JPH09134165A - Keyboard device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a dynamic touch feeling different according to registers while easily holding a static touch feeling uniform over all keys without requiring complicated adjustment or the setting of a fitting position by combining components of simple constitution in the same shape together. SOLUTION: This device has plural keys 2 which are displaced by key pressing operation, a mass body 10 which rotates on an interlocking point 12 associatively with the displacement of a key 2, and a restoring means 15 which gives a restoring force to the key 2. In this case, this mass bodies 10 has one or plural mass body unit members 30 stacked corresponding to the register of the key 2. Further, the fulcrum of rotation of the mass body is provided at a position which nearly meets the center of gravity of the mass body and while the static load is held uniform over all keys, the dynamic touch feeling is changed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard device,
In particular, the present invention relates to a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument, which is provided with a hammer which is a mass body for increasing a feeling of weight of playing and improving a feeling of pressing a key when a key is pressed.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an acoustic piano, which is a natural keyboard instrument, the thickness and length of strings are continuously changed in order from the low-pitched sound side to the high-pitched sound side, and in order to generate sound with optimum energy for each string. The size of the hammer that hits the strings varies depending on the range. In such a configuration, the moment of inertia at the time of key depression changes depending on each key, and the dynamic touch feeling becomes heavier on the low tone side.

On the other hand, in a keyboard device of an electronic musical instrument, since it is not necessary to hit a string and the moment of inertia when pressing a key is the same for all keys from the viewpoint of productivity, the playing feeling is different from an acoustic piano, and People who were not accustomed to an acoustic piano and were accustomed to acoustic pianos were unable to perform satisfactorily due to the difference in key touch feeling.

In order to deal with such a problem, conventionally, a hammer arm that is engaged with a key that is rotated by a pressing operation and that is rotationally driven in conjunction with the key is provided, and the hammer arm has a different mass distribution. A weight is provided to change the dynamic touch feeling according to the pitch or range, and a compensating weight is provided so that the static pressing operation force on the key becomes constant in response to the difference in the mass distribution of the weight. An attempt has been proposed to make the touch feeling uniform.

According to this conventional hammer arm structure,
A rotary shaft is provided at a position in the middle of the arm that is off the center of the hammer arm, and multiple pairs of weights are attached to both sides of this rotary shaft.The weights of each pair are in order from both ends of the arm. It is a structure that can be attached inside. In this case, the balance of the weights is determined so that the moment around the rotation axis due to the weights of each pair is constant. In such a configuration, the hammer arm is rotated in conjunction with the movement of the key due to the key pressing operation, and when the pressing force is released, the force due to the weight of the hammer is transmitted to the key via the connecting point to return to the key. Giving power.

In such a configuration, by changing the number of weights for each group of a plurality of keys, the restoring force (static load) is made uniform over all keys and the dynamic touch feeling is made different for each group. I'm trying. The dynamic touch feeling is a touch feeling in which the reaction force received by the finger varies depending on the keystroke strength, and the touch feeling varies depending on both the total weight of the key and the hammer and the factors of both the weight and the distance from the fulcrum. That is, the dynamic touch feeling greatly varies depending on the moment of inertia represented by I = mr ² (m is the weight or mass, and r is the distance). In some cases, the reaction force received by the finger within a unit time is Is also involved.

[0007]

However, in the keyboard structure provided with the conventional hammer arm, since the weight is provided along the longitudinal direction of the arm, the mounting position of the weight is limited. Since the hammer arm rotation fulcrum is not located at the center of the arm, the weight mounting location on one side of the rotation fulcrum is narrower than the weight mounting location on the opposite side, and in particular, mounting restrictions are increased. Further, the arm on the wider side is often provided with a key switch or the like, or an actuator or the like, which is a constraint on weight attachment, and it may not be possible to apply a desired weight to the hammer arm. Furthermore, in this hammer arm structure, a pair of weights must always be attached and removed in pairs, which makes the assembly work cumbersome and has a very low degree of design freedom.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional keyboard device having a hammer arm, the weight of each pair of weights attached to the hammer arm is (Ma1, M).
b1), (Ma2, Mb2), (Ma3, Mb3) ...
・, And the distance from the rotation fulcrum to the weight of each pair is (La
1, Lb1), (La2, Lb2), (La3, Lb
3) ..., the weight condition is set so that the difference between the moments of the two weights of each pair weight related to the rotation fulcrum becomes constant, that is, the following conditional expression is satisfied.

Ma1 · La1-Mb1 · Lb1 = Ma2
・ La2-Mb2 ・ Lb2 = Ma3 ・ La3-Mb3 ・
Lb3 = ... = Constant By satisfying the above condition, it is possible to achieve the above-described object of varying the dynamic touch feeling while maintaining the static touch feeling uniformly.

However, in the above conventional structure,
By shifting the position of the center of gravity of the hammer arm itself from the rotation fulcrum, the moment about the fulcrum due to the weight of the hammer arm gives a restoring force and a sense of mass to the key. In this case, in order to make the return force for the keys uniform at all points at which the keys and the hammer arms are connected, complicated restrictions are imposed on the weight of the pair weights and the setting of the arrangement. That is,
On the short arm length side, a large weight should be used to narrow the mounting interval, and on the long arm length side, a small weight should be used to widen the mounting interval. Cannot be secured and it may be difficult to achieve the desired purpose. This point will be described in more detail below.

As shown in FIG. 4, for example, the total length of the hammer is 20 cm, the rotation fulcrum position is 5 cm from the left end, the center of gravity is the center point, and the weight of the hammer itself is 10 cm.
The weight shall be 0g and the weight shall be 10g and shall be provided at both ends of the hammer.

In this case, the rotational moment M1 about the fulcrum of the hammer itself when there is no weight is M1 = 100 g × 5 cm = 500 (g · cm) in the clockwise direction.

When a weight is attached to both ends of the hammer, the rotational moment M2 in the clockwise direction around the fulcrum is M2 = 10 g × 15 cm + 100 g × 5 cm = 650.
(G · cm), and the counterclockwise rotation moment M3 is M3 = 10 g × 5 cm = 50 (g · cm).

Therefore, the total rotational moment M4 of the hammer when the weight is attached is M4 = M2-M3 = 650-50 = 600 (g · cm) in the clockwise direction.

As can be seen by comparing M1 and M4, the rotational moment changes when the weight is not attached to the hammer and when it is attached. This is equivalent to the displacement of the center of gravity. In order to prevent such a displacement of the center of gravity, a weight of 10 g must be attached to the left end and a weight of 3.3 g must be attached to the right end. When a weight of 10 g is placed 1 cm from the left end, a weight of 3.3 g must be placed 3 cm from the right end. As described above, in order to keep the position of the center of gravity constant, complicated weight adjustment and position adjustment are required, and design constraints also increase.

As described above, in the keyboard device having the conventional hammer arm, (1) the degree of freedom in design is small,
(2) It is difficult to use a uniform weight, that is, it is not easy to use a common weight on both sides of the fulcrum, and (3) if an even common weight is used, it is complicated to determine the mounting position. Adjustments and installation work are troublesome because of the need for calculation, (4) weights cannot be easily installed at equal intervals, and (5) design constraints are large, making design difficult and assembly difficult. , Etc.

This patent has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and by combining parts of the same shape with a simple structure, complicated adjustment and setting of a mounting position are not required. An object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard device capable of easily varying a dynamic touch feeling according to a musical range while maintaining a static touch feeling uniformly over all keys.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a keyboard device according to the present invention comprises a plurality of keys which are displaced by a key-pressing operation, and a rotary key which is interlocked with the displacement of the keys and interlocked with each other. In the keyboard device having at least a mass body for applying a restoring force to the key, the mass body is formed by stacking one or more mass body unit members having the same shape corresponding to the key. It is characterized in that the plurality of keys are constituted by the mass body unit members of different numbers depending on the musical range.

In a preferred embodiment, the mass unit members are superposed so that the mass of the mass body is large on the low-pitched sound side and small on the high-pitched sound side according to the sound range.

In a further preferred embodiment, the rotational fulcrum of the mass body is set to the center of gravity of the mass body so as to keep the static load constant while changing the dynamic touch feeling over the key range of at least 2 octaves or more. The feature is that they are provided at almost the same position. According to the above configuration, a predetermined number of mass body unit members having the same shape are stacked and mounted according to the sound range, so that a dynamic touch feeling corresponding to the sound range can be easily obtained without increasing the types of parts. Also,
By providing the center of gravity of each mass body unit member substantially in line with the position of the rotation fulcrum of the mass body, a uniform static touch feeling and a dynamic touch feeling can be achieved over all keys regardless of the number of mass body unit members. Different keyboard devices are obtained.

[0021]

1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a keyboard device according to an embodiment of the present invention. A key 2 is attached to the key support frame 1 via a pivotal fulcrum portion 3 at the rear end thereof so as to be swingable in the key pressing operation direction. A key guide 4 is provided on the front end side of the key support frame 1. The right and left side surfaces (both side surfaces in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface) of the key guide 4 are in sliding contact with the inner surfaces of the guided pieces 28 integrally formed on the both side surfaces of the key 2, respectively, so that the key 2 is pressed during the key pressing operation. 2 is guided vertically up and down to prevent the key 2 from swinging or twisting during the key pressing stroke.

A stopper piece 5 protruding forward is formed at the lower end of each guided piece 28. This stopper piece 5
When the key is not pressed, the upper limit position of the key pressing stroke range of the key 2 is regulated by contacting the upper limit stopper 6 made of felt material or the like provided on the lower surface of the front end projecting piece 29 of the key support frame 1.
A lower limit stopper 7 made of a felt material or the like is provided on the upper surface of the front end projecting piece 29 of the key support frame 1. When the key is pressed, the lower surface abutting portion 8 at the front end of the key 2 abuts against the lower limit stopper 7, and the lower limit position of the key pressing stroke range is restricted.

A hammer support bracket 9 is fixed to the key support frame 1 on the rear end side of the key support frame 1, and a hammer 10, which is a mass body, is rotatably supported on a fulcrum 11. A hammer driving piece 12 is provided at a lower center portion of the key 2 at a position where the hammer driving piece 12 is engaged with the upper surface of the hammer 10. The hammer drive piece 12 is for interlocking with the key 2 when the key 2 is pressed and pushed down, and pushes down the hammer 10 to rotate around the fulcrum 11.

As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the hammer 10 is formed by stacking a plurality (three in this example) of hammer unit members 30 of the same shape. Each hammer unit member 30 has a substantially circular front end portion 10a and a rear end portion 10b for increasing the mass, and a fulcrum receiving recessed portion 16 is formed in the center lower portion. The fulcrum 1 of the hammer support bracket 9 (FIG. 1) is placed in the fulcrum receiving recess 16.
1 rotatably and slidably fits therein and pivotally supports the hammer unit member 30 as shown in FIG. This fulcrum receiving recess 16
Is at a position substantially coincident with the center of gravity G of the hammer unit member 30. Reference numeral 17 is a hook for receiving the return spring.

Returning to FIG. 1, a lower limit stopper 13 made of felt material or the like is provided on the key support frame 1 at the position where the front end 10a of the hammer 10 constructed by stacking a plurality of such hammer unit members 30 abuts. When the hammer 10 is provided and is rotated as indicated by the dotted line, the hammer 10 contacts the lower limit stopper 13 and the hammer 1
The lower limit position of 0 is regulated. Further, the hammer receiving member 1 is provided on the key supporting frame 1 on the rear end portion 10b side of the hammer 10.
4 are provided. The hammer receiving member 14 has a pair of C-shaped cross sections and sandwiches the rear end portion 10b of the hammer 10 which is pressed and rotated to prevent the hammer 10 from bouncing.

From the center of the hammer 10 to the rear end side,
A return tension spring 15 is provided. One end of the tension spring 15 is locked to the hook 17 on the hammer 10 side, and the other end is fixed to the hammer support bracket 9 side. When the pressing force on the key 2 is released, the spring 15 rotates the hammer 10 in the clockwise direction and pulls it back, from the key pressing lower limit position (dotted line) to the non-key pressing position (solid line).
It is for returning to. It should be noted that instead of such a tension spring 15, a compression spring is provided by engaging the hammer 10 on the front end side of the fulcrum 11 so that the hammer 10 is pushed back in the clockwise direction when the key is released. You may.

In the keyboard device having the above-described structure, when the free end portion (front end portion) of the key 2 is depressed and the key depression stroke is started from the state of FIG. The hammer driving piece 12 provided presses and pushes down the hammer 10 to rotate the hammer 10 around the fulcrum 11 in the counterclockwise direction. When the lower end of the key stroke is reached, key 2
The lower surface abutting portion 8 hits the lower limit stopper 7 to stop the key depression operation. At the same time, as shown by the dotted line, the front end portion 10a of the hammer 10 contacts the stopper 13,
Further, the rear end portion 10b is sandwiched by the hammer receiving member 14 and the rotation operation of the hammer 10 is stopped. When the pressing force on the key 2 is released, the hammer 10 is rotated clockwise by the action of the return spring 15, and the key 2 is pushed up via the hammer driving member 12. As a result, the key 2 is rotated and returned upward through the rear end fulcrum portion 3, and the stopper piece 5 of the key 2 abuts against the upper limit stopper 6 on the key support frame 1 side at the upper end position of the key pressing stroke to perform the return operation. Stops.

A compression spring 40 is interposed between the rear end of the lower surface of the key 2 and the tip of the hammer receiving member 14, and the compression spring 40 assists the restoring force at the time of key release and the key drop prevention action. You can go.

In the keyboard device as described above, the number of the hammer unit members 30 constituting the hammer 10 is changed according to the tone range of each key 2 to assemble the keys, so that the keys in the low tone range have a heavy dynamic touch feeling. However, the dynamic touch feeling of each key can be made different so that the dynamic touch feeling is lightened in the high range, and the dynamic touch feeling similar to that of the acoustic piano is obtained corresponding to the high range.
In this case, since the hammer unit member 30 having the same shape is used, it is not necessary to increase the types of parts and the productivity is improved.

Regarding the superposition structure of a plurality of hammer unit members 30, recesses and protrusions that are fitted to each other are provided at corresponding positions of the members themselves, and the hammer unit members are superposed on each other and the recesses and protrusions of both members are stacked. It is possible to use a method of fitting and fixing the members to each other, a method of fixing the hammer unit members after superposing them with an appropriate holder member or a clamping member from the outside, or a hook type or other suitable connecting means.

Further, since the center of gravity of the hammer substantially coincides with the fulcrum position of the hammer rotation, the static load on the key when pressing the key does not change even if the number of hammer unit members is changed. The shape of the hammer unit member 30 is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and various shapes can be adopted as long as the center of gravity position and the rotation fulcrum position match. In particular, when a flat plate-shaped member having the same longitudinal cross section is used, it is possible to assemble by simply superposing single kinds of members, and therefore, the assembly and manufacturing work is efficiently performed.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a keyboard device according to another embodiment of the present invention. In the above-described embodiment, the key pressing motion is performed by the rotation operation of the key about the rotation fulcrum of the rear end portion of the key, but the key pressing motion in this embodiment is not the rotation operation of the key but the key operation. Is performed by a vertical translation of the.

The key 18 is mounted on the key support member 20 via a link mechanism 19 which moves up and down in a pantograph manner. The link mechanism 19 is composed of link bars 19a and 19b that are rotatably connected to each other at the center. The lower end of one link bar 19a is pivotally attached to the key support member 20 via a rotation fulcrum 21, and the upper end is slidably mounted in a guide groove 22 formed inside the ceiling surface of the key 18. The upper end of the other one of the link bars 19b is connected to the key 18 via the rotation fulcrum 23.
The lower end is slidably mounted in a guide hole 25 of a guide member 24 provided on the key support member 20. Key 1
8, a spring 26 for returning is provided between the key supporting member 20 and the key supporting member 20.
Is provided.

The hammer 10 according to the present invention is arranged in engagement with the connecting contact surface 18a on the lower surface of the rear end of the key 18. The hammer 10 is composed of a plurality of hammers as in the above embodiment, and is rotatably supported on the fulcrum 11 of the hammer support bracket 9. A stopper member 27 made of an elastic material such as rubber is fitted into the end of the hammer 10. This stopper member 27
On both upper and lower surfaces, contact protrusions 27a and 27b having a substantially conical shape are integrally formed of the same elastic material. The contact protrusions 27a and 27b of these stopper members 27 contact the upper member 20a and the lower member 20b at the rear end of the key supporting frame 20 at the time of key pressing and key pressing return, respectively, and the lower limit of the key pressing stroke and It works as an upper limit stopper. In this case, since the contact protrusions 27a and 27b have a substantially conical shape with a thin tip, when they hit the upper member 20a and the lower member 20b on the key support frame side, respectively, they do not suddenly stop and the hammer 10 moves. Stop for some time to gradually absorb the velocity. As a result, the feeling of starting and stopping the key depression operation can be improved.

The contact projection 27 of the stopper member 27
Upper member 20 on the frame side at the position where a and 27b contact
An elastic material such as felt may be attached to a and the lower member 20b. Further, the stopper member 27 on the hammer side is made of a hard material, and the upper member 20a on the frame side at the abutting position is formed.
An elastic material may be provided on the lower member 20b.

In the keyboard apparatus using the link mechanism 19 having the above structure, when the key 18 is pushed down, the key 18 moves vertically downward in parallel against the spring 26, and when the pressing force is released, the spring 26 moves. By the action, it moves vertically upward and returns to the non-key-pressed position. In this way, the key pressing operation by the parallel movement of the key 18 as shown by the arrow A is performed.

The hammer 10 provided by engaging with each key of the keyboard device for performing such an ascending / descending operation is provided with one or a plurality of hammer unit members of the same shape according to the sound range, as in the above-described embodiment. With the overlapping structure, the dynamic touch feeling can be made different while keeping the static load uniform over all keys of the keyboard device.

[0038]

As described above, in the keyboard device according to the present invention, one or a plurality of hammer unit members having the same shape are used for assembling according to the musical range, so that complicated calculation and adjustment work are not required. It is possible to easily assemble a keyboard device that provides a desired dynamic touch feeling for each key. Further, by making the center of gravity of the hammer substantially coincide with the rotational fulcrum position of the hammer, it is possible to keep the static load uniform and to have different dynamic touch feelings over all keys of the keyboard device. As a result, a dynamic touch feeling is obtained in which a low-pitched sound portion similar to an acoustic piano is heavy and a high-pitched sound portion is lightened, and a sense of performance is improved and a comfortable performance can be enjoyed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a keyboard device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed perspective view of the hammer in the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a keyboard device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of problems of the conventional technology.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Key support frame 2: Key 9: Hammer support bracket 10: Hammer (mass body) 11: Hammer rotation fulcrum 12: Hammer driving member 16: Recess for receiving hammer rotation fulcrum 17: To apply a return spring Hook 30: Hammer unit member G: Position of center of gravity of hammer

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. At least a plurality of keys that are displaced by a key pressing operation, a mass body that rotates via an interlocking point in association with the displacement of the keys, and a returning means that applies a restoring force to the keys. In the keyboard device, the mass body is configured by stacking one or more mass body unit members having the same shape corresponding to the keys, and thus the plurality of keys are different in number depending on the musical range. A keyboard device comprising a member. 2. The mass body unit member is superposed so that the mass of the mass body is large on the low-pitched sound side and small on the high-pitched sound side according to the sound range. Keyboard device. 3. The rotation fulcrum of the mass body is located at a position substantially coincident with the center of gravity of the mass body so as to keep the static load constant while changing the dynamic touch feeling over the key range of at least 2 octaves or more. The keyboard device according to claim 1, wherein the keyboard device is provided.