Patent Publication Number: US-10770043-B1

Title: Tubular thunder sticks

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not Applicable. 
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH 
     Not Applicable. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention relates to wireless mic drumsticks with very small LED lights placed into the stick body when they are manufactured. 
     US 2009/0019986 A1, published Jan. 22, 2009 discloses a drumstick with integrated microphone. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,163, issued Oct. 7, 1980 discloses illuminated drumsticks. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,106,079, issued Aug. 8, 1978 discloses illuminated drum stick. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,479,737, issued Nov. 12, 2002 discloses a system and method for emitting laser light from a drumstick. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,722,035, issued Jan. 26, 1988 discloses a drumstick with light emitting diode. 
     Without limiting the scope of the invention a brief summary of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention, below. 
     A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided as well only for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. 1.72. The abstract is not intended to be used for interpreting the scope of the claims. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     When a drum or cymbal is hit there is no delay in the sound, as with a miced drum set, and the lights flash simultaneously with the sound. Alternatively, the LED lights could be configured to strobe or be always on. The wireless technology can be any available technology, like Bluetooth or WIFI or even cellular. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a view of a pair of inventive drumsticks. 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a two part embodiment of the inventive drumstick. 
         FIG. 3  shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a three part embodiment of the inventive drumstick. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a two section version of the wireless drumstick is shown generally at  10 . The drumstick has a body section  12  and a butt end section  14 , which screw together. The body section includes a translucent tip  16  and a mesh section  20  which cover the LED lights (not shown) and which help carry the sound to the wireless mic (not shown). The on/off switch is located on the bottom of the drumstick. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 2 , a cross-section view of a two part drumstick embodiment is shown, in which the body section is shown at  12  and the butt end section is shown at  14 . The two parts are designed to screw together screw together and electrically connect the LED&#39;s and wireless mic to the battery. The battery  22  can either be carried by the butt section  14  or the body section  12 , and can be carried inside the drumstick of be connected to the outside of the drumstick. Alternatively, a battery pack could be connected to the drumstick by conductive wire and the battery pack could be carried on the body of the drummer, or placed under the seat the drummer sits on. A wireless mic  24  picks up the sound transmitted to it and wireless transmits it to a sound system (not shown). A plurality of LED lights are connected to the inside of body  12  at  26 , and covered by a light metal mesh section  20 , which both protect the LED lights and also help carry the sound to the wireless mic  24 . The drumstick has a translucent tip  16  which is illuminated by the LED lights. The drumsticks can either be made of a metal such as aluminum, with the translucent tip allowing light out, or a clear plastic which allows the entire drumstick to illuminate. 
     Referring now to  FIG. 3 , a cross-section view of a three part drumstick embodiment is shown, in which the body section is shown at  12  and the butt end section is shown at  14  and a LED light tip section is shown at  18 . The three parts are designed to screw together and electrically connect the LED&#39;s and wireless mic to the battery. The battery  22  can either be carried by the butt section  14  or the body section  12 , and can be carried inside the drumstick of be connected to the outside of the drumstick. Alternatively, a battery pack could be connected to the drumstick by conductive wire and the battery pack could be carried on the body of the drummer, or placed under the seat the drummer sits on. A wireless mic  24  picks up the sound transmitted to it and wireless transmits it to a sound system (not shown). A plurality of LED lights are connected to the inside of body  12  at  26 , and covered by a light metal mesh section  20 , which both protect the LED lights and also help carry the sound to the wireless mic  24 . The drumstick has a translucent tip  16  which is illuminated by the LED lights. 
     The drumstick can be any commercially available size, for example the ⅝ inch outer diameter and 7/16 inch inner diameter size. A ½ inch outer diameter tube could also be used. The drumstick can be manufactured with a since body section with a screw on tip. Alternatively, there could be a main body section, a light section and a tip section, which could all screw together. The body section or main body section would hold the battery and wireless communication electronics, as well as the control electronics for controlling the selected lighting effect. An on/off switch could be at the butt end of the drumstick, as well as a selector switch to select the light on impact, strobe or always on lighting mode. Electrical connections for the lights and wireless mic are made when the sections are screwed together, to connect the lights and wireless mic to the battery. The drumsticks can be made of a metal, such as aluminum with a translucent tip to allow the LED light to illuminate the tip, or be made of a clear plastic to allow the color LED lights to illuminate the entire stick. 
     The modular nature of the drumsticks allows for ease of replacing the wireless mic portion, or the electronic control portion, as well as replacing the battery, without having to replace the entire drumstick. 
     The drumstick can be played with a drum, but could also be used with a computer or smart TV. 
     The drumsticks could be lighted by impact or by sound activation. 
     The light metal mesh both protects the LED lights and helps carry the sound to the wireless mic, which is at the butt end of the drum stick. 
     The above disclosure is intended to be illustrative and not exhaustive. This description will suggest many variations and alternatives to one of ordinary skill in this field of art. All these alternatives and variations are intended to be included within the scope of the claims where the term “comprising” means “including, but not limited to.” Those familiar with the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiments described herein which equivalents are also intended to be encompassed by the claims. 
     Further, the particular features presented in the dependent claims can be combined with each other in other manners within the scope of the invention such that the invention should be recognized as also specifically directed to other embodiments having any other possible combination of the features of the dependent claims. For instance, for purposes of claim publication, any dependent claim which follows should be taken as alternatively written in a multiple dependent form from all prior claims which possess all antecedents referenced in such dependent claim if such multiple dependent format is an accepted format within the jurisdiction (e.g. each claim depending directly from claim  1  should be alternatively taken as depending from all previous claims). In jurisdictions where multiple dependent claim formats are restricted, the following dependent claims should each be also taken as alternatively written in each singly dependent claim format which creates a dependency from a prior antecedent-possessing claim other than the specific claim listed in such dependent claim below. 
     This completes the description of the preferred and alternate embodiments of the invention. Those skilled in the art may recognize other equivalents to the specific embodiment described herein which equivalents are intended to be encompassed by the claims attached hereto.