Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
This invention relates to a bass drum pedal
assembly.
Conventional bass drum pedal assemblies include a
foot pedal pivoted at one end to a base and coupled at the
opposite end to a beater head which includes a beater element,
usually of generally cylindrical form, carried at an outer
end of a beater rod. At its inner end, the beater rod is
mounted to pivot about a horizontal axis and the pedal is
c~upled to the head so that the head pivots forwardly about
said axis to bring the beater element into contact with the
drum when the foot pedal is depressed. The pedal is returned
up~ardly by spring action and normally takes the form of a
simple flat plate, often shaped to resemble the ou-tline of a
human foot. This form of foot pedal assembly is designed to
be operated by a rocking action with the player's foot flat on
the foot plate, and pivotting on the heel. In practice, this
rocking action causes fatigue at the front of the ankle
joint of the player. This can be an e~treme problem, par-
ticularly for a professional musician who might be required
to play for as long as twelve hours in a d~y.
Another problem with conventional bass drum pedal
assemblies is tha-t the rocking action discussed above does
not allow for a very vigorous beating action, with the result
that the musician is not able to achieve the volume which is
required in playing, say, as part of a large orchestra or
rock group. As a result of this difficulty, some pla~ers
tend to li~t the heel of the foot off the pedal and play using
the ball of the foot with a "stamping" action. While this
does lead to greater volume, the player effectively loses
control of the beater head as it whips back and forth in a
beating action. Obviously, this loss of control does not
make for precision in playing.
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The United States Patent literatuxe contains numerous
examples of prior art foot pedal assemblies. For example,
Patent No. 3,426,640 (Slingerland) contains an excellent
illustration of a prior art foot pedal assembly. The patent
is concerned with a quick connect arrangement for securing
the foot pedal assembly to a drum. Patent No. 2,893,284 (l~ashington Jr.)
shows an example of a foot pedal assembly which employs a
rocking foot treadle in place of the conventional pivoted
foot plate. Another example of a replacement for the con-
10 ventional foot plate is shown in Moeller's Patent No.2,800,828. In that case, the foot pedal assembly includes a
pivoted structure in which the ball of the player's foot
rests on a leather roller while his heel is supported on a
spool. Magadini's Patent No. 3,930,431 discloses a foot
pedal assembly which includes a pivotecl foot plate, but in
this case, the plate is adjustable for both height and
proximity to the beater, to suit the personal preferances
oE the individual player.
While all of these prior art assemblies may be con-
20 sidered to offer some advantages, none of them provide fora natural, comfortable playing action which allows high
volumes to be achieved while maintaining precise control over
the movement of the beater head.
An object of the present invention is to provid~è
an improved bass drum assembly designed to fullful these
requirements.
The assembly provided by the invention has a base,
and a beater head including a beater arm and a beater element
carried at an outer end of the arm. Means is provided on said
30 base supporting the beater head adjacen t an inner end of said
arm for pivotal movement about an axis which is disposed
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~æ
generally horizontally when the assembly is in use and is
spaced above said base, so that the beater element can move
between a forward, beating position for contact with a drum,
and a retracted position. Means is provide~ biasing the
beater head towards the retracted position of the beater
element. The assembly includes a foot pedal comprising a foot
plate and a foot plate support which is pivotally coupled
at the heel end thereof to said base and which is inclined
upwardly towards a toe end thereof disposed generally below
the beater head. The foot plate is mounted on the support
for free sliding movement longitudinally thereo~ towaxds and
away from a rest position adjacent said heel end of the sup-
port. The foot pedal also includes means biasing the foot
plate towards its said rest position. The foot plate support
is coupled to the beater head so that downward movement of
the foot pedal causes the head to pivot about said axis to
bring the beater element towards its beating position.
In order that the invention may be more clearly
understood, reference will now be made to the accompanying
drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof
by way of example and in which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a foot pedal
assembly according to the invention disposed in a playing
position in association with a bass drum;
Figs. 2 and 3 are cross sectional views on lines
II-II and III-III respectively of Fig. l; and
Fig. 4 is a side view showing the food pedal
assembly of Fig. 1 in use.
Referring first to Fig. 1, a bass drum padal
assembly is indicated qenerally by reference numeral 20 in
association with a conventional bass drum 22. Assembly 20
has a base 24 which is of composite construction ~see later)
and a beater head 26 including a beater arm 28 and a beater
element 30 carried at an outer end of arm 28. Disposed on
the base is a support structure generally denoted 32 for the
beater head 26. The support is designed so that the head
can pivot about a generally horizontal axis 34 spaced above
the base 24 to bring the beater element 30 from the retracted
position in which it is shown in Fig. 1 to a forward beating
position for contact with the drum 22. The beater element is
shown in this forward position in Fig. 4 but is normally biased
towards the retracted position of Fig. 1 by a tension spring 36.
Movement of the beater head is controlled by a
foot pedal generally denoted 38. In contrast to the prior art
pedal 38 includes a foot plate 40 which can slide back and
forth from the rest position in which it is shown in Fig. 1.
In playing, plate 40 is mounted for sliding on a support 42
and is biased towards its rest position by two tension springs
44. Support 42 is in the form of a plate which is pivotally
coupled at a heel end thereof to a part of the base and which
is inclined upwardly towards a toe end disposed generally
below the beater head The toe end of support 42 i~ couplea
to the beater head 26 by a flexible leather strap 46 so that
downward movement of the foot pedal 38 causes the beater head
to pivot about axis 34 and bring the beat~r element 30 tQwards
its beating position.
As indicated pre~iously, the foot plate 40 is freely
slidable on support 42. The plate is shown in a rest position
in Fig. 1, but can slide longitudinally of ~upport ~2 under
the action of a players foot. In Fig. 4, the plate is shown ~
in a position in which it has been moved forwardly in the
direction of arrow 48 under the effect of forward motion of
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a players foot 50. At the same time, the player has exerted
downward pressure on the foot pedal as indicated by arrow 51
to cause the beater head 26 to swing forwardly (arrow 52),
bringingthe beater element 30 into contact with drum 22. At
the end of the stroke, the player relaxes and allows the foot
pedal to be returned upwardly by spring 36 and foot plate 40
to be returned to its rest position by springs 44, ready for
the next stroke. The player's foot 50 remains in contact with
foot plate 40 throughout this movement so that the player
retains control over the motion of the beater head. At the
same time, the player can lift his heel from the foot pedal
and essentially play using the ball of his foot so as to avoid
the fatigue problems discussed above in connection with the
foot pedal assemblies of the prior art. In practice, it has
been found that this ~oot pedal assembly allows the bass drum
to be played with a natural, comfortab:Le action in which
the beater heads can be caused to whip vigorously back and
forth to provide the loudness requiredl while allowing the
player to maintain control and achieve the rapid response
necessary for precision playing.
Having briefly descrlbed the p~incipal components
of the footpedal assembly, a more detailed description of
those components will now be given with reference to the
drawings.
As indicated previously, the base 24 of the foot
pedal assembly is of composite construction. It comprises
front and rear metal castings 54 and 56 respectively joined
by a metal rod 58. At its forward end, rod 58 is received
in a recess 62 in an element 60 which is secured to casting 54
by a screw 64. The forward end ~ortion of rcd 58 is turned u~dly
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as best seen in Fig. 4, aro~lnd a horizontal pin 66 which
passes through recess 62 for retaining the rod therein.
The opposite end of rod 58 is received in a bore in casting
56 and is secured in place by a set screw (not shown). This
allows some limited adjustment of the overall length o* base
24 to suit the preferences of individual players.
Casting 54 is shaped to define two forwardly pro-
tuberant tongues 68 which extend below the rim of the bass
drum 22. Although not shown in the drawings, casting 54
will in practice be provided with clamping devices of the type
conventionally found in the art for gripping the rim of the
bass drum and in effect clamping the pedal assembly to the
drum.
At the far side of casting 54 as seen in Fig. 1,
an integral~ tubular column 70 projects upwardly from the
casting and forms part of the support of the beater head 26.
A vertical rod 72 is slidably receivecl in column 70 and can
be secured in an adjusted vertical position by set screws
74. It will be apreciated by the vertical position of rQd
72 determines the vertical position of the beater head 26
and permits the height of the head to be adjusted to suit
the preference of a particular player. At its upper end,
a sleeve 76 is welded transversely to rod 72 and receives
an inner shaft 78 which is freely turnable therein. Shaft
78 and sleeve 76 define the horizontal pivot axis 34 for the
beater head 26.
The left hand end of shaft 78 as seen in Fig. 1
is fitted with a boss 80 which is secured to and turns with
the shaft. The boss forms a mounting point for the beater
head 78 and is *ormed at its outer side with a cylindrical
projection 82 having a transverse bore in which the beater
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5~
arm 28 is slidably received. A set screw 84 is provided for
securing arm 28 in an adjusted position with respect to boss
80. Set screw 84 allows the beater arm 28 to be clamped in boss
80 at an adjusted longitudinal position depending on the re-
quired effective length of the beater head 26. Boss 80 has a
part cylindrical outer surface 86 around which is wrapped part
of the leather strap 46 for connecting the beater head 26 with
the foot pedal 38~ Thus, it will be appreciated that, if foot
pedal 38 is depressed from the position in which it is shown
in Fig. 1, the part of strap 46 which is wrapped around boss
80 will partially unwrap and cause the boss to turn in the anti-
clockwise direction as seen in Figs. 1 and 4, causing the
beater head 26 to swing into contact with the drum 22. Fig.
4 shows strap 46 in this position with beater element 30 in
contact with drum 22. It will also be seen from that view that
the position of attachment of the beater element 26 to boss
80 is off-set somewhat from axis 34. This is a design feature
conventionally found in the art, intended to make for a larger
area of contact between the beater element and the drum than
would otherwise be achieved.
The ri~ht hand end of shaft 78 as viewed in Fig. 1
is fitted with a radially extending arm 88 to which one end o~
spring 36 is attached. The opposite end of the spring is at-
tached to an adjusting screw 90 carried by a support bracket
92 which projects radially from and is attached to sleeve 76.
Thus, as best seen in Fig. 4, when shaft 78 turns, arm 88
is angularly disp~aced with the shaft, but bracket 92 remains
stationary. This causes spring 36 to be tensioned and
exert a return biasing force on the shaft and throuyh it,
on the beater head 26. The extent of this biasing force can
xi
be adjusted by screw 90 according to the preference of indi-
vidual players. In any event, the effect is to bias beater
head 26 to the retracted position in which it is shown in Fig. 1.
The support 42 of foot pedal 38 is, in this
embodiment, defined by a metal plate which is generally T-
shaped with an elongated stem. The heel end 42a of support
plate 42 is coupled to the casting 56 of base 24 by a hinge
94 which is recessed into the plate and casting and secured
in place by self-taping screws. Adjacent its opposite (toe)
end, plate 42 is formed with a longitudinally extending
slot 96. The leather strap 46 extends below the slotted
portion of plate 42 as can best be seen in Fig. 3 and is
formed with an opening receiving the shank of a bolt 98 which
extends upwardly through the strap and through the slot 96
in plate 42. The shank of the bolt also passes through a
plate 100 disposed on top of plate 4~ and is fitted with a
wing nut 102~ It will be appreciated that, be releasing
wing nut 102, the bolt can be moved to an adjusted position
along slot 96 and will carry with it the strap 46, thereby
permitting adjust~ent of the e~fective length of strap 46
and hence the inclination of the foot pedal 38. A washer
104 (Fig. 3) is provided behind the head of bolt 98 ~or
clamping strap 46 in an adjusted position. At its opposite
end, the strap is permanently secured in place by a self~
taping screw 106 (Figs. 1 and 4) screwed into boss 80.
Figs. 2 and 3 show that the stem portion of plate
42 has undercut side edges 108. The foot plate 40 of the
pedal is in the form of a metal plate ha~ing in its under
surface a longitudinally extending recess 110 of a shape
complimentary to the shape of the stem portion o~ plate 42.
Recess 110 has side edges 112 which are shaped to correspond
_g _
with the undercut side edges 108 of plate 42 so that plate
40 is held on plate 42 but is freely slidable therealong.
Four pairs of ball bearings 114 are provided in recesses
in the underside o~ the recess 110 of plate 40 so as to bear
on the upper surface of plate 42 as best seen in Fig. 2.
This ball bearing arrangement makes for minimum frictional
resistance between foot plate 40 and support plate 42 as
the foot plate moves back and forth in use. It will, of
course, be appreciated that, owing to the shape of recess
110 and plate 42, the ~oot plate 40 cannot be lifted off
the support plate. It must be fitted to and removed from
plate 42 ~rom the toe end thereof after removal of bolt 98
and plate 100.
The T-shaped heel end portion 42a of plate 42
acts as a stop defining the rest position of the foot plate
40. Thus, in the rest position shown in Fig. 1 the xear
edge of ~oot plate 40 bears against the heel end portion
of plate 42. A raised toe piece 116 is provided at the
toe end of foot plate 40 and the upper surface of the plate
is rouyhened as indicated at 118 for promoting improved
grip of the foot plate.
The two tension springs 44 which biased the foot
plate 40 to its rest position extend between integrally cast
lugs 120 on base casting 156 and two screw threaded adjusting
bolts 122 which are threaded into complementary holes in
lugs 124 welded to plate 40 so as to project laterally there-
from but generally parallel to the lugs 120. Thus, by
turning the bolts 122, the tension in the springs 44 can be
adjusted to vary the return biasing ~orce which is applied
to the ~oot plate by the springs in use.
It will, of course, be appreciated that the preceding
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description relates to a preferred embodiment of the invention
only, and that many modifications are possible within the
broad scope of the claims. For example, the foot plate 40
of the pedal may be shaped to resemble the shape of a human
foot generally in the manner of conventional foot pedals.
Also, the plate and its support may be of different designs.
In another embodiment, for example, the support could be in
the form of a rod-like structure on which the foot plate
would be slidably supported. Guide wheels, low friction
surface coatings or other expedients may be employed to
provide for free sliding movement of the foot plate with
respect to its support.
Different biasing arrangements may also be employed
for the foot plate. In another embodiment it would, for
example, be possible to use a single biasing spring connected
between the base and the rear edge of the foot plate, or
positioned below the foot plate support and coupled to the
plate through a slot in the support. In another case, the
biasing means for the foot plate may be omitted entirely.
Other variations well-known in the art may be
employed in the design of the base and supports of the beater
head. For example, in another embodiment, the beater head
could be coupled to a shaft extending between two support
columns, (or the like) generally disclosed in the Slingerland
patent discussed previously.
Other forms of coupling means (e.g. a rigid link)
may be provided between the foot plate support and the beater
head. Also, the base need not pro]ect beyond the foot plate
support or include a heel plate (as-casting 56)i the base may
terminate below the support and be pivotally coupled thereto
by a pivot also below the support.
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