JP2006267791A - Electronic keyboard instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make the upper surface of the control panel flat and clean while changing various parameters to control the music, and use it as the upper side of the case and a table. <P>SOLUTION: The control panel 3 of an electronic keyboard instrument is constituted of a panel 30 which has blind holes and a flat top whose upper surface is made parallel with the upper surfaces of the white keys 10W of a keyboard 1, non-contact touch switches 35 secured to its undersurface 30b, and light indicators 40 provided near the touch switches 35 to indicate their sensing. At least the areas of the panel 30, indicating the positions of the touch switches 35 and the area to be illuminated by the light indicators 40 are light transmissive. The touch switches 35 operate, when some parts of a human body, such as fingers, come close, and the music control parameters are changed by these signals. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic keyboard instrument that is an electronic musical instrument that is played by operating a keyboard like an electronic organ or an electronic piano.

An electronic keyboard instrument such as an electronic organ or an electronic piano generally includes a keyboard portion in which a plurality of white keys and black keys are arranged on the upper front side of a case or an exterior housing, and an operation panel portion behind the keyboard portion. For example, as seen in Patent Document 1, the operation panel unit is often arranged to be inclined so that the rear side is high and the front side adjacent to the keyboard unit is low. The panel material is formed with a large number of through holes, and various operation buttons (the tops of switches and controls), display members, etc. are fitted to the panel material, and these slightly protrude from the upper surface of the panel. ing. In some cases, the operation panel part also serves as the upper part of the case and is arranged almost horizontally. However, the panel material is also formed with a plurality of through holes, and operation buttons and display members are provided there. Yes.
JP 2003-263167 A

The switches and controls operated by the operation buttons are used to set and change various parameters (volume, pitch, tone, how to apply various effects, etc.) related to the control of musical sounds generated by the keyboard operation. Is.
Further, as a kind of switch, there is a non-contact type touch switch that does not require an operation button to be inserted into a through hole. However, it is rarely used as a switch provided on the operation panel of an electronic keyboard instrument.

For this reason, conventional electronic keyboard instruments, like natural musical instruments such as grand pianos and harpsichords, do not have a flat and clean case top surface. There wasn't.
The present invention has been made in view of such a background. The upper surface of the operation panel unit is made flat and refreshed while allowing various parameter settings related to musical tone control of an electronic keyboard instrument to be changed. It is intended to be used as a table.

In order to achieve the above object, an electronic keyboard instrument according to the present invention includes a keyboard portion in which a plurality of white keys and black keys are arranged in series and an operation panel portion having a plurality of switches. The operation panel portion has a width larger than the width of the keyboard portion at the back of the keyboard portion, a flat upper surface, and the upper surface is disposed in parallel with the upper surface of the white key of the keyboard portion. A panel material having a through hole, a plurality of non-contact type touch switches fixed to the lower surface of the panel material, and an optical display arranged in proximity to the touch switch and displaying a sensed state of the touch switch And.
In addition, at least a portion indicating the touch switch and a portion illuminated by the optical display of the panel material have translucency, and the touch switch relates to control of a musical sound generated by a performance operation of the keyboard portion. The parameter is set and changed, and the parameter is set and changed when a part of a human body such as a finger approaches the touch switch from the upper surface side of the panel material.

The panel material of the operation panel section may be configured entirely by a transparent body that is easily transmissive to light from the lower surface side toward the upper surface side, and other portions that are less light transmissive.
Further, the touch switch may be surrounded by an optical display, and a portion of the panel material indicating the touch switch may be a portion illuminated by the optical display.
Alternatively, the touch switch may be an illuminated touch switch, and a portion of the panel material that represents the touch switch may be a portion illuminated by the illuminated touch switch.

A light-shielding film may be formed on the lower surface of the panel material in a region other than the portion indicating the touch switch and the portion facing the optical display.
Moreover, it is desirable to provide an embankment part which protrudes upwards over the full length of a key arrangement direction in the front-end edge part adjacent to the said keyboard part on the upper surface of the said panel material.
Further, it is more preferable that the keyboard part has a waterproof structure that discharges the liquid to the outside without reaching the key switch part when the liquid flows in from the operation panel part side.

  In the electronic keyboard instrument according to the present invention, since the panel member of the operation panel portion is a non-penetrating hole and the upper surface is a flat plane, there are no irregularities due to operation buttons such as switches and display members, and this also serves as the upper part of the case. A clean and flat appearance can be obtained. Furthermore, since the top surface of the panel material is arranged in parallel with the top surface of the white key, it can be used as a table for placing drinks and other glasses because it is placed horizontally in parallel with the instrument placement surface. Is possible. In addition, by moving a finger or the like from the upper surface side of the panel material to the non-contact type touch switch fixed to the lower surface, the touch switch can be operated to change the parameter of the musical sound control. This operation can also be confirmed by illumination of an optical display.

If the light-shielding film is formed on the lower surface of the panel material, even if the entire panel material is made of a transparent body, the inside is hardly visible from the upper surface side, so that the appearance is further improved.
If the embankment is provided at the front edge adjacent to the keyboard on the upper surface of the panel material, it will flow into the keyboard even if drinks such as glasses placed on the panel are spilled. Can be prevented.
Furthermore, if the keyboard part has the waterproof structure, even if a drink or the like flows into the keyboard part from the operation panel part, it is possible to prevent the performance from being disabled.

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the overall appearance of an embodiment of the electronic keyboard instrument according to the present invention.
In this electronic keyboard instrument, a keyboard portion 1 in which a key 10 made up of a large number of white keys 10W and black keys 10B is arranged, an operation panel portion 3 that also serves as an upper case, and a lower case that cannot be seen in FIG. Provided with a pair of left and right legs 9 at the bottom.

  The operation panel unit 3 has a flat top surface and no through holes, and is parallel to the top surface of the white key 10W of the keyboard unit 1 and is therefore parallel to the mounting surface of the musical instrument. become. As will be described later, a large number of non-contact touch switches are provided in the operation panel unit 3, but nothing is exposed on the upper surface, and neither the operation buttons nor the display protrudes. It has a flat, simple and clean appearance, and has an atmosphere like a small grand piano.

  The operation panel unit 3 also serving as the upper case has a width equal to or greater than the entire width of the keys 10 in the keyboard unit 1 in the arrangement direction and a depth equal to or greater than the length of the key 10 and can therefore be used as a table. Since the upper surface of the electronic keyboard instrument is substantially horizontal as described above when the electronic keyboard instrument is used, a glass or the like containing a drink can be placed.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the operation panel unit 3 of the keyboard electronic musical instrument will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 9.
FIG. 1 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 2 and schematically shows the internal structure of the keyboard unit 1 and the operation panel unit 3.
The musical instrument main body of the keyboard electronic musical instrument has a casing formed by fitting an operation panel portion 3 that also serves as an upper case and a lower case 7 that is long in the key arrangement direction. As can be seen from FIG. 2, the operation panel unit 3 has an open upper surface (left side in FIG. 1) except for both end portions in the key arrangement direction, and the keyboard unit 1 has a white key 10W. A key 10 consisting of a black key 10B is exposed and attached to the lower case 7.

The panel material 30 that also serves as the upper case of the operation panel unit 3 is made of a transparent acrylic plate, and bosses 31 and 32 for connection with the lower case 7 formed at required positions on the back surface are provided on the inner surface of the lower case 7. The formed bosses 71 and 72 are brought into contact with each other and screwed as follows.
That is, the set screws 14 and 15 are inserted from the bosses 71 and 72 side of the lower case 7 formed of a metal plate or an opaque resin, and screwed into the bosses 31 and 32 of the panel material 30, so that the panel of the operation panel unit 3 The material 30 and the lower case 7 are combined to form a housing.
In addition, the low frequency side of the operation panel 3 is deeper, and the depth becomes shallower toward the high frequency side, and the end surface opposite to the keyboard 1 (the right end surface in FIG. 1) has a gently curved surface. ing.

  A keyboard frame 12 which is a sheet metal key support member is provided on the front side of the boss 72 of the lower case 7, and a rear end portion thereof is sandwiched between the boss 72 and the boss 32 and is fastened together with a set screw 15. Thus, the lower case 7 is fixed to a high position separated from the bottom surface by the height of the tall boss 72. The front portion 12 a of the keyboard frame 12 is in contact with the inner surface of the lower case 7, and the front end portion thereof is fixed to a short boss 73 provided on the inner surface of the lower case 7 with a set screw 16.

On the upper surface of the rear portion 12 b of the keyboard frame 12, each key base end portion (common connection portion) 11 for each unit of the plurality of white keys 10 W and the black keys 10 B is placed in an overlapping manner, and fixed together by a set screw 17. ing. Each key 10 is connected to the key base end portion by a thin-walled hinge portion 10h, and is supported so as to be swingable in the pressing / releasing key direction (vertical direction).
On the intermediate portion 12c of the keyboard frame 12, a key switch substrate 21 in which a bowl-shaped key switch 20 is arranged in a position corresponding to each key is fixed. The bowl-shaped key switch 20 has a movable contact formed inside a bowl-shaped (or dome-shaped) rubber material, which is elastically deformed when the key 10 is depressed, and the movable contact becomes a key switch board. A key-on signal is generated by shorting a pair of fixed contacts printed on 21.

  This trapezoidal key switch 20 also always acts to abut against the lower surface of the key 10 to urge the key 10 upward, and each key 10 has a stopper piece 10 s provided at the lower portion thereof, which is in the middle of the key plate frame 12. The upper limit position in the non-key-pressed state is regulated by contacting the upper and lower limit upper / lower limit stopper 13 that extends from the portion 12c and covers the front end portion with a cushioning material 13a such as felt. The top surface of the white key 10W is adjusted to be parallel to the instrument placement surface in this non-key-pressed state. The lower limit position when each key 10 is depressed is also regulated by the upper part of the stopper piece 10 s coming into contact with the upper and lower limit stopper 13.

On the other hand, the panel material 30 of the operation panel unit 3 is a transparent panel with no through holes, and the upper surface 30a is a flat plane and parallel to the upper surface of the white key 10W when the keyboard unit 1 is not pressed. It is arranged to become.
A plurality of non-contact touch switches (also simply referred to as “touch switches”) 35 are fixed to the lower surface 30 b of the panel member 30, and the touch switches 35 are sensed in proximity to the touch switches 35. A red LED (light emitting diode) 40, which is an optical display for displaying the status, is provided.

  Each red LED 40 is mounted on a circuit board 41 via a spacer 42, and the circuit board 41 is attached to a board attachment portion 33 projecting from the lower surface 30 b of the panel material 30 with a set screw 34. . On this circuit board 41, a circuit component group 43 (in the figure, a simplified block for generating musical tone signals in accordance with the key-on signal generated by the key switch 20 and the sense signal of each touch switch 35). It is also composed of a large number of parts.

At least the part showing the touch switch 35 and the part illuminated by the optical display device 40 of the panel material 30 need to have translucency, but in other regions, a light-shielding film is formed on the lower surface 30b, or the panel material 30 itself may be an opaque material.
The non-contact type touch switch 35 is used for setting and changing parameters relating to control of musical sounds generated by the performance operation of the keyboard unit 1, and a human body such as a finger is applied to the touch switch 35 from the upper surface 30 a side of the panel material 30. When a part approaches, the touch switch operates to change the parameter.

  In addition, a bank portion 30c that protrudes upward over the entire length in the direction in which the keys 10 are arranged is provided at the front end edge adjacent to the keyboard portion 1 of the upper surface 30a of the panel member 30. This serves to block the liquid so as not to flow into the keyboard portion 1 when liquid such as drink is spilled when a glass containing drink is placed on the upper surface 30a of the panel member 30 and used.

  Further, the keyboard portion 1 is provided with a plurality of cut and raised pieces 12d at intervals in the arrangement direction of the keys 10 in the intermediate portion 12c of the keyboard frame 12, and between the rear portion 12b of the keyboard frame 12 and the key base end portion 11. The rear portion of the waterproof sheet 23 is sandwiched and fastened together, and the waterproof sheet 23 is extended over the entire area in the key arrangement direction along the upper surface of the keyboard frame 12 that is inclined downward, and the front end portion is cut and raised. Standing up along a piece. Then, both end portions of the waterproof sheet 23 are communicated with a drain port (not shown) provided in the lower case 7.

As a result, the keyboard portion 1 has a waterproof structure. Even if the liquid flows into the keyboard portion 1 beyond the bank portion 30c of the panel material 30 of the operation panel portion 3, the liquid is supplied to the key switch 20 or the key switch. It can be fastened on the waterproof sheet 23 without reaching the substrate 21 and discharged to the outside from the drain port. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the situation where the performance becomes impossible.
In addition, if the sheet 23 or the keyboard frame 12 is configured to be slightly inclined so that the liquid flowing into the sheet 23 flows to both sides or one side of the keyboard portion 1 in the key arrangement direction, the liquid flowing into the both sides or one side is formed. After flowing into the instrument, it tends to be discharged out of the instrument through a hole (drainage port) not shown.

Next, a detailed configuration of the operation panel unit, in particular, a non-contact touch switch 35 and an optical display indicating the position thereof, and an optical display that displays a state in which the touch switch 35 is sensed will be described.
FIG. 3 is a view of a part of the panel material 30 of the operation panel unit 3 as viewed from the upper surface side, and the front side is the keyboard unit 1. In this portion of the upper surface of the panel member 30 in this embodiment, double ring-shaped display patterns 45a and 45b having different diameters, a center display pattern 46 thereof, and two line display patterns 47a and 47b extending in the lateral direction are respectively provided. It is illuminated blue by the light emission of a blue LED described later.

  The double ring-shaped display patterns 45a and 45b indicate that a large number of the non-contact touch switches 35 shown in FIG. 1 are arranged in an annular shape in the annular region 45c therebetween. . The center display pattern 46 indicates the center position. You may make it display the function name which this switch group controls on this center display pattern. In such a case as well, it is of course configured to be illuminated by light emitted from the LED from the lower side. The line display pattern 47a indicates that non-contact type touch switches are arranged in three circular regions 47c, 47d, and 47e, and the line display pattern 47b is a thickened portion. This shows the position of the touch switch.

Further, the sense point display 48 at a position corresponding to one touch switch in the annular area 45c is illuminated red by one lighting of the red LED 40 shown in FIG. 1, and the sense point display at a position corresponding to the circular area 47c. 49 is also illuminated in red by the lighting of a red LED described later. These sense point displays 48 and 49 indicate that the touch switch at the corresponding position is sensed.
Since the light shielding film by the black silk printing mentioned later is formed in the area | regions other than these illumination parts of the panel material 30, all look black. Therefore, the display pattern of the touch switch position and the sense point display can be seen clearly.

4 is an enlarged plan view showing the configuration of the back surface side of the portion where the ring-shaped display patterns 45a and 45b in FIG. 3 are removed, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 3 and FIG. FIG. 6 is a partial side view of a portion surrounded by a two-dot chain line P in FIG. 4.
With reference to these drawings, the configuration of a portion provided with the non-contact touch switch 35 in the operation panel unit 3 briefly described in FIG. 1 will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 4, eight non-contact touch switches 35 are annularly arranged at an angular interval of 45 ° on the lower surface (back surface) 30b of the panel material 30 in this portion.
In this case, the touch switch 35 is only an ITO film corresponding to the touch electrode of the sensor portion, and its sensing circuit is provided separately in the circuit component group 43 and the like. However, a touch switch unit in which the ITO film and the sensing circuit are integrally provided may be provided. An explanation of the ITO film and the sensing circuit constituting the touch switch will be described later.

Ring-shaped light guides (light guides) 51a and 51b are provided concentrically along the inner periphery and the outer periphery of the annular region 45c in which each touch switch 35 is disposed, and a base-like planar shape is formed at the center. A light guide 52 is provided.
A blue LED 54 is provided below the portion surrounded by the two-dot chain line P of the ring-shaped light guide 51a, as shown in FIG. 6, and the blue light emitted from the blue LED 54 is emitted from the light guide 51a. It is introduced into the inside from the cut both end faces, and the entire ring-shaped light guide 51a is illuminated in blue, resulting in the ring-shaped display pattern 45a shown in FIG.

  A similar blue LED is also provided below the portion surrounded by the two-dot chain line Q of the ring-shaped light guide 51b, and blue light due to the light emission is emitted from both end faces of the light guide 51b. The entire ring-shaped light guide 51b is introduced into the interior to illuminate in blue, resulting in the ring-shaped display pattern 45b shown in FIG. These ring-shaped light guides 51a and 51b and the blue LEDs 54 that are the respective light sources constitute an optical display showing the position where a plurality of touch switches 35 are arranged.

The example in which each of the ring-shaped light guides 51a and 51b is illuminated by one blue LED has been described. However, a plurality of blue LEDs are scattered along the lower surface of the ring-shaped light guides 51a and 51b ( For example, when arranged at positions between the touch switches 35, the entire ring-shaped light guides 51a and 51b can be illuminated more uniformly and brightly.
As shown in FIG. 5, a blue LED 55 is also disposed below the central light guide 52, and blue light due to the light emission is introduced into the light guide 52 from the lower surface thereof. The whole is illuminated blue, resulting in the center display pattern 46 shown in FIG.

In the vicinity of the outside of the ring-shaped light guide 51b, red LEDs 40 are arranged at positions in the circumferential direction corresponding to the centers of the touch switches 35 as clearly shown in FIG.
The red LED 40 lights up and illuminates the sense point display 48 shown in FIG. 3 in red when a finger or the like approaches and senses the touch switch 35 at the corresponding position. That is, the red LED 40 is an optical display that displays a state in which the touch switch 35 is sensed.

As shown in FIG. 5, each touch switch 35 is directly fixed to the lower surface 30b of this portion of the panel material 30, and milky white silk printing is applied to the areas facing the light guides 51a, 51b, and 52, respectively. The milky white layer W diffuses the light from each light guide and illuminates it with uniform brightness.
Further, white frames 56 and 57 are provided in close contact with the entire circumference on the inner peripheral surface side of the ring-shaped light guide 51a and the outer peripheral surface side of the ring-shaped light guide 51b, respectively, from the light guides 51a and 51b. The leaking light is diffusely reflected into the light guide to increase the illuminance.

  A light-shielding black coating B is formed by black silk printing on the entire other area of the lower surface 30b of the panel material 30 so that the leakage light on the lower surface side is not transmitted, and each display pattern is in the black background from the upper surface side. It makes it clear. Further, since the entire surface other than the illumination part of the panel material 30 is black and the internal structure is not seen from the outside, the appearance is improved and a high-class feeling like a grand piano can be exhibited.

  The eight touch switches 35 arranged in an annular shape are sequentially sensed when a finger is brought close to the upper surface 30a of the panel member 30 and the plurality of touch switches 35 are traced clockwise or counterclockwise. ON state), and when it is traced again, it sequentially enters a non-sense state (OFF state). Therefore, using this touch switch group, it is possible to gradually change the musical sound parameters in the same manner as the rotation volume and slide volume. For example, the volume, pitch, timbre, vibrato frequency, depth, etc. can be changed at any speed or restored.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view of the operation panel unit 3 taken along line CC in FIG.
A touch switch unit 36 in which an ITO film and a sensing circuit are integrally provided as a non-contact type touch switch is fixed to the lower surface 30b of this portion of the panel material 30. However, the light-shielding black coating B by the black silk printing described above is formed on the lower surface 30b of the panel member 30, and the touch switch unit 36 is fixed through the black coating B. The touch switch unit 36 is fixed to positions on the lower surface 30b of the panel material 30 at positions corresponding to the three circular regions 47c, 47d, 47e in the line display pattern 47a shown in FIG.

  Further, a milky white layer W1 by milky silk printing is formed in the region corresponding to the line display patterns 47a and 47b shown in FIG. 3 and the region corresponding to the sense point display 49, and the milky white in the region corresponding to the line display pattern 47b is formed. A milky white layer W2 having a narrower width is formed on the wide portion of the layer W1 in an overlapping manner. As described above, the black coating B is formed in the remaining region of the lower surface 30b of the panel member 30.

Blue LEDs 58a, 62a, 62b, 62c on the circuit board 61 are provided below the milky white layer W1 on both sides of the touch switch unit 36 and below the milky white layers W1, W2 corresponding to the line display pattern 47b. 58b and 58c are arranged. These blue LEDs 58a, 58b, and 58c are arranged at a certain distance from the lower surface 30b of the panel member 30, and the blue light generated by the emitted light illuminates the entire milky white layer W1 facing the diffused light. The display pattern looks uniform.
The circuit board 61 is attached to the lower surface 30b of the panel material 30 with an interval by a board attaching portion (not shown).

Under the milky white layer W1 corresponding to the sense point display 49 in FIG. 3, a red LED 59 is disposed in close proximity via a tall spacer 63 erected on the circuit board 61. A partition 60 is provided between the red LED 59 and the adjacent blue LED 58a so that red light and blue light are not mixed.
The blue LEDs 58a, 58b, 58c and the red LED 59 are provided at positions corresponding to the three circular regions 47c, 47d, 47e in the line display pattern 47a shown in FIG.

The blue LEDs 58a and 58b illuminate the milky white layer W1 (corresponding to the line display pattern 47a in FIG. 3) surrounding the touch switch unit 36 in blue. That is, an optical display that surrounds and surrounds the touch switch unit 36 is configured. The blue LED 58c illuminates the milky white layers W1 and W2 corresponding to the line display pattern 47b of FIG. 3 in blue, and constitutes an optical display indicating the position of the touch switch unit 36.
The red LED 59 is an optical display that displays a state in which the touch switch unit 36 is sensed by illumination, and the milky white layer W1 corresponding to the sense point display 49 in FIG. 3 is illuminated in red, and the touch switch unit 36 is sensed. Display the status.

In this example, since the touch switch unit 36 is fixed to the lower side of the black film B, it cannot be seen from the upper surface 30a side of the panel material 30, but the milky white layer W1 is illuminated by the blue LEDs 58a and 58b. Since the line display pattern 47a shown in FIG. 5 surrounds each touch switch unit 36 and is illuminated in blue, there is no inconvenience in the switch operation.
The touch switch unit 36 is also turned on when a finger or the like is brought close thereto, and the setting of a predetermined control parameter of the musical tone can be changed by the signal.

Next, the non-contact touch switch used in the present invention will be described.
FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of the ITO film constituting the sensor unit with a greatly enlarged dimension in the thickness direction, and FIG. 9 is a block circuit diagram showing an example of a sensing circuit.
The ITO film constitutes a touch electrode serving as a sensor part of a non-contact touch switch, and an ITO film (touch electrode) 80 shown in FIG. 8 is a PET film 81 having a biaxially stretched film pressure of about 2 mm serving as a base. An ITO layer 83, which is a transparent electrode, is formed with a film thickness of 0.01 to 0.03 μm via a primer layer 82 with a film thickness of 0.05 to 0.05 μm on one surface of the film, and a film thickness on the other surface. A hard coat layer 85 is formed to a thickness of 3 to 7 μm via a primer layer 84 of 0.05 to 0.05 μm.

  The hard coat layer 85 is provided for the purpose of preventing scratches and dirt and controlling optical characteristics. The primer layers 82 and 84 are provided for improving adhesiveness. However, some may omit some or all of them. In some cases, a top coat layer is formed on the surface of the ITO layer 83. Further, when the touch electrode does not need to be transparent as in the case of use in the present invention, an opaque conductive layer may be formed instead of the ITO layer 83.

  A sensing circuit 90 shown in FIG. 9 is a circuit that detects when a part of a human body such as a finger approaches the ITO film (touch electrode) 80, and includes a surge protection circuit 91, an oscillation circuit 92, and a detection smoothing circuit 93. , A switching circuit 94, a switching transistor 95, a constant voltage diode 96, and a constant voltage circuit 97.

  When a finger or the like approaches the touch electrode 80, the capacitance between the ground and the touch electrode changes, so the oscillation frequency of the oscillation circuit 92 changes, and the change is detected as a change in DC voltage by the detection smoothing circuit 93. When the change exceeds a predetermined value, the switching circuit 94 turns on the switching transistor 95 and short-circuits between the output terminals 2-3. When the finger or the like is separated from the touch electrode 80, the switching transistor 95 is turned off by this reverse change, and the output terminal 2-3 is opened. A control circuit may be connected to this output terminal in correspondence with ON / OFF of the function to be controlled.

Since these touch electrodes and sensing circuit are both known, a detailed description is omitted. In addition, a combination of the touch electrode and the sensing circuit described above configured as an integrated touch switch unit is also commercially available.
In the embodiment described above, the touch switch 35 shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 5 is only the touch electrode portion made of ITO film, and the touch switch unit 36 shown in FIG. However, the plurality of touch switches that are fixed to the lower surface of the panel material 30 of the operation panel unit 3 may be only the touch electrode portion or the touch electrode unit. It may be a switch unit.

Further, as the non-contact type touch switch, an illumination type touch switch provided with a light emitting portion such as an electroluminescence (EL) layer can be used. In that case, the position is indicated by illumination of the touch switch itself. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately provide a light guide and an LED for illuminating it as in the above-described embodiment.
Further, in the above embodiment, the light indicator indicating the position of the touch switch is always illuminated with blue light, for example, and the light indicator indicating that the touch switch is in a sensed state is illuminated with red light. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be illuminated with light of different colors. Moreover, you may make it vary the illumination color of the optical indicator which shows that according to each function of many touch switches. Alternatively, the decorativeness can be enhanced by changing the illumination color of a part or all of the light display as time passes.

  As a panel member of the operation panel unit, a semi-transmission reflection panel that transmits almost all light from the lower surface side to the upper surface side and reflects almost all light directed from the upper surface side to the lower surface side, or a semi-transmission absorption panel that absorbs almost all can be used. Even if a light-shielding film by black silk printing or the like is not formed on the lower surface, it is possible to make the entire region other than the illumination portion almost invisible from the outside.

  As described above in detail, a completely new musical instrument was born by configuring the operation panel unit with a flat non-perforated panel, the touch switch shown in the constituent elements of the claims, and the like. This electronic keyboard instrument can provide a "place" where people can gather, sing, and laugh at wine glasses. In addition, according to the above-described embodiment, even if the glass is brought down on the operation panel, the performance sound of the musical instrument does not stop and the effect of providing a healing musical instrument with sustained music is great.

  The present invention can be applied to various electronic keyboard instruments such as an electronic organ and an electronic piano, and can achieve novel design, diversification of usage, compactness, and the like.

It is an expanded sectional view which follows the AA line of FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an overall appearance of an embodiment of an electronic keyboard instrument according to the present invention. It is the figure which looked at a part of panel material of the operation panel part shown in FIG.1 and FIG.2 from the upper surface side. FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view showing the configuration of the back side of the portion where the ring-shaped display pattern in FIG.

It is a fragmentary sectional view of the operation panel part which follows the BB line of FIG.3 and FIG.4. It is a partial side view of the part enclosed with the dashed-two dotted line P in FIG. It is a fragmentary sectional view of the operation panel part which follows the CC line of FIG. It is typical sectional drawing which expands the dimension of the thickness direction significantly, and shows the structural example of the sensor part of the non-contact touch switch used for this invention. It is a block circuit diagram which similarly shows an example of the sensing circuit of the non-contact touch switch.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Keyboard part, 3 ... Operation panel part, 7 ... Lower case, 9 ... Leg, 10 ... Key, 10W ... White key, 10B ... Black key, 11 ... Key base end part (common connection part), 12 ... Keyboard frame (Key support member), 13 ... upper / lower limit stopper, 14 to 17 ... set screw, 20 ... dowel-type key switch, 21 ... key switch board, 23 ... waterproof sheet, 30 ... panel material (also serves as upper case), 31, 32 ... Boss, 33 ... Board mounting portion, 35 ... Non-contact touch switch, 36 ... Touch switch unit, 40 ... Red LED (light display), 41 ... Circuit board, 42 ... Spacer, 43 ... Circuit parts group, 45a 45b ... ring display pattern, 46 ... center display pattern, 47a, 47b ... line display pattern, 48, 49 ... sense point display, 51a, 51b, 52 ... light guide, 54, 55 ... blue LED, 6, 57 ... White frame, 58a-58c ... Blue LED, 59 ... Red LED, 60 ... Partition, 61 ... Circuit board, 62a-62c, 63 ... Spacer, 71-73: Boss, 80 ... ITO film (touch electrode) , 90 ... Sensing circuit, W ... Milky white layer, B ... Black coating

Claims (7)

In an electronic keyboard instrument having a keyboard portion in which a plurality of white keys and black keys are arranged, and an operation panel portion having a plurality of switches at the top,
The operation panel unit is
A non-perforated panel material having a width larger than the width of the keyboard portion at the back of the keyboard portion, the upper surface being flat and the upper surface being disposed in parallel with the upper surface of the white key of the keyboard portion;
A plurality of non-contact type touch switches fixed to the lower surface of the panel material;
An optical display disposed near the touch switch and displaying a sensed state of the touch switch;
The part which shows at least the touch switch of the panel material and the part illuminated by the optical display have translucency,
The touch switch is for setting and changing a parameter related to control of a musical sound generated by a performance operation of the keyboard part, and a part of a human body such as a finger approaches the touch switch from the upper surface side of the panel material. Thus, the electronic keyboard instrument is characterized in that the setting of the parameter is changed.   The panel material of the operation panel unit is configured by a transparent body that is easy to transmit light when illuminated from the lower surface side toward the upper surface side, and the other portions are difficult to transmit light. The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1.   The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1, wherein the touch switch is surrounded by an optical display, and a portion of the panel material indicating the touch switch is a portion illuminated by the optical display.   3. The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1, wherein the touch switch is an illuminated touch switch, and a portion of the panel material indicating the touch switch is a portion illuminated by the illuminated touch switch. .   The light-shielding film is formed in the area | region other than the site | part which shows the said touch switch, and the site | part which opposes each said optical display device in the lower surface of the said panel material. Electronic keyboard instrument described in 1.   The embankment part which protruded upwards was provided in the front-end edge part adjacent to the said keyboard part of the upper surface of the said panel material over the full length of a key arrangement direction, It is any one of Claim 1 thru | or 5 characterized by the above-mentioned. Electronic keyboard instrument as described. 7. The waterproof structure according to claim 1, wherein when the liquid flows in from the operation panel unit side, the keyboard unit has a waterproof structure that discharges the liquid to the outside without reaching the key switch unit. The electronic keyboard instrument according to one item.

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