Patent Publication Number: US-6215052-B1

Title: Guitar pick holder

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to guitar pick holders. 
     2. Prior Art 
     A guitar pick is an egg shaped, springy sheet for plucking guitar strings. Many musicians have a collection of guitar picks in different sizes and thickness. Keeping them loosely in a bag or a box makes finding the desired pick a difficult and annoying task. They are also so small that they are easily lost. 
     Various holders are known in the prior art for storing and dispensing guitar picks. U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,021 to Longshore discloses a pick holder which comprises a block with a slot where a pick can be inserted. The slot is only wide enough to hold a single pick. U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,238 to Adams discloses a pick dispenser similar to a coin dispenser. The picks can only be accessed sequentially. U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,300 to Silverman discloses a pick holder which comprises an elongated clip into which a plurality of picks can be inserted. The clip must be inconveniently long to hold many picks. U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,531 to Tischer discloses a pick holder comprising a coil spring into which picks can be inserted. The spring tends to stretch when a pick is removed and causes other picks to fall out. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,708 to Vaughan discloses a pick holder which comprises a series of side-by-side pockets. The holder is for attaching to the body of a guitar. The picks are held parallel and very close to the surface of the guitar, so that they tend to be difficult to grip and remove. U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,431 to Ferguson shows a spring loaded pick dispenser similar to a coin dispenser, wherein the picks can only be accessed sequentially. U.S. patent Des. 355,667 to Burger shows a pick holder which comprises a plurality of side-by-side spring loops for attaching to the tuning pegs on the neck of a guitar. The holder tends to interfere with the operation of the tuning pegs. U.S. patent Des. 309,674 to Gervase discloses a pick holder which comprises a rail with a clip for clipping to a guitar strap or belt. This holder also limits the picks to being accessed sequentially. Many of the prior art guitar pick holders are attached to the guitar body. However, many musicians are reluctant to tape or otherwise attach anything to their guitars. 
     OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, the objectives of the present guitar pick holder are: 
     to hold guitar picks securely to prevent loss; 
     to hold a collection of guitar picks in a very compact space; 
     to enable the guitar picks to be easily gripped and removed; 
     to enable the guitar picks to be randomly selected and removed; 
     to hold guitar picks of different sizes and thickness; and 
     to attach the guitar picks to a strap or belt so as not to mar the guitar. 
     Further objectives of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present guitar pick holder comprises a housing formed of a front half and a back half. A plurality of slots are arranged on the front half for receiving guitar picks. The slots are positioned very close together and staggered for compactness, but still enable the picks to be easily gripped. The picks may be randomly selected and removed from any slot. Each slot includes a beveled first edge for aiding pick insertion. A resilient tab projects into the slot from the first edge for securing the pick in position. A plurality of ramps are attached to the interior of the back half of the housing and aligned behind the slots. When a guitar pick is inserted into a slot, it is biased by the resilient tab against a second edge of the slot to an angled position relative to the surface of the housing for being easily gripped. The angle is limited by the ramp which engages the inner end of the pick. A clip on the back half of the housing is for clipping to a guitar strap or belt. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a front perspective exploded view of the present guitar pick holder. 
     FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the holder assembled, and a guitar pick is being inserted into a slot. 
     FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of the holder with the guitar pick fully inserted. 
     FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the holder full with guitar picks. 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the holder along line  5 — 5  in FIG.  4 . 
    
    
     DRAWING REFERENCE NUMERALS 
       10 . Housing 
       11 . Front Half 
       12 . Back Half 
       13 . Slots 
       14 . First Edge 
       15 . Second Edge 
       16 . Resilient Tab 
       17 . Cuts 
       18 . Concave Tip 
       19 . Ramp 
       20 . Slanted Edge 
       21 . Outer End 
       22 . Inner End 
       23 . Clip 
       24 . Loop 
       25 . Guitar Pick 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     FIG.  1 : 
     A preferred embodiment of the present guitar pick holder is shown in a front perspective view in FIG.  1 . It comprises a housing  10  formed of a front half  11  and a back half  12 . Housing  10  is preferably in the shape of a guitar pick for clearly identifying its use. A plurality of slots  13  are arranged on front half  11  for receiving guitar picks. Each slot  13  includes a first edge  14  and a second edge  15 . First edge  14  is beveled for aiding pick insertion. A resilient tab  16  projects into slot  13  from first edge  14 . Tab  16  is preferably coplanar and integral with the face of front half  11  for being easily molded. The entire front half  11  is thus preferably molded of a resilient material. A pair of cuts  17  on either side of tab  16  extend away from slot  13 . Cuts  17  extend the length of tab  16  to provide enough springiness. A concave tip  18  is provided on tab  16 . 
     A plurality of ramps  19  are attached to the interior of back half  12  of housing  10 . A pair of ramps  19  are positioned under each slot  13 , but more or fewer ramps can be provided. Each ramp  19  includes a slanted edge  20 . Slanted edge  20  has an outer end  21  for aligning with slot  13 , and an inner end  22  extending in the same general direction as tab  16 . A strap or belt clip  23  is for attaching to a loop  24  on back half  12  of housing  10 . 
     FIGS.  2 - 3 : 
     Housing  10  is shown fully assembled in FIG. 2. A guitar pick  25  is being inserted into a slot  13 . A smaller end  26  of guitar pick  25  is positioned against concave tip  18  on tab  16 . Guitar pick  25  is pressed against tab  16  to push it inward and allow smaller end  26  to dive under second edge  15  of slot  13 . Guitar pick  25  is shown fully inserted into slot  13  in FIG.  3 . 
     FIGS.  4 - 5 : 
     The holder is shown in FIG. 4 filled with guitar picks  25 . Slots  13  are positioned very close to each other and staggered for maximum compactness, but still enable guitar picks  25  to be easily gripped and removed. A collection of guitar picks  25  are thus secured in the holder, and can be randomly selected for removal. Slots  13  are arranged in a plurality of rows for minimizing the width of the holder, wherein each row has a plurality of parallel slots. Slots  13  are long and wide enough for holding picks of different sizes and thickness. 
     In FIG. 5, each guitar pick  25  is biased by resilient tab  16  against second edge  15  of slot  13 . Second edge  15  acts as a fulcrum to rotate guitar pick  25  to a sharply angled position relative to the surface of housing  10  for being easily gripped. The angle is limited by ramp  19  which engages an inner end of guitar pick  25 . 
     SUMMARY AND SCOPE 
     Accordingly, the present guitar pick holder holds a plurality of guitar picks securely to prevent loss. It holds the guitar picks in a very compact space. It enables the guitar picks to be easily gripped and removed. It enables the guitar picks to be randomly selected and removed. It holds guitar picks of different sizes and thickness. It also attaches the guitar picks to a strap or belt so as not to mar the guitar. 
     Although the above description is specific, it should not be considered as a limitation on the scope of the invention, but only as an example of the preferred embodiment. Many variations are possible within the teachings of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, not by the examples given.