EP2059921B1 - Musical percussion instrument - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a percussion musical instrument of tom, drum or the like type and comprising a barrel over which is stretched a membrane.

This invention relates to the field of the manufacture of percussion musical instruments, and more specifically those whose sound emission results from the striking or scraping of a membrane stretched on a sound box.

Whether it is traditionally derived from an animal skin, or, for modern percussion instruments, made from a synthetic material, such a membrane is conventionally in the form of a disc capable of being equipped with means for enabling its mounting, with application of a voltage, on a shaft adopting, generally, the shape of a cylindrical element open at both ends, acting as the resonance box of the instrument.

One type of membrane commonly used at the present time consists of a film of synthetic material, such as Mylar (trademark registered by the Du Pont de Nemours Company), shaped so as to provide a prolonged circular central plane over its circumference. , by a curved embossed edge whose outer edge is, conventionally, set in a hoop designed to define a shoulder extending all around the outer face of said edge. Such a membrane has, therefore, a section substantially shaped "Ω". This membrane, more particularly its planar circular central surface, is designed to be disposed over an opening of the barrel while the strapping contained in this membrane is designed to receive a ring, disposed over said shoulder, and made integral with the barrel. or a support of the latter, this by means of tie rods or the like adapted to fix said membrane and to stretch it over said barrel.

These tie rods are conventionally defined by a plurality of screws, passing through holes regularly formed at the level of the ring, and capable of being inserted and screwed more or less deeply into orifices made on the shaft or on the support thereof. . The manipulation of these screws by a user makes it possible, beyond the simple fixing of the membrane on the barrel, to also adjust the membrane tension, necessary to obtain the expected sound of the instrument. This modification of the tension of the diaphragm is explained by the fact that a variation in the tightening of the screws corresponds, as the case may be, to a reinforcement or a relaxation of the pressure exerted by the ring on the shoulder of the strapping in which is crimped the outer edge of the edge of the membrane. Now, the latter, also being supported on the opening of the barrel at the periphery of its flat central zone, is then, for each tightening or loosening of the ring, respectively stretched or relaxed relative to this opening.

The fact of offering to a percussionist the possibility of setting up himself, on his instrument, the membrane of his choice and, if necessary, to swap as frequently as necessary the latter with another membrane, for example to to obtain a different sound, represents a practical advantage and an unquestionable freedom of action.

Nevertheless, it has been found in use that the adjustment of the tension of the membranes of this type on the drum is often a very delicate and tedious operation to perform, the tightening of the screws is generally performed in a hazardous manner, by trial and error. Thus there is frequently a problem of load recovery, and non-uniformly distributed voltage on the membrane, which can sometimes lead to deterioration thereof, and making it difficult to obtain a harmonious sound.

Moreover, the membranes of this type have the disadvantage of requiring many manufacturing steps, in particular to perform the embossing of the edge and its crimping in the strapping, ultimately affecting the cost of the instrument they equip. .

There is, again, a percussive musical instrument according to the preamble of claim 1.

The document US 3,647,931 describes a percussion musical instrument with holes and studs which fix the membrane on the drum and with tie rods.

The document US5,554,812 describes a percussion musical instrument with means for fixing the holes of the membrane on the barrel and tie rods.

The document US2004 / 0103774 describes a percussion musical instrument in which the means for fixing the membrane are screws. The present invention, therefore, aims to overcome these various disadvantages by providing a percussion musical instrument equipped with a new type of membrane, the adjustment of the tension on the barrel is obtained quickly and easily without risking wear damage to its integrity, and whose manufacturing process is particularly summary and therefore inexpensive.

For this purpose, the present invention relates to a percussion musical instrument according to claim 1.

Such a conformation of the membrane advantageously distributes, from the outset and in a uniform manner, the traction forces exerted by the user for the purpose of stretching it at the time of its introduction on the barrel. Therefore, Problems of possible deterioration of the membrane and difficulty of tuning of the instrument are thus solved.

On the other hand, the embossing and crimping steps inherent in the manufacture of membranes used in the context of musical instruments of the state of the art are eliminated, which also advantageously makes it possible to reduce the cost price of compliant instruments. to the present invention.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the tie rods are, at least in part, defined by a series of studs distributed uniformly at a face of a ring (more particularly of an annular disk) whose diameter external is at least equal to that of the membrane, said pads being able to be each anchored in one of the holes that includes the membrane and being associated with additional elements for fixing, with application of a voltage, the membrane on the drum or on a support.

In this case, the additional elements for fixing, with application of a voltage, the membrane on the barrel are preferably defined by screws regularly interposed between said pads, suitable for being introduced into one of the holes of the membrane and screwed more or less deeply into complementary holes provided for this purpose at an integral part of the drum or at a support of this drum.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description, relating to embodiments which are given only as indicative and non-limiting examples.

• la figure 1 correspond à une vue en coupe d'une forme de réalisation préférentielle d'un instrument de musique objet de la présente invention,
• la figure 2 correspond à une vue en perspective d'une membrane destinée à équiper un instrument de musique à percussion conforme à la présente invention,
• la figure 3 correspond à une vue de dessous et en perspective d'une forme de réalisation d'un anneau participant à la structure de l'instrument de musique représenté sur la figure 1,
• la figure 4 correspond à une vue de dessus et en perspective de l'anneau représenté figure 3,
• la figure 5 correspond à une vue en coupe d'une autre forme de réalisation d'un instrument de musique conforme à la présente invention.

The understanding of this description will be facilitated by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

• the figure 1 corresponds to a sectional view of a preferred embodiment of a musical instrument object of the present invention,
• the figure 2 corresponds to a perspective view of a membrane intended to equip a percussion musical instrument according to the present invention,
• the figure 3 corresponds to a view from below and in perspective of an embodiment of a ring participating in the structure of the musical instrument represented on the figure 1 ,
• the figure 4 corresponds to a view from above and in perspective of the represented ring figure 3 ,
• the figure 5 corresponds to a sectional view of another embodiment of a musical instrument according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to the field of percussion musical instruments 1 of tom, drum or the like type. Such a musical instrument 1 comprises a sound box, conventionally defined by a member called barrel 2, which is in the form of a hollow tube.

In this regard, it will be observed that, in the remainder of the description, it will be, essentially, refers to a barrel 2 of cylindrical shape knowing that the present invention is not limited thereto and such a barrel 2 may also , adopt an ovoid, elliptical, polygonal (especially pentagonal, hexagonal, heptagonal, octagonal, decagonal or other) or other.

However and in known manner, such a barrel 2 has, at its ends, two openings 20, 21 of which, more particularly and according to the orientation of the barrel 2, an upper opening 20 and a lower opening 21.

At least one of these openings 20, 21 is tensioned, by means of suitable means, a membrane 3, generally disk-shaped, whose striking or scraping leads to obtaining a sound. It is known that the latter is not only determined by the material, the size and the shape of the barrel 2, but also by the degree of tension of the membrane 3.

The aim of the invention is to propose a percussion musical instrument 1 in which the membrane 3 is easily interchangeable, avoiding problems relating to the difficulties of adjusting the tension and to the possible deteriorations sometimes observed with the instruments of the state. of the technique, as previously mentioned. Another object of the invention is also to reduce the cost of such a musical instrument 1, avoiding some manufacturing difficulties.

To do this, the musical instrument 1 according to the invention comprises a membrane 3 in the form of a disc provided with means adapted to cooperate with complementary means equipping the drum 2 or a support 22 that includes the latter 2 or associated to it 2, more particularly for the reception (in particular by interlocking) of such a drum 2 as visible figure 1 . Such complementary means are, in fact, intended to allow the fixing of the membrane 3 on the shaft 2 or on its support 22, this with application of a voltage.

According to the present invention, the above-mentioned cooperation means of which the disk of the membrane 3 is provided are defined by a series of holes 30, regularly distributed at level of the periphery 31 of this membrane 3, and in which are provided capable of being introduced and anchored tie rods (at least partly defining the complementary fastening means mentioned above) of which at least a portion is capable of being secured (directly or indirectly) of an element integral with the drum 2 or a support 22 thereof.

According to another characteristic of the invention, said percussion musical instrument 1 comprises, again, a ring 5 constituting, at least in part, said complementary fastening means and / or receiving such complementary fastening means.

Such a ring 5 is, more particularly, constituted by an annular disc and has, on the one hand, an external diameter which is at least equal to or greater than that of the disk of the membrane 3 and, on the other hand, a internal diameter at least slightly greater than the outer diameter of the barrel 2, in order to allow interlocking of this ring 5 around the barrel 2.

It is, more particularly, this ring 5 which receives said tie rods and / or at which are defined such rods as will be described in the following description.

In this regard and according to an additional feature of the invention, the holes 30 (that the membrane 3 has) and, consequently, the tie rods (which receives the ring 5 and / or which are defined at this ring 5) are regularly distributed at the level of the membrane 3, respectively at the ring 5.

In fact, these holes 30 and / or these tie rods are evenly distributed angularly at the level of the membrane 3 or the ring 5. Thus, the angle (relative to the center of the membrane 3 or the ring 5 ) between two holes 30 or between two tie rods successive is between 4 and 10 °, preferably between 5 and 8 °, knowing that excellent results are obtained for an angle of the order of 6.6 °.

Such an embodiment advantageously makes it possible to resume, in a suitable manner, all the tensile results exerted by these tie rods on the membrane 3, this with the maximum efficiency and preserving the integrity of the membrane, even for large tensile forces.

In addition, such a distribution of these holes 30 and / or tie rods advantageously makes it possible to avoid the creep of the membrane 3 which, because of its disadvantages, required, in the devices of the state of the art, the use of an additional element (more particularly a counter-circle) designed to ensure the clamping of such a membrane 3.

According to a first embodiment, the tie rods are, at least in part, defined by a series of studs 4, on the one hand, uniformly distributed at a face 50 of said ring 5 and, on the other hand, able to each being anchored in one of the holes 30 that the membrane 3 comprises.

As visible, more particularly, on the figure 3 , the studs 4 formed on the ring 5 are defined by substantially cylindrical shaped parts whose end has a truncated cone shape, their diameter substantially corresponding to that of the holes 30 that comprises the membrane 3.

Another feature is that the holes 30 of the membrane 3 and / or the pads 4 are defined so as to allow a retention of the membrane 3 on the ring 5 by simply engaging the pads 4 (more particularly the part cylindrical of such a stud 4) in the holes 30 of this membrane 3.

In fact and according to another characteristic of this type of embodiment, these pads 4 are associated with additional elements for fixing, with application of a voltage, the membrane 3 on the shaft 2 or on a support 22 associated therewith 2.

Such additional fastening elements constitute, at least in part, said complementary fixing means and are preferably constituted by at least one screw 6 or the like.

Also and according to a first embodiment of the invention not shown, said tie rods consist of studs 4 distributed uniformly at the face 50 of the ring 5.

The additional fastening elements are then defined by screws screwed more or less deeply into complementary orifices 23 provided for this purpose at an integral part of the drum 2 or at a support 22 of this drum 2 or associated with this barrel 2.

Such screws comprise or are completed by means for cooperating with said ring 5, this to fix, with application of a voltage, the membrane 3 on the shaft 2 or a support 22 associated therewith 2.

In this regard, it will be observed that such a means of cooperation may be constituted by the head of the screw designed capable of cooperating with the edge of an orifice formed at the level of the ring 5 (in particular at the edge or periphery of this ring 5), or even by hanging hook designed to hang on the edge of this ring 5.

These additional fastening elements are, then and preferably, implanted externally to the membrane 3 and at the periphery or at the edge of said ring 5.

More particularly, these additional fastening elements are distributed over a circle of diameter greater than that on which are distributed the studs 4 constituting the tie rods.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, described with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 , the tie rods are, at least in part, defined by a series of studs 4, again evenly distributed at a face 50 of said ring 5 and each anchored in one of the holes 30 that the membrane 3 comprises.

These pads 2 are associated with additional elements for fixing, with application of a voltage, the membrane 3 on the shaft 2 or on a support 22 associated therewith 2.

In fact and according to a preferred embodiment of the visible invention Figures 3 and 4 these additional fixing elements are constituted by screws 6 regularly inserted between said pads 4 (more particularly between two sets of pads) and are engaged, through, in holes 7 made in the ring 5.

In this respect, it will be observed that the number of these screws 6 and the number of these pads 4 respect a ratio determined between them. In fact, this ratio is between 4 to 6 studs 4 per screw 6, preferably 5 studs 4 for such a screw 6.

Such screws 6 are also able to be introduced, each into one of the holes 30 of the membrane 3 and may, in this case, constitute, again, a tie rod.

These screws 6 are also screwed, more or less deeply depending on the desired degree of tension, in orifices 23 provided for this purpose on an integral part of the shaft (2) or at a support 22 which this drum 2 comprises. or associated with it.

According to another alternative embodiment, the screws 6 can also be screwed onto an integral part of the barrel 2, in particular a shoulder 24 or the like that includes, for example, the musical instrument 1 schematically on the figure 5 . This shoulder 24 extends all around the outer surface of the barrel 2, close to the opening 20 on which is stretched said membrane 3. It is equipped with orifices 23 adapted to receive the screws 6 which is provided, the case where appropriate, said ring 5.

He was represented figure 5 a second embodiment of the tie rods defining, at least in part, the aforementioned complementary fastening means.

In fact, such tie rods are at least partly (but preferably completely) defined by a series of screws 6 distributed (preferably uniformly) at a ring 5 (preferably an annular disc) of the aforementioned type. , in particular whose external diameter is at least equal to that of the membrane 3.

To do this, said ring 5 has holes 7, on the one hand, made, preferably uniformly spaced, at said ring 5 and, on the other hand, each traversed by such a screw 6.

In addition, each of these screws 6 is adapted to be, on the one hand, introduced through one of the holes 30 that the membrane 3 comprises, and, on the other hand, screwed more or less deeply into one of the orifices 23. that comprises an integral part (in particular a shoulder 24 of the abovementioned type) of the barrel 2 or, if appropriate, according to another possibility, a support 22 of the latter 2.

According to another characteristic of the invention, the ring 5 has a flange 51 extending around the whole of its circumference of the widest diameter. Such a rim 51 constitutes a skirt which makes it possible to stiffen the ring 5 and / or to obscure the presence of the disk of the membrane 3.

Another characteristic of such a flange 51 is that it allows an interlocking over a shoulder 24 as visible figure 5 .

A preferred embodiment consists in that this flange 51 is made of material with the ring 5.

As regards said ring 5, it may be made of wood but is preferably made of a synthetic material, in particular by molding or the like. Such an embodiment advantageously makes it possible to produce the ring 5 as well as the bores 7, or even the pads 4 and / or the rim 51, in a single operation, in particular for molding, for example by extrusion.

Said drum 2, for its part, is made of a synthetic material, in particular a synthetic resin. A preferred embodiment consists in producing such a barrel 2 in a translucent or transparent material, more particularly in plexiglass.

According to additional features, said membrane 3 may be made of skin but is preferably made from at least one synthetic material, or even a mixture of synthetic materials, such as carbon, titanium or other.

Claims (13)

1. Percussion musical instrument (1), comprising:

   - a barrel (2) and optionally a support (22) for this barrel, this barrel (2) or support (22) for this barrel (2) being provided with complementary fastening means;

   - a membrane (3), which is in the form of a disc, which is made of skin or from at least one synthetic material, which is stretched over at least one (22) of the openings (20, 21) of the barrel (2), and which is provided with means, which, on the one hand, cooperate with the complementary fastening means permitting the fastening of the membrane (3) to the barrel (2) with application of a tension, and, on the other hand, are defined by a series of holes (30) regularly distributed at the level of the periphery (31) of said disc;

   - a ring (5), the outer diameter of which is at least equal to that of the membrane (3);

   - a series of tie rods, at least part of the tie rods of which are made integral with an integral part of the barrel (2) or of the support (22), which are anchored in the series of holes (30), and which are, at least partially, defined by a series of studs (4), which are, on the one hand, uniformly distributed at the level of a face (50) of the ring (5) and, on the other hand, each anchored in one of the holes (30) the membrane (3) includes;

   - said ring and said tie rods defining at least partly the complementary fastening means;

   - additional elements for fastening, with application of a tension, the membrane (3) to the barrel (2) or to the support (22);

   - the holes (30) and the tie rods being evenly distributed angularly, respectively at the level of the membrane (3) and the ring (5);

   - wherein said additional fastening elements are defined by screws (6) regularly interposed between said studs (4), at the level of bores (7) provided for in the ring (5), each of said screws (6) being inserted into one of the holes (30) of the membrane (3) and screwed more or less deep into complementary holes (23) provided for this purpose at the level of an integral part of the barrel (2) or at the level of the support (22).
2. Musical instrument (1) according to claim 1, wherein the tie rods are formed, on the one hand, by the studs (4) uniformly distributed at the level of the ring (5) and, on the other hand, by at least a part of the additional fastening elements.
3. Musical instrument (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said studs (4) are defined by substantially cylindrically shaped parts the end of which has the shape of a truncated cone, their diameter corresponding substantially to that of the holes (30) said membrane (3) includes.
4. Musical instrument (1) according to claim 1, wherein said tie rods are, at least partly, defined by a series of screws (6) distributed uniformly at the level of the ring (5) the outer diameter of which is at least equal to that of the membrane (3), said screws (6) being each inserted through one of the holes (30) the membrane (3) includes, and screwed into holes (23) an integral part of the barrel (2) or a support (22) thereof includes.
5. Musical instrument (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, relative to the center of the membrane (3) or the ring (5), the angle between two holes (30) or between two successive tie rods varies between 4 and 10°.
6. Musical instrument (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the angle between two holes (30) or between two successive tie rods varies between 5 and 8°, is namely of about 6,6°.
7. Musical instrument (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said ring (5) has a rim (51) extending around the whole of its circumference with the widest diameter, said rim (51) permitting to rigidify the ring (5) and/or to hide the presence of the disc of the membrane (3).
8. Musical instrument (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said barrel (2) is provided with a shoulder (24) extending all around its outer surface, close to the opening (20) on which said membrane (3) is stretched.
9. Musical instrument (1) according to claim 8, wherein said shoulder (24) is provided with holes (23) receiving screws (6) forming, as the case may be, additional fastening elements or tie rods, which said ring (5) is eventually provided with.
10. Musical instrument (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said ring (5) is made of wood or, and preferably, of a synthetic material.
11. Musical instrument (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the barrel (2) has a cylindrical, ovoid, elliptical, polygonal shape or like.
12. Musical instrument (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the barrel (2) is made of a synthetic material, preferably of a translucent or transparent type, for example Plexiglas.
13. Musical instrument (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said membrane (3) is made of a mixture of synthetic materials, such as carbon, titanium or the like.

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