US3580979A - Electronic musical keyer with touch responsive volume control employing a mechanical electrical transducer - Google Patents

Electronic musical keyer with touch responsive volume control employing a mechanical electrical transducer Download PDF

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Publication number
US3580979A
US3580979A US848544A US3580979DA US3580979A US 3580979 A US3580979 A US 3580979A US 848544 A US848544 A US 848544A US 3580979D A US3580979D A US 3580979DA US 3580979 A US3580979 A US 3580979A
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United States
Prior art keywords
lever
key
pivot shaft
free end
distance
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Expired - Lifetime
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US848544A
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English (en)
Inventor
Hiroshi Amano
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Nippon Gakki Co Ltd
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Nippon Gakki Co Ltd
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    • G—PHYSICS
    • G10—MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; ACOUSTICS
    • G10H—ELECTROPHONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS; INSTRUMENTS IN WHICH THE TONES ARE GENERATED BY ELECTROMECHANICAL MEANS OR ELECTRONIC GENERATORS, OR IN WHICH THE TONES ARE SYNTHESISED FROM A DATA STORE
    • G10H1/00—Details of electrophonic musical instruments
    • G10H1/02—Means for controlling the tone frequencies, e.g. attack or decay; Means for producing special musical effects, e.g. vibratos or glissandos
    • G10H1/04—Means for controlling the tone frequencies, e.g. attack or decay; Means for producing special musical effects, e.g. vibratos or glissandos by additional modulation
    • G10H1/053—Means for controlling the tone frequencies, e.g. attack or decay; Means for producing special musical effects, e.g. vibratos or glissandos by additional modulation during execution only
    • G10H1/055—Means for controlling the tone frequencies, e.g. attack or decay; Means for producing special musical effects, e.g. vibratos or glissandos by additional modulation during execution only by switches with variable impedance elements
    • G10H1/0555—Means for controlling the tone frequencies, e.g. attack or decay; Means for producing special musical effects, e.g. vibratos or glissandos by additional modulation during execution only by switches with variable impedance elements using magnetic or electromagnetic means
    • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
    • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
    • Y10S84/00—Music
    • Y10S84/07—Electric key switch structure

Definitions

  • a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument comprising a plurality of keys, a lever located under each of the keys, the lever being swingably supported at one end by a pivot shaft and provided with a weight at the other free end, a mechanical-electrical transducer including a movable magnetic sensor attached to the free end of the lever and a fixed magnet disposed in such position that the magnet applies varied efiects on the sensor depending on the relative positions thereof, a drive member fixed on the key to transmit the depression of the key to the lever, and a bridle rod fixed to the key to return the lever when the key is released, the lever being provided in relation to the pivot shaft with sufficient friction force to hold the lever in a depressed position in accordance with the key depressing strength.
  • volume 1 controllers such as an expression controller, which is manually operated separately of the keys, but satisfactory expression cannot be obtained by such a volume controller.
  • the present invention provides a keyboard for an electronic musical instrument including a plurality of keys pivotally supported at their one end, which comprises, in association with each of the keys, a lever located below said key and pivotally mounted at its one end on a pivot shaft in frictional engagement therewith, a weight acting near the free end of said lever, a mechanical-electrical transducer including a movable element attached to the free end of said lever and a fixed element fixed in such position that it applies a varied effect on said movable element depending on the position thereof, said transducer being connected in a sound producing circuit of the electronic musical instrument, whereby if the key is depressed with soft touch strength the free end of the lever is lowered to a position corresponding to the depressed position of said key so that one of said elements of the transducer has relatively small effect on the other element, while if the key is depressed with strong touch strength the free end of the lever is lowered under the action of said weight beyond the position corresponding to the depressed position of the key so that one of the elements of the transducer
  • a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument including a plurality of keys pivotally supported at their one end, which comprises, in association with each of said keys, a lever located near said key and pivotally mounted at its one end on a pivot shaft in frictional engagement therewith, a weight acting near the free end of said lever, a mechanicalelectrical transducer including a movable element attached to the free end of said lever and a fixed element fixed in such position that it applies varied effect on said movable element depending on the position thereof, said transducer being connected in a sound producing circuit of the electronic musical instrument, a drive member fixed ori the underside of the key to transmit the depression of the key to said lever, a bridle rod fixed on said key to return the lever when the key is released, the above parts being arranged to meet the following conditions:
  • a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument of the above type in which the weight is directly attached near the free end of said lever.
  • a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument of the above type in which the weight is attached to a free end of a leaf spring fixed at its base end and disposed to act near the free end of the lever.
  • the key when the key is depressed with weak touch strength, the key depresses the lever downward through the drive member against the frictional engagement between the lever and the pivot shaft, thus producing sounds with relatively decreased volume.
  • the lever When the key is depressed with strong touch strength, the lever is moved further downward under the action of the weight and the downward displacement of the lever depends on the strength of the touch, so that the distance between the elements of the transducer is rapidly reduced thus increasing the volume of the sound produced.
  • the lever When the key is released, the lever is returned to its original position by the bridle rod, thus ceasing the generation of sound.
  • the present invention provides a touch sensitive effect, which is maintained while the key is depressed, and consequently the expression of the electronic musical instruments can be substantially improved.
  • the weight is .not directly attached to the lever but is mounted on a separate leaf spring, the weight of the lever can be reduced and consequently the friction required at the engagement between the lever and the pivot shaft can be reduced so that irregularities in friction between the levers and the pivot shaft do not cause serious problems in practical use.
  • FIG. 1 is a partly broken side view of the keyboard device according to one embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a partly broken plan view showing a lever shown in FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 3 is a partly broken side view showing the operation of the keyboard device shown in FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 4 is a partly broken side view showing another embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 5 is a partly broken side view showing the operation of the keyboard device shown in FIG. 4;
  • FIG. 6 is a partly broken side view showing a further embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the relationship of the movement of parts shown in FIG. 1;
  • FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating relationship of movement of parts shown in FIG. 6;
  • FIG. 9 is a partly broken side view showing a further embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 10 is a plan view of a leaf spring shown in FIG. 9;
  • FIG. 11 is a plan view of a lever shown in FIG. 9.
  • FIG. 12 is a side view showing the operation of the device shown in FIG. 9.
  • the keyboard device includes apin block I for pivotally supporting the rear end of the keyboard, pins 2 fixed on the upper surface of said pin block, keys 3 each pivotally supported by pin 2, a washer 4 interposed between the keys and the pin block, hook members 5 each projecting from the backward end of the key, springs 6 each connected 3 between the hook member and the pin block to hold the keyin its raised position and a stopper 7 for limiting the downward movement of the keys.
  • a lever 9 is disposed below each of said keys 3 and pivotally mounted at its one end on a pivot shaft 8 in frictional engagement therewith.
  • the end of the lever is formed with a pair of legs between which the pivot shaft 8 is held and an adjusting screw 10 is arranged to pull the legs together. The friction between the lever and the pivot shaft is so adjusted that the free end of the lever cannot drop downward by the action of its own gravity.
  • a mechanical-electrical transducer such as a magof a magnet 15.
  • the transducer is connected in a switching circuit of the electronic musical instrument.
  • a bridle rod 16 is fixed to the underside of the key 3.
  • the bridle rod 16 passes through a hole 17 in the lever 9 and has a nut 18 which is threadedly engaged on the lower end of said rod and bears against the underside of the lever through a cushioning member 19.
  • the bridle rod 16 serves to hold the lever 9 by means of the nut 18 in the raised position shown in FIG. I, and when the key is depressed the bridle lever is lowered to permit the lowering of said lever 9.
  • The'key 3, the lever 9 and the bridle rod 16 are arranged in such relationship that when the key 3 is depressed the bridle lever 16 islowereda greater distance than that of the lever 9 being lowered by the drive member 11, shown in FIG. 7.
  • FIG. 7 A-the fulcrum of the key 3,
  • the key 3 is depressed until it comes into contact with the stopper 7.
  • the key 3 is stopped by the stopper 7 and simultaneously the lever 9 is stopped at the position shown by 9 in FIG. 3. In such position the element 14 and the magnet cooperate to produce sound with a relatively small constant volume.
  • the lever 9 continues to descend, after the key 3 has been stopped by the stopper 7, by the action of the weight'I3 for the distance I into the position shown by 9" in FIG. 3.
  • FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, which is substantially identical with the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 except that the lever 9 is so arranged as to move upward.
  • the similar parts as thoseshown in the first embodiment are designated by same numerals as used in FIG. I, so that the'construction shown in FIG. 4 will be clearly understood.
  • the numeral 20' designates a bearing for supporting the pivot shaft 8.
  • FIG. 4 The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is substantially identical with that of the embodiment shownin FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the lever 9 is moved to the position 9' with a weak touch strength, while it is moved to the position 9" with a strong touch strength, thereby obtaining the touchsensitive effect.
  • FIG. 6 shows a third embodiment of the presentinvention, which is substantially identical with the embodiment of FIG. I except that the lever 9 is arranged in the opposite sense with respectto that of the key 3.
  • the similar parts as those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same numerals as used in FIG. 1, so that the construction of this embodiment will be clearly understood.
  • the fulcrum A of a key 3, the fulcrum B of a lever 9, the position C of a bridle rod 16 and the position D of a drive member 11 are so arranged as to meet the relationship as shown in FIG. 8. Under such conditions, when the key 3 is depressed for the distance L, lever 9 is given a freely movable distance I. It will be seen by comparing FIGS.
  • the distance l'shown in FIG. 8 is substantially longer than the distance 1 shown in FIG. 7 if the overall length of the key of the former isidentical with that of thelatter. Consequently, the device shown in FIG. 6 can be constructed in substantially smaller size than that shown in FIG. 1 if the same distance I is to be obtained. 1
  • FIGS. 9I2 show a fourth embodiment of the present invention, which is substantially identical with that shown in FIG. I except that a weight 21 is not fixed in a lever 9 but it is attached to the free end of a separate leaf spring 22 so that the weight acts on the lever near its free end.
  • a weight 21 is not fixed in a lever 9 but it is attached to the free end of a separate leaf spring 22 so that the weight acts on the lever near its free end.
  • the similar parts as those in FIG. I are designated by the same numerals as used in FIG. I.
  • the weight 21 is designed to act on a lever 9, which has a magnetic sensitive element 14 at its free end and is pivotally mounted at its base end on a pivot shaft 8 with frictional engagement therewith.
  • the weight 21 is moved downward more or less, depending on a weak or strong touch strength applied on the key 3, to push the lever 9 downward.
  • the lever 9 is held in the position corresponding to maximum displacement of the weight 21 even after said weight is returned by the action of the leaf spring 22, thereby producing sound of the volume corresponding to the position of the lever 9.
  • the lever is returned to its original position by a bridle rod 16 to stop the sound production.
  • a keyboard device for an electronic musical instrument comprising a plurality of keys swingable about a fulcrum, a lever located near each of said keys, a pivot shaft swingably supporting said lever, a weight disposed near the free end of said lever, a mechanical-electrical transducer including a movable element attached to the free end of said lever and a fixed element disposed in such position that one of said movable and fixed elements applies varied effects on the other of said elements depending on .the relative positions thereof, drive means disposed on said key to transmit the depression of said key tosaid lever, a bridle rod disposed on said key to return said lever when said key is released, and means providing friction force between said lever and said pivot shaft, said friction force being sufficient to hold said lever in a depressed position in accordance with the key depressing strength, said key, lever, pivot shaft, drive means and bridle rod being arranged to meet the following conditions:
  • a keyboard device in which the weight is directly attached to the free end of the lever.
  • a keyboard device further comprising a leaf spring having one end fixed and a free end disposed between said drive member and said levcr, said free end being provided with said weight.
  • said friction force means includes a pair of legs formed at the end of said lever substantially opposite the free end thereof, said legs holding said pivot shaft therebetween, and an adjusting screw means connecting said legs to provide adjustable frictional engagement between said legs and said pivot shaft.

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  • Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
  • Electromagnetism (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Acoustics & Sound (AREA)
  • Multimedia (AREA)
  • Electrophonic Musical Instruments (AREA)
US848544A 1968-08-13 1969-08-08 Electronic musical keyer with touch responsive volume control employing a mechanical electrical transducer Expired - Lifetime US3580979A (en)

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Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP43057087A JPS4815866B1 (enExample) 1968-08-13 1968-08-13

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Cited By (12)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3708605A (en) * 1969-06-28 1973-01-02 Nippon Musical Instruments Mfg Magnetically operated keying device for an electronic musical instrument with touch responsive control
US3903780A (en) * 1974-05-29 1975-09-09 Farfisa Spa Keyboard for musical instruments with inertial effect of the keys
JPS50150319U (enExample) * 1974-05-28 1975-12-13
US3965791A (en) * 1974-06-19 1976-06-29 The Wurlitzer Company Stop tablet assembly
US3979990A (en) * 1974-05-28 1976-09-14 Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha Keyboard arrangement in electronic musical instrument
WO1980001427A1 (en) * 1979-01-02 1980-07-10 Arp Instr Piano-action keyboard
US4217803A (en) * 1979-01-02 1980-08-19 Arp Instruments, Inc. Piano-action keyboard
US4580478A (en) * 1984-02-06 1986-04-08 Bitronics, Inc. Musical keyboard using planar coil arrays
US4587877A (en) * 1983-11-25 1986-05-13 Matth Hohner Ag Key board system for an electronic musical instrument
EP0263494A3 (en) * 1986-10-06 1990-02-07 Yamaha Corporation Keyboard apparatus of electronic musical instrument
US20070234890A1 (en) * 2006-03-24 2007-10-11 Masayoshi Yamashita Key driving apparatus and keyboard musical instrument
US20090282962A1 (en) * 2008-05-13 2009-11-19 Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. Piano With Key Movement Detection System

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS6210022U (enExample) * 1985-06-28 1987-01-21

Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2296125A (en) * 1941-05-06 1942-09-15 John L Traub Automatic volume control for keyboard operated musical instruments
US2321366A (en) * 1943-06-08 Electric carillon
GB821174A (en) * 1957-03-25 1959-09-30 Albert Sluyter Improvements in musical instruments
US3248470A (en) * 1963-04-24 1966-04-26 Allen Organ Co Electronic piano having means responsive to the velocity of the action
US3255293A (en) * 1963-10-30 1966-06-07 Walker Francis Lee Magnetic control means for an electronic musical instrument
US3353030A (en) * 1961-01-13 1967-11-14 Michel Adolf Keying devices, particularly for electrical musical instruments
US3453371A (en) * 1965-11-29 1969-07-01 Allen Organ Co Musical instrument with time delay characteristics
GB1162449A (en) * 1967-04-08 1969-08-27 Philips Electronic Associated Circuit Arrangements for Imitating the Touch of Percussive Musical Instruments.
GB1164422A (en) * 1967-04-08 1969-09-17 Philips Electronic Associated Circuit Arrangements for Imitating the Touch of Percussive Musical Instruments

Patent Citations (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2321366A (en) * 1943-06-08 Electric carillon
US2296125A (en) * 1941-05-06 1942-09-15 John L Traub Automatic volume control for keyboard operated musical instruments
GB821174A (en) * 1957-03-25 1959-09-30 Albert Sluyter Improvements in musical instruments
US3353030A (en) * 1961-01-13 1967-11-14 Michel Adolf Keying devices, particularly for electrical musical instruments
US3248470A (en) * 1963-04-24 1966-04-26 Allen Organ Co Electronic piano having means responsive to the velocity of the action
US3255293A (en) * 1963-10-30 1966-06-07 Walker Francis Lee Magnetic control means for an electronic musical instrument
US3453371A (en) * 1965-11-29 1969-07-01 Allen Organ Co Musical instrument with time delay characteristics
GB1162449A (en) * 1967-04-08 1969-08-27 Philips Electronic Associated Circuit Arrangements for Imitating the Touch of Percussive Musical Instruments.
GB1164422A (en) * 1967-04-08 1969-09-17 Philips Electronic Associated Circuit Arrangements for Imitating the Touch of Percussive Musical Instruments

Cited By (13)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US3708605A (en) * 1969-06-28 1973-01-02 Nippon Musical Instruments Mfg Magnetically operated keying device for an electronic musical instrument with touch responsive control
JPS50150319U (enExample) * 1974-05-28 1975-12-13
US3979990A (en) * 1974-05-28 1976-09-14 Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha Keyboard arrangement in electronic musical instrument
US3903780A (en) * 1974-05-29 1975-09-09 Farfisa Spa Keyboard for musical instruments with inertial effect of the keys
US3965791A (en) * 1974-06-19 1976-06-29 The Wurlitzer Company Stop tablet assembly
US4217803A (en) * 1979-01-02 1980-08-19 Arp Instruments, Inc. Piano-action keyboard
WO1980001427A1 (en) * 1979-01-02 1980-07-10 Arp Instr Piano-action keyboard
US4587877A (en) * 1983-11-25 1986-05-13 Matth Hohner Ag Key board system for an electronic musical instrument
US4580478A (en) * 1984-02-06 1986-04-08 Bitronics, Inc. Musical keyboard using planar coil arrays
EP0263494A3 (en) * 1986-10-06 1990-02-07 Yamaha Corporation Keyboard apparatus of electronic musical instrument
US20070234890A1 (en) * 2006-03-24 2007-10-11 Masayoshi Yamashita Key driving apparatus and keyboard musical instrument
US7547833B2 (en) * 2006-03-24 2009-06-16 Yamaha Corporation Key driving apparatus and keyboard musical instrument
US20090282962A1 (en) * 2008-05-13 2009-11-19 Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. Piano With Key Movement Detection System

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
JPS4815866B1 (enExample) 1973-05-17

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