JPH04212994A - Celesta - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To uniform alize the touch of keys without requiring adjustment of spring forces so as to enhance the playability of a celesta by providing hammers each of which abuts on the lower face of a sound plate by means of an action lever energized by pushing a key and then returns to its initial position owing to its dead weight. CONSTITUTION:A celesta has sound plates 12, 13 disposed facing to respective keys 16, 42 and action levers 14, 15 disposed below the respective sound plates 12, 13 and adapted for striking the respective sound plates 12, 13 when keys are pushed. The action keys 14, 15 are provided with respective hammer felt 32, 33 each of which abuts on the each lower face of the sound plates 12, 13 when the keys are pushed and which returns to its initial position owing to its dead weight. The keys 16, 42 are all equal in touch and no return spring is used.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a celesta, and the tone plate is struck from below with a hammer to produce sound, thereby making it possible to perform high-speed repeated hits, making the key touch uniform, and improving the playability of the celesta. be.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a celesta shown in FIG. 8 has been known.

[0003] This celesta has a structure in which a tone plate 82 equipped with a resonance box 81 is struck with a hammer 84 which is activated in response to the depression of a key 83 to produce sound.

In this case, the tone plate 82 is arranged below each key 83. Further, the rear end portion of the key 83 is connected to a hammer 84 via a rod 85. The hammer 84 is rotatably supported on a shaft and is biased clockwise in the figure by a return spring 86.

Therefore, when a key is pressed, the hammer 84 rotates via the rod 85 against the biasing force of the return spring 86 and strikes the tone plate 82. hammer 84
is in contact with the upper surface of the tone plate 82. As a result, the sound produced by the tone plate 82 resonates in the resonance box 81 and is radiated.

[0006] When the key is released, the hammer 84 returns to its original position before rotation due to the biasing force of the return spring 86.

Furthermore, in this celesta, the transmission path of key pressing force differs depending on the type of key 83.

For example, there is a key 83 (shown in FIG. 8) that can transmit key pressing force from the rear end of the key 83 to a striking mechanism (action) below it via a vertical rod 85, and , a key 83 to which key pressing force is transmitted via a link, cam, or the like. This is because the width of the tone plates 82 is wider than the width of the keys 83, so the tone plates 82 cannot be arranged directly below all the keys 83.

[0009]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such a conventional celesta, the hammer hits the tone plate against the spring force, so the response is poor.
Consecutive hits decrease.

[0010] Furthermore, it has been difficult to adjust the spring force in order to maintain a suitable key touch and ensure reliability and durability of hammer return.

Furthermore, since the mechanism for transmitting the key pressing force from the key to the hammer differs from key to key, the key touch differs from key to key, resulting in a decrease in playability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a celesta that has good responsiveness, improved repeatability, no need to adjust spring force, uniform key touch, and improved playability. The purpose is

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes a tone plate disposed corresponding to a key, and a striking mechanism disposed below the tone plate for striking the tone plate when the key is pressed. This striking mechanism is a celesta having a hammer that is biased by a key press and comes into contact with the lower surface of the tone plate, and returns to its original position by its own weight.

[0014]

[Operation] In the celesta according to the present invention, when a key is pressed, the hammer of the striking mechanism comes into contact with the lower surface of the tone plate, thereby striking the tone plate. After the impact, the hammer returns to its original position before the impact due to its own weight.

[0015]

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of a celesta according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0016] First embodiment

FIGS. 1 to 7 are diagrams for explaining a celesta according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

In these figures, the celesta has a first tone plate 12 at the top inside a box-shaped main body 11.
, and a second tone plate 13 is accommodated in the lower part thereof.

These first tone plates 12 and second tone plates 13
Each of these is constructed by horizontally arranging a plurality of thin rectangular metal plates with different lengths and widths corresponding to the pitches (see Fig. 2).

Further, below the first tone plates 12, a first action (impact mechanism) 14 is provided corresponding to each tone plate 12. Similarly, a second action 15 is disposed below the second tone plate 13.

[0021] These actions 14 and 15 have almost the same structure as the action of a well-known grand piano.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the key 1
The heel portion of the wippen 20 (21) is in contact with the upper end of a capstan 18 (19) that protrudes from the upper surface of the rear end of the lock 6 (the key 17 in the second action 15). Above this wippen 20 (21) is a repetition lever 22.
(23) is rotatably supported. This repetition lever 22 (23) is a hammer shank roller 24
(25) is in contact with the hammer shank 26 (27). The proximal end of the hammer shank 26 (27) is rotatably supported by the flange 28 (29), and a hammer wood 30 (31) and a hammer felt 32 (33) are fixed and connected to the distal end of the hammer shank 26 (27). 34 (35
) is a jack, and 36 (37) is a repetition lever spring.

[0023] Then, this hammer felt 32 (33
) is configured to generate sound by coming into contact with the lower surface of the tone plate 12 (13).

Note that 38 (39) is a damper for pressing the upper surface of the tone plate 12 (13) to damp these vibrations, and a damper wire 40 is connected to the rear end of the key 16 (17).
(41). Damper 38 (39)
includes a damper pedal 70, a pedal thrust bar 72, a lifting rail 73 (74), and a damper lever 75 (76).
) through which the acting force is transmitted. Therefore, when the damper pedal 70 is depressed against the urging force of the damper pedal winding spring 71, the lifting rail 73 (74) and the damper lever 75 (76) are rotated by the pedal thrust rod 72, and the damper 38 (39) is rotated. ) leaves the tone plate 12 (13). While the damper pedal 70 is being depressed, the sound does not stop even if the key is released.

Here, the key 16 is a white key among a plurality of keys arranged on the front surface of the main body 11, as shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the key 17 is connected to a black key 42 of the plurality of arranged keys via a vertical rod 43.

Furthermore, as shown in detail in FIG.
A wooden resonance box 44 (45) is disposed above 2 (13). These resonance boxes 44 (45), as shown in detail in FIG.
2 (13), an opening 48 (49) arranged opposite to
have.

Note that the tip of the opening 48 (49) and the tone plate 12 (
13) An appropriate distance between the top surface and the top surface is set in the range of 2 to 10 mm, for example, about 5 mm, but this distance can be adjusted depending on the temperature and humidity. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the resonance box 44 (45) is connected to the horizontal support plate 52 (53) via the height adjustment mechanism 50 (51).
is supported by The support plate 52 (53) is fixed to the main body frame 11.

The height adjustment mechanism 50 (51) has a support plate 52
(53) and a stud bolt 54 (55),
Nut 56 screwed into this stud bolt 54 (55)
(57). The height of the resonance box 44 (45) is adjusted by changing the screwing amount of the nut 56 (57). Note that 58 (59) is a spacer.

Then, a tone plate 12 (1
3) is suspended and supported from the lower surface of the support plate 52 (53) via a bracket 60 (61) having a U-shaped cross section.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the tone plate 12 (13
) is supported by being sandwiched between a felt 62 (63) having a flat upper surface and a felt 64 (65) having a wedge-shaped lower surface. Further, a loose fitting hole 66 (67) is formed in the center portion of the supporting portion of the tone plate 12 (13), and this loose fitting hole 6
6 (67) is loosely fitted with a screw 68 (69) for preventing the tone plate 12 (13) from shifting in the lateral direction.

[0031] In the celesta according to the above configuration,
Either the first action 14 or the second action 15 is operated by pressing the key, and the hammer felt 32 is activated.
(33) comes into contact with the lower surface of the tone plate 12 (13) at a speed corresponding to the strength of the key depression. As a result, the tone plate 12 (13) vibrates and resonates with the resonance box 44 (45), resulting in desired sound generation.

Specifically, when the white key 16 or the black key 42 is pressed, the corresponding action 14 (15)
0 (21) moves up. Since this rocking motion of the wippen 20 (21) is transmitted to the jack 34 (35),
This jack 34 (35) also moves upward. Subsequently, the jack 34 (35) rotates the hammer felt 32 (33) upward toward the tone plate 12 (13) at a relatively high speed. Then, when the key 16 (42) is held down, the hammer felt 32 (33) will touch the tone plate 12.
After hitting (13), this tone plate 12 (1
3), for example, by a half inch. This distance is determined by the distance between the jack 34 (35) and the jack regulating button. This hitting distance
Half an inch is just one example, and can be adjusted depending on playability and other requirements. While the key 16 (42) is pressed, the damper (damping pad) 38 (39)
2 (13) is not constrained (stopped).

When the key 16 (42) is released, the hammer felt 32 (33) returns to its original position before the key was pressed due to its own weight, and the tone plate 12 (13) comes into contact with the damper 38 (39) and stops. be heard.

As described above, since the action 14 (15) is configured to return by its own weight, the key touch is uniform for all keys 16 (42), and since no return spring is used, the key touch is uniform for all keys 16 (42). It saves the effort of adjustment. Furthermore, each action 14 from each key 16, 42,
Since the action force transmission path to the white key 16 and the black key 42 is the same, there is no difference in key touch feel.

[0035]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, responsiveness is improved, repeatability is improved, adjustment work of the spring force of the return spring is unnecessary, and key touch feeling is good. Therefore, playability is improved.

This is particularly effective for playing songs of the late Romantic period.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a celesta according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the keyboard of the celesta according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing the celesta according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing the action of the celesta according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the resonance box of the celesta according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a support structure for a tone plate of a celesta according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a tone plate of a celesta according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a string-striking mechanism of a conventional celesta.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 Tone plate 13 Tone plate 14 Action (Strike mechanism) 15 Action (Strike mechanism) 16 Key (white key) 32 Hammer felt 33 Hammer felt 42 Black key

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A celesta comprising tone plates arranged corresponding to keys, and a striking mechanism disposed below the tone plates for striking the tone plates when the key is pressed, the striking mechanism comprising: A celesta characterized by having a hammer that is biased by a key press and comes into contact with the lower surface of a tone plate, and returns to its original position by its own weight.