stand coupler. The drum  10  has an upper drum rim  11  and a lower drum rim  12  and a drum shell  13 . There are a plurality of lugs  14  attached annularly to the outer side of the drum shell  13  at the upper side and lower side. The upper drum rim  11  and lower drum rim  12  are coupled to the lugs  14  at the upper side and lower side of the drum shell  13  through a plurality of longitudinal fasteners (such as bolts)  15 . Each longitudinal fastener  15  runs through a turning member  16 . The turning member  16  includes a horizontal coupling end  161  and a vertical fastening end  162 . The coupling end  161  has a coupling hole  163  coupled with an elastic shock-absorbing pad  17 . The longitudinal fastener  15  runs through the shock-absorbing pad  17  to fasten to the lug  14 . The fastening end  162  of the turning member  16  at the upper side of the drum shell  13  is bent on the top to form an upper butting flange  164   a , and the fastening end  162  of the turning member  16  at the lower side of the drum shell  13  is bent at the bottom to form a lower butting flange  164   b.    
     The coupler  20  includes a first coupler  21 , a second coupler  22 , and a distance adjustment means  30  which longitudinally couples the first and second couplers  21  and  22 . 
     The first coupler  21  is an arched plate surrounding the circumference of the drum shell  13  at the upper side, and has elongate adjustment slots  211  on the left side and right side, each adjustment slot  211  run through by a transverse fastener  212  (such as a bolt). The transverse fastener  212  has a polygonal head  213  (such as square) to be coupled with a socket type tool (not shown in the drawings) for turning. The transverse fastener  212  also has a distal end fastened to the fastening end  162  of the turning member  16  at the upper side of the drum shell  13 . Therefore, the left and right sides of the first coupler  21  can be coupled to two opposing longitudinal fasteners  15  outside the drum shell  13  at the upper side. The top of the first coupler  21  is butted by the upper butting flange  164   a  of the fastening end  162  of the turning member  16  at the upper side. 
     The second coupler  22  is an arched plate surrounding the circumference of the drum shell  13  at the lower side, and has elongate adjustment slots  221  on the left side and right side, each adjustment slot  221  run through by another transverse fastener  222  (such as a bolt). The transverse fastener  222  has a polygonal head  223  (such as square) to be coupled with a socket type tool (not shown in the drawings) for turning. The transverse fastener  222  also has a distal end fastened to the fastening end  162  of the turning member  16  at the lower side of the drum shell  13 . Therefore, the left and right sides of the second coupler  22  can be coupled to two opposing longitudinal fasteners  15  outside the drum shell  13  at the lower side. The bottom of the second coupler  22  is butted by the lower butting flange  164   b  of the fastening end  162  of the turning member  16  at the lower side. 
     The distance adjustment means  30  includes a first guiding member  31  and a second guiding member  32  that are plates. The first guiding member  31  surrounds the outer side of the second guiding member  32  in an up and down manner and staggered on an outer side and inner side. The upper end of the first guiding member  31  and the first coupler  21  are run through by at least one coupling element such as a screw  311  which has a distal end fastened to a nut  312 . The first guiding member  31  has a left side and a right side bent towards the drum  10  to form respectively a first side plate  313  which has an elongate longitudinal guiding slot  314  formed thereon. 
     The lower side of the second guiding member  32  and the second coupler  22  are run through by at least one coupling element such as a screw  321  which has a distal end fastened to a nut  322 . The second guiding member  32  has a left side and a right side bent towards the drum  10  to form respectively a second side plate  323  which has an aperture  324  formed on an upper side thereof. Two fastening elements such as screws  325  are provided, each screw  325  has a screw head  326  at one end formed at a diameter greater than that of the screw  325 , the screw  325  runs through the guiding slot  314  and aperture  324  to fasten to a nut  327 . The second guiding member  32  further has an elongate longitudinal slot  328  in the middle with an open end. 
     There is another fastening element such as a screw  33  has a screw head  331  at one end formed at a diameter greater than that of the screw  33 , the screw  33  couples with at least one washer  332  and runs through the slot  328  and the first guiding member  31  to fasten to a nut  333  to couple the first and second guiding members  31  and  32  together. 
     The first guiding member  31  has a fixture  40  at one side remote from the drum  10  to couple to a drum stand (not shown in the drawings). 
     By means of the construction set forth above, the first and second couplers  21  and  22  respectively surround the drum shell  13  on the outer side at the upper side and lower side, and have respectively the adjustment slots  211  and  221  on the left and right sides run through by the transverse fasteners  212  and  222  that have distal ends fastened to the fastening end  162  of the turning member  16 , therefore can couple with the drum  10  together. As the drums  10  of varying sizes have the drum shells  13  with different diameters, referring to  FIGS. 2 ,  5 A and  5 B, every two lugs  14  are spaced from each other at a different distance and the arched distance of the two longitudinal fasteners  15  also varies. Since the adjustment slots  211  and  221  are elongate through slots and formed in an arched shape, they allow the transverse fasteners  212  and  222  to adjust positions and form fastening. Moreover, the turning member  16  can be turned relative to the longitudinal fastener  15  to adjust angle as desired. Thus the present invention can be coupled with the drum stand for different drums  10  with the drum shells  13  of greater size differences. 
     It is to be noted that the first and second guiding members  31  and  32  are coupled in an up and down manner and staggered at the outer side and inner side, thus the distance between the first and second couplers  21  and  22  can be adjusted according to different heights of the drums  10 . When in use, unfastening the nut  327  of the screw  325  and the nut  333  of the screw  33 , the first coupler  21  can be moved upwards or downwards to mate the heights of the drums  10  of different specifications by adjusting the elevation distance of the first and second couplers  21  and  22 . The transverse fasteners  212  and  222  at the upper and lower sides of the drum shell  13  can also mate the fastening end  162  of each turning member  16 , then the nut  327  of the screw  325  and the nut  333  of the screw  33  can be fastened tightly to couple the first and second couplers  21  and  22  together. 
     In the present invention, the screw  33  is fastened in the middle of the first and second guiding members  31  and  32 . The two screws  325  are fastened on the left and right sides of the side plates  313  and  323  of the first and second guiding members  31  and  32 . Thus a three-point fastening is formed to fasten the first and second couplers  21  and  22  together. As the first and second guiding members  31  and  32  are plates in contact with each other on the outer side and inner side, the present invention provides a greater strength and can prevent vibrating when in use. Compared with the conventional coupler which provides merely fastening through a bolt  9  on two side plates  6  on the left and right sides, the first and second couplers  21  and  22  of the present invention provides more secured fastening.