Abstract:
An improved electronic cymbal is disclosed. The electronic cymbal includes a frame having an edge, an upper surface and bottom surface. A cover is received over the upper surface of the frame. A sensor is captured in a pocket in the cover. The cover may include one or more layers.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This patent document claims priority to earlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/502,270, filed on Jun. 28, 2011, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The present patent document relates generally to electronic cymbals and more particularly to an electronic cymbal that includes an improved edge sensor assembly. 
         [0004]    2. Background of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Electronic cymbals of the prior art sometimes include a membrane switch on the edge of the cymbal to detect edge strikes or the act of “choking” (i.e. muting) the cymbal. However, membrane switches are a tough trade-off between being reliably off and requiring too much force to switch on. 
         [0006]    Therefore, there is a perceived need in the industry for an improved sensor assembly for an electronic cymbal that reliably detects strikes. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    The present invention solves the problems of the prior art by providing an electronic cymbal that includes a cover with an integrated membrane switch. More specifically, the electronic cymbal includes a frame having an edge. A cover is attached to the upper surface of the frame. A membrane switch is integrated into the cover and is positioned above the edge of the frame. The cover may include one or more layers or a resilient material, such as rubber, synthetic rubber, silicon, and the like. Because the membrane switch includes resilient material underneath it, the membrane switch is “stiffer” switch (i.e. more robust) and may be triggered without excessive pressure. As a consequence, operation of the membrane switch on the edge of the frame of the electronic cymbal is made more reliable. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]    These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
           [0009]      FIG. 1  is a partial side cross-section view of a first embodiment an electronic cymbal made according to the present invention; and 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a partial side cross-section view of a second embodiment an electronic cymbal made according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0011]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , a first embodiment of the electronic cymbal is shown generally at  10 . The electronic cymbal  10  includes a frame  12 . A cover  14 , configured to be struck by the musician, is attached to an upper surface  16  of the frame  12 . The cover  14  need not necessarily cover the entire upper surface  16  of the frame  12 . The upper surface  16  of the frame  12  may include one of more steps or levels formed in the upper surface  16 . The cover  14  includes a pocket  18  formed in the cover  14  above the edge  20  of the frame  12 . A membrane switch  22  is placed in the pocket  18  formed in the cover  14 . 
         [0012]    The cover  14  may include one or more layers or a resilient material, such as rubber, synthetic rubber, silicon, and the like. The cover  14  may wrap around to a bottom surface  24  of the frame  12 , but is not essential that it do so. 
         [0013]    Referring to  FIG. 2 , a second embodiment is shown generally at  100 , where the membrane switch  122  is captured in a pocket formed between a sandwich of layers  114 A,  114 B of resilient material that form the cover  114 . The resilient material could be rubber, synthetic rubber, silicon, and the like. The layers  114 A,  114 B are glued together with an adhesive  115  as is known in the art. 
         [0014]    The second embodiment  100  includes a cover  114  is formed from hard rubber layer  114 A attached to a soft rubber layer  114 B. A membrane switch  122  is captured between these two rubber layers  114 . Preferably, the hard rubber layer  114 A is underneath the softer rubber layer  114 B, but is not required. Also, the two rubber layers  114  could be of the same hardness. The term “rubber” is being used loosely herein to refer to any resilient material with rubber-like qualities. A recess, or pocket,  118  may be formed between the two layers  114  therein depending upon the thickness of the membrane switch  122  in order to accommodate the membrane switch  122 . 
         [0015]    The cover  114  is then attached to the upper surface  116  of the frame  112  of the electronic cymbal  100  like the first embodiment  10 . The cover  114  may wrap around to a bottom surface  124  of the frame  112 , but is not essential that it do so. 
         [0016]    As can be readily appreciate by one skilled in the art, operation of the membrane switch on the edge of the frame of the electronic cymbal  10 ,  100  is made more reliable by putting a resilient material under the membrane switch  22 ,  122 . The resilient material under the membrane switch  22 ,  122  (in the proposed envelope  10  or sandwich of layers  100 ) allows a “stiffer” switch (i.e. more robust) to be triggered without excessive pressure. Either embodiment  10 ,  100  may be further optimized by profiling the resilient material. For example, a set of saw tooth ridges (axially like bicycle spokes) may be formed on the top or bottom of the resilient material above or below the membrane switch  22 ,  122  to improve sensitivity by reducing the area exerting the pressure on the membrane switch  22 ,  122  for closure. 
         [0017]    It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention. All such modifications and changes are intended to be within the scope of the present invention.