Upper cymbal fastening assembly for a hi-hat cymbal

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an upper cymbal fastening assembly for a hi-hat cymbal, and more particularly relates to improvement in a system for fastening an upper cymbal to an associated extension rod on a hi-hat cymbal.

The main parts of a hi-hat cymbal are mounted on a tripod made up of 3 foldable legs. More particularly, the tripod supports an upright lower pipe and an upper pipe is telescopically coupled to the lower pipe by assistance of an wing screw which is used for level adjustment. An extension rod extends slidably through the lower and upper pipes with it exposed lower end being operationally connected to a foot pedal attached to the tripod. A return spring is accommodated in a spring casing arranged in parallel to the lower pipe in order to urge the foot pedal to return to its stand-by position when foot pressure is removed. Upper and lower cymbals are attached to the upper section of the extension rod exposed upwards from the upper pipe by assistance of respective fastening assemblies.

When the foot pedal is pressed downwards against repulsion of the above-described return spring, the upper cymbal crashes against the lower cymbal for sound generation. As foot pressure is removed, the foot pedal resumes its stand-by position to separate the upper cymbal from the lower cymbal.

Furious vibrations are generated on a hi-hat cymbal during performance because of high pitch, repeated crash of both cymbals. So, the cymbals must be firmly attached in position to the associated extension rod without any undesirable displacement. In particular the fastener assembly for the upper cymbal which undergoes frequent, vertical reciprocation during performance, it required to fasten upper cymbal reliably to the extension rod whilst well withstanding furious vibrations.

Examples of such a fastener assembly are disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publications Sho. 57-8059 and Sho. 62-30065.

In the construction of JUMP Sho. 57-8059, a threaded pipe provided with an outer thread is idly inserted over the upper section of an extension rod and a tubular holder is attached atop the threaded pipe whilst embracing the extension rod. A fastener bolt is screwed into a radial threaded hole formed in the tubular holder with its inner point in pressure contact with the extension rod. At a position bellow the tubular holder, a felt washer unit is inserted over the threaded pipe. The felt washer unit is made up of a pair of felt pieces which sandwich an upper cymbal between them. At a position between the tubular holder and the felt washer unit, a lock nut unit is screwed over the threaded pipe. The lock nut unit is made up of upper and lower nut pieces. Just below the felt washer unit, a clutch nut unit is screwed over the lower section of the threaded pipe. Thus, the felt washer unit is clamped between the lock nut unit and the clutch nut unit. In the region of the felt washer unit, a wide circumferential groove is formed in the threaded pipe for reception of the upper cymbal. The depth of this circumferential groove is designed same as or larger than that of the outer thread on the threaded pipe so that movement of the upper cymbal should not damage the outer thread on the threaded pipe. Except for the lower joint to the threaded pipe, the inner diameter of the tubular holder is designed larger than that of the threaded pipe. This design enables the fastener bolt to firmly fasten the extension rod so that the latter should not displace out of the correct position despite unavoidable vibrations generated during performance.

The construction proposed in JUMP Sho. 62-30065 is an improvement of this earlier proposal. In the case of this improvement, a clutch bolt is attached to the upper section of a threaded pipe as a substitute for the tubular holder used in the earlier proposal and a fastener bolt is screwed into a radial threaded hole in the clutch bolt. On the side opposite to the threaded hole, a cutout is formed in the clutch bolt in communication with the threaded hole. The fastener bolt presses an extension rod against upper and lower edge in the cutout. Thus, the extension rod is fastened at three points for higher stability.

In either case, the clutch nut unit clamping the felt washer unit is coupled to the threaded pipe via simple screw engagement. Such a screw engagement can hardly withstand furious vibrations generated during performance and tends to allow slacking in clamp by the clutch nut unit, thereby inducing undesirable displacement of the upper cymbal held by the felt washer unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is thus the basic object of the present invention to prevent undesirable displacement of an upper cymbal on a hi-hat cymbal which is caused by furious vibrations generated during performance.

In accordance with the present invention, a radial, through cutout is formed in the outer surface of a clutch nut unit to be screwed over a threaded pipe inserted over an extension rod; vertical, threaded holes are formed through upper and lower sections of the clutch nut unit bordering the cutout in axial alignment with each other; and a fastener bolt is screwed into the threaded holes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of an entire hi-hat cymbal to which the present invention is applied,

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the upper cymbal fastening assembly in accordance with the present invention a disassembled state,

FIG. 3 is a side view, partly in section, of the upper cymbal fastening assembly shown in FIG. 2 in an assembled state, and

FIG. 4 is a side view, partly in section, of a typical, conventional upper cymbal fastening assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

One example of the hi-hat cymbal incorporating the fastening assembly of the present invention is shown in FIG. 1, in which the main parts of the hi-hat cymbal 1 are mounted on a tripod 2 made up of 3 foldable legs 2a. The tripod 2 supports an upright lower pipe 3 and an upper pipe 5 is telescopically coupled to the lower pipe 3 by assistance of a wing screw 4 which is used for level adjustment of the hi-hat cymbal. An extension rod 7 extends slidably through the lower and upper pipes 3, 5 with its exposed lower end being operationally connected to a foot pedal 6 attached to the tripod 2. A return spring not shown is accommodated in a spring casing 8 arranged in parallel to the lower pipe 3 in order to urge the foot pedal 6 to return to its standby position when foot pressure is removed. Upper and lower cymbals 9, 10 are attached to the upper section of the extension rod 7 exposed upwards from the upper pipe 5 by assistance of respective fastening assemblies.

One embodiment of the upper cymbal fastening assembly in accordance with the present invention is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The fastening assembly 11 includes a tubular holder 14 to be inserted over the extension rod 7. The tubular holder 14 is made up of an upper main body 14a and a lower threaded extension 14b provided with an outer thread 22. The main body 14a is secured atop the threaded extension 14b by assistance of a set screw 23. A threaded hole 15 is formed radially through the main body 14a in communication with a center bore 24 of the latter so that a fastener bolt 16 is screwed into the threaded hole 15 in order to firmly fasten the extension rod 7.

The inner diameter of the upper section of the center bore 24 is designed equal to or somewhat larger than the outer diameter of the extension rod 7. The lower section of the center bore 24 is threaded for screw engagement with the lower threaded extension 14b. The inner diameter of the intermediate section of the center bore 24 is designed sufficiently larger than the outer diameter of the extension rod 7.

A felt washer unit 17 is inserted over the threaded extension 14b of the tubular holder 14. The felt washer unit 17 is made up of a pair of felt pieces 17a and 17b which sandwich the upper cymbal 9. At a position above the felt washer unit 17, a lock nut unit 18 is made up of upper and lower nut pieces 18a, 18b screwed over the threaded extension 14b of the tubular holder 14. Likewise, a clutch nut unit 19 is screwed over the threaded extension 14b at a position below the felt washer unit 17. As a result, the felt washer unit 17 is clamped between the upper lock nut unit 18 and the lower clutch nut unit 19.

The main body 14a and the threaded extension of the tubular holder 14 may be formed in one body with each other.

The clutch nut unit 19 is made up of upper and lower sections locally connected to each other. More specifically, the upper section includes a ring-shaped upper nut piece 25a and an upper radial projection 26a. Whereas, the lower section includes a ring-shaped lower nut piece 25b and a lower radial projection 26b. The upper and lower nut pieces 25a, 25b are preferably similar in configuration. Likewise, the upper and lower radial projections 26a, 26b are preferably similar in configuration. The upper and lower sections are connected to each other by a joint 27 formed between the nut pieces 25a and 25b.

The nut pieces 25a and 25b ar provided with threaded center bores 28a and 28b, respectively, for screw engagement with the threaded extension 14b of the tubular holder 14. The joint 27 and the radial projections 26a, 26b are located at opposite positions with respect to the center bores 28a, 28b. The joint 27 is preferably threaded in the inner face for screw engagement with the threaded extension 14b of the tubular holder 14.

The upper section of the clutch nut unit 19 is uniform in thickness over its entire area but smaller in thickness than the lower section. As a consequence, the upper section is elastically deformable in the vertical direction about the joint 27 between the upper and lower sections.

The radial projection 26a of the upper section is provided with a vertical threaded hole 30 and the radial projection 26b of the lower section is provided with a like threaded hole 31 in axial alignment with the threaded hole 30. These threaded holes 30, 31 are adapted for screw engagement with a common fastener bolt 29. Thus, a cutout, i.e. a gap 32 is left between the upper and lower radial projections 26a, 26b which is receptive of an elastic spacer 33. The spacer 33 is provided with a through hole 34 for free passage of the fastener bolt 29. The elastic spacer 33 is optionally used to prevent excessive fastening by the fastener bolt 29.

In operation, the fastener bolt 29 is in screw engagement with the threaded holes 30, 31 of the radial projections 26a, 26b past the through hole 34 in the elastic spacer 33. The upper section, i.e. the nut piece 25a and the radial projection 26a, deforms elastically about the joint 27 towards the lower section, i.e. the nut piece 25b and the radial projection 26b. As a result, the center bores 28a and 28b of the clutch nut unit 29 are brought into firm pressure contact with the threaded extension 14b of the tubular holder 14. Friction force generated by this pressure contact well prevents accidental slacking in clamp by the clutch nut unit 19, i.e. undesirable displacement of the upper cymbal 9 during performance of the hi-hat cymbal.

The configuration of the clutch nut unit 19 is not limited to the foregoing example. For example, the lower section may be designed thinner than the upper section. It is only required that one of the two sections is elastically deformable about the joint towards the other section.

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