Patent Publication Number: US-7897858-B1

Title: Drum rim clamping apparatus for a foot pedal hammer seat

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a foot pedal hammer seat and particularly to a clamping apparatus located in front of a foot pedal hammer seat to clamp a drum rim of a bass drum. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A conventional foot pedal hammer seat is used for clamping a bass drum as shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2  and  3 . It mainly includes a hammer seat  1   a  placed on the floor with a base board  2   a  at the front side thereof, and a pair of rack stands  3   a  at the left and right sides of the base board  2   a  having the top to jointly hinge an axle  4   a . The axle  4   a  runs through a hub  5   a  which has one side fastened to a hammer  6   a . The hammer seat  1   a  has a rear side hinged a pedal  7   a . The pedal  7   a  has a front side fastened to one end of a chain  8   a . The pedal  7   a  also has a front end higher than a rear end in an inclined manner. The chain  8   a  has another end fastened to the hub  5   a . A clamping means  9   a  is hinged on the base board  2   a . The clamping means  9   a  is run through in the middle by a transverse axle  10   a  to be hinged on the base board  2   a . The clamping means  9   a  further has a pressing jaw  11   a  transversely hinged at the front side above the base board  2   a  to jointly clamp a drum rim a of the bass drum. The clamping means  9   a  further has a screw hole at the rear side screwed by a pressing bolt  12   a  with a distal end butting the upper side of the base board  2   a.    
     The pedal  7   a  can be stepped downwards by a user&#39;s foot so that the chain  8   a  drags the hub  5   a  to turn to drive the upper end of the hammer  6   a  to strike the face of the bass drum to generate drum sound. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the drum rim a of the bass drum usually has an elastic protection pad b attached thereon for protection. This increases the clamping distance between the pressing jaw  11   a  and the base board  2   a . And the pressing bolt  12   a  is screwed in a screw hole of the clamping means  9   a  at another end at a shorter distance.  FIG. 3  illustrates another conventional approach for a thinner drum rim a. The pressing jaw  11   a  directly compresses and clamps the drum rim a incorporating with the base board  2   a . The clamping means  9   a  is tilted upwards at the rear side and the pressing bolt  12   a  extends downwards out of the screw hole at a greater distance after screwing into the clamping means  9   a . To suit varying thickness of the drum rim a, the length of the pressing bolt  12   a  has to be made longer. But the longer pressing bolt  12   a  creates a concern of butting the pedal  7   a  at the top. Moreover, in the event that a drummer wants to tighten the pressing bolt  12   a , his/her hand has to reach into the narrow space beneath the pedal  7   a  to fumble and wrench the pressing bolt  12   a . It is a troublesome operation. 
     In addition, as shown in  FIG. 1 , the bass drum usually is positioned at a slight tilted angle in front of the hammer seat  1   a . The extent of the tilted angle depends on the preference of the drummer. As a result, the drum rim a also is clamped by the pressing jaw  11   a  and the base board  2   a  in a tilted manner. When the hammer strikes the drum face, the drum rim a is subject to a torsional force. This results in warp and deformation of the drum rim a after a period of time in use. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a drum rim clamping apparatus for a foot pedal hammer seat to clamp the drum rim to facilitate tightening operation, prevent screwing and compressing elements from butting the pedal, and also provide secure clamping without damaging the drum rim. 
     To achieve the foregoing object, the drum rim clamping apparatus according to the invention is located on a base board at a front side of a hammer seat. The base board has a pair of elastic pads made from rubber on the left side and right side at the front side thereof. The hammer seat has a rear side hinged a pedal which has the front side higher than the rear side. A pair of rack stands are provided on the left side and right side of the base board. The rack stands are transversely hinged with an axle which further hinges a hub. The hub is connected to the front end of the pedal through a flexible band. The hub has one side fastened to a hammer. The hammer has a distal end fastened to a drumstick. The invention further has a turning arm, an elastic compressing element and an adjustment screw bar. 
     The turning arm is transversely located at the front end of the base board with one end hinged thereon. 
     The elastic compressing element is coupled on a protrusive element at the front side of the turning arm and coupled with a distal end of a longitudinal fine tune element. The fine tune element is fastened to the protrusive element. The elastic compressing element and the pads jointly clamp a drum rim. 
     The adjustment screw bar is fastened to one of the rack stands in a longitudinal manner, and has the bottom end butting downwards to another end of the turning arm. 
     The invention thus structured provides many benefits, notably: 
     1. The turning arm is located at the front end of the base board with another end pressing downwards. The adjustment screw bar to clamp the drum rim is located at the front side of the rack stand. The fine tune element is located at the front end of the pedal. Hence drummers can wrench the adjustment screw bar or the fine tune element according to varying thickness of the drum rim without being interfered by other elements or butting the pedal. 
     2. The invention provides a structure to clamp the drum rim at a greater scale by wrenching the adjustment screw bar downwards to butt another end of the turning arm downwards so that the elastic compressing element can compress the drum rim tightly. To adjust the fine tune element can drive the elastic compressing element horizontally to compress the drum rim to suit the drum rim of varying thickness. By wrenching the adjustment screw bar, user&#39;s hands do not have to fumble under the pedal, so that operation is much easier. 
     3. The invention provides the rubber elastic compressing element and two pads on the left and right sides that are positioned to tilt downwards and inwards from outer sides to match the arched drum rim to form compression. This also can prevent damage the face of the drum rim. 
     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 accompanying embodiment and drawings. The embodiment serves only for illustrative purpose and is not the limitation of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a plane view of the structure of a conventional foot pedal hammer seat clamping a bass drum. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic view of the structure of a conventional foot pedal hammer seat clamping a bass drum of a thicker drum rim. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic view of the structure of a conventional foot pedal hammer seat clamping a bass drum of a thinner drum rim. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded view of an embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view of an embodiment of the invention showing a fine tune element and a lug in a coupled condition. 
         FIG. 7  is a schematic view of an embodiment of the invention showing an adjustment screw bar and a butting member in a coupled condition. 
         FIG. 8  is a plane view of an embodiment of the invention incorporating with a drum rim. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Please refer to  FIGS. 4 and 5  for an embodiment of the invention. The present invention aims to provide a drum rim clamping apparatus for a foot pedal hammer seat to be installed on a base board  12  at a front side of a hammer seat  10 . The base board  12  has a protrusive portion  11  extended upwards and a pair of elastic pads  13  made of rubber and located on the left and right sides in front of the base board  12 . The pads  13  are tilted downwards and inwards from outer sides. The hammer seat  10  has a rear side hinged a pedal  14  which has the front side higher than the rear side in the tilted manner. There are also a pair of rack stands  15   a  and  15   b  located on the left and right sides of the base board  12 , and the rack stands  15   a  and  15   b  are transversely hinged an axle  16  at a upper side. The axle  16  is hinged on a hub  17  which is connected to the front end of the pedal  14  through a flexible band  18 . The hub  17  has one side fastened to a hammer  19  which has a distal end fastened to a drumstick  191 . The rack stand  15   a  has a first lug  151  and a second lug  152  at the front side located on an upper side and a lower side. The second lug  152  has a screw hole  153 . The invention further has a turning arm  20 , an elastic compressing element  30  and an adjustment screw bar  40 . 
     The turning arm  20  is transversely located at the front end of the base board  12 , and has one end hinged on the protrusive portion  11  on the base board  12 , and a pressed portion  27  at another end formed with an arched downward concave on the upper surface. A bar-type hinged element  21  (such as a bolt) is provided to run through one end of the turning arm  20  and the protrusive portion  11  from the front side to the rear side and fasten to a nut  22 . A block-type protrusive element  23  is provided to fasten to the front side of the turning arm  20 . The protrusive element  23  has a screwing portion  24  at the rear side to run through rearwards the turning arm  20  to fasten to another nut  25 . The protrusive element  23  has the top fastened to a fine tune element  26  (such as a pressing bolt) in the longitudinal manner. The fine tune element  26  is screwed with the protrusive element  23  and thus is supported by the protrusive element  23 . The turning arm  20  and the base board  12  are interposed by a returning spring  28  which has the bottom coupled on a retaining strut  101  located at the front side of the base board  12 . 
     The elastic compressing element  30  (such as a rubber block) is located at the front side of the turning arm  20  to join the pads  13  to clamp a drum rim a. Also referring to  FIGS. 6 and 8 , a metal lug  31  is provided beneath the protrusive element  23  that has a horizontal bottom  32  and a longitudinal top  33  joined in an L-shaped manner. The longitudinal top  33  has a longitudinal slot  34 . The horizontal bottom  32  is encased by the elastic compressing element  30  at the outer periphery. 
     The fine tune element  26  has a distal end longitudinally running through the horizontal bottom  32  and the elastic compressing element  30  is run through upwards by a coupling screw  35  from the bottom of the elastic compressing element  30  so that the fine tune element  26  and the horizontal bottom  32  are coupled together. 
     The adjustment screw bar  40  runs longitudinally through the first lug  151  of the rack stand  15   a  and fastens to the screw hole  153  of the second lug  152 , and also has a butterfly nut  41  at the top and a neck  42  at the bottom end. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , a post-type butting member  43  is provided a cavity  44  formed in the center without running through the bottom thereof. The cavity  44  is coupled with the bottom end of the adjustment screw bar  40 . The butting member  43  is fastened transversely by a retaining screw  45  on the outer perimeter. The retaining screw  45  has a distal end butting the neck  42 . The butting member  43  has the bottom butting the pressed portion  27  of the turning arm  20 . 
     Also referring to  FIG. 8 , through the construction set forth above, the elastic compressing element  30  and the two pads  13  on the left and right sides of the base board  12  form a gap to clamp the drum rim a. The butterfly nut  41  of the adjustment screw bar  40  can be wrenched to move the butting member  43  which is located at the lower end of the adjustment screw bar  40  downwards to compress the turning arm  20  downwards and press and fix the drum rim a. By unfastening the adjustment screw bar  40 , the other end of the turning arm  20  is moved upwards by the returning force of returning spring  28 . 
     In addition, screwing the fine tune element  26  can drive the elastic compressing element  30  downwards to further compress the drum rim a. 
     Thus a drummer can step the pedal  14  to drag the flexible band  18  downwards and drive the hub  17  to turn and the hammer  19  rotating so that the drumstick  191  can further strike the drum face to generate drum sound. 
     The invention provides many advantages, notably: 
     1. The turning arm  20  is located at the front end of the base board  12 . The adjustment screw bar  40  used to compress the drum rim a is located at the front side of the rack stand  15   a , and the fine tune element  26  is located at the front end of the pedal  14 . Hence the drummer can wrench the adjustment screw bar  40  or the fine tune element  26  according to varying thickness of the drum rim a. And drummer&#39;s hands do not have to fumble beneath the pedal  14  and also are not interfered by other elements, and the concern of butting the pedal  14  can also be avoided. 
     2. The invention provides a structure to clamp the drum rim a at a greater scale by wrenching the adjustment screw bar  40  to compress another end of the turning arm  20  downwards so that the elastic compressing element  30  can rapidly clamp the drum rim a. To slightly adjust the fine tune element  26  also can drive the elastic compressing element  30  horizontally to press the drum rim a. Thus it can be used on the drum rim a of varying thickness. Moreover, the drummer can wrench the adjustment screw bar  40  without bending the body greatly. 
     3. The elements of the invention used to compress the drum rim a are the elastic compressing element  30  made of rubber and the two elastic pads  13  on the left and right sides that tilt downwards and inwards from the outer sides, thus can match the arched drum rim a without damaging the surface thereof.