Roland Corporation

Mutsuo Sawada

Hitoshi Sato

Masaki Kasubuchi

Shiro Uno

Yukihide Takata

Yoshitaka Fujiwara

Provided is a keyboard device that can suppress a reduction in the operability of a key. A rear guiding member comprises a pair of guiding surfaces that, in a side view of a key, face forward and rearward and are formed along an arc that is convex toward the front. The key comprises a pair of sliding surfaces that slide against the pair of guiding surfaces. Due to this sliding of the guiding surfaces and the sliding surfaces, rotation of the key can be guided while displacement of the key in the front-rear direction is regulated. Consequently, because forward and rearward displacement of the key during key pressing can be suppressed, a reduction in operability (feeling of touch) during pressing of the key can be suppressed.

Keyboard device

Provided is a keyboard device for which the number of parts can be reduced. The present invention is provided with: hammers rotatably linked to a chassis; keys rotatably linked to the hammer thereof; guiding pins provided to the keys and extending in the widthwise direction of the keys; and a guiding groove provided to the chassis side and into which the guiding pins are inserted. The downward displacement of the front-end sides of the keys is guided by the rotation of the hammers with respect to the chassis, and the downward displacement of rear-end parts of the keys is guided by the sliding of the guiding pins with respect to the guiding groove. This eliminates the need for links to guide the displacement of the rear-end parts of the keys, thus allowing the number of parts to be reduced.

A keyboard device is provided, and includes multiple keys and multiple hinges. Each of the keys is supported by a support member. Each of the hinges has: a pair of base parts, joined to the support member and separated from each other with a predetermined gap therebetween in a width direction of the keys, and a connection part, connecting the pair of base parts and each of the keys to each other in a longitudinal direction of the keys. A dimension of the connection part in the longitudinal direction of the keys is set to be larger than dimensions of the base parts in the width direction of the keys.

Provided is a keyboard apparatus including: a key, displaced about a key axis and having a cavity opening downward formed therein; and a guide member, having a guide inserted into the cavity of the key and guiding displacement of the key by contact between a guided surface of the key and the guide. The key includes a stopper formed within the cavity. The stopper includes a base connected to the key and extending downward, and a hook formed on a lower end side of the base and displaced in a position vertically side by side with the key axis. The guide includes a recess formed on a rear surface of the guide, and the hook is inserted into the recess. The hook is formed in a position overlapping the guided surface or a position vertically side by side with the guided surface in a left-right view of the key.

Keyboard apparatus and key guiding method

A keyboard device capable of suppressing noise that occurs upon release of the key is provided. The key is formed with a protrusion and a hammer is formed with a sliding surface. Moreover, the hammer is provided with contact portions that come into contact with a side surface of the protrusion when the key is pressed to the bottom in a key-pressing direction. Thus, when the key is released, the contact between the side surface of the protrusion and the contact portions prevents the key from rotating before the hammer, thereby preventing the protrusion from departing from the sliding surface and suppressing the generation of noise that occurs when the protrusion falls on (hits) the sliding surface.

A keyboard device capable of reconstructing a unique clicking sense of an acoustic piano is provided. A first incline portion (a plane or curved surface) of a sliding surface is inclined towards a direction gradually departing from a base portion of a protrusion along a displacement direction of the protrusion in a key-pressing operation for reducing a resistance exerted on the protrusion and suppressing a gradual increase of a sense of resistance. Moreover, a bump portion located at where the protrusion reaches after sliding through the first incline portion is used to increase the resistance exerted on the protrusion for increasing the sense of resistance. When the protrusion crosses over the bump portion, the sense of resistance is reduced. Accordingly, variation in the sense of resistance before and after the bump portion is increased, and the unique clicking sense of the acoustic piano is reproduced.

Growing community of inventors

Shizuoka, Japan

Mutsuo Sawada