Yamaha Corporation

Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha

Takamichi Masubuchi

Hideo Suzuki

Ichiro Osuga

Masao Sakama

Junichi Mishima

Keisuke Watanabe

Masahiko Obata

Shunichi Matsushima

Tsuyoshi Sato

Hisanori Kato

Kenichi Nishida

Shinji Kumano

Toshiyuki Iwamoto

Kenichi Yoshinaga

Tatsuhiro Koike

Jun-ichi Mishima

Katutoshi Kouchi

A keyboard assembly is constructed by assembling keyboard units. Herein, a hook is formed at one end of the keyboard unit, while an engaging portion (e.g., recess) is formed at another end of the keyboard unit. So, the keyboard units are assembled together in such a way that a hook of a keyboard unit engages with a recess of an adjacent keyboard unit. The keyboard unit is constructed by piling up at least a white key unit having white keys and a black key unit having black keys. Each key unit is formed by the resin to integrally contain keys, connections and a key support. The keys are connected to the key support by the connections such that each of the keys is supported to have a capability of swinging up and down in key-depression-release directions. The connection is constructed by a thick-wall portion whose width is greater than a width of a back end of the key and a thin-wall portion which works as a hinge. In addition, a gate-corresponding portion corresponding to a gate of a metal mold for formation of the key unit is formed at an intermediate position, in a width direction of the key, of the thick-wall portion of the connection. So, the resin material is put into the gate-corresponding portion(s) to perform formation of the key unit. Incidentally, the keyboard assembly can be constructed by a key unit having keys and a lower case which is subjected to flattening and downsizing.

Keyboard assembly

A keyboard musical instrument has an instrument housing and a keyboard chassis integrally formed as a single piece. The keyboard musical instrument has at least one key movably supported on the keyboard chassis, a lower limit stopper for limiting the lowest descending position of the at least one key, a key switch including a movable contact and a fixed contact provided between the at least one key and the keyboard chassis, and an upper limit stopper disposed between the at least one key and the keyboard chassis for limiting an upper-most ascending position of the at least one key. The upper limit stopper is provided on a member that is independent of the keyboard chassis.

Keyboard musical instrument with simplified key unit assembly

The keyboard apparatus is constituted by a series of units in which key stems are connected to a key support section through a connection section. The width of the connection section is wider than a width of the back-end of the key stem attached to the connection section, and the units are stacked vertically so that the connection sections partially over lap. White keys are arranged in a plurality of upper key units and lower key units, having key stems, connection sections and support sections, which are transversely linked to one another. In a keyboard in which the lower key units are stacked in such a way that the key support section of the lower key units are underneath the key support sections of the upper key units, the back-ends of the key stems are joined to the transverse midpoints of connection sections. The keys are arranged so that the lateral surfaces of the key stems in adjacent upper key units are disposed substantially in one common plane.

Electronic musical keyboard apparatus resistant to yawing forces and

A keyboard assembly includes a plurality of white keys and black keys juxtaposed to each other and each having a body disposed to be depressed, and a connecting portion, and a key support that supports the body. The connecting portion connects the body to the key support in a fashion permitting the body to swing in directions of key depression and release while limiting lateral motions of the body. The body of each of the white keys has an extension formed integrally therewith and laterally extending therefrom at a location under the body of a corresponding one of the black keys in such a manner that the extension overlaps with the bottom surface of the body of the corresponding one of the black keys.

A keyboard apparatus with at least one key having a rotation fulcrum and an exterior front end face on the opposite side of the rotation fulcrum in a performer side. The exterior front end face of the at least one key defines a front lower section. An extended section is provided at the front lower section of the at least one key that extends from the exterior front end face of the at least one key toward the performer side, and a mass member is attached to the extended section. The mass member therefore extends forwardly from the external front end face of the at least one key toward the performer side.

Keyboard musical instrument having key inertia device

A keyboard assembly for an electronic musical instrument comprises at least a plurality of keys, a key support member and a plurality of key-return springs. The key support member rotatably supports the keys; and the key-return spring is provided between the key and key support member so as to press up the key to a normal position. Mechanical parameters which affect a key scaling to key-touch responses of the keys are sizes, shapes and locations of parts of the keyboard assembly, which are set by analyzing motions of an action mechanism of an acoustic piano. For example, weight of the key is adjusted using a deadweight member so as to provide a specific key-touch response for the key. An amount of elastic resilience, made by the key-return spring, is adjusted by changing at least one location, at which one end of the key-return spring is terminated, so as to provide a specific key-touch response for the key. Viscous resistance, made by viscous material, such as grease, which is provided between a selected portion of the key and some member, such as a key guide and a support-point member, is adjusted by changing shape and/or size of that member, so as to provide a specific key-touch response for the key. The key scaling is performed by changing the key-touch response with respect to each of the keys; or the key scaling is performed by changing the key-touch response with respect to a selected division of the keyboard.

Electronic musical instrument simulating acoustic piano keytouch

A switch apparatus has a fixed contact including a contact pattern formed on a printed substrate and a movable contact provided above and opposing the fixed contact. A switching operation is performed by engaging the movable contact with the fixed contact. The fixed contact pattern has a first pair of fixed contacts and a second pair of fixed contacts. The fixed contact patterns are separated by a predetermined distance from one another. The movable contact has a first movable contact and a second movable contact for engagement with the first and the second pairs of fixed contacts, respectively. One of the first pair of fixed contacts and one of the second pair of fixed contacts are formed in a unit to define a common pattern. Only the common pattern is disposed between the other of the first pair of fixed contacts and the other of the second pair of fixed contacts.

Switch apparatus

A keyboard assembly comprises at least one key unit including a plurality of keys each having a front end and a base end, a common key support supporting the keys, and a connecting portion provided on the base end of each of the keys and connecting between each of the keys and the common key support. The keys are formed integrally with the connecting portion and the common key support in a manner such that the keys are each connected via the connecting portion to the common key support for swinging about the common key support in a direction of depression and release of the keys and in a direction in which the keys are juxtaposed. The keys define gaps therebetween, each of which becomes progressively larger toward the front end of an associated one of the keys. Guided projections are provided on the keys, and guides on a frame in which the key unit is mounted, for causing the keys to run parallel with each other by deforming the connecting portion of each of the keys to thereby engage the key unit with the frame.

Keyboard assembly having plurality of keys formed integrally with common

Keyboard assembly for electronic musical instrument

A keyboard apparatus for an electronic musical instrument includes a key displacement detection unit. The key displacement detection unit includes a first resilient member, a movable member connected to the first resilient member, a second resilient member connected to the movable member, and a base fixing member connected to the second resilient member. The base fixing member may be directly or indirectly fixed to a keyboard musical instrument so that the key displacement detection unit is mounted to the keyboard musical instrument. A first displacement detection sensor is coupled with the first resilient member for detecting a key depression force in a key depression-release direction, and a second displacement detection sensor is coupled with the second resilient member for detecting a key depression force in a key arrangement direction. Both the first displacement detection sensor and the second displacement sensor are mounted on the key displacement detection unit. The first resilient member and the second resilient member are connected to the movable member in a folded manner. As a result, the key displacement detection unit becomes small in size and yet provides a relatively large displacement in the first and the second resilient members with a relatively small key depression force.

Keyboard apparatus for electronic musical instrument with key depression

A keyboard apparatus is constructed on a frame having a plurality of support members. A plurality of keys are movably supported by the corresponding support members such that each key can be operated by a finger action to undergo a primary stroke movement. A plurality of mass members are disposed in the frame. Each mass member is linked to a corresponding key for undergoing a secondary stroke movement in response to the primary stroke movement of the corresponding key so as to impart a dynamic reaction to the finger action. A stopper member is disposed in the frame not only for directly fixing a limit of the secondary stroke movement of each mass member, but also for indirectly fixing a limit of the primary stroke movement of the corresponding key. Further, a plurality of guiding members are arranged in the frame remotely from the support members and correspondingly to the respective keys. Each guiding member is shaped in point contact with the corresponding key so as to guide the primary stroke movement thereof.

Keyboard apparatus with common stopper for key and hammer

An electronic musical tone signal controller has a resilient operating member, at least two sensors mounted on the operating member at at least two different positions in the longitudinal direction so as to detect the distortion amount of the operating member, a musical tone control signal generating unit for obtaining a force applied to the operating member and a force-applied position of the operating member in accordance with a signal outputted from each sensor, and generating a control signal corresponding to the obtained force and position, and a musical tone signal generating unit for generating a musical tone signal in accordance with the control signal supplied from the musical tone control signal generating unit. The direction of a force applied to the operating member may be obtained by using signals from the sensors to generate a control signal corresponding to the force direction. The tone signal controller is suitable for an electronic musical instrument which generates a continuous tone from a key depression force.

Keyboard for electronic musical instrument

The electronic musical instrument is constructed such as to detect key-on/key-off performed by physical flexion movements of fingers through a pair of performing gloves 1 and 2 so as to effect generation and erase of musical tones in real timings practically matching with fingering performance. An A/D converter 3 converts signals from bend sensors 10 of the performing gloves 1, 2 into digital flexion data. A controller 4 processes the digital flexion data such as to detect a stop motion of a finger to judge a key-on event according to bending velocity information calculated from the sequentially sampled flexion data, thereby generating musical tones. Further, the controller 4 detects a maximum angle according to the flexion data of the finger restored from the key-on state so as to judge a key-off event according to an off-threshold level correlated to the maximum bend depth to thereby erase musical tones.

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Hamamatsu, Japan

Takamichi Masubuchi