Snare adjustment device for snare drum | Patent Publication Number 20230306933
US 20230306933 A1Yun-Ci Zhuang
A snare adjustment device includes a snare protection frame having snares connected thereto, a holding body, a slider slidably connected to the holding body and moving the snare protection frame and the snares along with it, a switch member, and a manual lever. The switch member includes a latch section movable by a push section to engage with or disengage from the slider, such that the slider is stopped from or allowed to move, respectively. The manual lever is pivotally connected to the holding body and can be swung up and down for moving the slider. The manual lever includes a lever section, which and the push section of the switch member are protruded beyond a reference side of the holding body. Therefore, a drum player can hit the push and the lever section with a drum stick to quickly switch the snares between a tightened and a loosened state.
1. A snare adjustment device for snare drum, comprising: a snare mechanism including a snare protection frame and a plurality of snares respectively having two ends connected to the snare protection frame; and a snare on/off mechanism including: a holding body being connected to a shell of the snare drum; and one side of the holding body located farther away from the shell being defined as a reference side; a slider being connected to the snare protection frame while being slidably connected to the holding body, such that the slider and the snares are movable relative to the holding body synchronously; and a switch member including a latch section capable of stopping the slider from moving and a push section protruded beyond the reference side of the holding body for driving the latch section to move between a blocking position and a releasing position; the latch section in the blocking position being engaged with the slider to stop the slider from moving relative to the holding body; and the latch section in the releasing position being disengaged from the blocking position to release the slider and allow the slider to move relative to the holding body; and a manual lever including a coupling section connected to the slider, and a lever section and a pivot section separately extended from two axially opposite sides of the coupling section; the lever section being protruded beyond the reference side, such that both the lever section and the push section are located at the same side of the holding body; the pivot section being pivotally connected to the holding body, allowing the manual lever to be swung relative to the holding body; and the slider being movable along with the manual lever when the manual lever is swung relative to the holding body.
The present invention relates to a snare adjustment device for snare drum, and more particularly, to a snare adjustment device that allows a snare drum player to switch the snares between a tightened and a loosened state conveniently and quickly during the process of playing.
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The switch member 133 is plugged into the holding body 131 in the x-axis direction, such that a part of the switch member 133, which is defined as a latch section 133a, is extended into the holding body 131, while the other part of the switch member 133, which is defined as a push section 133b, is located outside the holding body 131. The latch section 133a is freely movable in the holding body 131 in the x-axis direction to selectively engage with or disengage from the sliding stem 132a of the slider 132 for the slider 132 to be vertically unmovable or movable relative to the holding body 131, respectively. When a drum player wants to snare off or loosen the snare mechanism 11 while battering the conventional snare drum 1 with a drum stick, the drum player may push the switch member 133 in the x-axis direction to disengage the latch section 133a from the sliding stem 132a. At this point, the slider 132 moves downward in the z-axis direction under the force of gravity and renders the snares 112 loose. On the other hand, when the drum player wants to snare on or tighten the snare mechanism 11, the drum player may grip at the sliding handles 132b to thereby pull the slider 132 upward in the z-axis direction for the switch member 133 to engage with the sliding stem 132a. At this point, the snares 112 are changed from the loosened state into a tightened state.
With the above arrangements, the two sliding handles 132b of the slider 132 are separately located at a front and a rear side of the holding body 131 in the y-axis direction and the push section 133b of the switch member 133 is located at a right side of the holding body in the x-axis direction. That is, the two sliding handles 132b and the push section 133b are located at different sides of the holding body 131. When the drum player wants to change the state of the snares 112 by operating the sliding handles 132b or the push section 133b in the process of battering the conventional snare drum 1, the drum player needs to operate at different sides of the holding body 131, making it inconvenient to snare on or snare off the snare mechanism 11.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a snare adjustment device with an improved structural configuration, so that a drum player playing a snare drum can conveniently snare on or snare off the snare adjustment device to quickly switch the snares between a tightened and a loosened state.
To achieve the above and other objects, the snare adjustment device for snare drum according to the present invention includes a snare mechanism and a snare on/off mechanism. The snare mechanism includes a snare protection frame and a plurality of snares. Every snare has two ends connected to two opposite ends of the snare protection frame.
The snare on/off mechanism mainly includes a holding body, a slider, a switch member, and a manual lever. The holding body is connected to a shell of the snare drum, and one side of the holding body located farther away from the shell is defined as a reference side. The slider is connected to the snare protection frame while being slidably connected to the holding body, such that the slider and the snares are movable relative to the holding body synchronously.
The switch member includes a latch section capable of stopping the slider from moving and a push section for driving the latch section to move between a blocking position and a releasing position. The latch section in the blocking position is engaged with the slider to stop the slider from moving relative to the holding body; and the latch section in the releasing position is disengaged from the blocking position to release the slider and allow the slider to move relative to the holding body. It is noted the push section is protruded beyond the reference side of the holding body.
The manual lever includes a coupling section connected to the slider, and a lever section and a pivot section separately extended from two axially opposite sides of the coupling section. The lever section is protruded beyond the reference side, such that both the lever section and the push section are located at the same side of the holding body. The pivot section is pivotally connected to the holding body, allowing the coupling section to bring the slider to move along with it when the lever section is swung relative to the holding body.
In a preferred embodiment, the holding body is formed with a sliding bore for accommodating the slider, and a notch communicable with the sliding bore. The notch is located corresponding to the coupling section of the manual lever, so that a part of the coupling section is movable between the sliding bore and the notch when the manual lever is swung.
A guide portion and a protruded pin extended into the guide portion are provided between the coupling section and the slider, and the protruded pin is movable in the guide portion when the lever section is swung relative to the holding body.
An area of the holding body corresponding to the notch forms a guiding surface and the lever section is tapered toward the coupling section, such that one side of the lever section facing toward the guiding surface on the holding body is formed into a lever guiding surface. The snare on/off mechanism is divided along the reference side into a holding zone and an operating zone. The holding body, the slider, the latch section of the switch member, the coupling section of the manual lever, and the pivot section of the manual lever all are located in the holding zone, while the push section of the switch member and the lever section of the manual lever are located in the operating zone.
A line extended horizontally through a center of the push section is defined as a horizontal centerline and a line extended vertically through a center of the lever section is defined as a vertical centerline. The horizontal centerline and the vertical centerline intersect with each other to define an intersection plane, such that the push section is out of sight below the lever section when viewing downward from a top of the snare on/off mechanism.
The holding body includes a fixed seat connected to the shell of the snare drum, a movable seat connected to the slider, and a tension adjusting element is provided between the fixed seat and the movable seat for moving the movable seat axially relative to the fixed seat, so that the tension of the snares are capable of adjustment by the tension adjusting element. And, the pivot section is slantingly connected to the coupling section, such that the coupling section is prevented from contacting with the tension adjusting element when the manual lever is being swung.
The present invention is characterized in that both of the push section of the switch member and the lever section of the manual lever are protruded beyond the reference side of the holding body. More specifically, the push section and the lever section are not only located outside the holding body, but also located at the same side of the holding body. With this arrangement, a drum player can hit the push section with a drum stick to snare off the snare adjustment device or hit the lever section with the drum stick to snare on the snare adjustment device, so as to quickly switch the snares between a tightened and a loosened state.
The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein
The present invention will now be described with some preferred embodiments thereof and by referring to the accompanying drawings.
In the accompanying drawings, the positive and the negative direction of the x-axis indicate the right and the left side, respectively, of a performer playing the snare drum of the present invention when viewing in front of the drawings; the positive and the negative direction of the y-axis indicate the front and the rear side, respectively, of the performer playing the snare drum when viewing in front of the drawings; and the positive and the negative direction of the z-axis indicate the upper and the lower side, respectively, of the performer playing the snare drum when viewing in front of the drawings. Accordingly, in the specification of the present invention, the directional terms, such as “left”, “right”, “front”, “rear”, “upper” and “lower”, indicate the directions toward which the drum performer faces when playing the snare drum.
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The tension adjusting element 413 of the holding body 41 is extended through the fixed seat 411 of the holding body 41 and the threaded hole 412e of the first movable section 412c at the same time. In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the tension adjusting element 413 is engaged with the threaded hole 412e via screw threads. Thus, when the tension adjusting element 413 is rotated, the movable seat 412 of the holding body 41 is brought to move relative to the fixed seat 411 in the z-axis direction and thereby adjusts the snares 22 to desired tension. As shown, the bearing spring 414 of the holding body 41 is fitted around the tension adjusting element 413 and is located in the moving space 411a of the fixed seat 411 with two ends separately pressed against the fixed seat 411 and the first movable section 412c of the movable seat 412. Therefore, the bearing spring 414 can push the movable seat 412 downward in the z-axis direction to ensure exact engagement of the threaded hole 412e with the tension adjusting element 413 through screw threads. When the tension adjusting element 413 is rotated and brings the movable seat 412 to move, the bearing spring 414 can reduce vibration of the tension adjusting element 413 and the movable seat 412 and accordingly, prevents the tension adjusting element 413 against loosening from the movable seat 412.
The sliding assembly 42 of the snare on/off mechanism 40 includes a slider 421 and a slider spring 422. The slider 421 includes a vertical slider section 421b and a horizontally disposed horizontal slider section 421a perpendicularly connected to the vertical slider section 421b. The horizontal slider section 421a is fixedly locked to a lower end of the vertical slider section 421b, giving the slider 421 an inverted T-shaped configuration. Further, the horizontal slider section 421a is slidably and removably assembled to the right connecting section 212 of the snare protection frame 21. The vertical slider section 421b is disposed in the sliding bore 412f of the movable seat 412 and is provided at an upper end opposite to the horizontal slider section 421a with a protruded pin 421c. When the vertical slider section 421b slides in the sliding bore 412f of the movable seat 412, the horizontal slider section 421a is located outside the sliding bore 412f to press against the lower pressing surface 412b of the holding body 41. As can be seen in
The snare on/off assembly 43 of the snare on/off mechanism 40 includes a switch member 431 and a switch spring 432. The switch member 431 includes a push section 431a, a latch section 431b horizontally extended from a lower end of the push section 431a, and a locating section 431c horizontally extended from an upper end of the push section 431a in a direction parallel to the latch section 431b. The push section 431a has a push button 433 connected thereto. The latch section 431b is formed at different locations with a first opening 431b1, which is located closer to the push section 431a, and a second opening 431b2, which is located farther away from the push section 431a. In the illustrated preferred embodiment, the latch section 431b is configured for extending through the lower slit 412k of the holding body 41 into the sliding bore 412f of the holding body 41 with the vertical slider section 421b of the slider 421 extended through the first opening 431b1 on the latch section 431b and the tension adjusting element 413 extended through the second opening 413b2 on the latch section 431b. When the latch section 431b is extended into the sliding bore 412f, the switch member 43 is movable relative to the movable seat 412 in the x-axis direction, such that the locating section 431c is movable between the upper slit 412j and the sliding bore 412f of the holding body 41. Meanwhile, the push section 431a is protruded beyond the reference side 412g and located at the right side of the holding body 41. The switch spring 432 is located between the second movable section 412d of the holding body 41 and the push section 431a. A part of the switch spring 432 extends into the blind hole 4121 formed on the second movable section 412d, so that the switch spring 432 has an end pressed against an inner end surface of the blind hole 4121 and another end pressed against the push section 431a. With these arrangements, the switch spring 432 can normally push the switch member 431 rightward in the x-axis direction.
The manual lever 44 of the snare on/off mechanism 40 is located above the movable seat 412 and includes a pivot section 441, a coupling section 442 and a lever section 443. The pivot section 441 is pivotally connected to the pivot block 412m of the movable seat 412, such that the manual lever 44 is swingable relative the movable seat 412 to be moved to and fro between a snare-on position B1 as shown in
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The present invention has been described with some preferred embodiments thereof and it is understood that many changes and modifications in the described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the scope and the spirit of the invention that is intended to be limited only by the appended claims.