JPH11305760A - Keyboard device of keyboard musical instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain an excellent touch feeling corresponding to the strength of key depression on a keyboard with a relatively simple configuration. SOLUTION: This device is equipped with the keyboard 2 which extends in the front and behind direction and is supported rotatably on a fulcrum 4 and a movable weight 10 which gives the keyboard 2 moment of inertia on the fulcrum in the opposite direction from the key depressing direction and is able to move in the front and behind direction so that the moment of inertia varies in accordance with the depression of the keyboard 2. In this configuration, the movable weight 10 always gives the moment of inertia around the fulcrum in the opposite direction from the key pressing direction to the keyboard 2. Further, the movable weight 10 moves forward and backward in accordance with the depression of the keyboard 2 and then the moment of inertia varies. Since the moment of inertia thus varies, the touch weight transmitted to finger tips of a player as the reaction force at the time of the key depression also varies, the touch feeling can properly be controlled by properly setting the movement mode of the movable weight 10.

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 various keyboard instruments such as a piano and an organ.
The present invention relates to a keyboard device for a keyboard instrument provided with a mechanism for controlling a touch sensation that is important in performance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional keyboard device such as an electronic piano, in which a weight is attached to a keyboard or a hammer if the keyboard has a hammer, in order to obtain a touch weight of a keyboard similar to an acoustic piano. It has been known. The weight is made of lead or the like having a predetermined weight, and a predetermined position of the keyboard or hammer is set so that the moment of inertia due to the weight acts on the keyboard in a direction opposite to the key pressing direction (key release direction). It is fixed to. When a key is pressed, a predetermined touch weight is applied by transmitting a moment of inertia due to the weight to the fingertip of the player as a reaction force.

[0003]

Generally, in an actual acoustic piano, when a keyboard is depressed, a jack connected thereto is configured to push up a hammer and rotate, so that the keyboard is strongly depressed. When the keys are pressed, the touch weight is increased by increasing the inertial resistance, resulting in a heavy touch feeling, and when the key is pressed lightly, the inertial resistance is reduced, resulting in a light touch feeling. It is possible to perform a subtle performance expression by weak hitting. On the other hand, in the above-mentioned conventional keyboard device, since the weight is fixed at a predetermined position of the keyboard and the hammer, the moment of inertia due to the weight is almost constant, and there is generally no jack such as an acoustic piano. The change in the inertial resistance due to the strength of the key depression is very small. For this reason, in the conventional keyboard device, compared to an acoustic piano, when the keyboard is strongly pressed, the touch weight is felt light, and a heavy touch feeling is not obtained.
On the other hand, when the keyboard is weakly pressed, the touch weight is felt heavy, and it is inevitable that an uncomfortable feeling is generated such that it is difficult to perform a subtle performance expression by a weak hit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and has a relatively simple structure, which can provide a good touch feeling according to the strength of key depression of a keyboard. It is intended to provide a keyboard device.

[0005]

To achieve this object, a keyboard device for a keyboard instrument according to the present invention extends in the front-rear direction,
A keyboard rotatably supported on a fulcrum, and a moment of inertia about a fulcrum in a direction opposite to the key pressing direction is given to the keyboard, and the key is pressed in the front-rear direction so that the moment of inertia changes as the key is pressed. And a movable weight that is movable.

According to the keyboard device for a keyboard instrument, the movable weight always imparts to the keyboard a moment of inertia about a fulcrum in a direction opposite to the key pressing direction of the keyboard. In addition, the movable weight moves back and forth with the key depression,
The moment of inertia changes. The change in the moment of inertia also changes the touch weight transmitted to the performer's fingertip as a reaction force when the key is pressed, so by appropriately setting the way the movable weight moves, the touch Can be appropriately controlled.

In this case, the movable weight is located at the initial position when the keyboard is at the key release position, and is moved by an amount corresponding to the key pressing speed from the initial position when the keyboard is depressed. It is preferred that

According to this structure, when the keyboard is depressed, the movable weight assumes a predetermined position corresponding to the key depressing speed of the keyboard, so that the moment of inertia due to the movable weight, and hence the touch weight, is reduced. Since it changes according to the speed, a touch feeling corresponding to the key pressing speed can be obtained.

In this case, the movable weight is configured to move in a direction in which the moment of inertia decreases with the key depression of the keyboard, and the amount of movement from the initial position decreases as the key depression speed of the keyboard decreases. Is preferably set to be large.

In this configuration, the lower the key depressing speed of the keyboard, the greater the amount of movement of the movable weight from the initial position, and the greater the moment of inertia. Therefore,
When the key is pressed strongly, the moment of inertia is maintained in a large state, so that the touch weight is increased and a heavy touch feeling is obtained, and when the key is pressed weakly, the moment of inertia is reduced. As a result, a light touch feeling can be obtained, and a delicate performance expression by a weak hit can be easily performed, so that a good touch feeling matching a normal acoustic piano can be obtained.

In this case, the keyboard has a central portion rotatably supported by a fulcrum, and a guide member extending in the front-rear direction is integrally provided at a portion behind the fulcrum of the keyboard. It is preferable that the movable weight is mounted so as to roll freely in the front-rear direction along the guide member.

According to this configuration, the portion behind the fulcrum of the keyboard is raised as the key is depressed, so that the movable weight moves forward along the guide member provided integrally with this portion. Rolling toward the fulcrum side of. In this case, when the key pressing speed of the keyboard is high, since the centrifugal force acting on the movable weight is large and the key pressing time is short, the amount of movement is small, and a large moment of inertia and therefore a large touch weight can be obtained. When the key pressing speed of the keyboard is low, the centrifugal force applied to the movable weight is small and the key pressing time is long, so that the amount of movement is large and the touch weight is light. As described above, a good touch feeling that the touch weight is heavy when the keyboard is strongly struck and light when the keyboard is weakly struck can be realized with a relatively simple configuration in which the movable weight is guided by the guide material. Further, since the guide member is provided directly on the keyboard, the responsiveness of the movement of the movable weight is good.

In this case, the guide member has a rolling path on which the movable weight rolls, and a first concave portion with which the movable weight is engaged is formed at a position corresponding to the initial position of the movable weight on the rolling path. It is preferred that

In this configuration, when the keyboard is at the key release position, the movable weight engages with the first concave portion and is lowered, so that the movable weight can be stably held at its initial position, and the key is depressed. Then, the movable weight can be appropriately moved from the initial position to a position corresponding to the key pressing speed.

Further, in this case, it is preferable that a second concave portion with which the movable weight is engaged is formed at a position separated by a predetermined distance from the first concave portion of the rolling path.

With this configuration, when the keyboard is depressed, the movable weight engages with the second recess and falls when it moves forward a predetermined distance from its initial position. At this time, the movable weight floats from the rolling path for a moment, and the touch weight is felt light, so that a feeling similar to the let-off feeling of an acoustic piano can be obtained.

In these cases, it is preferable to further include a return means for returning the keyboard to the key release position.

In this configuration, since the return means is provided separately from the movable weight, it is possible to reliably return the keyboard to the key release position after the key is pressed, regardless of the position of the movable weight at the time of key depression. it can.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show a keyboard device for an electronic piano according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 and 2 showing the overall configuration of the keyboard device, for convenience of explanation, parts related to the present invention are mainly shown, and other detailed configurations are omitted. As shown in both figures, the keyboard device 1 includes a plurality of keyboards 2 (only one white key is shown) and a touch weight control mechanism 3 for controlling the touch weight of the keyboard 2.

The keyboard 2 is made of a resin such as acrylic.
The central portion is rotatably supported by the balance pin 4 (fulcrum). The balance pin 4 is provided upright on the reed 6 fixed to the keyboard chassis 5. A fixed weight 7 (return means) made of lead or the like is embedded in a predetermined position at the rear part of the keyboard 2, and the clockwise moment in both figures is always applied to the keyboard 2 by the weight. doing. A keyboard pillow 8 is provided on the keyboard chassis 5 at a position facing the rear end of the lower surface of the keyboard 2. With this configuration, the keyboard 2 is fixed at the key release position shown in FIG.
As a result, the rear side pivots downward and comes into contact with the keyboard pillow 8, so that the rear part is slightly inclined lower than the front part and is stationary. Note that a spring or the like may be used instead of the fixed weight 7 as a return unit that returns the keyboard 2 to the key release position.

The touch weight control mechanism 3 includes a guide case 9 (guide material) provided at the rear of the keyboard 2 and a movable weight 10 housed in the guide case 9. The guide case 9 is integrally attached to a rear end portion of the upper surface of the keyboard 2 via a mounting plate 9a, extends rearward from near the balance pin 4 in parallel with the keyboard 2, and a rear end portion extends rearward from the keyboard 2. It protrudes. The guide case 9 is made of resin or the like, and is formed in a hollow shape having a uniform square cross section as shown in FIG.

The movable weight 10 is a spherical member made of a steel ball or the like, has a diameter that fits almost exactly in the guide case 9, and has little play except in the front-rear direction. Are smoothly rolled in the front-rear direction.

Next, the operation of the keyboard device 1 having the above configuration will be described. First, when the keyboard 2 is at the key release position shown in FIG. 2, as described above, the keyboard 2 comes into contact with the keyboard pillow 8 by the action of the fixed weight 7, and is slightly inclined obliquely downward. Also, the guide case 9 parallel to the keyboard 2 is similarly inclined, so that the movable weight 10 is
And is located at the initial position A0, which is the last position.

When the front part of the keyboard 2 is depressed from this key release position (arrow C in FIG. 2), the rear part and the guide case 9 rotate upward as shown in FIG. Numeral 10 moves forward from the initial position A0 by a moving amount corresponding to the key pressing speed. More specifically, when the key pressing speed of the keyboard 2 is high, that is, when the keyboard 2 is hit hard, the centrifugal force acting on the movable weight 10 is large and the key pressing time is short. It does not move and remains at the initial position A0. At this time, the distance L between the balance pin 4 and the movable weight 10 becomes the maximum distance LMAX, and the moment of inertia around the balance pin 4 and therefore the touch weight becomes maximum, so that a heavy touch feeling can be obtained.

On the other hand, when the key pressing speed of the keyboard is low, that is, when the keyboard 2 is lightly hit, the centrifugal force acting on the movable weight 10 is small and the key pressing time is long. It moves largely forward along 9 and reaches a position A1 which is the foremost position of the guide case 9. Therefore, the distance L between the balance pin 4 and the movable weight 10 is the minimum distance LMIN, and the moment of inertia around the balance pin 4 is minimized. Expression can be easily performed. When the key pressing speed of the keyboard 2 is medium, the movable weight 10 moves to the intermediate position A2 between the positions A0 and A1 according to the key pressing speed, and the distance L becomes the intermediate distance LMED. , An intermediate touch weight is obtained.

As described above, according to the keyboard device 1 of the present embodiment, when the keyboard 2 is depressed, the movable weight 10 moves by a moving amount corresponding to the key depressing speed of the keyboard 2, thereby providing a touch weight. Is heavy when the keyboard 2 is hit strongly and light when the keyboard 2 is lightly hit,
It is possible to obtain a good touch feeling that matches a normal acoustic piano. Further, such a good touch feeling can be realized with a relatively simple configuration in which the movable weight 10 is guided by the guide case 9. Also,
Since the guide case 9 is provided directly on the keyboard 2,
The responsiveness of the movement of the movable weight 10 is also good.

FIG. 4 shows a keyboard device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The keyboard device 1 has a movable weight 1 of the touch weight control mechanism 3 as compared with the first embodiment described above.
The only difference is the configuration of 0 and a guide member for guiding the same. Specifically, the guide member includes a pair of left and right guide rails 12, 12 each having a guide groove 11 extending in the front-rear direction. In addition, movable weight 10
Is composed of a disk-shaped main body 10a and pins 10b (only one is shown) protruding from both surfaces thereof. The pins 10b roll along the guide grooves 11 of the guide rails 12 to be movable. The weight 10 moves in the front-back direction. Therefore, also in this embodiment, when the keyboard 2 is depressed, the movable weight 10 moves by a moving amount corresponding to the key depressing speed, so that exactly the same effects as in the first embodiment described above can be obtained.

FIG. 5 shows a modification of the first embodiment. This modification is different from the first embodiment in that the movable weight 1
The lower surface of the guide case 9 which is the rolling path of No. 0 is engaged with the movable weight 10 at a position corresponding to the initial position of the movable weight 10 and at a position away from the initial position by a predetermined distance. The first and second concave portions 13 and 14 are formed respectively.

According to this modification, when the keyboard 2 is at the key release position, the movable weight 10 is stably held at the initial position because the movable weight 10 has fallen into the first concave portion 13, and the keyboard 2 is When the key is pressed, the movable weight 10 can be appropriately moved from the initial position to a position corresponding to the key pressing speed. When the keyboard 2 is depressed, the movable weight 10
When it has moved a predetermined distance forward from its initial position, it falls into the second recess 14. At that time, the movable weight 10 floats from the lower surface of the guide case 9 for a moment, and the touch weight is felt lightly, so that a feeling similar to the let-off feeling of an acoustic piano can be obtained.

FIG. 6 shows a modification of the second embodiment. This modified example has the same purpose as the modified example of FIG. 5 described above, and is different from the second embodiment in that the lower edge of the guide groove 11 of the guide rail 12 which is the rolling path of the movable weight 10 is The first and second concave portions 15 and 16 with which the pins 10b engage so as to fall are formed at similar positions. Therefore, in this modified example, the same effect as that of the modified example in FIG. 5 can be obtained.

The present invention can be implemented in various modes without being limited to the embodiments described above.
For example, the configuration of the touch weight control mechanism 3, that is, the movable weight 10 and the guide member for guiding the movable weight 10 can have any configuration other than that exemplified in the embodiment. Also,
In the embodiment, the touch weight control mechanism 3 is provided on the keyboard 2, but when the keyboard device is of a type with a hammer, it may be provided on the hammer.

Further, the embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to an electronic piano so as to obtain a touch feeling similar to that of an acoustic piano. Keyboard instruments other than keyboard instruments,
For example, the present invention can be applied not only to an organ or the like, but also to a simple action replacing a complicated action of an acoustic piano. Others
The configuration of the details can be changed appropriately within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[0033]

As described above in detail, the keyboard device of the keyboard instrument according to the present invention has a relatively simple structure, whereby a good touch feeling can be obtained in accordance with the strength of key depression on the keyboard. have.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a keyboard device of an electronic piano according to a first embodiment of the present invention in a key pressed state.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the keyboard device of FIG. 1 in a key release state.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a touch weight control mechanism of the keyboard device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view showing a touch weight control mechanism of a keyboard device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view showing a modification of the touch weight control mechanism of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a partial perspective view showing a modification of the touch weight control mechanism of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Keyboard apparatus 2 Keyboard 3 Touch weight control mechanism 4 Balance pin 7 Fixed weight 9 Guide case 10 Movable weight 11 Guide groove 12 Guide rail 13 First concave part 14 Second concave part 15 First concave part 16 Second concave part

Claims (7)

[Claims] A keyboard extending in the front-rear direction and rotatably supported by a fulcrum; and applying a moment of inertia around the fulcrum to the keyboard in a direction opposite to the key-pressing direction. A movable weight movable in the front-rear direction so as to change the moment of inertia; and a keyboard device for a keyboard musical instrument. 2. The movable weight is located at an initial position when the keyboard is at a key release position, and moves by an amount corresponding to a key pressing speed from the initial position with a key being pressed. The keyboard device for a keyboard instrument according to claim 1, wherein the keyboard device is configured as follows. 3. The movable weight is configured to move in a direction in which the moment of inertia decreases as a key is pressed on the keyboard, and the amount of movement from the initial position is determined by pressing the keyboard. 3. The keyboard device for a keyboard instrument according to claim 2, wherein the key speed is set to increase as the key speed decreases. 4. A central portion of the keyboard is rotatably supported at the fulcrum, and a guide member extending in the front-rear direction is integrally provided at a portion of the keyboard behind the fulcrum. 4. The keyboard device for a keyboard instrument according to claim 3, wherein said movable weight is mounted so as to be rollable in the front-rear direction along said guide member. 5. The first guide member has a rolling path on which the movable weight rolls, and the movable weight is engaged with a position of the rolling path corresponding to an initial position of the movable weight.
The keyboard device for a keyboard instrument according to claim 4, wherein a concave portion is formed. 6. A second recess in which the movable weight is engaged is formed at a position at a predetermined distance from the first recess of the rolling path in front of the first recess. A keyboard device for a keyboard instrument according to claim 1. 7. The keyboard device for a keyboard instrument according to claim 2, further comprising a return unit for returning the keyboard to a key release position.