Patent ID: 7671263

Claim:
A locking mechanism for a musical percussion instrument comprising a pair of upper and lower cymbals, wherein the lower cymbal is fixedly mounted on a tubular support, and the upper cymbal can be raised or lowered by means of a foot-operated control rod extending within the tubular support and normally biased into the raised position, comprising: an upper collar component mountable on said control rod and including a clamp for locking said upper collar component to the control rod; a lower collar component slidable on the control rod and configured for fixed attachment to the upper cymbal; and a clutch mechanism for engaging said lower collar component with said upper collar component upon contact whereby during engagement of said clutch mechanism said lower collar component moves up and down with said upper collar component during operation of the control rod; a protruding trip member operable upon actuation to disengage said clutch mechanism and thereby release said lower collar component from said upper collar component to allow said upper cymbal to fall onto said lower cymbal in unison with said upper collar component; and a trip bar mountable beside the percussion musical instrument to actuate the trip member when the upper cymbal is raised beyond a predetermined height.