JP2010044112A - Key for electronic keyboard instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a key for an electronic keyboard instrument simply and surely providing the accuracy of a joint position of a functional member joined to the key and the stability of a joint state thereof. <P>SOLUTION: The key for the electronic keyboard instrument is provided with: a key body 10 made of resin and having an upper wall 11, at least two side walls 14 and 15, and a hollow part 18 between the side walls; a foamed resin part 50 foamed in the hollow part 18 and joined to the key body 10; and a functional member 30 fixed to the key body 10 in the hollow part 18 by contact with the foamed resin part 50. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a key for an electronic keyboard instrument.

  Resin keys are generally used for electronic keyboard instruments. Various functional members such as a weight for giving weight to the key and a light emitting member for illuminating the key from the inside are coupled to the key. Various means have been proposed with the intention of bringing these functional members into a good coupled state.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, in order to mount a flat weight inside a key, stoppers protruding inward from the side wall of the key body are provided on both side walls to support the weight, and the weight and the upper wall of the key body It is described that by adhering to (horizontal wall), it is possible to prevent the weight from being displaced or dropped when it takes a long time to cure the adhesive.

Further, Patent Document 2 relates to a structure in which electric parts such as a light emitting unit and a pre-touch sensor are provided inside a key, and is visible from the outside in order to connect a bundled wire for wiring of the electric parts to a board outside the key. It is described that the bundle wire is prevented from interfering with other components by guiding the bundle wire from the inside of the key to the outside through the through hole in the rear of the key, or by outsert molding the bundle wire to the key. Has been.
Japanese Patent No. 3313513 JP 2004-94160 A

  However, in the means of Patent Document 1, it is necessary to form a protrusion serving as a stopper on the side wall of the key, and the key body mold is complicated. Moreover, since the bundled wire cannot be fixed within the key body only by the means that passes through the through-hole of Patent Document 2, there is a possibility that noise such as chatter noise is generated by resonating with the speaker sound of the keyboard instrument. The means using outsert molding in Patent Document 2 requires a complicated mold for outsert molding.

  As described above, regarding the coupling between the key and the functional member, there is a request for the accuracy of the coupling position and the stability of the coupling state, but there is no means capable of meeting these requirements without the above-mentioned problems.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a key for an electronic keyboard instrument that can easily and reliably obtain the accuracy of the coupling position of the functional member coupled to the key and the stability of the coupling state.

  To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a resin key body having an upper wall and at least two side walls and having a hollow portion between the side walls, and a foamed resin that is foamed in the hollow portion and joined to the key body. And a functional member fixed to the key body in the hollow portion by contact with the foamed resin portion. An electronic keyboard instrument key is provided.

  According to this electronic keyboard instrument key, the functional member is placed in the hollow portion of the key body, and the resin is foamed in the hollow portion and bonded to the key body. Therefore, the functional member can be easily fixed to the key body. Can do. Further, if a resin that foams in a short time is used, the functional member is unlikely to be displaced or dropped by the end of foaming. In addition, since the resin spreads into the hollow portion by foaming, the functional member in contact with the resin is stably and reliably maintained in a coupling state with the key body.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electronic keyboard instrument key that can easily and reliably obtain the accuracy of the coupling position of the functional member coupled to the key and the stability of the coupling state.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same or similar parts in the drawings may be denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof may be omitted. Moreover, in the following description, the side closer to the performer when the key is incorporated into the electronic keyboard instrument is referred to as the front.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows a main part of a keyboard apparatus for an electronic musical instrument provided with a key 1 according to the present invention. In this keyboard apparatus, a plurality of white keys 1W and black keys 1B and a mass body 102 that is linked to each key are supported by a keyboard frame 103. Each of the white key 1W and the black key 1B is supported by a rotation fulcrum 130 so that the rear end portion thereof can be rotated in the vertical direction. The white key 1B will be described as a typical example. The mass actuator 104 is provided at a position slightly retracted from the tip of the key. The mass body 102 is rotatably supported by the keyboard frame 103 by a shaft 132 that engages with a front portion of the rod 121, the front end portion 122 is engaged with the actuator 104 of the white key 1W, and a weight is provided at the rear end portion. 123 is attached. In the non-key-pressed state, the mass body 102 has the weight 123 positioned on the stopper 133 of the keyboard frame 103 due to its weight, and brings the white key 1W to the raised position by the front end portion 122. When the white key 1W is pressed, the front end side of the white key 1W is lowered around the rotation fulcrum 130, the mass body 102 is rotated about the shaft 132, and the weight 123 comes into contact with the upper stopper 134. Along with this key pressing operation, a switch or sensor (not shown) is activated, and a musical tone is emitted through the control device.

  FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view of an electronic keyboard instrument key according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic keyboard instrument key 1 is formed in a box shape with an upper wall 11, a front wall 12, a rear wall 13, and side walls 14 and 15, and includes a key body 10 having a hollow portion 18 therein. A key stopper 104 is coupled to a position closer to the front than the center of the key body 10.

  A light emitting member 30 that illuminates the key body from the inside is provided near the front of the hollow portion 18 of the key body 10. The light emitting member 30 includes a holding plate 31 that extends substantially horizontally, a light emitting element 32 supported on the holding plate, and a surrounding portion 33 that surrounds the light emitting element 32 between the upper wall 11 and the holding plate 31. ing. Wiring for supplying electricity to the light emitting element 32 extends to the outside of the surrounding portion 33 on the holding plate 31, and a bundle 40 is connected thereto. The bundle 40 extends along the lower surface of the upper wall 11 to the rear end portion of the key body 10, extends along the upper surface of the upper wall 11 through the through hole 115 formed therein, and the intermediate portion is fixed by the fixing piece 116. It is fixed and extends to a control device (not shown).

  A foamed resin portion 50 is provided in the hollow portion 18 of the key body 10. The foamed resin part 50 is foamed in the hollow part 18, covers the light emitting member 30 and the bundle 40, and is in close contact with the inner surfaces of the upper wall 11 and the side wall 14. Thereby, the foamed resin portion 50 of the light emitting member 30 and the bundled wire 40 is fixed to the key body 10.

  As described above, the light emitting member 30 is fixed to the key body 10 so that the light emitting member 30 also moves together with the key when the key is moved up and down by the pressing / releasing key. Therefore, the state of light emitted from the key to the outside is constant. To be kept. Further, since the bundled wire 40 is fixed to the foamed resin portion 50, the long bundled wire can be reliably fixed by forming the foamed resin portion over the range of the bundled wire located inside the key body. . In this embodiment, since the foamed resin portion 50 is provided over the entire length of the hollow portion 18, the bundled wire 40 located in the hollow portion 18 is fixed to the key body 10 throughout.

  The light emitting element 32 emits light based on a signal sent from the control unit. Due to the light emitted from the light emitting element 32 through the key body 10, the key appears to shine when viewed from the outside. Therefore, the controller can teach and guide the player to press the key by sequentially emitting the keys based on the program according to the music. Further, by emitting the light of the key that has been pressed, it is possible to confirm the key-pressed state with the eyes and to promote a reliable key-pressing operation.

  The foamed resin part 50 absorbs the collision sound of the finger when the key is pressed as follows, and improves the sound quality of the sound generated by the key itself when the key is pressed. In general, resin keys are box-shaped and hollow, so unlike a solid wooden keyboard, when hitting with a finger, especially when the nail hits the keying surface, the collision sound resonates in the hollow part and is high-pitched. There is a difficulty that can be heard as noise. On the other hand, the key 1 provided with the foamed resin portion 50 changes the natural frequency of the key body from the one without the foamed resin portion, and the vibration caused by the claw collision at the time of keystroke is absorbed by the foamed resin portion. As a result, the annoying high-pitched sound of ticking is suppressed, and the sound quality of the sound emitted by the key itself when the key is pressed is improved. Thus, the foamed resin portion 50 also functions as a vibration absorbing member. Moreover, since the light emitting member 30 reinforces the wall portion of the key, the light emitting member 30 can have a high rigidity, and can be a firm key that does not warp or twist even when strongly pressed. Furthermore, the light emitting member 30 can increase the weight of the key and give a sense of mass to the key at the time of performance, thereby improving performance.

  As the resin forming the wall portion of the key body 10, those used for ordinary resin keyboards such as styrene AS and ABS are used. Various resins such as olefin, styrene, and vinyl chloride can be used as the resin for forming the foamed resin portion 50. For example, a resin having high self-adhesive properties such as urethane is desirable. Styrenic resins are desirable because they exhibit properties close to the key wall and are excellent in bonding properties. Further, the degree of foaming can be determined according to the fixation of the functional member required for the key, the sound deadening property, the rigidity, and the weight feeling, and a soft foam material or a hard foam material can be selected.

  The key 1 can be manufactured as shown in FIG. First, the key body 10 including the upper wall 11, the front wall 12, the rear wall 13, and the side walls 14 and 15 and having the hollow portion 18 formed thereon is resin-molded. Apart from this, a jig 31 is prepared. The jig 31 includes an insertion portion 310 that is inserted into the hollow portion 18 and restricts the expansion range of the resin when foaming, and the bottom surface of the insertion portion 310 is flat.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the key body 10 is placed upside down, and the functional members to be fixed in the hollow portion 18, in this example, the light emitting members 30 and the bundled wires 40 are placed at predetermined positions. . Here, these functional members are temporarily fixed as necessary. Temporary fixing is performed by, for example, providing a convex portion for temporary fixing, which will be described later, inside the key body to lock the functional member (light emitting member 30), or partially attaching the functional member (bundle wire 40) with an adhesive tape or the like. This can be done by fixing. Alternatively, a locking portion for positioning these functional members may be provided on the inner surface of the upper wall 11. Further, the resin R before foaming is placed on the upper wall 11 from the opening side of the hollow portion 18. As the resin, either one-component or two-component resin can be used. In the case of a one-component type, if it is a moisture-curing type, it reacts with moisture in the atmosphere and foams. In the case of the two-component type, after the first resin is placed on the upper wall 11, the next resin can be added and foamed at an appropriate necessary timing. Therefore, it is advantageous to improve workability when manufacturing a large number of keys.

  Next, the jig 31 is lowered and the insertion portion 310 is inserted into the hollow portion 18 to obtain the state shown in FIG. The insertion depth is set so that a resin foaming space remains below each insertion portion.

  Next, foaming is started according to the foaming function of the resin. As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the resin whose volume is increased after foaming is started is limited in the expansion direction by the jig 31, and the upper end becomes a flat surface along the surface of the jig 31. The foamed resin portion 50 thus formed is tightly coupled to the upper wall 11 and the side walls 14 and 15 of the key body 10 and surrounds and fixes the light emitting member 30 and the bundle 40. As shown in FIG. 2, the foamed resin portion 50 is located above the lower end 141 that extends long in the key longitudinal direction on the side wall 14. Therefore, the foamed resin portion 50 does not appear to protrude from the key body 10, and the good appearance of the key is maintained. In addition, it is desirable to use a light-colored resin. This is because the color of the foamed resin inside may be visible through the key body.

  If the fitting portion between the opening of the key body 10 and the jig 31 is made fluid-tight, the key body 10 is set in a normal orientation, and the jig 31 is inserted into the hollow portion 18 from below the opening. The foaming process can also be performed. In this case, the functional members (the light emitting member 30 and the bundled wire 40) are stopped so as not to fall from the key body 10. The resin before foaming can be placed on the jig 31 or can be injected by forming a resin supply hole in the jig 31. Further, if the resin before foaming is placed uniformly on the upper wall 11, the thickness of the foam becomes substantially uniform. In this case, the jig 31 can be omitted.

  FIG. 4 is a longitudinal side view of an electronic keyboard instrument key according to another embodiment of the present invention. The electronic keyboard instrument key 1 is different from that shown in FIG. 2 in the form of a light emitting member provided in the hollow portion 18, and the other configuration is the same as that shown in FIG.

  In the light emitting member 30a provided on the key, the surrounding portion 33a has a shape that expands in a funnel shape from the bottom to the top, and the surface on the light emitting element side is a reflecting surface. 5 shows an enlarged view of the light emitting member 30a, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a longitudinal side view. By providing the reflection surface in this way, the light emitted from the light emitting element 32 directly reaches the upper wall 11 and is also reflected by the reflection surface of the surrounding portion 33 a and reaches the upper wall 11. Thereby, the light emitting member 30a can illuminate the key body 10 more brightly.

  As described above, the light emitting element and the upper wall 11 can be arranged at a predetermined interval by the surrounding portion 33a, so that it is not necessary to form a rib or the like for holding the interval on the key body. In particular, if ribs are provided in a shape that expands upward as shown in FIG. 3, it becomes difficult to perform die cutting during resin molding. Therefore, the advantage obtained by maintaining the interval between the light emitting elements by the surrounding portion 33a is great. This key 1 can also be manufactured in the same manner as the key of FIG. This also applies to other embodiments described below.

  The reflective surface may be provided on the holding plate 31 instead of being provided on the surrounding portion 33a, or may be provided on both of them.

  FIG. 6 is a longitudinal side view of an electronic keyboard instrument key according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In the electronic keyboard instrument key 1, a light guide 60 is disposed in the hollow portion 18 of the key body 10. The light guide 60 has a light guide portion 61 that extends long, and a light emitting portion 62 provided at the tip thereof. The emission part 62 is located closer to the front in the hollow part 18 of the key body 10, and the emission surface is directed upward. The light guide portion 61 extends along the lower surface of the upper wall 11 to the rear end portion of the key body 10, extends along the upper surface of the upper wall 11 through the through hole 115 formed therein, and is fixed at the intermediate portion by the fixing piece 116. Is extended to a light source outside the figure. The light guide 60 is made of glass fiber or the like, and the emission part 62 is formed by an end face thereof, or is formed by a rough surface for emission provided on the side surface of the glass fiber.

  The light guide 60 is covered with the foamed resin portion 50 in the hollow portion 18 and fixed to the key body 10 as in the previous embodiment. Since the fixing is performed in a state where the emitting portion 62 is in contact with the upper wall 11, fixing with an adhesive is unnecessary. However, it is also possible to use an adhesive for temporary fixing and strengthening of fixing. In addition, since the foaming resin has low fluidity, the possibility of entering into the gap between the emitting portion 62 and the upper wall 11 by capillary action is reduced. The light guide 60 emits the light supplied from the light source from the light emitting unit 62, so that the key looks shining when viewed from the outside. Accordingly, the keys can be emitted in a predetermined sequence by the control device.

  The shape of the key body can be variously changed. The key of the embodiment described above is of a type that cooperates with the mass body, but can be moved up and down by a spring (not shown) like the key shown in FIG. 7, and does not cooperate with the mass body. Similarly, a functional member can be provided in the type key. FIG. 7 shows an example in which a light guide 60 is provided. In the figure, reference numeral 105 denotes a key stopper for regulating the range of vertical movement of the key.

  FIG. 8 is a longitudinal side view of an electronic keyboard instrument key according to still another embodiment of the present invention. This electronic keyboard instrument key 1 also has a light guide disposed in the hollow portion 18 of the key body 10, but its form is different from the previous embodiment. In the light guide 60a, the light guide portion 61a extends in the vertical direction, and an emission portion 62a is provided at the upper end. The hollow portion 18 is provided with a foamed resin portion 50 as in the previous embodiment. The other end of the light guide portion 61a protrudes from the lower surface of the foamed resin portion 50 in the lower portion and serves as an incident end 63a. The key frame 103 is provided with a light source 140 below the incident end 63a. The light source 140 has a light emitting element 142 fixed on a support plate 141, and is connected to a control device by wiring outside the figure.

  Therefore, the light emitted from the light source 140 enters the light guide portion 61 from the incident end 63a and is emitted from the emission end portion 62a. The emitting portion 62a has a shape that spreads toward the tip so as to spread and emit light in a planar shape. This makes the key look shining when viewed from the outside.

  FIG. 9 is a longitudinal side view of an electronic keyboard instrument key according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In the electronic keyboard instrument key 1, the functional member 70 is disposed in the hollow portion 18 of the key body 10 so as to be surrounded by the foamed resin portion 50. Examples of the functional member 70 having such an arrangement include a weight and a sensor. In the case of a weight, the entire periphery is surrounded by the foamed resin portion 50. In the case of the sensor, the conductive wire 71 extending from the sensor extends along the lower surface of the upper wall 11 to the rear end portion of the key body 10 and extends along the upper surface of the upper wall 11 through the through-hole 115 formed therein. The intermediate portion is fixed by the fixing piece 116 and extends to a control device (not shown). The sensor may be a position sensor, an acceleration sensor, a contact detection sensor, a stress sensor (for after touch control, for horizontal touch control), or the like.

  FIG. 10 shows a means for temporarily fixing the functional member in the hollow portion 18 of the key body 10. As described with reference to FIG. 3, it may be desirable to temporarily fix the functional member before forming the foamed resin portion. For this reason, in the example of FIG. 10, the convex portions 143 are provided on the two side walls 14. FIG. 11 shows a cross section taken along line AA of FIG. The distance between the tips of the two convex portions 143 is slightly smaller than the width of the functional member 80, and the functional member 80 is fixed by pushing the functional member 80 therebetween. Unlike this, when the fixing protrusions are provided on the upper wall, some of the upper wall may become concave due to the shrinkage of the resin that solidifies during resin molding. It becomes a problem because it looks. Further, if a convex portion is provided on the inner surface of the upper wall, transmission of light is hindered when a light emitting member is provided. On the other hand, when the fixing convex portion is provided on the side wall as described above, there is no such defect. As shown in the figure, the fixing convex portion can have various shapes depending on the member to be fixed, such as an elongated rib shape as shown, or a block shape or a grooved shape.

  In each of the above embodiments, in order to manufacture the foamed resin portion 50 in a state where the foamed resin portion 50 is filled in the hollow portion and coupled to the key body, the molded key body is placed in a molding die, and the resin is placed in the die. A method of foaming after injection, a method of performing resin injection into the mold as insert molding or outsert molding, and the like can be employed.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, the foamed resin portion may include a large number of fine high-mass materials. Thereby, it becomes easy to give the key an appropriate mass, and it is possible to eliminate the necessity of providing a mass body separately. In addition, by adjusting the content of the high-mass material while providing each key with a foamed resin portion of the same size, it is possible to vary the mass by the key, for example, by making the bass side heavier than the high-temperature side, etc. A better touch feeling can be easily obtained. The shape of the white key is not limited to the above, and other shapes including the actuator can be used. The present invention can also be applied to black keys.

  The description and modification of each embodiment can be applied to other embodiments as long as the function is not impaired.

It is a vertical side view of an example of the keyboard apparatus for electronic keyboard musical instruments using the key which concerns on this invention. It is a vertical side view of the key shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the manufacturing process of the key shown in FIG. It is a vertical side view of the key which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged view of the light emitting member used for FIG. 4, (a) is a top view, (b) is a vertical side view. It is a vertical side view of the key which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical side view of the key which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical side view of the key which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical side view of the key which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical side view of the key which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical front view of the key shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1: key for electronic keyboard instrument, 10: key body, 11: upper wall, 12: front wall, 13: rear wall, 14, 15: side wall, 18: hollow portion, 30: light emitting member (functional member), 60: Light guide (functional member), 70, 80: functional member

Claims (7)

A resin key body having an upper wall and at least two side walls and having a hollow part between the side walls, a foamed resin part foamed in the hollow part and bonded to the key body, and contact with the foamed resin part An electronic keyboard instrument key comprising: a functional member fixed to the key body in the hollow portion. The functional member includes a light emitting member that illuminates the key main body from the inside and a bundle wire connected to the light emitting member, and the light emitting member and the bundle wire are fixed to the key main body by contact with the foamed resin portion. The electronic keyboard instrument key according to claim 1, wherein: The light emitting member includes a holding plate, a light emitting element supported on the holding plate, and a surrounding portion that surrounds the light emitting element between the upper wall and the holding plate. The key for an electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 2, wherein a reflective surface is provided on one or both of the light emitting element side surfaces. The said functional member is provided with the light guide, This light guide has the light emission part which illuminates the said key main body from the inside, It has extended outside the said hollow part. Electronic keyboard instrument key. 2. The key for an electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1, wherein the functional member includes a sensor that detects a physical quantity that changes in accordance with a key pressing / releasing key. 2. The electronic keyboard instrument key according to claim 1, wherein the functional member includes a weight member for giving weight to the key. The key for an electronic keyboard instrument according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the foamed resin portion has a vibration absorbing function for absorbing a collision sound of a finger when a key is pressed.

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