US3166970A

US3166970A - Drum practice pad

Info

Publication number: US3166970A
Application number: US277570A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gilbert M Ellman
Original assignee: Pep Products Inc
Current assignee: Pep Products Inc
Priority date: 1963-05-02
Filing date: 1963-05-02
Publication date: 1965-01-26
Anticipated expiration: 1982-01-26

Description

Jan. 26, 1965 G, M, ELLMAN 3,156,970

DRUM PRACTICE PAD Filed May 2, 1965 United States Patent Oice 3,166,970 DRUM PRACTICE PAD Gilberte/l. Eiirnan, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Pep Products, Inc., a corporation of Illinois Filed May '2, 1963, Ser. No. 277,570 6 Claims. (Cl. 842-411) This invention relates in general to musical instruments, and more particularly to a drum practice pad which may -be positioned upon a drum head, or upon any available at surface.

A problem which has confronted both drum instructors and students alike has been the provision of means for reducing the noise of a practicing student to a tolerable level so as not to disturb those in the vicinity while the student is improving his skills. Several expedients have been resorted to by those skilled in the art to provide a drum practicing device which obviates the problem of objectionable noise. For example, as shown in U.S. Patent No. 1,688,561 to Straub, it has been proposed to mount an annular plate, with a sheet of heavy rubber stretched thereover, on an adjustable stand. It is also known to -provide a sound absorbing pad under an ordinary drum head, as shown in U.S. Patent No. 1,789,992 to Stevens. Another method has been to mount a practice pad directly on a drum with the pad having a mu'ier portion engageable with the drum head, and a portion of resilient material to `be struck with the drumsticks. This arrangement is typified by that shown in U.S. Patent No. 2,078,004 to Lebow. U.S. Patent No. 2,475,873 to Banta shows a practice drum having means associated therewith for carrying the drumsticks. In U.S. Patent No. 2,326, 305 a practice drum is shown wherein the drum head is stretched over a chambered member and clamped between a base and an annular rim. Although such devices have served their purpose, they have not proved entirely satisfactory due to either the prohibitively high cost of the device, or to -its failure to in fact adequately reduce the noise level. Accordingly, the general purpose of the present invention is to provide a drum practice pad which is simple in construction and relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and which allows the student to improve his skills with a minimum of disturbance to those in the vicinity.

An object of the lpresent invention is the provision of a drum practice pad wherein the pad body is a single molded member.

Another object of lthe invention is the provision of a drum practice 4pad wherein the playing surface is positioned at the proper playing angle when the pad is placed upon a flat surface.

Still another object of the invention is to form a drum practice pad of a material having a resilience which closely simulates a conventional drum head.

A further object of the invention is to .provide a drum practice pad with two playing surfaces, one playing surface having a reduced area so that stick control may be practiced.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a drum practice pad as defined in the previous paragraph with both audible and visible means to determine if the playing surface of reduced area has been missed by the player.

And a `further object of the invention is the provision of means on the playing surface of the drum practice pad to retain it in position on a smooth surface.

These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the following specification and drawings wherein:

FIGURE l is a plan View of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

S@ Patented Jan. 26, 1965 FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional View taken substantially as shown along line 3-3 of FIGURE l; and

FIGURE 4 is a bottom View of the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1.

While this invention is susceptible to embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail only one specific embodiment, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope of the invention will be pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring now to the drawings, reference numeral 10 is used to indicate lthe novel drum practice pad in its entirety. Pad `10 includes a generally cylindrically shaped body 11 having a first playing surface 12 positioned substantially perpendicularly to the axis of the cylinder, and a second playing surface 13 positioned at an angle with respect to the axis of the cylinder. Body 11 is formed of a resilient material which has characteristics substantially identical to that of a conventional drum head so as to give the player the feeling that he is actually striking a drum head rather than a practice pad. A material which is well suited for this purpose consists ot' a combination of natural and synthetic rubber which measures between 45 and 55 on the Shore-A durometer.

Inclined surface 13 is provided with an annular recess 14 which is preferably concentric with the axis of cylindrical tbody 11. A central boss is thus created having a playing surface 15 with an area substantially less than the area of the playing surface on face 12.

A hat annular insert 16 is snugly received in recess 14, and sharply sets off playing surface 15 from the rest of the pad. Insert 16 is preferably formed of a material which is less resilient than the material of body 11, so that the player can easily determine when he has missed playing surface 15. It is also desirable that insert 16 be formed of a material having different sound characteristics than -body 11, so that the player can audibly determine when the drumsticks have struck either surface 15 or insert 16. In order to visually aid the player in striking playing surface 15, it is also desirable that insert 16 have a color which sharply contrasts with the color of playing surface 15. A piece of light colored cardboard has been found to adequately fulll these needs. However, the invention is not limited to any particular material, and other materials such as wood or plastic would also be suitable.

A pair of

concentric projections

17, 17 and 18, 18 are provided on

surface

13 and 12,

respectivel Projections

17 and 18 are preferably concentric with the axis of cylindrical body 11 and as will be readily appreciated, eectively retain pad 10 in place on a flat surface or on a drum head.

I claim:

l. A drum practice pad comprising, a generally cylindrical body of resilient material having a first playing surface normal to the axis of said cylindrical body and a second surface inclined with respect to the axis of said cylindrical body, said inclined surface having an annular recess defining a second playing surface at the central portion thereof of smaller diameter than said first playing surface.

2. A drum practice pad comprising, a generally cylindrical body of resilient material having a `first playing surface normal to the axis of said cylindrical body and a second surface inclined with respect to the axis of said cylindrical body, said inclined surface having an annular recess, and an annular insert positioned in said recess to define a second playing surface at the central portion thereof of smaller diameter than said irst playing surface.

3. The practice pad defined in claim 2 wherein said insert is lformed of a material less resilient than the material of said body.

4. The practice'pad defined in claim 2 wherein said body and said insert have contrasting colors to sharply delineate said area of reduced size.

5. The practice pad dened in claim 2 wherein said body and said insert are formed of materials having different sound characteristics.

6. The practice pad defined in claim 2 wherein nonslip means are provided on each of said surfaces.

4 Reerences Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES New Ludwig Practice Pad, The Music Trade Review,

10 page 43, October 4, 1924.

Coles Round Solid Rubber Drum Practice Pad, Rogers Catalog 62R, page 58, 1962.

Claims

1. A DRUM PRACTICE PAD COMPRISING, A GENERALLY CYLINDRICAL BODY OF RESILIENT MATERIAL HAVING A FIRST PLAHING SURFACE NORMAL TO THE AXIS OF SAID CYLINDRICAL BODY AND A SECOND SURFACE INCLINED WITH RESPECT TO THE AXIS OF SAID CYLINDRICAL BODY, SAID INCLINED SURFACE HAVING AN ANNULAR RECESS DEFINING A SECOND PLAYING SURFACE AT THE CENTRAL PORTION THEREOF OF SMALLER DIAMETER THAN SAID FIRST PLAYING SURFACE.