Foot pedal for control of musical instruments and the like

Abstract

A foot pedal adapted to adjust control components such as volume and tone controls for the audio output of amplified musical instruments wherein the control components can be fully enclosed within the pedal housing yet adjusted by positioning of an external treadle. The enclosed or sealed relation of a control component is made possible by arranging the pedal so that it makes actuating engagement with a rotational shaft member extending between the exterior and interior of the housing, the pedal motion being translated into internal motion of the shaft member and an arm extending therefrom for adjustment of the control component.

Description

This invention is related to a foot pedal structure for adjustment of control components and more particularly it is directed to a foot pedal structure which permits full enclosure and even sealing of controls within the housing without sacrifice of sensitivity of adjustment of variables such as volume and tone of the output of amplified musical instruments. In this regard, the pedal assembly herein described is of the general type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,986,953.

Modern electrically amplified musical instruments have reached a stage in development where use of auxiliary equipment has in many instances become a necessary part of the instrumentation for presentation of musical compositions, particularly in permitting broader individualistic interpretation of compositions. For example, in the playing of an electrically amplified stringed instrument such as a guitar, control of tone and volume by way of a foot pedal has become an integral aspect of the player's manual playing ability and the foot pedal is required to have a precision and sensitiveness in response to assure that the musician's rendition can be produced at all times without being limited by mechanical characteristics of the auxiliary equipment, or by change in characteristics with wear or other extraneous influences.

Foot pedals of present invention when in use are almost constantly exposed to dirt, and often to moisture such as may frequently adhere on shoes of the user. Thus prior open pedal housings often expose internal controls such as sensitive electronic control components to the worst of environmental conditions, especially when the weather outdoors is rainy, slushy or snowy and conducive to conveyance of extraneous matter indoors.

A major object of the invention therefor is to provide a foot pedal for adjustment of control components wherein the controls can be sealed within the pedal housing yet be stably adjusted with sensitivity and precision with a minimum tendency toward extraneous influences from the environment or wear which might otherwise modify the control characteristics of the structure.

Since a limited number of commercially available control components are readily available to provide the exact control characteristics desired, it is an object of the present invention to provide a foot pedal structure which is adaptable to accommodating commercially available control components and yet provide characteristics of control desired in the controlled output.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a simple foot pedal construction for control of the output of musical instruments wherein the control components required to be moved are well protected and even ruggedly encaseable so as to assure stability and reliability in the production of the desired musical output over a prolonged life.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a foot pedal construction which will control standard commercially available electrical or other control components with a minimum need for special change to accommodate the components.

Another and no less important object of the invention is to provide a foot pedal construction for adjustment of control components which is adaptable to selection of a number of ratio relationships between the motion of the foot pedal and adjustment of the control components.

In brief, the pedal construction of this invention makes possible the desired objectives by utilization of the pivot portion of the treadle to actuate a shaft member extending between the exterior and interior of the pedal housing where the treadle motion can be translated to a motion of small magnitude and then on the interior translated into a larger motion at the region of engagement with the control component to be adjusted. The invention as exemplified in the drawings incorporates a rotatable generally vertical interconnecting shaft extending between the exterior and interior of the pedal housing and through a bushing or bearing portion which may be sealed so that the entire pedal housing can be enclosed to protect the components interiorly. The reciprocating motion of the treadle is translated at the horizontal pivot shaft of the treadle into an angular motion of the generally vertical interconnecting shaft. On the interior of the housing, the rotatable shaft has an associated laterally extending arm reaching to the component to be adjusted. By rotation of the interconnecting shaft upon actuation of the foot pedal, the adjustment arm is swept across the face of the control component.

Features of the invention are the simplicity of construction and adaptability of the construction to rugged handling, economic production and relatively trouble free operation.

Although the new foot pedal is disclosed herein in relation to adjustment of an electrical control component, such as a potentiometer, resistor or rectifier for an amplifier circuit for electrical guitars and the like, it will be apparent to those familiar with the control art that the pedal has much broader application and is adaptable to actuation and adjustment of pneumatic, electrostatic, magnetic, hydraulic, mechanical, optical and like control components for numerous other systems into which it might be incorporated.

Other objects and features which I believe to be characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. My invention, however, both in organization and manner of construction together with further objects and advantages thereof can be best understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a pedal incorporating the features of the present invention illustrating by arrows the direction of pedal action;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the pedal structure of FIG. 1, showing the housing portion with the treadle removed and illustrating in dotted lines a control component to be adjusted and the adjustment arm extending thereto;

FIG. 3 is a side-elevational view in cross-section of the foot pedal of FIGS. 1 and 2 with the treadle removed to illustrate the treadle pivot shaft arranged to actuate a generally vertically oriented interconnecting shaft extending in sealed relation between the exterior and interior of the pedal housing;

FIG. 4 is a bottom-plan view of the foot pedal structure of FIGS. 1-3 with the bottom removed to illustrate the control arm extending in sweeping relation across the face of the control component and to illustrate the telescopic action of the arm to accommodate the differences in length required of the arm as it makes adjustments across the face of the control component.

FIG. 5 is a bottom or underneath view of the pedal housing with the bottom removed to illustrate another embodiment of the invention wherein the adjustment arm is of fixed length and the adjustable component is pivoted to accommodate the arc through which the end of the adjustment arm moves as it sweeps across the component face.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, FIG. 1 shows a foot pedal 10 of the type embodying the principles of the present invention, wherein a foot treadle 12 is pivotally mounted on a housing 11 at a pivot shaft 14. To readily accommodate the foot of a musician, a heel pad 15 and a sole pad 16 are mounted on the face of the treadle 12 and the housing 11 is mounted on four pad members 17 which act as legs for the assembly.

FIG. 2 illustrates the same foot pedal 10 with its treadle 12 removed to show the manner in which the treadle is pivotally supported on the housing, as well as to show the manner in which the treadle upon being actuated with a vertical motion can actuate the interior members of the assembly to adjust the control component enclosed therein. A key aspect of the invention is that the control adjustments are actuated from the axis of the treadle. In this regard, a mitre gear 20 is mounted on the horizontal pivot shaft 14 and is rotated as the treadle is actuated by foot manipulation. The shaft 14 is supported by the oppositely spaced pivot mounts 21 and the mitre gear 20 is affixed thereto so that as the treadle is moved, the gear 20 rotates about its axis with the pivot shaft 14. The recess 30 in the upper surface of the housing 11 accommodates another and mating mitre gear 22 mounted at the top end of an interconnecting adjustment shaft 23 which extends from the recess to the interior of the housing.

The shaft member 23 extending between the exterior and interior of the housing is mounted in the upper portion of the housing and suspended on the interior of the housing for support of the adjustment arm. If desired, however, the enclosing bottom of the housing can alternately provided with an outboard type bearing for the bottom end of the adjustment shaft 23 and thereby establish a double support for rotation of the shaft and adjustment arm.

The gear 22 rests on its hub 31 against the bottom portion of the housing recess 30 and is fixed to and rotates with the shaft 3. The gears 20 and 22 thus extend their rotary motion down into the interior of the housing upon actuation of the treadle 12. It will be recognized that although the pedal assembly is here shown with full mitre gears actuating the shaft 23, where there is not a full revolution of the gears during treadle manipulation, mated segments of only sufficient angular size to provide the desired adjustment may be utilized.

Adjustment in position of the selective member of a control component within the pedal housing is made by a telescopic adjustment arm having a hollow section 24 from which a rod section 25 extends into engagement with the selection element 38 of an electrical component 26. As may be seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the control component 26 is mounted on a bracket 34 and supported on the interior of the housing by securing the bracket to the underside of the top of the housing by way of securing screws 35. The extension rod section 25 is slideably extendible from the hollow arm section 24 to permit variation in length as it moves across the face of the adjustable control component 26. Component 26 may be a potentiometer or rheostat or any of a number of adjustable components but here it is appropriately exemplified by a voltage divider or potentiometer. The extension rod engages the slide member 38 of the component 26 and is connected to the slide member by way of a securing member such as cotter pin 28. Electrical connection of the control component such as to an amplifier can be made by way of a receptacle for a jack (not shown) located conveniently in any of a number of conventional locations in the housing 11 such as at the front or side of the pedal assembly.

The foot treadle can be mounted close to the upper surface of the housing 11 regardless of the underlying mechanism by reason of the recess 30 shaped to accommodate the mitre gear 22. A wide motion of the treadle results in a correspondingly angular motion of the pivot shaft but with much less linear motion at the pivot shaft than at the end of the treadle. As indicated above, although a complete gear is shown, a section or only portion of the gear is needed and if deemed desirable only a segment of gearing such as a quadrant gear might be used instead of a complete gear 20. Similarly the mating gear 22 may have only a portion of its entire gear face in use during operation of the treadle and might only be a gear segment. By reason of both gears 20 and 22 being similar in diameter, a one-to-one ratio of rotational motion is established between the pivot shaft 14 and the adjustment shaft 23. If desired, however, the ratio of motion can be readily changed by increasing the diameter of one of the gears over the other. In this regard if the treadle gear 20 were made larger a greater rotational motion can be imparted to the adjustment shaft 23.

As the adjustment gear 22 is moved with the adjustment shaft 23, a corresponding angular motion is imparted to the telescopic extension arm 24. As the arm moves through the angle corresponding to the angle of motion of gear 22, the end of the extension rod 25 moves across the face of the adjustable control component 26. Since this component as shown has a straight or linear face, the distance between the angular moving shaft 23 and the face changes and the telescopic arm must be extended as it approaches the extremities of the components 26 in the arrangement as illustrated. In the arrangement shown the arm is at its shortest length when it is centrally located on the face of the component 26 and extends to its greatest length at the two ends thereof. By enabling the arm to vary in length in this way, standard commercially available linearly adjustable control components may be used in the assembly and the advantages of economy and precision of linear adjustment are possible without need for accommodation, for example, to either exponential or logrithmic or other non-linear changes which might otherwise be necessary for such components. The component 26 may be positioned at various distances from the adjustment shaft 23 to get different degrees of linear sweep, and in this regard it is shown placed at a distance from the adjustment shaft such that the motion of the treadle will cause a full sweep of the slide member across the face of the control component.

The extension arm 24, although illustrated as a rod of circular cross section extending into a hollow tubular section having a corresponding mating internal shape, can also be made elliptical, triangular, rectangular or spliced in cross-sectional shape where conditions indicate advantages to such alternate shapes. As still another alternate, the hollow portion of the arm and the solid rod might be interchanged, with the hollow section secured to the component to be adjusted and the solid rod section secured to the adjustment shaft 23.

Since a pivot shaft member of the treadle is utilized for adjustment rather than a connecting member extending from the under face of the treadle into an opening in the housing as in more conventional foot pedal structures, the housing may be completely enclosed. If desired the housing might even be hermetically sealed to protect the components within, such as against dust, sparks or other environmental elements for more reliable use and an extended life.

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of the present invention wherein a fixed length adjustment arm 64 extends from the adjustment shaft 23. To accommodate the variation in position of the end of the arm 64 at the slide member 68 of the adjustable component 66, a pivot mount 67 is provided for the component 66. Thus as the adjustment arm 64 mounted on the shaft 23 is moved through an arc, the arcuate sweep of the end of the rod 64 must be accommodated to by repositioning of component 66. In this regard the axis of the pivot 67 is located a distance from the axis of the adjustment shaft 23 corresponding to the length of the arm 64. Thus as the end of the rod 64 moves through its angular path from the pivot 67 to the opposite end of the face of the component 66, the face fo the component 66 is drawn by its slide member 68 closer to the axis of the adjustment shaft 23. In the arrangement shown, the face moves through the range of positions indicated by the dotted line as the entire linear face of the component is spanned. If desired, the pivot 67 might be located in the mid-region of the length of the component 66, thus permitting the component to swing about both sides of the pivot as the arm 64 sweeps across its face.

While the invention has herein been shown in connection with specific embodiments thereof it will be apparent that numerous variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the inventive concepts disclosed. For this reason it is contemplated by the appended claims to cover all such variations and modifications which fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

Claims

I claim:

1. A foot pedal assembly for adjustment of controls such as electrical instrument controls and the like comprising;

a pedal housing,

a treadle mounted on said housing having a pivot shaft with an axis extending in a direction transverse to the length of said treadle about which the treadle can be moved by movement of a portion thereof in a direction perpendicular to said pivot shaft,

a connecting shaft member extending between the exterior and interior of said housing,

means engaging said connecting shaft member with said treadle effective to angularly move said connecting shaft member about its axis upon motion of said treadle,

a variable control component mounted on the interior of said housing,

an adjustment arm on the interior of said housing extending between said connecting shaft member and said control component, said adjustment arm being angularly movable by said connecting shaft member and engaging an adjustment element for positioning of said element on the adjustment face of said control component whereby said treadle can be selectively moved to adjust the variable control component.

2. A pedal assembly according to claim 1 wherein the axis of the treadle is transverse to the axis of said connecting shaft member.

3. A pedal assembly according to claim 2 wherein the housing is fully enclosed.

4. A pedal assembly according to claim 3 wherein the adjustment arm is affixed to said connecting shaft member.

5. A pedal assembly according to claim 4 wherein the means associated with said treadle for motion of said connecting shaft member comprises a pair of mated gear members, one mounted on the pivot shaft of said treadle and the other on said connecting shaft member on the portion exterior of said housing.

6. A pedal assembly according to claim 5 wherein the mated gear members are mitre gear members one being on the exterior and of said connecting shaft member.

7. A pedal assembly according to claim 6 wherein the gear member associated with the exterior end of said connecting shaft member is recessed in the upper surface portion of said housing.

8. A pedal assembly according to claim 4 wherein the control component has a straight line adjustment face and the adjustment arm is a telescopic arm adapted to vary in length as it moves angularly with said connecting shaft member and across the face of said component.

9. A pedal assembly according to claim 4 wherein the adjustment arm is fixed in length and the control component is pivotably mounted to permit angular repositioning in matched relation with the end of said adjustment arm across the face of said component.

10. A pedal assembly according to claim 9 wherein the connecting shaft member extends to a support at the bottom of said housing.