Patent Application
20060201309
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a musical instrument stand, and more particularly to a musical instrument stand with a neck lock assembly.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventional musical instrument stands are available to hold musical instruments such as guitars upright for display or maintenance. A guitar-shaped musical instrument has a body, a neck and a head. Therefore, a stand for a guitar-shaped musical instrument generally has a neck lock assembly to hold the neck and the head of the musical instrument.
With reference to
The collar (70) is U-shaped, is mounted on the upper end of the post and has two curved sections, two distal ends, a gap and a plug (71). The gap is defined between the distal ends. The plug (71) is mounted on one of the distal ends.
The pads (80) are mounted respectively around the curved sections of the collar (70), and one pads (80) is blocked by the plug (71) so the pad (80) cannot fall off.
The crossbar (90) is mounted pivotally on the distal end of the collar (70) opposite to the plug (71), blocks the pad (80) adjacent to the crossbar (90) and has a proximal end, a distal end and a latch (91). The latch (91) is formed on the distal end of the crossbar (90).
When a guitar-shaped musical instrument having a neck and a body is placed upright on the stand, the neck lock assembly holds the neck in the collar (70). The neck is inserted through the gap of the collar (70). The crossbar (90) pivots down to a closed position, and the latch (91) latches onto the distal end of the collar (70) opposite from the crossbar (90) so the crossbar crosses between the distal ends of the collar (70) and prevents the neck from falling out of the collar (70).
However, the crossbar (90) in the closed position is easily inadvertently released by an unintentional force, and the musical instrument might fall down and be damaged.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a musical instrument stand with a neck lock assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a musical instrument stand with a neck lock assembly to securely hold a guitar-shaped musical instrument, which cannot be released unintentionally.
A musical instrument stand with a neck lock assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises a post, multiple legs and a neck lock assembly.
The neck lock assembly is attached to the post and has a collar, a crossbar assembly and a crossbar fastener.
The collar is attached securely to the post and has two distal ends.
The crossbar assembly is mounted on one of the distal ends of the collar and has a crossbar pivotally mounted on the distal end of the collar and having a locking recess.
The crossbar fastener is mounted on the other distal end of the collar and has two head-halves defining a tapered head.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
The musical instrument stand comprises a post (50), multiple legs and a neck lock assembly.
The post (50) has an upper end and a lower end.
The legs are attached to the post (50) close to the lower end and extend radially out from the post (50).
With further reference to
The collar (10) is U-shaped, is attached securely and horizontally to the upper end of the post (50) and has two curved sections (11) and two distal ends.
The pads (20) are made of pliable material such as foam rubber, padded cloth or the like and are mounted respectively around the curved sections (11) to cushion the neck (62) of the guitar-shaped musical instrument (60).
The crossbar assembly (30) is attached to one of the distal ends of the collar (10) and has a crossbar bracket (31), a crossbar (32), a pivot pin (39) and a spring (33).
The crossbar bracket (31) is attached securely to a distal end of the collar (10) and has a proximal end, a distal end, a mounting recess, two side tabs and two pin holes (312). The mounting recess (311) is defined in the distal end of the crossbar bracket (31). The side tabs are formed at the distal end of the crossbar bracket (31) by the mounting recess (311) and are separated and opposite from each other. The pin holes (312) are defined respectively through the side tabs and communicate with the mounting recess (311).
The crossbar (32) is mounted pivotally on the distal end of the mounting bracket (31) and has a proximal end, a distal end, a spring recess (321), two side tabs, two pin holes (322), a locking recess (323) and two latch lips (324). The proximal end of the crossbar (32) is mounted pivotally in the mounting recess (311) between the side tabs in the crossbar bracket (31). The spring recess (321) is defined in the proximal end of the crossbar (32) and has an inner surface. The side tabs are formed on the proximal end around the spring recess (321) in the crossbar (32) separated from and opposite to each other. The pin holes (322) are defined respectively through the side tabs in the crossbar (32) and communicate with the spring recess (321). The locking recess (323) is defined in the distal end of the crossbar (32) and has two opposite outside edges. The latch lips (324) perpendicularly extend respectively from the outside edges toward each other and are separated from each other by a distance.
The pivot pin (39) extends through the pin holes (312) in the crossbar bracket (31) and the pin holes (322) in the crossbar (32) to attach the crossbar (32) pivotally to the crossbar bracket (31).
The spring (33) is mounted around the pivot pin (39) in the spring recess (321) in the crossbar (32) and presses against the crossbar bracket (31) and the crossbar (32) to hold the crossbar (32) open.
The crossbar fastener (40) is semi-rigid, is mounted on the distal end of the collar (10) opposite to the crossbar assembly (30) and has a base (41) and two rod-halves (42).
The base (41) has a proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end is mounted on the distal end of the collar (10).
The rod-halves (42) extend from the distal end of the base (41), are separated from each other and correspond to the latch lips (324) on the crossbar (32). Each rod-half (42) has an outside surface, a distal end, a protrusion (421), a head-half (422) and a groove.
The protrusion (421) is formed on the outside surface of the rod-half (42).
The head-half (422) is formed at the distal end of the rod-half (42), corresponds to the locking recess (323) and has a proximal end, a distal end and an outside surface. The outside surface is tapered from the proximal end toward the distal end of the head-half (422). The two separated head-halves (422) defined a tapered head having a proximal end, a distal end and a diameter. The diameter at the proximal end of the tapered head is larger than the distance between the latch lips (324) on the crossbar (32), and the diameter at the distal end is smaller than the distance between the latch lips (324). The tapered head easily slides into the locking recess (323) in the crossbar (32) between the latch lips (324) because the latch lips (324) squeeze the rod-halves (42) together until the latch lips (324) latch respectively onto the head-halves (422).
The groove is defined in the rod-half (42) between the protrusion (421) and the head (422) and corresponds to one of the latch lips (324) on the crossbar (32).
With further reference to
To unlock the crossbar (32), the head-halves (42) on the crossbar fastener (40) are pressed together with a person's fingers until the head-halves (422) release the latch lips (324), and the crossbar (32) is pivoted open.
The neck lock assembly has a simple structure and high safety relative to a conventional neck lock.
Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.
