US1104373A - Combined snare strainer and muffler. - Google Patents

Description

J. A. MEYER.

COMBINED SNARE STRAINER AND MUFFLER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 26,1913.

1,104,373. Patented July 21, 1914.

EI 5- IN' EL JD/111M126??? M WW ATTORNEY.

HUTNESSES:

THE NORRIS PETERS CO4. PHOTO- LITHO.. WASHINGTONIII STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS A. MEYER, OF ST. LOUIS, ,MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO DUPLEX MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, A CORPORATION OF MISSOURI.

COMBINED SNARE STRAINER AND MUFFLER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jones A. MEYER, citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coinbined Snare Strainers and Mufliers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention has relation to improvements in combined snare-strainers and mufflers and consists, inthe novel details of construction more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective of a snare-drum showing my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevation of the take-up device showing the snares under strain; Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4c is a similar section with actuating lever however swung to muffling position, the tension on the snares being relieved: Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3; and Fig. 6 is a cross-section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4:. i

The object of my invention is to provide the ordinary snare-drum with means whereby the snares or strings generally under tension and bearing against the bottom membrane of the drum may be instantly relaxed or loosened so as to muffle the sound of the drum. A muffled sound is frequently desirable, and in fact necessary, particularly where a band or orchestra is engaged in playing Indian pieces, funeral dirges and the like, and where the tension on the snares must be momentarily released to give the drum a tom-tom effect.

A further object is to provide a combined strainer and muffler which will operate without binding as a result of warping of the walls of the drum; one which is simple, positive in action, reliable; and one possessing further and other advantages more apparent from a detailed description of the invention which is as follows Referring to the drawings, D represents the drum body, a, a, the snares or strings engaging the bottom head of the drum, and t the drum-head tighteners as well understood in the art. The fixed ends (not Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 26, 1913.

Serial No. 763,902.

shown) of the snares are secured in position in any well known manner understood by those skilled in the art, the opposite adjustable ends being passed and gripped between the clamping plate 1 and the terminal crosshead 2 of a reciprocating stem or member 3 of the snare take-up device or strainer. The stem 3 operates loosely in a sleeve or hollowguide bearing 4 carried by, and secured by solder or otherwise, between the sides of, a channel-bracket 6, which is screwed or otherwise secured to the upper rim of the drum, or that portion projecting beyond the upper head m. Between the bearing 4: and the bottom wall of the bracket there operates loosely the longitudinal leg 7 of an angle lift-member, through the outer terminal transverse leg 8 of which loosely passes the terminal neck portion 9 of a screwstem 9 of the tension adjusting screw, said screw terminating in a milled head 10 against the bottom of which the leg 8 directly bears. The screw-stem 9 is connected to the head 10 by a narrow neck 9, an offset or shoulder 11 being thereby formed between said neck and the screw-stem.

The outer corners of the sides of the bracket 6 are formed into lobes or ears 12 between which is pivotally mounted the bent actuating lever 13, the short arm of said lever being forked or recessed, the recess 7- freely receiving the neck 9 when the lever is tripped to disengage the leg 8 with which the ends of'the fork members are in frictional or looking engagement when the lever is swung in position to impose a tension on the snares. The forks of the short lever arm while freely spanning the neck 9' (when the lever is tripped to release the leg 8) will however, foul the shoulder or offset 11, an operation taken advantage of to insure a movement for the stem 3 should it have a tendency to stick in its bearing 4 with the releasing movement of the lever 13.

The operation will now be readily understood from the foregoing. It will be seen that the free ends of the forks of the short lever arm of the member 13 sweep in a path to engage the inner surface of the leg 8 of the lift member. The pressure with which the leg 8 bears against the edges of the forks when the body of the lever 13 has been swung into parallelism with or against the Patented July 21, 1914.

face of the bearing 4, depends on the tension of the snares and this tension is adjusted before-hand by the drummer by a careful adjustment of the screw 9, which by rotation in one direction draws the stem 3 after it (the latter being polygonal can not turn in its correspondingly polygonal bearing 4) and thus tightens the snares, and by rotation in the opposite direction causes an expansion between the parts (3, 9) and thus correspondingly loosens the snares. The latter can thus be adjusted to any tension to suit for a normal sound of the drum. lVhen the lever 13 is forced down Or against the bearing 4, it is practically on a dead center, the pressure exerted against it (as a result of the tension on the snares) being substantially parallel to the body of the lever and in direct opposition to its axis of oscillation, so that there is no danger of the lever working loose from its locked position, under normal conditions of service of the drum. Should it be desirable to instantly muffle the drum, the musician or drummer trips the long arm of the lever outwardly thereby oscillating the short arm inwardly and depriving the leg 8 of the lift-piece of its support and allowing the snares to slacken.

The lift-piece 7, 8, screw 9 and the stem 3 with its cross-head 2 move as a unit and collectively may be considered as the take-up device or strainer. Should the take-up device for any reason stick when the lever 13 is swung to releasing or mufiling position, it is obvious that the fork-members of the short arm of said lever will impinge or strike the offset or shoulder 11, thus loosening the takeup and insuring the slackening of the strings. By oscillating the lever 13 back to normal position, the short arm thereof will reengage the lug 8 of the lift-piece and the latter will in turn pick up the screw 9 and stem 3, thus again tightening the snares. The take-up being adjustable or expansible, it follows that any tension may be imposed on the snares by a proper adjustment of the component parts of said take-up. The ends of the fork members of the short arm of the actuating lever form the immediate supports for the lift-piece and consequently for the take-up, when the snares are under tension, and, as seen from the drawings, these points of support are disposed symmetrically about the longitudinal axis of the lever. That being the case the lever will never bind because the resistance is in a direct line with the axis thereof aforesaid, and there will be no lateral strains. The leg 8 is of a width to readily pass between the lobes 12, allowing the lift-piece to settle against the short arm of the lever 13 when the latter is tripped to muflling position, the lever being in turn arrested by striking the end of the bearing 4. The bearing 4 may be said therefore to limit orarrest the inward movement of the takeup. In practice the bracket 6 and bearing a may be made of one piece as obvious to the skilled mechanic.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. In combination with a snare-drum, a hollow bearing carried by the body of the drum, a drum-snare take-up having a member reciprocable in said bearing in a path substantially parallel to the axis of the drum, and an oscillating lever adjacent the hollow bearing operating in the plane of the axis of the member, for actuating the take up in a given direction for imposing tension on the snares.

2. In combination with hollow bearing carried by drum, a non-rotatable stem ciprocable in said bearing, means for coupling the snares or strings to said stem, an adjusting screw operating in said stem and terminating in a head, a lift-piece engaging said head, and an oscillating lever engaging said lift-piece and operating in the plane of the axis of the screw.

3. In combination with a snare-drum, a hollow bearing carried by the body of the drum, a non-rotatable reciprocating stem coupled to the snares and traversing said bearing, a screw operating in said stem and provided with a terminal head, a lift-piece engaging said head and provided with an opening affording free passage of the screw therethrough, a lever pivoted opposite the hollow bearing and provided with a forked inner arm engaging the lift-piece, the forkmembers being disposed symmetrically about the axis of the lever and free to embrace the screw-member for a muffled position of the lever.

4;. In combination with a snare-drum, a hollow guide-bearing secured to the drumbody, a non-rotatable reciprocating stem coupled to the snares and traversing said bearing, an adjusting member comprising a screw operating in the bearing and having a terminal head and a narrow neck between the head and screw, said neck being offset from the screw, an angle lift-piece having a longitudinal leg operating freely between the guide-bearing and drum-body, and a perforated leg engaging the head of the screw and traversed by the screw and neck thereof, a bent lever pivoted contiguous the bearing and provided with a long outer arm and a short forked inner arm, the ends of the fork members being disposed symmetrically about the axis of the lever and engaging the transverse leg of the lift-piece, and spanning the neck and adapted to foul the offset with a tripping of the lever to muflled position.

5. In combination with a snare-drum, a hollow bearing on the drum, a drum-snare take-up having a member reciproca-ble in a snare-drum, a the body of the rectilinearly resaid bearing, an oscillating lever for engaging and actuating the take-up in one direction to impose tension on the snares, with a movement of the lever in one direction, and an oflset on the take-up positioned to be impinged by the lever with a movement of the latter in the opposite direction for forcing the take-up in the opposite direction to relieve the tension on the snares should the In testimony whereof I affix my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

JULIUS A. MEYER.

Witnesses.

EMIL STAREK, J os. A. MICHEL.

001110! of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patentl,

Washington, D. 0."

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