JPH09230852A - Sound volume controller for upright piano - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to adequately control sound volume over a wide sound volume region according to a playing environment with relatively simple constitution without changing a touch feeling and timbre by providing case components with many sound releasing holes and opening and closing these sound releasing holes cooperatively with the operation of operating members. SOLUTION: This sound volume controller is provided with a punching metal 30 for increasing the sound volume by releasing piano tones forward and an opening/closing mechanism 31 for opening and closing the punching metal 30. The punching metal 30 is mounted atop an upper front plate 3 and is composed of a metallic plate, such as aluminum. The many sound releasing holes 31 of about 3mm diameter are previously formed over the entire surface thereof by punching. The opening/closing mechanism 31 opens and closes the sound releasing holes 32 of the punching metal 30 cooperatively with a middle pedal 33. While the middle pedal 33 is not treaded, the piano tones are delivered forward via the sound releasing holes 32 and the conduction of playing with the large sound volume is possible. On the other hand, the sound releasing holes 32 are closed and the playing with the small sound volume is conducted when the middle pedal 33 is treaded.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a volume control device for an upright piano that controls the volume of piano sounds.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, upright pianos have become widespread in ordinary households, and there are many opportunities to play them in a room. However, due to the housing situation in Japan, the usual volume of a conventional piano is too loud, and therefore, in order to prevent the piano sound from becoming a noise to the neighborhood, it is often the case that the performance is performed while reducing the sound. In such cases, a central muffler pedal is commonly used in the prior art. That is, in the conventional upright piano, when the muffler pedal is stepped on, the felt or cross drops between the strings and the hammer, and the hammer strikes the string from above the felt. , Thereby, the sound reduction performance can be performed with the volume being considerably lowered.

Alternatively, a muffling piano has been developed to eliminate the noise of the piano. The mute piano is designed to be able to switch between acoustic normal performance by hammer striking and mute playing.In mute playing, the hammer striking is stopped by a stopper and the key depression information of the keyboard is displayed. The performance is performed while detecting with a sensor provided for each keyboard and listening to an electronic sound generated based on the detection result with headphones.

[0004]

However, in the sound reduction performance using the muffler pedal, since the hammer strikes the strings through the felt or the like, the touch feeling and the tone color are different from those in the normal performance. There is a drawback that it ends up. Further, since the degree of the sound reduction effect by the felt tends to be large in the high tone range and small in the low tone range, there is also a drawback that the overall volume balance is disturbed. In addition, when playing a mute piano, the mute piano produces only electronic sounds, which is different from the original acoustic sounds, and because headphones must be worn at all times, it is easy to get tired and practice for a long time. It is not suitable for, and has a drawback that it is expensive because a sensor is provided for each keyboard.

In order to solve such a problem, for example, it may be possible to set the original volume of the piano to a lower level as a whole. However, in that case, the design of the soundboard, strings, etc. must be redone fundamentally, and conversely, in a playing environment where there is no concern about noise, it becomes impossible to play freely at a high volume. Become.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and has a relatively simple structure and does not change the touch feeling and the tone color, and can adjust the volume over a wide volume range according to the playing environment. An object of the present invention is to provide a volume control device for an upright piano that can be adjusted appropriately.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a volume control device for an upright piano according to the present invention has a plurality of case parts, at least one of which is provided with a large number of sounds for emitting the piano sound to the outside. A sound hole is provided, and a first operation member and a first opening / closing mechanism for opening and closing the sound emission hole in association with the operation of the first operation member are provided.

In this volume control device, a large number of sound emission holes are formed in at least one of the case parts, and when the first operating member is operated, the first opening / closing mechanism opens and closes the sound emission hole in conjunction with this operation. To do. For example, when the first operation member is not operated, the first opening / closing mechanism opens the sound output hole, and the piano sound is emitted to the outside through the sound output hole, whereby a large volume is obtained. On the other hand, when the first operating member is operated, the first opening / closing mechanism closes the sound output hole to prevent the release of the piano sound, so that the sound volume becomes smaller. In this way, by operating the first operating member, the volume can be switched between the high volume and the low volume and adjusted without changing the touch feeling or the timbre. Further, since the sound output hole is composed of a large number of small sound output holes, the appearance of the piano is hardly impaired even if it is seen from the outside as a part of the case component.

In this case, it is preferable that at least one case component is composed of an upper front plate, and a sound emitting member having a sound emitting hole is attached to an upper end portion of the upper front plate.

According to this structure, a sound emitting member having a large number of sound emitting holes formed in advance is simply attached to the upper end portion of the upper front plate so that the sound emitting function of the sound emitting holes can be easily exerted and the front of the piano can be played. Can emit a piano sound. In addition, the upper end of the upper front plate is usually located near the ear when the player is sitting on the chair, so the sound emission is great, and it is hidden in front of the roof, making it difficult to see from the outside. Since it is a part, the sound output hole is less noticeable and the appearance of the piano is further improved.

In these cases, another one of the plurality of case parts is used.
And a second opening / closing mechanism configured to cover the back surface of the piano, at least a part of which is a lid plate which can be opened and closed, and which opens and closes the lid plate in association with the operation of the second operation member. And are preferably further provided.

According to this structure, the second opening / closing mechanism opens / closes the cover plate on the back surface of the piano in conjunction with the operation of the second operating member, whereby the piano sound emitted to the rear of the piano is released. The volume of can be switched between high volume and low volume for adjustment. Therefore, in combination with the opening and closing of the sound output hole according to claim 1, a large volume performance by opening both the sound output hole and the cover plate, a small volume performance by closing both of them,
Also, it is possible to adjust a total of four types of volume, that is, two types of medium volume performances by opening either one, and the volume can be adjusted in multiple stages. Particularly, when playing at a high volume, a very large volume can be obtained by opening the sound output hole and the cover plate at the same time.

[0013] In this case, it is preferable that the sound emitting passage further includes a sound emitting passage for releasing the piano sound to the outside, and the sound emitting passage is arranged so as to be opened and closed by a lid plate that is opened and closed.

According to this structure, when the cover plate is opened and closed by operating the second operation member, the sound output passage is automatically opened and closed by the cover plate. Therefore, when the lid plate is opened, the piano sound is also emitted from the opened sound output passage, so that an even louder volume can be obtained, and particularly the volume at the time of playing at a high volume can be increased. Further, the lid plate and the sound output passage can be easily opened and closed at the same time only by operating the second operation member.

In this case, it is preferable that one of the first and second operating members is a pedal and the other is a lever provided on the shelf.

According to this structure, for example, the sound emitting hole and the cover plate are opened and closed by stepping on the pedal with the legs and the cover plate is opened and closed by operating the lever. It can be done independently of each other with pedals and levers. Therefore, switching between high-volume performance, low-volume performance, and two types of medium-volume performance can be easily performed.

In these cases, it is preferable that a sound insulating sheet is attached to the inner surfaces of the plurality of case parts.

According to this structure, the sound of the piano is blocked by the sound insulating sheet when passing through the case parts,
It is emitted to the outside in the state of sound reduction. When playing a small volume with the sound output holes and the cover plate closed, the proportion of the transmitted sound in the piano sound is high. Therefore, by reducing this transmitted sound with the sound insulation sheet provided in the case parts, the volume at the time of playing a small volume is reduced. Can be effectively reduced, and the sound reduction performance can be performed at a low volume.

In these cases, it is preferable that packings be attached to portions of the plurality of case parts facing each other.

According to this structure, sound leakage from the case parts is prevented by the packing, so that the sound volume at the time of low-volume performance can be more effectively reduced. In particular, claim 6
When used in combination with the sound insulation sheet provided in the case component, the volume during the sound reduction performance can be further reduced.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3
Shows an upright piano to which the present invention is applied. As shown in these drawings, the upright piano 1 includes a pair of left and right main plates 2, 2, an upper front plate 3, a back roof 4, a lower front plate 5, a rear roof 6, a front roof 7, as case parts. A lid plate 8 and a shelf plate 9 are provided.

In the internal space surrounded by these case parts, the keyboard 10 and the action 11 provided on the shelf 9 and the frame 13 attached to the support frame 12 are provided.
The soundboard 14 and the like are arranged. And keyboard 1
With the key depression of 0, the hammer 15 of the action 11 rotates and strikes the string S stretched on the frame 13, whereby the vibration of the soundboard 14 produces an acoustic piano sound. There is.

Each case component other than the cover plate 8 is composed of a lauan plywood or MDF and a decorative material such as a phenol backer adhered to the front and back surfaces thereof. Also,
The cover plate 8 is attached so as to cover the back surface of the piano, and is composed of MDF or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, among these case parts, the upper front plate 3, the lower front plate 5, the rear roof 6, the front roof 7 and the lid plate 8 are entirely covered with sound insulating sheets. 16 is attached. The sound insulation sheet 16 is composed of a commercially available sound insulation sheet having a sound insulation property, a vibration damping rubber sheet, or the like. According to this configuration, the piano sound generated by the soundboard 14 is sound-shielded by the sound-insulating sheet 16 when passing through the case parts, and is emitted to the outside in a sound-reduced state. Generally, the upright piano has a high proportion of transmitted sound in the piano sound due to its structure. Therefore, as described above, by reducing the transmitted sound by the sound insulation sheet 16 provided in the case component, the volume of the entire piano sound propagated to the outside can be effectively reduced, and the normal upright piano of the conventional upright piano can be reduced. It is possible to perform a sound reduction performance at a volume lower than the volume.

The sound-insulating sheet 16 is attached to the lower surface of the inner roof 4 and is also attached to the front and rear surfaces and the lower surface of the tree 17 with the inner roof extending close to the keyboard 10. A packing 19 made of high-density urethane foam rubber or the like is provided between the inner roof 4 and the keyboard retainer 18.

Since there is a gap between the keyboard 10 and the back roof 4 due to the vertical movement of the keyboard 10 when a key is pressed, the sound insulating sheet 16 and the packing 1 are provided at this portion as described above.
By providing 9 to prevent the sound leakage by closing the gap, it is possible to further reduce the volume during the sound reduction performance. In addition, the same packing 1 for preventing sound leakage
9 is a tree 2 with a shelf plate attached to the lower front plate 5 and the lower surface of the shelf plate 9
It is also provided between 0 and.

The cover plate 8 is fixed to the support frame 12, and is connected to a lower cover plate 8a covering the lower half of the support frame 8 and the lower cover plate 8a via a hinge 21 so as to be rotatable. It is composed of a half portion and an upper lid plate 8b for opening and closing a back tone spreader 28 described later. The pillar frame 12 includes the pillars 22 and 22 (only one is shown) on both left and right sides, and the pillar 2
Base 23 connected between 2 and 22 and connected, 24 in girder
And the girder 25, the lower lid plate 8a includes the support 22,
It is screwed to the base 22 and the base 23. On the other hand, the upper cover plate 8b is always urged rearward by a spring (not shown), and a wire 27 is attached to the rotary operation type lever 26 (second operation member) attached to the lower surface of the shelf plate 9.
They are connected via (second opening / closing mechanism).

The back tone spreader 28 is formed in a horizontally long box shape made of wood material or resin, and the support frame 1
It is mounted on the second digit 25. The back tone spreader 28 has four sound emission passages 29 (only two of which are shown in FIG. 2) having a trumpet-shaped cross-sectional shape that widens outward.
However, it is formed so as to communicate with the inside and outside of the piano.

According to the above construction, when the lever 26 is rotated in one direction, the wire 27 is loosened and the upper cover plate 8b is released.
Rotates to the rear side by the spring force of the spring to open the upper half of the column frame 12 and the back tone spreader 28 (two-dot chain line in FIG. 1). In the open state of the upper cover plate 8b, the piano sound generated on the soundboard 14 is generated by the columns 22, 2 of the column frame 12.
The sound is emitted rearward from the open portion between the two, and is diffused and emitted rearward through the sound emission passage 29 of the back tone spreader 28, so that a louder performance can be performed.

On the other hand, when the lever 26 is rotated in the opposite direction from this state, the upper cover plate 8b is pulled by the wire 27 and pivoted to the front side to close and fix the support frame 12 and the back tone spreader 28. The entire back surface of the upright piano 1 is closed together with the lower lid plate 8a (see FIG. 1).
Solid line). As a result, rearward release of the piano sound through the open portion of the support frame 12 and the sound output passage 29 is prevented, and the performance can be performed at a lower volume. In addition,
Reference numeral 40 in FIG. 1 is a net for preventing an object from falling from the roof back 6 or the like and entering the inside of the piano when the upper cover plate 8b is opened.

The upright piano 1 further includes a punch metal 30 (sound emitting member) for increasing the volume by emitting a piano sound to the front, and an opening / closing mechanism 31 (first opening / closing mechanism) for opening and closing the punch metal 30. ) And are provided. The punch metal 30 is attached to the upper surface of the upper front plate 3, and is made of a metal plate such as aluminum bent in a "B" shape as shown in FIG. 4, and its entire surface has a diameter of about 3 mm. A large number of sound emitting holes 32 are formed in advance by punching.

The opening / closing mechanism 31 opens and closes the sound output hole 32 of the punch metal 30 in conjunction with the middle pedal 33. Specifically, the opening / closing mechanism 31 includes a pin 34 on each parent board 2.
A pair of left and right holders 36 (only one is shown), which are rotatably attached via a lower end and are connected to the middle pedal 33 via a wire 35, and are made of a steel plate or the like.
1, a pressing bar 37 made of an L-shaped member or the like held between the upper ends of the holders 36, a cushion 38 made of foamed urethane or the like adhered to the front surface of the pressing bar 37, and the holder 36 are always installed in the anti-reverse condition of It is constituted by a coil spring 39 which biases clockwise.

According to this structure, when the middle pedal 33 is not depressed, the holder 36 of the opening / closing mechanism 31 is rotated counterclockwise by the spring force of the coil spring 39, and the cushion 38 is rotated.
Has opened the sound output hole 32 of the punch metal 30 (open position, two-dot chain line in FIG. 1). As a result, the piano sound is emitted to the front through the sound output hole 32, so that the performance can be performed with a larger volume.

On the other hand, when the middle pedal 33 is stepped on, the holder 36 is pulled by the wire 35 and rotates clockwise, so that the cushion 38 closes the sound output hole 32 of the punch metal 30 (closed position, (Solid line in the figure). As a result, the release of the piano sound through the sound output hole 32 is blocked, so that the performance can be performed at a lower volume.

Here, the relationship between the operating states of the lever 26 and the middle pedal 33 and the volume obtained thereby will be collectively described.

First, when performing the sound reduction performance, the lever 2
6 is rotated in a predetermined direction to close the upper cover plate 8b and depress the middle pedal 33 to set the opening / closing mechanism 31 to the closed position. As a result, rearward emission of the piano sound via the upper half of the support frame 12 and the back tone spreader 28 is prevented, and the sound emission holes 3 of the punch metal 30 are prevented.
Release of the piano sound to the front via 2 is blocked. In this state, the transmitted sound mainly transmitted through the case components is mainly, and the transmitted sound is reduced by the sound insulation sheet 16, and the sound leakage between the case components is prevented by the packing 19. It is possible to perform reduced performance with a lower volume than during normal performance.

When performing a medium volume performance having a volume higher than the reduced performance, the lever 26 is rotated in the opposite direction to open the upper cover plate 8b. This allows the piano sound to be transmitted to the support frame 1
A medium-volume performance can be performed in a state in which the sound is discharged to the rear through the upper half portion of 2 and the back tone spreader 28. Alternatively, without operating the lever 26, the middle pedal 33
By releasing the depression of the button and setting the opening / closing mechanism 31 to the open position, a medium volume performance can be performed in a state where the piano sound is emitted to the front through the sound output hole 32 of the punch metal 30.

When performing a louder volume performance, the upper cover plate 8b is opened and the opening / closing mechanism 31 is set to the open position. As a result, the piano sound is emitted rearward through the upper half portion of the support frame 12 and the back tone spreader 28, and at the same time, the sound output hole 32 of the punch metal 30 is emitted.
It is possible to perform a large volume performance with a volume much higher than that of the conventional upright piano by discharging the sound through the front through the.

As described above, in the upright piano 1 of the present embodiment, by simply operating the lever 26 and the middle pedal 33, the volume from a volume lower than a normal performance of the conventional upright piano to a very high volume can be obtained. The volume can be easily adjusted in a wide volume range. Further, since the sound is generated from the soundboard 14 by directly striking the string S with the hammer 15, the sound volume is adjusted without changing the touch feeling and the tone color, as in the case of a normal upright piano. be able to.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above and can be implemented in various modes. For example, in the embodiment, the punch metal 30 having a large number of sound emission holes 32 is attached to the upper surface of the upper front plate 3,
Such punched metal 30 may be attached to other parts of the upper front plate 3 or other case parts such as the lower front plate 5, or the sound emission holes 32 may be directly attached to the upper front plate 3 or the lower front plate 5. , May be formed. However, in the embodiment, the sound emitting function can be easily exerted only by attaching the punch metal 30 having the sound emitting holes 32 formed in advance, and the position of the punch metal 30 is such that the player sits on the chair. It is particularly preferable because it is close to the ear in the state, the sound emitting effect is large, and the sound emitting hole 32 is hidden by the roof front 7 and cannot be seen from the outside, and the appearance of the piano is not impaired at all. . Alternatively, instead of the punch metal, a metal frame having a high rigidity and a mesh net made of synthetic fiber or the like attached thereto may be used.

It is needless to say that the sound insulating sheet 16 and the packing 19 may be attached to case parts other than those illustrated and between the case parts, respectively. Further, in the embodiment, the lid plate 8 is replaced with the lower lid plate 8a and the upper lid plate 8a.
b, and only the upper lid plate 8b can be opened and closed.
The lid plate 8 may be formed of a single plate and the entire plate may be opened and closed. Further, in the embodiment, the upper lid plate 8b is opened and closed by operating the lever 26, and the punch metal 3 is operated by operating the middle pedal 33.
Although 0 is opened and closed, the lever 26 may be omitted and the middle pedal 33 may be operated to open and close the upper cover plate 8b and the punch metal 30 at the same time so as to switch between the large volume performance and the low volume performance only. . In addition, the detailed configuration can be changed within the scope of the present invention.

[0042]

As described in detail above, the volume control device for an upright piano according to the present invention has a relatively simple structure and does not change the touch feeling and the tone color. It has the effect that it can be adjusted appropriately over the range.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an upright piano to which the present invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is a partial rear view of the upright piano of FIG.

3 is an external perspective view of the upright piano of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of punch metal.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Upright Piano 3 Upper Front Plate 4 Back Roof 5 Lower Front Plate 6 After Roof 7 Roof Front 8 Cover Plate 8b Top Cover Plate 9 Shelf Board 16 Sound Insulation Sheet 19 Packing 26 Lever 27 Wire 28 Backtone Spreader 29 Sound Emission 30 Punch Metal 31 Open / close mechanism 32 Sound output hole 33 Medium pedal

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. At least one of the plurality of case parts,
A large number of sound emission holes for emitting the piano sound to the outside are provided, a first operation member, and a first opening / closing mechanism that opens and closes the sound emission hole in association with the operation of the first operation member. A volume control device for an upright piano, comprising: 2. The sound emission member having the sound emission hole is attached to an upper end portion of the upper front plate, the at least one case component being an upper front plate. Item 1. A volume control device for an upright piano according to Item 1. 3. Another one of the plurality of case components is a cover plate that covers the back surface of the piano and that is at least partially openable and closable, and includes a second operation member and an operation of the second operation member. The up / down piano volume control device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a second opening / closing mechanism that opens and closes the lid plate in conjunction with. 4. A sound emitting passage for emitting a piano sound to the outside is further provided, and the sound emitting passage is arranged so as to be opened and closed by the lid plate that is opened and closed. Item 3. The volume control device for an upright piano according to Item 3. 5. The method according to claim 3, wherein one of the first and second operation members is a pedal, and the other is a lever provided on a shelf plate. Volume control device for upright piano. 6. The volume control device for an upright piano according to claim 1, wherein a sound insulating sheet is attached to the inner surfaces of the plurality of case parts. 7. The volume control device for an upright piano according to claim 1, wherein packings are attached to portions of the plurality of case parts facing each other.