Patent Publication Number: US-7897859-B2

Title: Hinged drumstick

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/184,467, filed Jun. 5, 2009, entitled “Ruttenberg&#39;s Hinge Drumstick”, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates in general to musical percussion instruments, and more particularly to drumsticks for playing percussion instruments. 
     Drumsticks typically include a butt end, a striking end, and an intermediate region located in between the butt end and the striking end along the length of the body of the drumstick. The intermediate region generally includes a balance point about which the drumstick pivots when the tip or striking point of the drumstick rebounds from contact with a drum skin. 
     The drumstick is generally held at or near the balance point during use, since gripping the stick at this point generally minimizes the damping of the stick&#39;s movement as it strikes and then rebounds from the surface (i.e. skin) of a drum or other percussion device. In order to properly train students learning to play percussion instruments, such as, for instance, a snare drum, it is helpful not only to aid the student in grasping the stick at the balance point, but to encourage gripping of the stick in the proper manner. The latter is of particular importance in learning a technique in which the stick is effectively hinged between the thumb and forefinger of the user&#39;s hand, and the last three fingers of the hand controlling the rate of movement of the stick about the hinge formed by the thumb and forefinger. 
     Drumsticks have been devised which attempt to minimize damping or restraint on the motion of the drumstick, for example, by isolating of the body of the drumstick from the fingers with some resilient material which can be gripped with firmness and which will not completely inhibit free motion of the drumstick. Another approach has been to provide some form of locator at the balance point. However, such designs do not establish freedom from restraint in pivotal movement as the stick rebounds from the drum. Moreover, they do not facilitate grasping and control of the drumstick at the balance point, especially for the student learning the fingertip control method of playing drums. 
     Thus, it is a problem in the art that prior approaches to providing unrestrained pivotal motion of the drumstick do not also enable a user to exercise sufficient control over the drumstick. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     According to one aspect, the present invention is directed to a percussion instrument that may include a body having a longitudinal axis extending from a butt end to a striking end thereof and at least one hole extending along a transverse axis through the thickness of the body; a grasping mechanism having a first grip plate at a first end thereof and a second grip plate at a second end thereof, and a shaft extending through the hole in the body; and a compliance mechanism disposed between the first and second grip plates, enabling the first and second grip plates to be brought closer together in response to a compressive force applied to the grasping mechanism. 
     Other aspects, features, advantages, etc. will become apparent to one skilled in the art when the description of the preferred embodiments of the invention herein is taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a drumstick in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a portion of a drumstick in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a portion of a drumstick in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view of a drumstick in accordance of an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a more detailed sectional view of the drumstick of  FIG. 4  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic sectional view of a hinge coupled to a body of a drumstick in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     For the purposes of illustrating the various aspects of the invention, there are shown in the drawings forms that are presently preferred, it being understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     In the following description, for purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one having ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known features may be omitted or simplified so as not to obscure the present invention. Furthermore, reference in the specification to phrases such as “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of phrases such as “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a drumstick  10  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The drumstick  10  of  FIG. 1  may include body  100  and hinge  200 . These features will be discussed in greater detail in connection with  FIG. 2 . 
       FIG. 2  shows body  100  and hinge  200  which may include hinge elements  202  and  204 , and fastener  300 . Fastener  300  may simply be a pin that is attachable to the hinge elements  202  and  204 . Alternatively, fastener  300  may have a more complex geometry and a plurality of parts as discussed later herein. 
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a portion of body  100  of drumstick  10 . Body  100  may include holes  150 ,  152 , and  154  and may be coupled to hinge elements  202  and  204 . The location of hole  150  can only be shown indirectly as the nearest opening of hole  150  (in the view of  FIG. 3 ) is obscured by hinge element  204 . The distribution of holes  150 ,  152 , and  154  preferably enables a user of drumstick  10  to select the most desirable pivot point along the length of body  100  at which to install hinge elements  202  and  204  forming fastener  300 . Preferably, hinge elements  202  and  204  may be readily disconnected from one another, for example by unscrewing a threaded connection, and re-connected within a preferred hole among holes  150 ,  152 , and  154 . 
       FIG. 4  is a sectional view of drumstick  10  in accordance of an embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 4  shows body  100  having holes  150 ,  152 , and  154 ; fastener  300  inserted through hole  150 ; and hinge elements  202  and  204  having pads  212  and  214 , respectively. Pads may be attached to their respective hinge elements to provide more desirable contact characteristics for a user of the drumstick  10 . Alternatively, grip pads  212 ,  214  may be omitted, and each hinge element  202 ,  204  could be formed using a single integral part. 
     In this embodiment, hinge elements  202  and  204  may be readily disconnected from one another and then re-attached within a different one of three available holes  150 ,  152 ,  154 . This disconnection and reconnection of hinge elements  202  and  204  may be achieved by unscrewing one of the threaded connections securing hinge elements  202 ,  204  together (see  FIG. 5 ), and then re-connecting the two parts together in a different hole, selected from holes  150 ,  152 , and  154 . While a threaded connection is shown in  FIG. 5 , the present invention is not limited to this connection means. Other means of connecting two rods together may be practiced, such as a press fit, friction fit, etc. Moreover, while three holes are shown in  FIGS. 3-4 , it will be appreciated that in alternative embodiments, body  100  may include fewer or more than three holes. 
       FIG. 5  is a more detailed schematic sectional view of the percussion instrument  10  of  FIG. 4  in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Percussion instrument  10  is preferably a drumstick but is not limited to this embodiment. Percussion instrument  10  may be any one of a number of other possible percussion instruments, including for instance, a Timpani stick. 
     Drumstick  10  of  FIG. 5  may include body  100  and hinge  200 . Hinge  200  may include hinge elements  202  and  204 , set screw  310 , and/or O-rings  330  and  332 . Body  100  may be a conventional drumstick body that is preferably made of wood, though other materials may be employed. Body  100  may include flat portions  162 ,  162 ,  166 , and  168  that are machined on a portion of body  100  that contacts O-rings  330  and  332  to maximize the surface area of contact between body  100  and the O-rings  330  and  332 . 
     Hinge element  202  may include disk portion  222 , shaft  320 , open radius area (deflection recess)  336  for flexing hinge element  202  upon the application of force thereto, and groove  334  for housing O-ring  330 . Similarly, hinge element  204  may include disk portion  224 , shaft  326 , deflection recess  346 , and groove  344  for housing O-ring  332 . 
     Fastener  300  may include shafts  320  and  324  of hinge elements  202  and  204  respectively. Fastener  300  may further include set screw  310  that may be disposed between shafts  320  and  324 . Shafts  320  and  324  may include threaded regions  322  and  326 , respectively, for engaging suitable portions of set screw  310 . In other embodiments, shafts  320  and  324  may be configured to be capable of being directly screwed together without any need for an intervening set screw. Moreover, other mechanical attachment means may be provided for coupling shaft  320  of hinge element  202  and shaft  324  of hinge element  204 . 
     Herein, the term “grasping mechanism” may refer to one or more parts included within hinge  200 . The disk portions  222 ,  224  of hinge elements  202  and  204 , respectively, may be referred to herein as grip plates. It will be appreciated that grip plates  222 ,  224  may, but need not be, disk shaped. 
     Hinge elements  202 ,  204  may be made of any desired material such as but not limited to wood, plastic, metal, polytetrafluoroethylene, or any combination of the foregoing. Shafts  320   324  may be made of the same materials as disk portions  222  and  224 , or alternatively may be made of metal to strengthen the threaded connection with set screw  310 . Set screw  310  is preferably made of metal, such as steel or aluminum. Alternatively, set screw  310  could be made of any other desirable material such as any of various plastics. O-rings  332  and  334  are preferably made of a suitably selected rubber. However, other materials may be used for O-rings  332 ,  334  if desired, such as, but not limited to plastic. Disk portions  222 ,  224  may be made of plastic, metal, or any other suitable material. While illustrated as disk-shaped, disk portions  222 ,  224  are not limited to having a disk-shaped geometry. 
     O-rings  330 ,  332  are disclosed herein as a mechanism for providing a “braking” function for the relative motion between body  100  and hinge elements  202  and  204 . However, the present invention is not limited to the use of O-rings for this purpose, and other braking materials, which may be compressible materials, may be employed. Braking materials however are not limited to being compressible materials. Any material suitable for creating effective braking friction when brought into contact with the body  100  of drumstick  10  may be employed including but not limited to rubber, leather, one or more plastics of various types, wood, and/or metal. In other alternative embodiments, a combination of one or more of the foregoing materials may be employed. 
     In this section, the attachment means among the various parts are discussed. The disk portion  222  and shaft portion  320  of hinge element  202  may be two separate parts that are joined together. Alternatively, they form a single integral part. In one embodiment, portions  202  and  320  of hinge element  202  may be rotationally fixed with respect to one another. In other embodiments, shaft  320  may be capable of rotating freely with respect to disk portion  222 . Arrangements analogous to the above may be applied to the connection between disk portion  224  and shaft portion  324  of hinge element  204 . 
     Hinge elements  202  and  204  may be joined together by first attaching set screw  310  to the threaded portion  322  of shaft  320  of hinge element  202 , and inserting the shaft portion  320  of hinge element  202  into hole  150  within body  100 . Thereafter, the threaded portion  326  of shaft  324  of hinge element  324  may be threaded onto the free end of set screw  310 . Once attached onto their respective ends of set screw  310 , hinge elements  202  and  204  may be turned with respect to one another to secure a final attachment between the two parts. In another approach, the above process may be repeated in reverse, with the set screw  310  being first attached to hinge element  204 , and hinge element  202  being threaded onto the assembly of set screw  310  and hinge element  204  within the interior of hole  150  of body  100 . 
     Having described the individual parts, the materials the parts may be made of, and the interconnections between the parts, it remains to describe the operation of a preferred embodiment of the drumstick  10  of  FIG. 5 . Once fully assembled, and with no external force applied to force hinge elements  202  and  204  together, the body  100  of drumstick  10  is preferably pivotally mobile with respect to fastener  300  without any hindrance. A user may pick up drumstick  10  and hold it using disk portions (grip plates)  222  and  224  of hinge elements  202  and  204 , respectively. 
     The user preferably initially holds the grip plates  222 ,  224  so as to apply force substantially at the center of the grip plates  222 ,  224  and thereby avoid deflecting the periphery of plates  222 ,  224  toward the o-rings  330 ,  332 . In this manner, using the initial grasping position, body  100  is preferably freely pivotally mobile with respect to fastener  300 , thereby enabling the desirable free rotational motion of body  100  for both learning and performing purposes. 
     Another benefit of using O-rings  330  and  332  is to prevent an undesirable clicking sound upon the impact of the striking end of drumstick  10 , or other type of percussion instrument, with a drum skin, or other percussion surface. The possibility of a clicking sound upon impact of the drumstick with a drum skin arises from the presence of the apparatus of hinge  200  within and near body  100 . An impact between body  100  and any portion of hinge  200  may produce the undesired clicking sound. The placement of O-rings  330  and  332  in the locations shown in  FIG. 5  preferably operates to massively reduce and/or eliminate the undesired clicking sound by cushioning any undesired impact between hinge elements  202 ,  204  and body  100 . It is noted that devices other than O-rings  330  and  332  may be employed to prevent the undesired impact between parts of hinge  200  and body  100 . 
     When a user of drumstick  10  wishes to limit the rotational speed and/or the angular displacement of body  100  with respect to fastener  300 , the user may shift the location of the compressive holding force on grip plates  222 ,  224  so as to deflect the edges of grip plates  222  and  224  about deflection recesses  334  and  344  respectively, and in turn cause O-rings  330  and  332  to impinge on body  100  of drumstick  10 , which thereby operates to hinder the rotational motion of body  100  with respect to fastener  300 . In this manner, the rotational speed and/or the angular motion range of body  100  with respect to fastener  300  may be controlled as a function of the location and magnitude of the compressive force applied by the user to the respective grip plates  222 ,  224 . Moreover, the extent and location of the applied force is under the control of the user of drumstick  10 , thereby enabling the user to either allow unimpeded pivotal motion of drumstick  10  or to controllably dampen the motion of drumstick  10  in response to the compressive force applied by the user. 
     Another approach to enabling braking of the motion of body  100  with respect to hinge elements  202  and  204  is shown in  FIG. 6 . More specifically, an alternative approach to enabling the lateral (i.e. transverse-axis) compliance of hinge  200  in response to a compressive force so that O-rings  330  and  332  and can be moved toward body  100  to provide the desired braking function for the motion of body  100  with respect to hinge elements  202  and  204 . Herein, the term “compliance device” may refer to the one or more springs  410 ,  420  of  FIG. 6 , or any other mechanism that is operable to enable disk portions  222  and  224  to move closer together in response to a compressive force applied thereto. 
     Accordingly, in  FIG. 6 , the deflection recesses  336 ,  346  may be omitted as shown. Instead, springs  410  and/or  420  may be employed to enable spring-loaded transverse-axis relative movement between disk portion  402  and disk portion  404 . We turn now to the operation of the drumstick  10  of  FIG. 6 . When free motion of body  100  with respect to hinge  200  (including disk portions  202 ,  204 ) is desired, a user preferably holds disk portions  222 ,  224  with a compressive force sufficiently small so that O-rings  330 ,  332  do not impart any significant frictional braking force against body  100  of drumstick  10 . When a user wishes to control the pivotal speed and/or extent of pivotal motion of body  100  with respect to disk portions  222 ,  224 , the user may hold disk portions  222  and  224  with a compressive force sufficient to move these two parts towards one another and thereby bring O-rings  330 ,  332  into contact with body  100 , thereby imparting a frictional braking force to body  100 . Thereafter, the braking effect may adjusted by the user by adjusting the amount of compressive force used to hold disk portions  222  and  224 . If desired, the compliance features of  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6  could be combined within a single embodiment. Thus, one or both of springs  410 ,  420  could be included along with one or more of deflection recesses  336 ,  346 . 
     While the above embodiments involves using O-rings  330 ,  332  as the entity making frictional contact with body  100 , i.e. as the “braking material,” the present invention is not limited to the use of O-rings. Other materials having other shapes may be employed either in addition to, or in place of, O-rings  330 ,  332 . Other materials for the frictional contact device (i.e. the role of O-rings  330 ,  332  in  FIG. 6 ) may include but are not limited to plastic, rubber, wood, fiberglass, metal, or any combination of the foregoing. In still other embodiments, the presence of a braking material separate from disk portions  222  and  224  could be omitted entirely. Where such separate braking material is omitted, friction between the internal surfaces of disk portions  202 ,  204  themselves and the body  100  could be used to brake and/or control the motion of body  100  with respect to the disk portions  222  and  224 . 
     While two springs  410 ,  420  are shown in  FIG. 6 , it will be appreciated that three or more springs could be employed. Moreover, the invention may be practiced using only a single spring. Moreover, the one or more springs providing the needed compliance need not be located as springs  410  and  420  are shown in  FIG. 6 . Compliant devices, such as springs, could be located at any point that would allow disk portions  222  and  224  move closer together upon the application of compressive force between these two parts. 
     In one embodiment, a detent mechanism (not shown) could be employed along the structural path from disk portion  222  and  224  to establish a threshold force level below which disk portions  222  and  224  would not move closer together. At compressive force levels above the detent-mechanism compressive-force threshold, the compressive force would begin to force disk portions  222  and  224  together and initiate the braking function discussed above. 
     One or more embodiments of the present provide the benefits of enabling the player to visualize and feel the rebound; enabling the player to visualize and feel how a loose grip can benefit playing; enabling the player to work on velocity strokes, facilitating the whipping motion of the Moeller Technique; promoting finger technique for the Timpani technique; forcing the player to hold the stick in the correct manner by gripping the pads between the thumb and index finger; and/or allowing the player to have control of the stick by squeezing the pads for more technical playing such as for double strokes and buzz rolls. 
     In alternative embodiments, the following variations could be practiced to benefit various embodiments of the invention: (1) the use of different hole diameters; (2) the use of different hole locations; (3) the use of a different size or type of stick; (4) the use of a different drum stick tip (wood or nylon); (5) the use of a timpani stick; (6) a variation in the diameter of the portion of fastener  300  extending though hole  150 ; (7) the use of a different diameter (or shape) of the disk portions  222 ,  224  of the hinge elements  202 ,  204 ; and/or (8) the use of different means of securing together the shaft portions  320 ,  324  that engage one another within hole  150 . 
     Although the invention herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.