The first Inventor has a related application submitted for which an application number has not yet been received, titled: RAPID DEPLOY MANUALLY OPERATED EXTENSIBLE STRUT.
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The field of the present Invention is related to manually operated wind instruments of a type of construction employing a horn or bell at the terminus of the resonant tube and of a size and shape that require placing or resting on a floor or stage when in not in use during interludes between playing. More particularly, those instruments that are placed with the open face of the bell resting on the floor or on a surface are not designed for stability and are prone to damage, particularly in educational settings with young musicians. Solutions presented to this problem in the past have included self-supporting rack type stands on which the instrument was placed, however, no convenient, low-profile, low weight, rapid-deploy, instrument-mounted solution has been offered to date.
In the present Invention, an instrument-mounted stabilizer is revealed that permits rapid-deployment and retraction with a few brief hand motions while minimizing both the physical dimensions and minimizing force required for the locking and unlocking of the stabilizer in a retracted position. These results are obtained through the application of a combination of a twist-lock friction mechanism employed to lock the stabilizer in a deployed or extended position, with a magnetic catch mechanism employed to retain the stabilizer in a shortened or retracted position.
The contemplated embodiment of the present Invention is comprised of one or more pairs of telescoping tubes attached to the instrument by braces, mechanical links to fasten parallel tubes together, a technique generally employed by manufactures of musical instruments. In the basic configuration, the stabilizer is comprised of an inner and an outer tube, wherein the inner is fitted with a rapidly expanding cam ring and cam-crank twist-lock mechanism for locking the two tubes together. A key feature of this choice of locking mechanism is that it provides excellent linear force capacity while requiring only a sixty degree rotation. Additionally, in some applications, for instance in certain designs of instruments, tubing configurations are compact, affording only limited opportunities to mount additional features such as a stabilizer. In a second embodiment of the Invention, the outer tube is fitted with an internal magnetic catch mechanism, whereby the inner tube is retained within the outer tube in the retracted position by magnetic coupling. This second key feature of the addition of the magnetic catch eliminates the requirement that an additional length of tubing be exposed to permit sufficient surface for grasping and twisting in the retracted position as is required for a twist-lock mechanism. A third feature of this Invention is a surface engagement assembly comprised of a flexible ball-joint and a contact plate, providing alignment and distribution of force between the instrument and the surface on which it rests.
The stabilizer would normally be in the retracted position while the musician is playing the instrument. When taking a break, the musician would deploy the stabilizer with a slight tug on the foot, disengaging the magnetic catch and drawing the inner tube linearly outward, extending the stabilizer to a desired length to contact a supporting surface, positioned in nearly infinite increments, subsequently grasping the inner tube, and rotating or twisting about a sixth of a turn relative to the outer tube, thereby engaging the twist-lock mechanism causing it to frictionally lock the inner tube relative to the outer tube. The contactor plate ball joint typically accommodates an angle of the stabilizer, relative to and generally perpendicular, to the contacted surface of seventy to ninety degrees, the angle formed by the intersection of a plane of the musical instrument horn bell flare with a longitudinal axis of the stabilizer. When the occasion arrives to retract and stow the stabilizer, the musician grasps the inner tube, rotates it approximately sixty degrees in an opposite direction from that of the locking rotation, disengaging the twist-lock mechanism, and then linearly pushes the inner tube back into the outer tube whereby the magnetic catch pole pieces engage again, retaining the inner tube in the retracted position.
Additional objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following illustration of the contemplated embodiment presented in the detailed description, operation, and accompanying drawings.
The detailed description of a contemplated device embodiment of the present invention makes reference to the accompanying figures in which
Referring now more particularly to the figures, a following description of components and their relationships shall serve to illuminate various particulars of an illustrative embodiment of the disclosures and teachings of the present invention. Throughout the following description are several references to specific components which serve to clarify various aspects of the invention. It will be understood that these specific component references are not limitations and that the teachings and disclosures of the present invention may be practiced with alternative components. In other instances, structures and methods well known to those skilled in the art have been omitted in order to avoid unnecessary complexity which would tend to obscure the teachings and disclosures of the present invention.
Referring now to
Said cam head 10 is coupled to a magnetic catch mechanism 4 comprised of a traveling pole 13, a floating magnet 14, a fixed pole 15, a pole mount 16 and a mount bore 25, wherein said traveling pole 13 is fastened in said head bore 9 in said cam head 10 and said pole mount 16 is fastened internally within said outer tube 2 at the catch end 22. Said fixed pole 15 is fastened in said mount bore 25 of said pole mount 16, facing said traveling pole 13, and is magnetically coupled to said floating magnet 14. Additionally, said outer tube 2 is depicted having an air vent hole 21 adjacent to said fixed pole 15. One advantage of utilizing a magnet in a floating configuration is that of avoiding adhesives, threaded fasteners or press fits and the like, thereby affording simplicity and greater durability over the life of the device. Said floating magnet 14 may be fashioned in a variety of shapes, including, but not limited to, cylindrical and cubic.
One possible embodiment of the invention, as depicted here, additionally has a foot or engagement assembly 5 coupled to a distal end 24 of said inner tube 1, said engagement assembly 5 being comprised of a shaft 19 having a ball joint 18 coupled to a plate 17. Said ball joint 18 should have a range of motion of approximately +/−30 degrees.
Those skilled in the art will recognize a variety of means for fastening or coupling the components, such as braces, cylinders and plates described above, including, but not limited to, chemical adhesive bonding; thermal bonding, including the addition of solders or rods of metal or plastic material; and mechanical methods including threaded fasteners, rivets, swaging and staking. Thermal bonding techniques, particularly utilizing thermoplastics, are the preferred means of bonding in the field retrofit configuration. Said clamping means 46 can be selected from a variety of types and materials, however, preferred types would include materials of plastic that would not mark the surface of the tubing. Ratchet types of clamps, such as zip-ties, and hook and loop types would be preferred type of mechanisms for fastening and tightening the clamps. Metal clamps or clamping means such as metal bands could be bonded to connectors and branches, E.G.: soldered, by a technician as a field modification, however, the cost might be a factor, in which case, various threaded fasteners might be used if lined with a softer material. The selection of clamps could be made by a technician skilled in the art.
A description of the operation of the locking mechanisms is now presented for illustrative purposes. Referring now to the embodiment of the Invention, as depicted in
Those skilled in the art will identify many instruments and models that require a device based upon the present invention. Although one possible embodiment has been described to illustrate the teachings and disclosures of the present invention, it is not limited to the specific foregoing illustrative embodiment or applications and that various and several modifications in design, arrangement, and use may be made within the scope and spirit of the invention as expressed in the following claims: