The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 26, 1998
Filed:
Dec. 18, 1996
Kyle D Fields, El Dorado Hills, CA (US);
George E McLam, Orangevale, CA (US);
Alana J Yorba, Carmichael, CA (US);
Burgett, Inc., Sacramento, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for actuating solenoids in an electronic player piano where a Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) velocity value is translated to a solenoid driving signal, a counter is activated by the solenoid driving signal, and a solenoid is energized from the counter according to the solenoid driving signal. A central processing unit (CPU) reads the MIDI data from a digital data storage device, and selects the corresponding solenoid driving parameters from a look-up table stored in read only memory (ROM). The solenoid driving parameters are converted into a pulse width modulation (PWM) waveform by a driving circuit containing counters. The PWM signal is sent to the gate of a field effect transistor (FET) switch connected to the solenoid and the solenoid is energized by the FET according to the PWM signal.