JPH0764539A - Keyboard device for electronic musical instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain satisfactory key depressing touch feeling by providing plural elastic bodies with different elastic characteristics elastically changing in the longitudinal direction of a key, and activating each elastic body independently of the key corresponding to a key depressing stroke. CONSTITUTION:When the key 1 is depressed, the descending operation of the key is performed, and it is displaced forward a little in the longitudinal direction of the key, and the hinge member 16 with low elasticity of the elastic body out of two elastic bodies (hinge member 16 and leaf spring 18) is deflected by being depressed backward in the longitudinal direction of the key via the leaf spring 18. The deflection of the hinge part 16 arrives at limitation by abutting the terminal part 17 of the hinge member 16 with a foot part 20 at a prescribed key depressing stroke position, then, it is stopped. When the key 1 is further depressed, a depressing force arrives at a buckling load, and the leaf spring 18 is buckled, and it is deflected, thereby, reaction is decreased. The leaf spring 18 is deflected upward gradually in such a low reaction state, and the lower terminal plane of the connecting piece 8 of a sliding guide 7 for the key 1 is abutted with a lower limit stopper 4 at the lower terminal position of the key depressing stroke, which stops the descending operation of key depression.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument, and more particularly to an improvement of a key-push return force generating mechanism for improving performance expression performance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a keyboard of an electronic musical instrument, like a natural musical instrument such as a piano or a pipe organ, a key pressing force is constructed so that the reaction force against the key pressing force is not linear with respect to the stroke displacement but changes during the stroke. It is required to improve the touch feeling, and it is desired to improve the performance expression by enhancing the correspondence between the touch feeling of the key depression and the played musical sound.

An example of a spring structure for generating a key-pushing restoring force in a keyboard device of a conventional electronic musical instrument is described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-2623. The spring structure disclosed in this publication is provided with two elastic bodies having elastic force in the key-pressing direction (vertical direction) with respect to a key, and one of the elastic bodies buckles when the key is pressed, and the key is pressed by a natural instrument such as a pipe organ. The elastic body is made of a leaf spring for giving a tracker touch similar to the touch, and the other elastic body is made of an elastic member for shifting the buckling timing of the leaf spring when the key is restored. With this configuration, the buckling timing due to the displacement of the key in the key pressing stroke of the leaf spring is deviated between when the key is pressed and when the key is released (when the key is restored), and a feeler feel similar to that of a natural musical instrument can be obtained.

Another example of keyboard structure of a conventional electronic musical instrument is described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-313. The keyboard structure described in this publication is an elastic member that deforms in response to a pressing force in order to reliably perform aftertouch control for controlling musical sounds such as volume, pitch, and tone by further pressing the key after a normal key pressing operation. A key pressing force detecting means using a body is disclosed. According to the configuration described in this publication, the elastic body is not deformed up to a predetermined key pressing stroke position, and therefore, the key pressing force is not detected, and when the pressing force is further applied thereafter, the resistance value changes according to the elastic deformation. An aftertouch detection output corresponding to the pressing operation force is obtained.

Yet another example of the keyboard structure of the conventional electronic musical instrument is described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 2-131799. The keyboard structure described in this publication is provided with a base key and a subkey that covers the base key, and a contact portion is provided between these keys to improve the pre-touch detection function before the key switch is turned on. I am trying.

[0006]

However, in the keyboard structure described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 60-2623, two springs are used for the purpose of obtaining a tracker touch feeling as close as possible to a natural musical instrument. Therefore, the leaf spring before buckling acts immediately after the key is pressed, the two elastic bodies do not act individually, and the expression of performance is not taken into consideration. I was not completely satisfied with the response.

Further, in the keyboard structure disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-313, after-control is performed after completion of the key-depression stroke, and after-touch displacement is extremely small, and smooth after-control key-depression is performed. It was not possible to operate and was not satisfactory in terms of key press operability and operation feeling.

Further, in the keyboard structure disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 2-131799, the touch feeling of the keys and the correspondence between the touch feeling and the musical performance are not taken into consideration, and the musical performance is sufficiently satisfied. It was not possible, and the keyboard device was expensive.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art. The touch feeling of a key is improved, and the touch feeling is easily recognized to correspond to the performance expression to improve the performance expression. An object is to provide a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument according to the present invention is provided with at least two elastic members having different elastic forces so as to be elastically displaced substantially in the longitudinal direction of the key. In the middle of the key depression stroke, the elastic force of each elastic member exerts a restoring force on the key independently in order according to the position of the key depression stroke.

[0011]

When the key is pressed, the key swings vertically and is slightly displaced in the longitudinal direction of the key. The elastic restoring force corresponding to the displacement in the longitudinal direction of the key is sequentially applied to the key by two or more elastic members.

[0012]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the keyboard device of an electronic musical instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention. The key 1 is rotatably supported by the key frame 2 at the rear end side (right side in the drawing) so that the key 1 can swing with respect to the key frame 2. A bent labial edge 3 is formed on the front end side of the key frame 2. A lower limit stopper 4 made of a felt material or the like is attached to the lip-shaped edge portion 3. Further, an upper limit stopper 5 also made of felt material or the like is attached to the key frame 2 on the back side of the lip-shaped edge portion 3.

The front end side of the key frame 2 is cut and raised in the shape of a strip according to each key, and the key guide 6 is integrally formed by a resin material outsert or the like with the cut and raised portion of the key frame material as a core. . Corresponding to the key guide 6, a slide guide 7 is provided on the key 1 side so as to sandwich both side surfaces of the key guide 6. A stopper locking piece 8 is formed at the lower end of the slide guide 7 so as to project horizontally from the slide guide 7 so as to form an L shape.

During the key depression operation, the slide guide 7 for the key 1
Are slidably contacted with both sides of the key guide 6 of the key frame 2 and guided in the up-down (vertical) direction, so that the key 1 is prevented from swinging or twisting. When the lower end surface of the locking piece 8 at the lower end of the slide guide 7 abuts the lower limit stopper 4 at the lowest position of the key pressing stroke of the key 1, the key depressing operation is stopped. Further, when the key is released, the key 1 is moved upward along the key guide 6 by the spring means described later, and when the upper end surface of the locking piece 8 of the slide guide 7 contacts the upper limit stopper 5, the upward movement is stopped. . This position is the uppermost position of the key pressing stroke, and the upper limit stopper 5 regulates the position (upper limit position) of the key 1 in the state where the key is not normally depressed.

On the lower side of the key frame 2, a switch substrate 10 is screwed and fixed via a spacer boss 9.
A key switch 11 is mounted on the switch substrate 10 for each key. The key switch 11 is a switch made of an elastic body such as rubber and having a two-make type two-stage on / off contact, and protrudes above the key frame 2 through a hole (not shown) provided in the key frame 2. An actuator 12 is formed so as to project on the inner surface of the key 1 corresponding to the key switch 11. When a key is depressed, the actuator 11 descends together with the key 1 and comes into contact with the key switch 11, presses and deforms it to sequentially turn on the two-stage contacts, and is used to detect a key-on signal and a pressing speed signal.

A turning fulcrum shaft 13 is provided so as to project on the rear end side of the key 1. The fulcrum shaft 13 is rotatably mounted in a recess 15 of a fulcrum receiver 14 provided at the rear end of the key frame. As a result, the key 1 is rotatably supported with respect to the key frame 2, and when pressed, the key swing motion in the vertical direction becomes possible.

A U-shaped elastic hinge member 16 integrally formed with the key 1 is formed near the rear end of the key 1. A substantially V-shaped recess (first spring locking portion) is formed at the end 17 of the hinge member 16, and the end of the leaf spring 18 is mounted in this recess. The other end of the leaf spring 18 is locked by a cut-and-raised portion 19 (second spring locking portion) provided on the key frame 2. As a result, the leaf spring 18 is interposed between the key 1 and the key frame 2 and biases the key 1 in the direction of returning it when the key is released. The elastic force of the leaf spring 18 is stronger than the elastic force of the hinge member 16.

The key pressing operation of the keyboard device having the above-mentioned structure is as follows. The key 1 before key pressing is in a state of the key pressing stroke upper limit position where the locking piece 8 of the slide guide 7 contacts the upper limit stopper 5. In this state, the hinge member 16 is slightly loaded and slightly bent. Also, the leaf spring 1
No load is applied to 8 (because the load is absorbed on the side of the hinge member 16 having a weak elastic force), the leaf spring 18 does not bend. However, it is desirable that the leaf spring 18 itself be preliminarily curved upward by the pretension so that when the load is applied to the leaf spring 18 later, the leaf spring bends upward and bends.

When the key 1 is pressed, the key 1 is swung around the pivotal fulcrum shaft 13 at the rear end, and the key 1 is moved downward and displaced to the front in the longitudinal direction of the key to some extent. As a result, of the two elastic bodies (the hinge member 16 and the leaf spring 18), first, the hinge member 16 having a weak elastic force is pressed rearward in the key longitudinal direction via the leaf spring 18 to bend. At this time, the leaf spring 18 does not elastically deform and remains rigid, and the pressing reaction force against the key 1 is determined only by the elastic characteristic of the hinge member 16.

Hinge member 1 at a predetermined key depression stroke position
The end portion 17 of 6 abuts on the base portion 20, and the hinge member 16
Deflection reaches the limit and stops. After this, the hinge member 1
6 does not act as an elastic member. From this point, the key pressing force acts on the leaf spring 18 (state before buckling),
A large reaction force occurs. When the key 1 is further pressed, the pressing force reaches the buckling load of the leaf spring 18, the buckling of the leaf spring 18 causes the leaf spring to bend, and the reaction force decreases. In this weak reaction force state, the leaf spring 18 is gradually bent upward, and when the lower end surface of the locking piece 8 of the slide guide 7 of the key 1 comes into contact with the lower limit stopper 4 at the lower end position of the key pressing stroke, the key depressing operation is performed. Stop.

The key pressing stroke is only about 10 mm on the free end side of the key. Therefore, in the arrangement structure of the spring 18 which is close to the state of lying sideways as shown in the drawing, the reverse of the leaf spring 18 lowered due to buckling is reversed. The force remains almost unchanged during the key stroke. By providing the leaf spring 18 in an upright state, the leaf spring 1 can be used during the key depression stroke after buckling.
The reaction force of No. 8 can be flexed while gradually increasing.

As described above, the two elastic bodies having different elastic forces act on the keys individually and sequentially in accordance with the key pressing operation. As a result, the reaction force of the pressing force does not simply correspond linearly to the stroke displacement in accordance with the key stroke, but the reaction force characteristics change during the key stroke, and a weak force near the after stroke and a deep stroke position A pressing operation is also possible. That is, by selecting a pretension point or the like for the buckling state, or by making the leaf spring large or small, a considerably free touch feeling can be realized. In any case, a discontinuity point of the combined elastic reaction force curve of the leaf spring 18 and the hinge member 16 is formed. Therefore, the touch feeling of the key depression can be improved, the operability of the performance can be improved over the entire key depression stroke, and the feeling of contact with the key can be made good and easily recognizable. Can be performed accurately, and subtle correspondence with performance expressions can be made, so that performance expression can be enhanced and advanced performance techniques can be enjoyed. Further, the leaf spring 18 is easily attached to the key due to the strength of the hinge member 16.

FIG. 2 shows another structural example of the hinge member 16. In this example, a cushioning material 28 for noise reduction made of a suitable elastic material or a soft material such as felt is provided on the base portion 20 of the hinge member 16. With this configuration, when the hinge member 16 is bent by the pressing reaction force of the leaf spring 18 through the recess 29 formed in the end portion 17 of the hinge member 16, the back surface of the end portion 17 directly contacts the root portion 20. Since the contact is made through the cushion material instead of the contact, it is possible to prevent the generation of mechanical impact noise and to make the discontinuity point wide (soft).

FIG. 3 shows still another configuration example of the hinge member forming portion according to the present invention. In this example, the U-shaped connecting portion of the hinge member is eliminated, and the elastic cushion material 30 is interposed between the tip portion 17 and the base portion 20. By setting the elastic force of the elastic cushion material 30 to be weaker than the elastic force of the leaf spring 18, the same operational effect as that of the U-shaped hinge member 16 described above can be obtained.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a keyboard device structure according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, a first tension spring 25 elastically displaced in the longitudinal direction of the key at the rear end of the key 1 and a second tension spring 25 having a stronger elastic force than the first tension spring 25.
The tension spring 27 of FIG. The first tension spring 25 is mounted between the rear end projection member 24 integral with the key 1 and the inner surface of the rear side wall of the intermediate floating member 21. The second tension spring 27 is mounted between the outer surface of the rear side wall of the intermediate floating member 21 and the rear end rising wall 26 of the key frame 2. The front end member 22 of the intermediate floating member 21 is provided so as to face the protruding member 23 of the key 1.

In the above structure, a gap a of a predetermined amount is formed between the front end member 22 of the intermediate floating member 21 and the protruding member 23 of the key 1 before the key depression operation. When the key 1 is pressed, the key 1 swings around the rotation fulcrum shaft 13 at the rear end, moves downward, and is displaced a little forward. As a result, the first tension spring 25 having a weak elastic force first expands. When the key depression operation is further continued, the key 1 is displaced further forward, the gap a between the protrusion member 23 of the key 1 and the front end member 22 of the intermediate floating member 21 is gradually reduced, and the predetermined key depression stroke position is reached. This gap a becomes zero, and the key 1
The protruding member 23 contacts the front end member 22 of the intermediate floating member 21. In this state, the first tension spring 25 is maximally stretched, and the first tension spring 25 does not stretch any more.

If the key depression operation is continued from this state,
The protruding member 23 of the key 1 is the front end member 22 of the intermediate floating member 21.
Is pushed forward to displace the intermediate floating member 21 forward. Due to the displacement of the intermediate floating member 21, the tension spring 27 on the rear surface side of the intermediate floating member 21 is pulled and stretched, and a large reaction force is generated. In this way, the elastic reaction force against the key can be divided into two stages during the key depression stroke, and the reaction force can be generated by different spring means. In FIG. 4, the gap a is exaggerated in order to facilitate understanding of the operation. Other configurations are similar to those of the embodiment shown in FIG. According to this structure, the initial force of pressing the key is light, and the latter period of the key pressing can receive a reaction force that is responsive to the finger.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of elastic bodies having different elastic characteristics that are elastically displaced in the longitudinal direction of the key are provided, and each elastic body acts on the key separately according to the key pressing stroke. Therefore, the reaction force characteristic of the key can be changed in the middle of the key depression stroke with a simple configuration. For this reason, it is possible to improve the touch feeling of the key depression without using complicated and expensive components and control mechanisms, and the operability of the performance is improved over the entire key depression stroke, and the feeling of touching the key is sensed. Is improved and easily recognizable (especially sensory feedback),
For example, performance techniques such as scooping can be accurately performed. In addition, a delicate correspondence between the feeling of pressing the key and the expression of the performance is possible, and the expression of the performance is enhanced, and it becomes possible to easily enjoy the advanced performance technique.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a hinge portion of a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another configuration example of the hinge portion of the keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: key, 2: key frame, 4: lower limit stopper,
5: Upper limit stopper, 6: Key guide, 7: Slide guide, 13: Rotating fulcrum shaft, 16: Hinge member,
17: end part of hinge member, 18: leaf spring, 20: root part of hinge member.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. At least two elastic members having different elastic forces are provided so as to be elastically displaced substantially in the longitudinal direction of the key, and depending on the position of the key pressing stroke in the middle of the key pressing stroke,
A keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument, characterized in that the elastic force of each elastic member exerts a restoring force on the key independently of each other in order.