JPH05323952A - Key guide structure of keyboard device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain sound elimination effect without requiring any lubricant such as grease. CONSTITUTION:Key guide pieces 2a corresponding to respective keys are cut and raised on a keyboard frame 2 which support the keys 1 in a free swing state and at its outer peripheral part, a fitted part 11 is formed by outsert molding of elastic resin which is self-lubricant and low in friction like polyacetal to form a key guide part 10; and this fitted member 11 is provided with a trunk part 11a fitted to the key guide piece 2a and arm parts 11b branching from it and projection parts 11c formed at the free end parts of the arm parts 11b face the internal wall surfaces of both walls 1c and 1c at slight intervals. When the key 1 swings laterally and its internal wall abuts on the projection part 11c, the arm part 11b bends to absorb its shock.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key guide structure for a keyboard instrument having a key guide portion for preventing lateral vibration of the key between the key and the keyboard frame.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a key guide structure for this type of keyboard instrument, a key frame is formed by cutting and raising a key frame for each key to support a large number of white and black keys in a swingable manner. Multiple parts are formed on the outer circumference of the key guide piece, and a soft resin part such as vinyl chloride is applied to the outer peripheral part of the key guide part to form the key guide part. It is common to contact the inner wall surfaces of both side walls of the key.

Further, there are a key guide piece to which a soft adherend member, which is a separate component, is adhered, and a key guide portion integrally formed when the keyboard frame is a resin molded product.

Then, in these key guide structures,
In most cases, a lubricant such as grease is applied between the inner wall surface of the key and the key guide to ensure smooth movement during key swing and to prevent the generation of frictional noise and contact noise with the key guide. Was applied.

[0005]

However, in such a key guide structure for a conventional keyboard device, as the key is pushed in, the lubricant that has adhered to the key guide portion is removed by the edge of the lower surface of the key side wall. If the key is scraped off, the movement of the key lacks smoothness and a sliding noise is generated. At the same time, the inner wall surface of the key comes into direct contact with the key guide part, and when the key is pressed in an oblique direction, an annoying contact noise is generated even if the gap between them is about 0.1 to 0.2 mm. To do.

Further, the grease permeates into the soft resin portion of the key guide portion, the volume changes due to the temperature difference, and the slidability changes, or dust adheres to the grease applied to the key guide portion and slides. The movement of the key changes, the movement of the key becomes heavy,
Further, there is a problem that the key pressing force of each key varies due to variations in the amount of grease applied in the production process.

In order to solve such a problem,
There is also a method in which the key guide portion is formed of a self-lubricating fluororesin material such as polytetrafluoroethylene to eliminate the need for grease, but this not only increases the material cost but also makes it difficult to form it as an outsert material. However, it has to be mounted on the key guide piece of the keyboard frame after being processed as a separate part, which causes a problem that the number of assembling steps increases and the production cost further increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a key guide structure of a keyboard device which can obtain a sound deadening effect without a lubricant.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention is a keyboard device comprising a plurality of keys, a keyboard frame supporting these keys, and a key guide portion provided on the keyboard frame. In the key guide structure of the above, the key guide portion is composed of a key guide piece provided on the keyboard frame and an adherend member outsert-molded on the key guide piece and having self-lubricating and low-friction elasticity. The key guide structure of the keyboard device, in which the adhered member includes a base portion that is attached to the key guide piece, and an arm portion that branches from the base portion and a free end portion of which can contact the key. Is provided.

[0010]

By configuring the key guide structure of the keyboard device according to the present invention as described above, the adherend member outsert-molded on the key guide portion can be used when the key is swung without the aid of a lubricant such as grease. The smoothness is maintained, and the generation of frictional noise and contact noise can be effectively prevented.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a keyboard device embodying the present invention.

First, the overall construction of the keyboard device will be briefly described with reference to FIG. A key 1 having a U-shaped cross section and an open lower surface is integrally formed of a resin material or the like, has a flexible hinge portion 1a having flexibility in the vertical and horizontal directions at its rear portion, and has its rear end portion It is fixed to the keyboard frame 2 and is supported so that it can swing vertically and horizontally.

Corresponding to each key 1, the same number of key guide pieces 2a are cut and raised in the keyboard frame 2, and the key guide pieces 2 are formed.
The adherend 11 to be described later is outsert-molded on the outer peripheral portion of a to form the key guide portion 10, and the side surfaces of the key guide portion 10 guide the inner wall surfaces of both side walls 1c and 1c of the key 1. The horizontal shake of the key 1 is prevented.

Further, a printed circuit board 3 having fixed non-conductive contacts is fixed on the keyboard frame 2, and when the key is pressed, the key 1 is pressed.
The fixed contact is closed through the well-known contact rubber member 4 which is pressed by the actuator 1b to electrically generate a musical sound corresponding to each key.

The adherend 11 forming the outer layer of the key guide portion 10 is outsert-molded on the key guide piece 2a of the keyboard frame 2 as shown in FIG.
It has an H-shape with a trunk portion 11a attached to, and has upper and lower four arm portions 11b branched from the trunk portion 11a on both sides, and a protrusion 11c is formed on the outside of each free end thereof. Normally, a gap of about 0.1 to 0.2 mm is provided between each protrusion 11c and the inner surfaces of the side walls 1c, 1c of the key 1.

The material of the adherend 11 is
Instead of expensive fluorine-based resin, inexpensive resin such as polyacetal or high-molecular polyethylene is used. All of these materials have low sliding friction coefficient, excellent strength against impact and repeated bending, good outsert formability, and self-lubricating property. Therefore, lubricant such as grease is required. do not do.

Since this embodiment is constructed as described above, a force is applied from the diagonal direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 1 to move the tip of the key 1 in the direction indicated by arrow B, and the side wall 1c thereof. When the inner wall surface of the arm 11 abuts on the protrusion 11c of the adherend 11, the arm 11
b is elastically deformed from the solid line to the state shown by the phantom line, and returns to the solid line position when the key 1 returns.

As a result, even if the key 1 moves laterally and comes into contact with the key guide portion 10, the key guide portion 10 and the key side wall 1c.
Since the frictional force with the inside is greatly reduced and the volume of the contact sound is drastically reduced, no annoying noise is generated, and a sufficient silencing effect can be obtained without a lubricant such as grease with a simple configuration.

Next, FIG. 3 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the adherend member 21 to be outsert-molded on the key guide piece 2a of the keyboard frame 2 is formed in a W shape by the self-lubricating resin material having a very low sliding friction coefficient as described above, Key guide piece 2a in the center
The trunk portion 21a attached to the
Forming arms 21b, 21b branched from the arm 2
Protrusions 21c and 21c are provided outside the free ends of the locks 1b and 21b, and the protrusions 21c and 21c are always provided on both side walls 1 of the key 1.
The key guide portion 2 so as to be in contact with the inner wall surfaces of c and 1c
Configure 0.

According to this embodiment, the contact surface of the key 1 with the key guide portion 20 is only the protrusions 21c and 21c,
Moreover, since the sliding friction coefficient is extremely low, the frictional resistance when the key is moved up and down is also extremely small, and no friction noise is generated. Since there is no gap between the key and the key guide,
There is no possibility of a contact noise with the key guide portion due to lateral vibration of the key.

[0021]

As described above, in the key guide structure of the keyboard device according to the present invention, the self-lubricating adhered member is outsert-molded on the key guide piece rising from the keyboard frame.
It has a simple structure in which the arm portion of the adhered member that comes into contact with the key has a spring property, and no lubricant such as grease is required, and the smoothness of key operation is lost even for long-term use or multiple uses. In addition, there is no possibility that a friction noise when the key slides or a contact noise when the sideways shake occurs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a keyboard device embodying the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Key, 2 ... Keyboard frame, 2a ... Key guide piece, 3 ... Printed circuit board, 4 ... Contact rubber member, 10, 20 ... Key guide part 11,21 ... Adhering member, 11a, 21a ... Core part, 11b , 21b ... Arms, 11c, 21c ... Projections (free ends)

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A key guide structure of a keyboard device comprising a plurality of keys, a keyboard frame for supporting these keys, and a key guide portion provided on the keyboard frame, wherein the key guide portion is the keyboard frame. A key guide piece and an adherend member outsert-molded on the key guide piece and having self-lubricating and low-friction elasticity, and the adherend member is adhered to the key guide piece. 2. A key guide structure for a keyboard device, comprising: a base part; and an arm part branching from the base part and having a free end capable of abutting on the key.