JP6464867B2 - Support assembly and keyboard device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a support assembly used in a keyboard device.

  Conventional acoustic pianos such as grand pianos and upright pianos are composed of many parts. Moreover, since the assembly of these parts is very complicated, it takes a long time to assemble. In particular, the action mechanism provided corresponding to each key requires many parts, and its assembling work is very complicated.

  For example, in the action mechanism shown in Patent Document 1, a plurality of parts interact with each other, and a key operation by pressing and releasing keys is transmitted to the hammer. In particular, the support assembly that forms part of the action mechanism operates in combination with various parts. The support assembly has not only a mechanism for realizing hammering by a hammer in response to a key press, but also an escapement mechanism for releasing a force transmitted to the hammer by the operation of the key immediately before the string is hit. This mechanism is an important mechanism for realizing the basic operation of an acoustic piano. In particular, a grand piano generally employs a double escapement mechanism in which a repetition lever and a jack are combined.

  The action mechanism provides a sense (hereinafter referred to as touch feeling) to the performer's finger through the key. In particular, the structure of the support assembly has an important influence on the touch feeling. For example, the touch feeling due to the operation of the escapement mechanism is called let-off.

JP 2005-292361 A

  Since the number of parts constituting the support assembly is large, the manufacturing period is prolonged and the manufacturing cost is increased. Therefore, in order to reduce the manufacturing cost, it is desired to simply reduce the number of parts or simplify the structure. However, when the configuration of the support assembly is changed, the touch feeling when operating the key is greatly changed. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the manufacturing cost of an acoustic piano.

  One of the objects of the present invention is to reduce the manufacturing cost of a support assembly while suppressing a change in touch feeling when operating a key, as compared with a keyboard device of an acoustic piano.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, a support that is rotatably arranged with respect to a frame, and a jack that is rotatably connected to the support with a center between a large jack and a small jack as a rotation center. An elastic body for imparting rotational force to the jack, and a protruding portion that protrudes from the large jack to the opposite side of the small jack and rotates together with the jack, and includes a hook portion that hangs the elastic body on a side surface. A support assembly characterized by comprising a protrusion.

A support portion that protrudes upward from the support and supports the elastic body to form a fulcrum of the elastic body ; and at any position in the rotation range of the jack, the elastic body of the hook portion The contact portion, the rotation center of the jack, and the fulcrum may be in a positional relationship on a straight line .

  The positional relationship may be the position of the jack when the key is not pressed.

The support is out, so as to form a least space in the jack side of the support heel also portion disposed from the space below between the center of rotation of the jack and the center of rotation of the support The projecting portion may project from the jack large toward the space.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of support assemblies described above, a key disposed corresponding to each of the support assemblies, and a sound for rotating the support, and sounding in response to pressing of the key A sound generation mechanism is provided.

  According to the embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing cost of the support assembly while suppressing a change in touch feeling during key operation, as compared with an acoustic piano keyboard device.

It is a side view which shows the structure of the keyboard apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the structure of the support assembly in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the one part structure which decomposed | disassembled the support assembly in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the positional relationship of each structure of the support assembly in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view for demonstrating a motion of the support assembly in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the sound generation mechanism of the keyboard apparatus in one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, a keyboard device including a support assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The following embodiments are examples of embodiments of the present invention, and the present invention should not be construed as being limited to these embodiments. Note that in the drawings referred to in the present embodiment, the same portion or a portion having a similar function is denoted by the same reference symbol or a similar reference symbol (a reference symbol simply including A, B, etc. after a number) and repeated. The description of may be omitted. In addition, the dimensional ratios of the drawings (the ratios between the components, the ratios in the vertical and horizontal height directions, etc.) may be different from the actual ratios for convenience of explanation, or some of the configurations may be omitted from the drawings.

<Embodiment>
[Configuration of keyboard device 1]
The keyboard device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is an example in which an example of a support assembly according to the present invention is applied to an electronic piano. This electronic piano has a structure close to a support assembly included in the grand piano in order to obtain a touch feeling close to that of the grand piano when operating keys. An outline of a keyboard device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1 is a side view showing a mechanical configuration of a keyboard apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the keyboard device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a plurality of keys 110 (88 keys in this example) and an action mechanism corresponding to each of the keys 110. The action mechanism includes a support assembly 20, a hammer shank 310, a hammer 320 and a hammer stopper 410. Although FIG. 1 shows the case where the key 110 is a white key, the same applies to a black key. Further, in the following description, terms representing directions such as the player's front side, the player's back side, the upper side, the lower side, and the side are defined as directions when the keyboard device is viewed from the player side. For example, in the example of FIG. 1, the support assembly 20 is disposed on the front side of the performer when viewed from the hammer 320 and is disposed above when viewed from the key 110. The side corresponds to the direction in which the keys 110 are arranged.

  The key 110 is rotatably supported by the balance rail 910. The key 110 rotates in the range from the rest position to the end position shown in FIG. The key 110 includes a capstan screw 120. The support assembly 20 is rotatably connected to the support flange 290 and is placed on the capstan screw 120. The support flange 290 is fixed to the support rail 920. The detailed configuration of the support assembly 20 will be described later. The support flange 290 and the support rail 920 are examples of a frame that serves as a reference for rotation of the support assembly 20. The frame may be formed of a plurality of members such as the support flange 290 and the support rail 920, or may be formed of one member. The frame may be a rail-like member having a length in the arrangement direction of the keys 110 like the support rail 920, or may be a member independent for each key 110 like the support flange 290.

  The hammer shank 310 is pivotally connected to the shank flange 390. The hammer shank 310 includes a hammer roller 315. The hammer shank 310 is placed on the support assembly 20 via a hammer roller 315. The shank flange 390 is fixed to the shank rail 930. The hammer 320 is fixed to the end of the hammer shank 310. The regulating button 360 is fixed to the shank rail 930. The hammer stopper 410 is fixed to the hammer stopper rail 940 and is disposed at a position where the rotation of the hammer shank 310 is restricted.

  The sensor 510 is a sensor for measuring the position and moving speed of the hammer shank 310 (particularly, the speed immediately before the hammer shank 310 collides with the hammer stopper 410). The sensor 510 is fixed to the sensor rail 950. In this example, the sensor 510 is a photo interrupter. The output value from the sensor 510 changes according to the amount by which the shielding plate 520 fixed to the hammer shank 310 shields the optical axis of the photo interrupter. Based on this output value, the position and moving speed of the hammer shank 310 can be measured. Instead of the sensor 510 or together with the sensor 510, a sensor for measuring the operation state of the key 110 may be provided.

  The support rail 920, the shank rail 930, the hammer stopper rail 940, and the sensor rail 950 described above are supported by the bracket 900.

[Configuration of Support Assembly 20]
FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of the support assembly in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view showing a partial structure of the exploded support assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention. 3A is a view in which the jack 250 and the torsion coil spring 280 are excluded from the support assembly 20, and FIG. 3B is a view showing only the jack 250 so that the features of each component can be easily understood. is there.

  The support assembly 20 includes a support 210, a repetition lever 240, a jack 250, and a torsion coil spring 280. The support 210 and the repetition lever 240 are coupled via the flexible portion 220. The repetition lever 240 is supported by the flexible portion 220 so as to be rotatable with respect to the support 210. The support assembly 20 is a resin structure manufactured by injection molding or the like except for the cushioning material (nonwoven fabric, elastic body, etc.) provided at the portion that collides with the torsion coil spring 280 and other members. In this example, the support 210 and the repetition lever 240 are integrally formed. Note that the support 210 and the repetition lever 240 may be formed as separate parts and bonded or joined together.

  The support 210 has a through hole 2109 formed on one end side and a jack support portion 2105 formed on the other end side. The support 210 includes a support heel 212 protruding downward and a spring support 218 protruding upward between the through hole 2109 and the jack support 2105. The through hole 2109 passes through the shaft supported by the support flange 290. As a result, the support 210 is disposed so as to be rotatable with respect to the support flange 290 and the support rail 920. Accordingly, the through hole 2109 is the center of rotation of the support 210.

  The support heel 212 is in contact with the capstan screw 120 described above on its lower surface. The spring support 218 supports the torsion coil spring 280. The jack support part 2105 supports the jack 250 so that rotation is possible. For this reason, the jack support 2105 is the center of rotation of the jack 250.

  A space SP is formed on the jack support portion 2105 side of the support heel 212 between the through hole 2109 (the rotation center of the support 210) and the jack support portion 2105 (the rotation center of the jack 250). For convenience of explanation, the support 210 is divided into the first main body portion 2101, the bent portion 2102, and the second main body portion 2103 from the through-hole 2109 side. In this case, the second main body 2103 is arranged closer to the key 110 (downward) than the first main body 2101 by the bent portion 2102 that connects the first main body 2101 and the second main body 2103. The jack support 2105 protrudes upward from the second main body 2103. According to this section, the space SP corresponds to a region sandwiched between the bent portion 2102 and the jack support portion 2105 above the second main body portion 2103. A stopper 216 is coupled to the end of the support 210 (the end on the second main body 2103 side). The support heel 212 is disposed below the bent portion 2102. At this time, the distance from the key 110 to the second main body portion 2103 is preferably longer than the distance from the key 110 to the support heel 212 (that is, the length of the capstan screw 130). In this way, the capstan screw 130 can be easily adjusted from the player side.

  A spring contact portion 242 and an extending portion 244 are coupled to the repetition lever 240. The spring contact portion 242 and the extending portion 244 extend from the repetition lever 240 to the support 210 side. The spring contact portion 242 contacts the first arm 2802 of the torsion coil spring 280. The repetition lever 240 and the extending portion 244 include two plate-like members that are sandwiched from both sides of the jack 250. In this example, the extending portion 244 and the jack 250 are in sliding contact with each other in at least a part of the space sandwiched between the two plate-like members.

  The extending portion 244 includes an inner portion 2441, an outer portion 2442, a coupling portion 2443, and a stopper contact portion 2444. The inner portion 2441 is coupled to the player back side (flexible portion 220 side) with respect to the large jack 2502 in the repetition lever 240. A rib 246 is provided at a portion where the inner portion 2441 and the repetition lever 240 are coupled. The inside portion 2441 intersects with the jack large 2502 interposed therebetween, and extends to the player's front side (the side opposite to the flexible portion 220) from the jack large 2502. That is, it can be said that the extended portion 244 intersects the jack 250. The inner portion 2441 includes a linear protrusion P1 that protrudes toward the jack large 2502 at a portion sandwiching the jack large 2502.

  The outer portion 2442 is coupled to the player's front side (opposite to the flexible portion 220) with respect to the jack 250 (jack size 2502) in the repetition lever 240. The inner portion 2441 and the outer portion 2442 are coupled at a coupling portion 2443. The coupling portion 2443 sandwiches the small jack 2504. The stopper contact portion 2444 is coupled to the coupling portion 2443 and contacts the stopper 216 from below the stopper 216. According to this, the stopper 216 restricts the rotation range of the repetition lever 240 in the direction (upward) in which the repetition lever 240 and the support 210 expand.

  The jack 250 includes a large jack 2502, a small jack 2504, and a protrusion 256. The jack 250 is disposed so as to be rotatable with respect to the support 210. Between the large jack 2502 and the small jack 2504, a support connecting portion 2505 is formed to be rotatably supported by the jack support portion 2105. The support connection portion 2505 has a shape surrounding a part of the jack support portion 2105 and restricts the rotation range of the jack 250. Further, the jack 250 can be fitted from above the jack support portion 2105 by the shape of the support connection portion 2505 and the elastic deformation of the material. The protruding portion 256 protrudes from the large jack 2502 to the opposite side of the small jack 2504 and rotates together with the jack 250. The protruding portion 256 includes a spring contact portion 2562 on its side surface. The spring contact portion 2562 contacts the second arm 2804 of the torsion coil spring 280.

  The large jack 2502 includes linear protrusions P2 protruding from both side surfaces. The protrusion P2 is in sliding contact with the protrusion P1 of the inner portion 2441 described above. The small jack 2504 includes a circular protrusion P3 protruding from both side surfaces. The protrusion P3 is in sliding contact with the inner surface of the coupling portion 2443 described above. As described above, the jack 250 and the extending portion 244 are in sliding contact with each other via the protrusions P1, P2, and P3, thereby reducing the contact area. In addition, you may form a grease pool by forming a groove part by several protrusion part P2. Further, the side surface shape of the large jack 2502 may have a protrusion or a groove.

  The torsion coil spring 280 uses the spring support portion 218 as a fulcrum, the first arm 2802 contacts the spring contact portion 242, and the second arm 2804 contacts the spring contact portion 2562. The first arm 2802 functions as an elastic body that applies rotational force to the repetition lever 240 via the spring contact portion 242 so that the player side of the repetition lever 240 moves upward (in a direction away from the support 210). The second arm 2804 functions as an elastic body that applies rotational force to the jack 250 via the spring contact portion 2562 so that the protruding portion 256 moves downward (on the support 210 side).

  The spring contact portion 2562 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3C is a partially enlarged view of a region A1 in FIG. FIG. 3D is a view when the spring contact portion 2562 is viewed in the D1 direction. The spring contact portion 2562 includes a hook portion 2568. The hook portion 2568 includes a curved surface portion 2566 at a portion that receives a force for rotating the jack 250 from the second arm 2804. When the jack 250 rotates, the second arm 2804 slides with the curved surface portion 2566. At this time, since the second arm 2804 extends along the tangent line of the curved surface portion 2566, the contact area between the second arm 2804 and the curved surface portion 2566 becomes very small, and is almost point contact.

  The hook portion 2568 regulates the movement of the second arm 2804 in the side surface direction. A surface of the hook portion 2568 that restricts the movement of the second arm 2804 in the side surface direction may form a curved surface. In this way, the contact area with the second arm 2804 can be reduced as with the curved surface portion 2566. Since the upper portion of the curved surface portion 2566 is open, the second arm 2804 can be easily hung on the hook portion 2568. In this example, the opening 2564 is formed in the protruding portion 256 for ease of manufacturing by injection molding, but it is not necessary depending on the manufacturing method.

  FIG. 4 is a side view showing the positional relationship of each component of the support assembly in one embodiment of the present invention. At the position of the jack 250 when the key 110 is not depressed (hereinafter referred to as the initial position), the fulcrum T1 (spring support portion 218) of the torsion coil spring 280 and the rotation center T2 of the jack 250 (jack support portion 2105) In addition, the point of application of the second arm 2804 to the jack 250 (hook portion 2568) has a specific positional relationship. The specific positional relationship is a relationship in which the action points are arranged on a straight line L1 connecting the fulcrum T1 and the rotation center T2. With such a specific positional relationship, the elastic force of the torsion coil spring 280 is efficiently transmitted to the hook portion 2568. Further, it is possible to reduce the amount of sliding between the second arm 2804 and the curved surface portion 2566 when the jack 250 is rotated by a predetermined angle from the initial position. Note that the specific positional relationship is not limited to being realized at the initial position, but may be realized within the rotation range of the jack 250. The above is the description of the configuration of the support assembly 20.

[Operation of Support Assembly 20]
Next, the movement of the support assembly 20 when the key 110 is pressed to the end position from the state where the key 110 is at the rest position (FIG. 1) will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a side view for explaining the movement of the support assembly in the embodiment of the present invention. When the key 110 is pushed down to the end position, the capstan screw 120 pushes up the support heel 212 to rotate the support 210 around the axis of the through hole 2109. When the support 210 rotates and moves upward, the large jack 2502 pushes up the hammer roller 315 and the hammer shank 310 collides with the hammer stopper 410. In the case of a general grand piano, this collision is equivalent to hammering by a hammer.

  Immediately before the collision, the regulating button 360 restricts the upward movement of the small jack 2504 and further raises the support 210 (jack support portion 2105). Therefore, the large jack 2502 rotates so as to be detached from the hammer roller 315. At this time, the upward movement of the coupling portion 2443 is also restricted by the regulating button 360. In this example, the regulating button 360 also has a function of a repetition regulating screw in a general grand piano action mechanism.

  Thereby, the repetition lever 240 is rotated so that the upward movement is restricted and approaches the support 210. By these operations, a double escapement mechanism is realized. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing this state. When the key 110 is returned to the rest position, the hammer roller 315 is supported by the repetition lever 240, and the large jack 2502 is returned below the hammer roller 315. The turning force for returning the large jack 2502 to the lower side of the hammer roller 315 is provided by the second arm 2804 through the protrusion 256.

  As described above, since the double escapement is realized in an easier configuration than a support assembly used in a general grand piano, the manufacturing cost can be reduced while suppressing the influence on the touch feeling.

[Sound generation mechanism of keyboard device 1]
The keyboard device 1 is an application example to an electronic piano as described above, and measures the operation of the key 110 by the sensor 510 and outputs a sound corresponding to the measurement result.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the sound generation mechanism of the keyboard device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The sound generation mechanism 50 of the keyboard device 1 includes a sensor 510 (sensors 510-1, 510-2,... 510-88 corresponding to 88 keys 110), a signal conversion unit 550, a sound source unit 560, and an output unit 570. . The signal conversion unit 550 acquires the electrical signal output from the sensor 510, generates an operation signal corresponding to the operation state of each key 110, and outputs the operation signal. In this example, the operation signal is a MIDI signal. Therefore, the signal conversion unit 550 outputs note-on corresponding to the timing when the hammer shank 310 collides with the hammer stopper 410 by the key pressing operation. At this time, the key number indicating which of the 88 keys 110 has been operated and the velocity corresponding to the velocity immediately before the collision are also output in association with the note-on. On the other hand, when the key release operation is performed, in the case of a grand piano, the signal conversion unit 550 outputs the key number and the note-off in association with each other at the timing when the vibration of the string is stopped by the damper. A signal corresponding to another operation such as a pedal may be input to the signal conversion unit 550 and reflected in the operation signal. The sound source unit 560 generates a sound signal based on the operation signal output from the signal conversion unit 550. The output unit 570 is a speaker or a terminal that outputs the sound signal generated by the sound source unit 560.

<Modification>
The support heel 212 protrudes downward from the support 210 (bending portion 2102). However, as long as the support heel 212 is disposed on the lower surface side of the support 210, it does not necessarily have to protrude. For example, when the bent portion 2102 exists on the first main body portion 2101 side than the above-described embodiment, that is, when the first main body portion 2101 is shorter, the support heel 212 exists on the second main body portion 2103 side. . In that case, the support heel 212 exists on the lower surface of the second main body 2103.

  The protruding portion 256 protrudes from the large jack 2502 toward the space SP. However, as long as the protruding portion 256 protrudes to the opposite side of the small jack 2504 with respect to the large jack 2502, it may protrude further upward. In other words, the second arm 2804 may be configured to apply a turning force to the jack 250 by moving the protruding portion 256 to the support 210 side. In this case, the protrusion 256 may enter the space SP when the jack 250 rotates.

  In the embodiment described above, an electronic piano is shown as an example of a keyboard device to which the support assembly is applied. On the other hand, the support assembly of the above embodiment can also be applied to a grand piano (acoustic piano). In this case, the sound generation mechanism corresponds to a hammer and a string.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Keyboard apparatus, 20 ... Support assembly, 210 ... Support, 2101 ... 1st main-body part, 2102 ... Bending part, 2103 ... 2nd main-body part, 2105 ... Jack support part, 2109 ... Through-hole, 212 ... Support heel, 216 ... stopper, 218 ... spring support part, 220 ... flexible part, 240 ... repetition lever, 242 ... spring contact part, 244 ... extension part, 2441 ... inner part, 2442 ... outer part, 2443 ... coupling part, 2444 ... stopper Contact portion, 250 ... jack, 2502 ... large jack, 2504 ... small jack, 2505 ... support connection portion, 2562 ... spring contact portion, 2564 ... opening portion, 2566 ... curved surface portion, 2568 ... hook portion, 280 ... torsion coil spring, 2802 ... 1st arm, 2804 ... 2nd arm, 290 ... Support frame 310 ... hammer shank, 315 ... hammer roller, 320 ... hammer, 346 ... repetition regulating screw, 360 ... regulating button, 390 ... shank flange, 410 ... hammer stopper, 50 ... sounding mechanism, 510 ... sensor, 520 ... shielding Plate 550 ... Signal conversion unit 560 ... Sound source unit 570 ... Output unit 900 ... Bracket 910 ... Balance rail 920 ... Support rail 930 ... Shank rail 940 ... Hama stopper rail 950 ... Sensor rail 960 ... Support rail

Claims (5)

A support arranged to be rotatable with respect to the frame;
A jack that is pivotally connected to the support, with the jack large and the jack small as a pivot center;
An elastic body for applying rotational force to the jack;
A protruding portion that protrudes from the large jack to the opposite side of the small jack and rotates together with the jack, the protruding portion having a hook portion on the side surface for hooking the elastic body;
A support assembly comprising: A support portion that protrudes upward from the support and supports the elastic body to form a fulcrum of the elastic body ;
The position where the portion of the hook portion that contacts the elastic body, the rotation center of the jack, and the fulcrum are in a linear relationship at any position in the rotation range of the jack. Item 4. The support assembly according to Item 1.   The support assembly according to claim 2, wherein the positional relationship is in the position of the jack when the key is not depressed. The support is out, so as to form a least space in the jack side of the support heel also portion disposed from the space below between the center of rotation of the jack and the center of rotation of the support Including a bend for forming
The support assembly according to claim 1, wherein the protruding portion protrudes from the large jack toward the space. A plurality of support assemblies according to any of claims 1 to 4;
A key disposed corresponding to each of the support assemblies for rotating the support;
A sounding mechanism that sounds in response to pressing of the key;
A keyboard device comprising: