The present invention relates to a snare wire and a snare drum.
A snare wire includes snares and a pair of attachment tools fixed to opposite end sections of the snares. The snare wire is attached to a snare drum using a strap or a cord caught by the attachment tools. The snare wire is supported in a manner switchable selectively between a position at which the snare wire contacts a lower drum head and a position at which the snare wire is spaced from the drum head. When the snare drum is played, the snare wire is switched to the position at which the snare wire contacts the drum head. In this state, when an upper drum head is struck, the snare wire vibrates and produces sound specific to the snare drum. In this case, to further resonate the sound specific to the snare drum, it is desirable that the entire portions of the snares tightly contact the lower drum head.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications Nos. 8-54874 and 2003-271129 each disclose a snare wire attached to a snare drum using a strap. The snare wire disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-54874 includes a plate-like attachment tool curved near the middle as a configuration for causing snares to tightly contact a drum head. The attachment tool has a front plate portion to which the snares are welded and a rear plate portion including an elongated hole through which the strap is passed. The attachment tool also has a catching portion that catches the strap at the position corresponding to the position of the elongated hole, through which the strap is passed. The catching portion is configured by a projection having a substantially U-shaped cross section and projects to the side opposite to the surface to which the snares are welded. In this configuration, when the strap caught by the catching portion is pulled, the strap presses the rear plate portion downward. This rotates the attachment tool as a whole and moves the front plate portion upward toward the drum head. The snares, which are welded to the front plate portion, are thus pressed against the drum head.
Like this snare wire, the snare wire disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-271129 includes a plate-like attachment tool curved near the middle. This attachment tool has a projection on a rear plate portion to which a strap is fixed as a configuration for causing snares to tightly contact a drum head. The projection projects to the same side as the surface to which the snares are welded. The projection is adapted to adjust the height of the rear plate portion of the attachment tool to the height equal to the height of a front plate portion to which the snares are welded such that the thickness of the front plate portion is increased. In this configuration, when the strap fixed to the rear plate portion of the attachment tool is pulled, the projection of the rear plate portion contacts the drum head, thus stopping the front plate portion from being lifted from the drum head. This causes the snares, which are welded to the front plate portion, to tightly contact the drum head.
However, in the invention disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-54874, the force by which the strap presses the rear plate portion is small and the force that rotates the attachment tool is correspondingly small when the strap caught by the catching portion is pulled. This hampers reliable pressing of the entire portions of the snares, which are welded to the front plate portion, against the drum head. Also, in the invention disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-271129, the front plate portion of the attachment tool is simply caused to contact the drum head and cannot be reliably pressed against the drum head. Therefore, in the configurations of the snare wires disclosed in the two aforementioned documents, the end sections of the snares, which are welded to the front plate portion, are easily lifted from the drum head compared to the sections of the snares closer to the center of the drum head. This hampers tight contact between the end sections of the snares and the drum head, thus hampering tight contact between the entire portions of the snares and the drum head.
Accordingly, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a snare wire and a snare drum capable of causing an end section of a snare to tightly contact a drum head.
To achieve the above-described objective, according to a first aspect of the present invention, provided is a snare wire including a snare and a pair of attachment tools fixed to opposite end sections of the snare. Each of the attachment tools of the snare wire includes a bonding portion with which the snare is bonded, a catching portion that catches a pulling member, and a pressing portion that contacts the pulling member caught by the catching portion and is pressed in a direction separating from a drum head. The catching portion is arranged at a position between the center of the drum head and the pressing portion and below the bonding portion.
To achieve the objective, according to a second aspect of the invention, provided is a snare drum including a cylindrical shell, a pair of drum heads closing corresponding upper and lower open ends of the shell, and a snare wire having a snare and a pair of attachment tools fixed to opposite end sections of the snare. Each of the attachment tools of the snare wire includes a bonding portion with which the snare is bonded, a catching portion that catches a pulling member, and a pressing portion that contacts the pulling member caught by the catching portion and is pressed in a direction separating from a corresponding one of the drum heads. The catching portion is arranged at a position between the center of the drum head and the pressing portion and below the bonding portion.
An embodiment of a snare wire 10 according to the present invention will now be described with reference to
As shown in
The snare wire 10 is mounted in tension on a surface of the drum head 4 using a pulling member such as a strap 5 shown in
With reference to
Referring to
The strap holes 21a, 21b are configured by two differently sized elongated square holes. The relatively small-sized strap hole is the first strap hole 21a and the relatively great-sized strap hole is the second strap hole 21b. The second strap hole 21b and the two cord holes 22 have openings in a common surface of the catching portion 23. The cord holes 22 are configured by round holes that are sized and shaped identically with each other. Referring to
As illustrated in
The catching portion 23 is a portion that has an L-shaped cross section and is located below the bonding portion 20, thus forming a middle section of the attachment tool 12. The catching portion 23 is configured by a first catching portion 23a, which extends downward from a basal end of the bonding portion 20, and a second catching portion 23b, which extends from the first catching portion 23a parallel to the bonding portion 20. As illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Each attachment tool 12 also includes a continuous portion 23c, which extends diagonally upward from an end section of the catching portion 23, and a pressing portion 25, which extends horizontally from the distal end of the continuous portion 23c. The continuous portion 23c extends substantially parallel to the extending portion 20a and forms the portion that connects the pressing portion 25 and the catching portion 23 to each other. The continuous portion 23c is arranged downward with respect to the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23. The continuous portion 23c is extended continuously to the pressing portion 25 such that the continuous portion 23c and the pressing portion 25 form an obtuse angle. The second strap hole 21b is formed to include an area in the second catching portion 23b and an area in the continuous portion 23c.
The pressing portion 25 is the portion pressed by the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23 and forms the other one of the opposite end sections of each attachment tool 12. The pressing portion 25 is arranged at such a position that the pressing portion 25 is capable of contacting the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23. The pressing portion 25 is pressed in a direction separating from the drum head 4 by the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23.
As illustrated in
Operation of the above-described snare wire 10 will now be described with reference to
When the snare drum 1 is played, to cause the snare wire 10 to contact the drum head 4, the strap 5 or the cord 6 is pulled in the direction of arrow P of
In the present embodiment, the catching portion 23 is arranged at a position between the center O of the drum head 4 and the pressing portion 25 and below the bonding portion 20. Such arrangement of the catching portion 23, the pressing portion 25, and the bonding portion 20 ensures efficient use of tensile force generated by pulling the strap 5 or the cord 6 in the direction of arrow P as force acting in the direction of arrow Q, which presses the pressing portion 25. This increases the force by which the strap 5 or the cord 6 presses the pressing portion 25, thus increasing the force rotating each attachment tool 12. The force pressing the snares 11 against the drum head 4 is thus increased.
At this time, the extending portion 20a is pressed upward by the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23. This causes the strap 5 or the cord 6 to press the bonding portion 20 as a whole, together with the extending portion 20a, upward toward the drum head 4. The force rotating each attachment tool 12 is thus increased. Additionally, since the extending portion 20a is pressed directly by the strap 5 or the cord 6, the force pressing the snares 11 against the drum head 4 is further increased.
The present embodiment has the advantages described below.
(1) The catching portion 23 is arranged at a position between the center O of the drum head 4 and the pressing portion 25 and below the bonding portion 20. In this configuration, by arranging the catching portion 23 at a position between the center O of the drum head 4 and the pressing portion 25 and below the bonding portion 20, the pressing portion 25 is pressed downward by the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23. This rotates each attachment tool 12 as a whole, thus moving the bonding portion 20, which is located above the catching portion 23, upward toward the drum head 4. The snares 11, which are bonded with the bonding portion 20, are thus pressed against the drum head 4. At this time, since the catching portion 23 is arranged below the bonding portion 20, the force rotating the attachment tool 12 is increased and the force pressing the snares 11 against the drum head 4 is increased. The end sections of the snares 11 are thus caused to tightly contact the drum head 4 without being lifted from the drum head 4. As a result, the entire portions of the snares 11 are caused to tightly contact the drum head 4.
(2) The contact position at which the strap 5 contacts the catching portion 23 and the contact positions at which the cord 6 contacts the catching portion 23 are arranged below the bonding portion 20. In this configuration, by arranging the contact position of the strap 5 or the cord 6 with respect to the catching portion 23 below the bonding portion 20, force transmission from the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23 to the pressing portion 25 is facilitated. This further increases the force rotating the attachment tool 12, thus increasing the force pressing the snares 11 against the drum head 4. As a result, the end sections of the snares 11 are easily caused to tightly contact the drum head 4 without being lifted from the drum head 4.
(3) Each attachment tool 12 is bent to have a substantially U-shaped cross section as viewed in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the snare wire 10. In this configuration, by being formed to have the U-shaped cross section, the attachment tool 12 is provided with elastic force generated due to the shape of the attachment tool 12. This ensures use of the elastic force of the attachment tool 12 as the force pressing the snares 11 against the drum head 4. In this manner, the snares 11, which are welded to the bonding portion 20, are caused to tightly contact the drum head 4 uniformly without biting into the drum head 4.
(4) The continuous portion 23c is arranged downward with respect to the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23. In this configuration, by arranging the continuous portion 23c downward with respect to the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23, contact between the strap 5 or the cord 6 and the continuous portion 23c is restrained. The contact portion between the strap 5 or the cord 6 and the attachment tool 12 is thus restricted to the catching portion 23 and the pressing portion 25. Therefore, even if the strap 5 or the cord 6 is formed of soft material such as leather, plastic, or fiber, damage caused in the strap 5 or the cord 6 by contacting the attachment tool 12 is decreased.
(5) The continuous portion 23c is extended continuously to the pressing portion 25 such that the continuous portion 23c and the pressing portion 25 form an obtuse angle. Also, the portion of the catching portion 23 in which the strap 5 is caught by and contacts the catching portion 23 and each portion of the catching portion 23 in which the cord 6 is caught by and contacts the catching portion 23 both have an R shape. In this configuration, the continuous portion 23c and the pressing portion 25 form an obtuse angle, damage caused in the strap 5 or the cord 6 by contacting the pressing portion 25 is decreased. Also, since the contact portion between the strap 5 or the cord 6 and the catching portion 23 has the R shape, damage caused in the strap 5 or the cord 6 by contacting the catching portion 23 is decreased.
(6) Each attachment tool 12 further includes the extending portion 20a, which extends diagonally upward from the distal end of the bonding portion 20. In this configuration, the extending portion 20a is pressed upward by the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23. The bonding portion 20 as a whole is thus pressed upward toward the drum head 4, together with the extending portion 20a, by the strap 5 or the cord 6. The end sections of the snares 11 are thus further easily caused to tightly contact the drum head 4 without being lifted from the drum head 4.
(7) The first strap hole 21b and the cord holes 22 have openings in a common surface of the catching portion 23. In this configuration, the contact position at which the strap 5 contacts the catching position 23 can be set to the position corresponding to the contact position at which the cord 6 contacts the catching portion 23. The end sections of the snares 11 are thus caused to tightly contact the drum head 4 without being lifted from the drum head 4, regardless of whether the strap 5 or the cord 6 is used for the pulling member. Therefore, it is possible to provide a snare wire 10 capable of being applied to both of the strap 5 and the cord 6.
(8) The pressing portion 25 includes the flat section 26, which contacts the strap 5 caught by the catching portion 23, and the two engagement recesses 27, which are engaged with the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23. In this configuration, when the pressing portion 25 is pressed by the strap 5 or the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23, the strap 5 is caused to contact the flat section 26 and the cord 6 is engaged with the engagement recesses 27. This ensures an equal height of the pressing portion 25 including the strap 5 or the cord 6 for the case using the strap 5 and the case using the cord 6. As a result, regardless of whether the strap 5 or the cord 6 is used, the end sections of the snares 11 are easily caused to tightly contact the drum head 4 without being lifted from the drum head 4.
The present embodiment may be modified to the forms described below.
As shown in
The catching portion 23 may be arranged at any suitable position as long as the position is between the center O of the drum head 4 and the pressing portion 25 and below the bonding portion 20. For example, the contact position at which the strap 5 contacts the catching portion 23 and the contact positions at which the cord 6 contacts the catching portion 23 may be arranged between the center O of the drum head 4 and the bonding portion 20 at any suitable positions other than the positions corresponding to the bonding portion 20, as viewed in the longitudinal direction of the snare wire 10.
Each attachment tool 12 may be formed in any suitable shape as long as the bonding portion 20 and the catching portion 23 are arranged between the center O of the drum head 4 and the pressing portion 25 and the catching portion 23 is arranged below the bonding portion 20.
The portion in which the continuous portion 23c is extended continuously to the pressing portion 25 may have a flat shape or an R shape, other than the shape having an obtuse angle.
The extending portion 20a may be omitted from the distal end of the bonding portion 20.
The second strap hole 21b and the cord holes 22 do not necessarily have openings in a common surface of the catching portion 23. For example, the first and second strap holes 21a, 21b may both be formed in the first catching portion 23a and the cord holes 22 may be formed in the second catching portion 23b.
The two engagement recesses 27 may be omitted from the pressing portion 25. In this case, the cord 6 caught by the catching portion 23 contacts the flat section 26.
The snare wire 10 is adapted for both use with the strap 5 and use with the cord 6. However, either the first and second strap holes 21a, 21b or the cord holes 22 may be eliminated to provide a snare wire adapted for use specific with a strap or use specific with a cord.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2016-132506 | Jul 2016 | JP | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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5507214 | Hoshino | Apr 1996 | A |
7728211 | Gatzen | Jun 2010 | B1 |
8193435 | Lombardi | Jun 2012 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country |
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08-54874 | Feb 1996 | JP |
2003-271129 | Sep 2003 | JP |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20180005611 A1 | Jan 2018 | US |