US948195A - Snare-drum muffler. - Google Patents

Description

M. WAEGHTLER. v SNARE DRUM MUFFLER.

APPLICATION I' ILED JULY 15,1909.

948, 1 95. Patented Feb. 1, 1910 ,Hwma WM INVENTOR.

Nomi; WazchZZe-rr M 5m 2gb k RAJ 1Q ATTORNEY.

EL-a- I EE- MORITZ WAECHTLER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

SNARE-DRUM MUFFLER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, 1910.

Application filed July 15, 1909. Serial No. 507,748.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Monrrz WAnorITLnR, citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Snare- Drum Mufflers, 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 mulilers for snare-drums; and it consists in the novel construction of muffler more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective of a snare-drum showin my invention applied thereto; Fig. 2 is "an enlarged elevation of the take-up device showing my invention in position; Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical longitudinal section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4c is an enlarged front view of my attachment, showing the lever arm of the trigger swung to position to raise the yoke olf the bearing which guides the takeup, the latter being omitted; Fig. 5 is a face view of the trigger; Fig. 6 is an edge view thereof; and Fig. 7 is a perspective of the yoke, controlled by the trigger.

The object of my invention is to provide the ordinary snare-drum in which the snares or strings generally under tension and bearing against the bottom membrane of the drum may be instantly loosened or have their tension relaxed so as to mufile the sound of the drum. Such mufiled sound is desirable on various occasions especiallyin bands or orchestras playing Indian pieces, where the tension on the snares must be momentarily released to give the drum a tom-tom efiect.

The invention herein presents advantages better apparent from a detailed description thereof which is as follows z- Referring to the drawings, 1) represents the drum body, a, a, the snares or strings engaging the bottom membrane of the drum, and t the tighteners for the drum membranes, as usual and well understood in the art. The fixed ends of the snares a are secured in position in any well known manner, the opposite or adjustable ends being passed and gripped between the clamping plate 1 and the cross head 2 carried at one end of the adjustable tubular member 3 of the snare take-up device, said member 3 being guided in a bearing 4 projecting from the peripheral wall of the drum body. The tubular member 3 is interiorly screw-threaded, and is engaged by the relatively stationary rotatable screw-stem 5 the unthreaded portion of which passes through a bearing or bracket 6 carried by the drum, any inward movement of the screw-stem being limited by the annular shoulder formed between the stem and its outer enlarged terminal head 5 which is provided with a cross-bar or handle 7. Interposed between the crosshead 2 and bearing lis an expanding spring 8.

The foregoing details are already well known in the art and I do not claim them in the present invention.

It will. be seen that by unscrewing the stem 5, the member 3 will be drawn away from the stem by the expanding action of the spring, this outward movement of the member thereby relaxing the pull or tension on the snares, thus destroying the snaring effect of the drum and mufliing the action of the latter. To unscrew the stem 5 however, for purposes of releasing the member 3 and inullling the drum is a very slow operation, since a number of turnsmust be given the stem before a sufficient slack can be imparted to the snares. To accomplish this release suddenly that the drum may serve as an accompaniment to music requiring mullied ac-' in notches n, a, cut in the rear edges of the side wings of the yoke, one end of the spindle terminating in a suitably bent arm 12 by which the cam may be properly manipulated. The arm 12 is spaced sufliciently from the cam or lobe so as to leave a slit 3 for the free passage of the adjacent side wing of the yoke, during the oscillation of the arm and consequent rocking of the spindle 11. The object of forking the lobe 10 is to allow for the free passage of the stem 5 between the fork members, the latter straddling the stem when oscillated to a position for effecting release of the yoke and the head 5 resting on it.

The screw-stem 5 with its adjustable tubular member 3 and the snare clamping crosshead 2 may be collectively termed the takeup device, that is, the device for taking up any slack in the snares; and as a take-up it may be considered as adjustable or extensible being that it can be lengthened or shortened according as the stem 5 is unscrewed or screwed. In practice the lever arm 12* is swung againstthe drum (Figs. 1, 2, 8) this movement oscillating the lobe or cam 10 so as to cause its free edge to bear against the bracket or bearing 6, and bring the cam into a plane at right angles to the upper surface of the bracket. In this movement the cam necessarily picks up or raises the yoke 9 off the bracket, the raising of the yoke (which engages the shoulder at the base of the head 5) drawing the take-up after it, compressing the spring 8, and tightening the snares a. If the snares are not tightened sufliciently, their tension may be increased by giving the stem 5 a sutiicient number of turns to further draw the member 3 toward it as obvious. The drum is now snared, and if the drummer desires to muffle it, he can do so instantly by simply oscillating the lever arm 12 outwardly, this action serving to swing the cam or lobe 10 into parallelism with the plane of the supporting surface of the bracket (3, where pon the yoke 9 loses its support (cam 10) allowing the spring 8 to expand, in which expansion it pulls the takeup after it, thus releasing the tension on the snares, and the drum is instantly mutlied (dotted position Fig. It may again be as quickly snared by oscillating the arm 12 back against the drum so as to permit the cam to separate the yoke from the bearing 6 (Figs. 1, 2, S, 4) thus again drawing the take-up in proper direction to compress the spring and tighten the snares a. The lobe 10 or course is not properly speaking a cam but it acts as a cam, because as the free edge thereof braces itself against the bearing (5 it straightens out as itwere, and lifts the yoke off the bearing, the yoke in turn picking up the take-up (Fig. A cam, however, would be a full equivalent of the lobe 10. The lever arm 12, lobe 10, and spindle 11 act as a controlling trigger for the take-up, the latter being released by a movement of the trigger in one direction, and raised by a movement of the trigger in the opposite direction.

I-Iaving described my invention, what- I claim is 1. In combination with a drum-snare takeup, a bearing for arresting the movement of the take-up in one direction, an oscillating member interposed between the bearing and take-up for moving the latter in the opposite direction, and means whereby the oscillating member may be actuated.

2. In combination with a drum-snare spring-controlled take-up, abearing for guiding said take-up, a head on the latter for limiting the movement of the take-up in one direction, and an oscillating cam interposed between the bearing and head of the take-up for moving the latter in the opposite direction by an oscillation of the cam in one direction.

8. In combination with a drum-snare spring-controlled adjustable take-up, a bearing for guiding said take-up, a head on the latter for limiting the movement of the takeup in one direction, and an oscillating cam interposed between the bearing and head of the take-up for moving the latter in the opposite direction by an oscillation of the cam in one direction.

4. In combination with a drum provided with a bracket or bearing projecting from the wall thereof, a screwstem passing therethrough and terminating in an enlarged head, a yoke straddling the bearing and interposed between the head and bearing, a rock-shaft supported in the side walls of the yoke and provided with a bifurcated lobe adapted to straddle the stem, an outer terminal lever arm for rocking the shaft and oscillating the lobe whereby by an oscillation of the lobe in one direction the yoke is lifted from the bearing and the stem moved with the yoke, and a member movable along the stem and secured to the snares of the drum, the parts operating substantially as, and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a snare-drum muiller, a U-shaped yoke having notches formed in the edges of the arms thereof adjacent to the bases of the arms, a rock-shaft engaging said notches and provided with a laterally projecting member operating between the yokearms, and a terminal lever arm at one end of the rock-shaft, in combination with a bearing and a reciprocating snare-take-up having a stem passing through said bearing, straddled by said yoke, and terminating in a head resting on the yoke, substantially as set forth.

6. In combination with a snare take-up disposed along the body of the drum be tween the heads thereof, a trigger positioned at the free end of the take-up adjacent to the drum-head, and suitable cooperating means between the trigger and take-up for drawing the take-up and tightening the snares by a movement of the triggel in one direction, and releasing the takeup and relaxing the tension on the snares by a movement of the trigger in the opposite direction.

7 In combination with a spring-c011- trolled snare take-up disposed along the m in-Mam...

body of the drum between the heads thereof, snares by a movement of the trigger in the a trigger positioned at the free end of the opposite direction. 10 take'np adjacent to the drum-head, and suit- In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, able cooperating means between the trigger in presence of tWo Witnesses.

5 and take-up for drawing the takeup and MORITZ WAECHTLER.

tightening the snares by a movement of the Vitnesses: trigger in one direction, and releasing the EMIL STAnnK,

take-up and relaxing the tension on the Jos. A. MICHEL.

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