GB2086219A - A foldable music stand - Google Patents

Abstract

A foldable music stand (2) comprising a lectern (4), a telescopic support member (6) for supporting the lectern, and a plurality of legs (8) for the support member, the lectern comprising a non-foldable back member (10) against which a music score can rest and a shelf (12) on which the music score can stand, the support member being formed in at least two parts (18, 20, 22) which slide one inside the other and the music stand being such that the support member and the legs can be moved from an operational position (Fig. 1) to a storage position (Fig. 2) in which the support member parts are telescoped together, the legs are along side the support member, and the support member and the legs are adjacent the lectern. Legs 8 are pivoted to a sleeve 24 which slides over support part 22, the legs being guided by a collar 26. Support part 18 is pivoted (42) to the lectern, the pivot 42 being carried by a plate 52 that rotates through 90 DEG in a track on a plate 60, plate 60 sliding in a track 64 on the lectern. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A foldable music stand This invention relates to a foidable music stand.

There have been no radical alterations in foldable music stand designs for many years, despite many inherent weaknesses. The foldable music stands are convenient to the practicing musician in that they enable an otherwise bulky object to be converted into a small easily carried device. The known foldable music stands comprise a lectern which is supported at a convenient height for reading by an adjustable telescopic support member or stem. The support member is maintained in an upright position by three legs extending in tripod fashion. The music stand is made of metal and the various parts are clamped together by adjustable butterfly screws.

When it is desired to store the known music stands, the lectern is folded towards the centre laterally and then forward. The legs jack knife upwards to lie parallel to the support member. The support member and the legs are then telescoped upwardly to meet the folded lectern at a hinge connecting the lectern to the support member.

The folded music stand forms a baton-shaped package.

The disadvantages of the known foldable music stands become self evident from the daily wear and tear that the music stands receive. To give lasting service, the music stands should be made of a hard strong metal but such metal is expensive and heavy. The manufacturers therefore tend to compromise by constructing the music stands in a relatively soft alloy. As a direct result, parts of the music stands that are intended to remain straight or flat tend to bend as soon as undue force is applied. Furthermore, since the operation of folding and unfolding the known music stands involves a time consuming sequence of steps requiring a degree of skill, mistakes often occur and undue pressure is often incorrectly applied, resulting in the music stands becoming warped. A warped music stand cannot be folded into a compact package, if indeed it can be folded at ali.

In addition, the screw threads that are employed on the known music stands are easily abraded from the base metal, and retaining screws are rendered useless or lost.

The above disadvantages of the known foldable music stands often cause a collection of such stands in use by a school or college orchestra to be rapidly reduced to a tangled huddle of standing and derelict metal occupying unusable floor space.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide a music stand in which the above mentioned disadvantages are obviated or reduced.

Accordingly, this invention provides a foldable music stand comprising a lectern, a telescopic support member for supporting the lectern, and a plurality of legs for the support member, the lectern comprising a non-foldable back member against which a music score can rest and a shelf member on which the music score can stand, the support member being formed in at least two parts which slide one inside the other and the music stand being such that the support member and the legs can be moved from an operational position to a storage.position in which the support member is telescoped together, the legs are along side the support member, and the support member and the legs are adjacent the lectern.

Preferably, the back member is of a solid construction. However, if desired, the back member can be of an open frame work construction.

Also preferabiy, the shelf means is of a solid construction. A shelf means having an open frame work construction can however be employed. The shelf means may inciude adjustable clips for enabling music pages to be held fully open.

Advantageously, the shelf means is foldable against the back member. Such a foldable shelf means enables the music stand to be folded into a more compact construction than if the shelf means is not so foldable.

Preferably, the support member has three parts.

The parts of the support member may be securable in any desired position by a locking device. Advantageously, the locking device comprises a split ring and a screw collar. The screw collar may be serrated on its outer surface for providing a good grip.

Usually, the music stand of the present invention will have three legs.

The legs of the music stand are preferably secured to a sleeve, the sleeve being slidable over the outermost part of the support member from the first position in which the legs are drawn up to the storage position to a second position in which the legs are extended outwardly to the operational position.

Each leg may be connected to the sleeve by a pivotal connection. The pivotal connection may be formed by a first member which projects outwardly from the sleeve, and by a pair of spaced apart second and third members which are formed on the end of the leg and which receive the first member, the first, second and third members being secured together by a pivot pin. If desired, the reverse arrangement may be employed in which the end of the leg has the first member and the second and third members project outwardly from the sleeve.

Advantageously, the outermost part of the support member has guide means for guiding the legs as they move between their storage and operational positions. Usually, the legs will have feet. The feet may be in the form of knobs.

The part of the support member that is uppermost in use of the stand may be provided with a pivotal connection member for connecting the support member to the lectern. The pivotal connection member may include a pivot pin.

The back member of the lectern may have a reverse face which is provided with a guide track, the guide track receiving a plate member forming part of the connection member, and the plate member being slidable along the guide track. The guide track may be rotatabie through 900 with respect to the plate member for allowing the lectern to be rotated through 900 from an operative position to an inoperative position.

Preferably, the lectern has sides and a removable lid for clipping to the sides, the music stand then being foldable to a stored position in which it is in the form of a carrying case.

Preferably, the lid has a fold away handle.

The music stand may be provided with runner members, for example moulded runner members, for enabling the music stand to be stored on a suitable designed case or rack.

Preferably, the various parts of the music stand are made of a plastics material such for example as polyvinyl chloride. The plastics material may be reinforced if desired. Fibreglass materials may also be employed. If desired, parts of the music stand can be made of metal or metal alloys. An embodiment of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the music stand in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 shows the music stand of Figure 1 in a closed position; Figure 3 shows more detail of the closed music stand of Figure 2; Figure 4 is an enlarged detail of part of the music stand as shown in Figure 3; Figures 5 and 6 show locking members for locking the parts of the support member together; and Figures 7 and 8 show in detail the connection of the legs to a sleeve.

Referring to the drawings and especially to Figures 1 to 4, there is shown a music stand 2 comprising a lectern 4, a telescopic support member 6 for supporting the lectern 4, and three legs 8 which are disposed in tripod fashion as illustrated.

The lectern 4 comprises a non-foldable back member 10 against which a music score (not shown) can rest, and a shelf 12 on wich the music score can stand. As illustrated most clearly in Figure 1, the back member 10 and the shelf 12 are of a solid construction. The music stand 4 also comprises a pair of sides 14, 1 6.

The support member 6 comprises three parts 18, 20, 22. The parts 18, 20, 22 teiescope within each other and it will be noted that the part 22 is the bottom most part in the operative position of the music stand 2. This part 22 is the outermost part of the support member 6 when the parts 18, 20, 22 are telescoped together.

The legs 8 are secured to a sleeve 24 which slides over the part 22. The sleeve 24 is at the lower most portion of the part 22 when the legs 8 are in the extended operative position (as shown in Figure 1) and the sleeve 24 is at the upper most portion of the part 22 when the legs are in their inoperative storage position (as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3). In the storage position, it will be noted that the support member 6 is telescoped together and that the legs 8 have been drawn up to a storage position in which they lie adjacent and around the part 22 of the support member 6.

The legs 8 are guided in their movement between their stored and operative positions by a guide collar 26 which is shown most ciearly in Figure 7. The guide collar 26 enables the legs to pass through a guide passageway 28 and this guide passageway 28 guides the legs from their stored position to their operative position. In Figure 7, the operative position on one leg 8 is shown in solid lines and the stored inoperative position of this leg 8 is shown in dotted lines. It will be seen from Figures 1, 2, 3 and 7 that each leg 8 is provided with a foot in the form of a knob 30.

Each leg 8 is connected to the sleeve 24 by a pivotal connection 32. The pivotal connection 32 is formed by a first member or lug 34 which projects outwardly from the sleeve 24, and by a pair of spaced apart second and third members or lugs 36, 38 which project from the leg 8 and which receive the first lug 34. The lugs 34, 36, 38 are secured together by a pivot pin 40. The lugs 36, 38 may be formed on a separate member which is a push fit in the end of the leg 8, the leg 8 being formed as a tubular member.

Referring especially to Figures 3 and 4, it will be seen that the lectern 4 is connected to the part 18 of the support member 16 by a pivotal connection 42. The pivotal connection 42 is formed by a pair of lugs 44, 46 attached to the part 18 and a further lug 48 whch is attached to the lectern 4 and which is positioned between the lugs 44, 46.

The three lugs 44, 46, 48 are held together by a pivot pin 50.

The lug 48 is in fact provided on a plate member 52 which has sloping edges 54 as shown in Figure 3. The palte member 52 is rotatably secured in a track 56 which is defined by the sloping edges 58 of a frame plate 60. The plate member 52 is provided with four moulded studs 62 which locate in corresponding recesses in the edges 58 and are effective to enable a user of the music stand 2 to known when the lectern 4 is in a correct position with respect to the support member 6.

The frame plate 60 slides in a guide track 64 defined by the sloping edges 66 of the reverse face of the lectern 4. The lectern 4 can thus be pushed with respect to the frame plate 60 so that the frame plate 60 will slide in the guide track 64.

The frame plate 60 can then be slid to one end of the guide track 64 for storage as is illustrated in Figure 2.

Referring now to Figures 5 and 6, a pair of locking devices 68 are shown for locking the parts 1 8, 20, 22 together. As is illustrated most clearly in Figure 6, each locking device 68 comprises a collar 70 which is internally screw threaded as shown to mate with external threads 72 formed in the appropriate part of the support member 6. The collar 70 can thus be screwed down onto the part of the support member 6 and in doing so, a frustoconical portion 74 of the collar 70 will bear against a split ring 76. As shown in Figure 6, the split ring 76 wedges against the part 20 and thus the parts 20, 22 will be securely held together.

The outer surface of the collar 70 can be serrated to provide a good grip.

Preferably, the varous parts of the music stand 2 are made of a plastics material. The music stand 2 can thus be very light to carry whilst being of the required rigidity. The music stand 2 can be very easily converted from its stored position into its operational position and vice-versa. When the legs 8 have been drawn up into their stored position and the parts 18, 20, 22 of the support member 6 have been telescoped together, the legs 8 and the parts 18, 20, 22 will lie alongside the reverse face of the back member 10 of the lectern 4 as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiment of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings has been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. Thus, a lid (not shown) may then be clipped over the sides 14, 16 and the entire folded music stand 2 will then look like a carrying case.

If a lid is provided, then it may have a fold away handle. The sides 14, 1 6 of the music stand 2 may be inset from the edges of the lectern 4. This will leave a lip at each side of the lectern 4 which may be inserted in slots in a rack (not shown). The folded music stands 2 may then be stored like shelves in the rack. The legs may be opened and stored by a different arrangement to that shown, and parts of the bottom of the music stand 2 may be weighted for good stability. In the illustrated hinge arrangements for the lectern 4 and the legs 8, locking members such as screws may be employed if the friction generated between the various plastic parts is insufficient to maintain the lectern 4 and legs 8 in their desired positions. The lectern 4 may also be constructed with integrally formed slots and/or detachable hinges for receiving a lid irrespective of whether or not a lid is actually used.

Claims (22)

1. A foldable music stand comprising a lectern, a telescopic support member for supporting the lectern, and a plurality of legs for the support member, the lectern comprising a non-foldable back member against which a music score can rest and a shelf means on which the music score can stand, the support member being formed in at least two parts which slide one inside the other and the music stand being such that the support member and the legs can be moved from an operational position to a storage position in which the support member is telescoped together, the legs are along side the support member, and the support member and the legs are adjacent the lectern.

2. A foldable music stand according to claim 1 in which the back member is of a solid construction.

3. A foldable music stand according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the shelf means is of a solid construction.

4. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which the shelf means includes adjustable clips for enabling music pages to be held fully open.

5. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which the shelf means is foldable against the back member.

6. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which the support member has three parts.

7. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which the parts of the support member are securable in any desired position by a locking device.

8. A foldable music stand according to claim 7 in which the locking device comprises a split ring and a screw collar.

9. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which there are three legs.

10. A music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which the legs are secured to a sleeve, the sleeve being slidable over the outermost part of the support member from a first position in which the legs are drawn up to the storage position to a second position in which the legs are extended outwardly to the operational position.

11. A foldable music stand according to claim 10 in which each leg is connected to the sleeve by a pivotal connection.

12. A foldable music stand according to claim 11 in which the pivotal connection is formed by a first member which projects outwardly from the sleeve, and by a pair of spaced apart second and third members which are formed on the end of the leg and which receive the first member, the first, second and third members being secured together by a pivot pin.

13. A foldable music stand according tb any one of the preceding claims in which the outermost part of the support member has guide means for guiding the legs as they move between their storage and operational positions.

14. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which the legs have feet.

1 5. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which the part of the support member that is uppermost in use of the stand is provided with a pivotal connection member for connecting the support member to the lectern.

1 6. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which the back member of the lectern has a reverse face which is provided with a guide track, the guide track receiving a plate member forming part of the connection member, and the plate member being slidable along the guide track.

1 7. A foldable music stand according to claim 1 6 in which the guide track is rotatable through 90 with respect to the plate member for allowing the lectern to be rotated through 90 from an operative position to an inoperative position.

18. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims in which the lectern has sides and a removable lid for clipping to the sides, the music stand then being foldable to a stored position in which it is in the form of a carrying case.

19. A foldable music stand according to claim 18 in which the lid has a fold away handle.

20. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims and including runner members for enabling the music stand to be stored.

21. A foldable music stand according to any one of the preceding claims which is made of a plastics material.

22. A foldable music stand substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.