Electronic keyboard instrument

Abstract

To provide an electronic keyboard musical instrument capable of suppressing rattle and deflection, which occur in a housing.SOLUTION: An electronic keyboard musical instrument 10 includes: a substantially rectangular housing 12 having a bottom 12b facing an installation face; and a keyboard which is provided in the housing 12 and has a plurality of keys arranged in a longitudinal direction of the housing 12. The bottom 12b includes: a plurality of fixing legs 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d which protrude from the bottom 12b to an installation face side and contact the installation face to support the housing 12 from below; and first adjustment legs 22L and 22R which protrude from the bottom 12b to the installation face side at the outside of the fixing legs 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d in the arranging direction of the keys and are arranged apart from the installation face.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic keyboard instrument.

Background Art

[0002] An electronic keyboard instrument is used by being placed on a table or the like. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an electronic keyboard instrument provided with four rubber legs at the bottom. The rubber legs contact a horizontal placement surface and support the housing of the electronic keyboard instrument. When the housing deflects due to a player's key strike, there is a risk that the playability of the electronic keyboard instrument will deteriorate, such as contact between adjacent keyboards or different key strike sensations depending on the position of the keyboard. Therefore, a measure to suppress the deflection of the housing by increasing the number of legs is generally taken. On the other hand, since the housing can be minimally supported by three to four legs, excessive increase in the number of legs tends to cause rattling in the housing. Suppression of rattling in the housing and suppression of deflection are in a trade-off relationship. Although the amount of deflection of the housing varies somewhat depending on the material of the housing, such problems generally occur when the length of the housing in the longitudinal direction is relatively large.

[0003] Here, as an electronic keyboard instrument, an electronic keyboard instrument provided with 61 keyboards including white keys and black keys (hereinafter referred to as a "61-keyboard model") is known. In this type of electronic keyboard instrument, fixed legs that contact the placement surface (always support the housing 12) are respectively arranged at the four corners of the bottom facing the placement surface, and two adjustment legs may be respectively arranged at the center of the bottom of the housing at positions spaced apart from the placement surface in a state where the player is not striking the keys, in the front and rear. The adjustment legs contact the placement surface and support the central part of the housing when the housing deflects toward the placement surface side due to a player's key strike. In this way, the adjustment legs suppress excessive deflection of the housing and improve playability. Further, since the adjustment legs do not contact the placement surface when the housing does not deflect, they are unlikely to cause rattling in the housing. In this way, the fixed legs and the adjustment legs achieve both suppression of rattling in the housing and suppression of deflection.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-215156 [Overview of the Initiative] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0005] Even in electronic keyboard instruments with more keys than the aforementioned models with a relatively small number of keys, it is assumed that, as with conventional models, fixed feet will be placed at the four corners of the bottom and adjustable feet in the center to uniformly support the casing and suppress wobbling. However, in electronic keyboard instruments with many keys, the length in the left-right direction (longitudinal direction) where the keys are arranged is longer than in models with a relatively small number of keys, so the center of the casing is more prone to bending (better bending) than in conventional models. Therefore, even if fixed feet are placed at the four corners, the large amount of bending in the center can cause adjacent keys to come into contact with each other. Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an electronic keyboard instrument that can suppress rattling and bending that occurs in the housing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An electronic keyboard instrument according to one embodiment of the present invention is A roughly rectangular housing having a bottom facing the mounting surface, The enclosure is provided with a keyboard having a plurality of keys arranged in the longitudinal direction of the enclosure, The bottom portion has a plurality of fixing legs that protrude from the bottom portion toward the aforementioned mounting surface and contact the aforementioned mounting surface to support the housing from below, and a first adjustment leg that protrudes from the bottom portion toward the aforementioned mounting surface and is positioned apart from the aforementioned mounting surface on the outside of the fixing legs in the direction of the arrangement of the keys. death , The fixed leg and the first adjustment leg are positioned below any of the multiple keys. . [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electronic keyboard instrument that can suppress rattling and bending that occurs in the housing. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This is a perspective view of the keyboard model according to the embodiment, seen from above. [Figure 2] This is a perspective view of the keyboard model according to the embodiment, seen from below. [Figure 3] This is a cross-sectional view of a keyboard model according to an embodiment, and is a cross-sectional view of the III-III section shown in Figure 1. [Figure 4] (a) is a top view of the keyboard model according to the embodiment, (b) is a front view of the keyboard model according to the embodiment, and (c) is a bottom view of the keyboard model according to the embodiment. [Figure 5] This is a partial front view of a keyboard model according to an embodiment, showing the positional relationship between the fixed legs, the adjustable legs, and the mounting surface. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0009] The structure of a keyboard model (electronic keyboard instrument) 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 5. In this embodiment, a keyboard model 10 equipped with a keyboard 14 having 76 keys is provided as an example. The keyboard model 10 shown in Figure 1 comprises a housing 12 and a keyboard 14 having a plurality of keys arranged in the longitudinal direction of the housing 12. The group of keys 14C located between the sixth white key 14aL from the left and the sixth white key 14aR from the right (inside) is a keyboard corresponding to the range of a conventional 61-key model, and is a range that is struck relatively frequently compared to the group of keys 14L located to the left (outside) of the sixth white key 14aL from the left and the group of keys 14R located to the right (outside) of the sixth white key 14aR from the right. In the following explanation, as shown in Figure 1, the direction of arrangement of the keys on the keyboard 14 is defined as the left-right direction (the left side of Figure 1 is defined as the left direction), and the direction in which the keys on the keyboard 14 extend is defined as the front-back direction (the front side of Figure 1 is defined as the front direction). The left-right direction and the front-back direction are orthogonal. The direction that is orthogonal to the left-right direction and the front-back direction is defined as the up-down direction (the top side of Figure 1 is defined as the up direction).

[0010] As shown in Figure 1, the housing 12 has a roughly rectangular shape with the left-right direction as its longitudinal direction. The housing 12 has an upper cover 12a and a bottom part 12b. Specifically, the housing 12 is divided into an upper cover 12a and a bottom part 12b. The upper cover 12a and the bottom part 12b are each made of resin material. A circuit board (not shown) and the like are housed inside the housing 12. The upper cover 12a has a roughly U-shape that opens towards the front when viewed from above. The upper cover 12a has a left end 12aL, a right end 12aR and a middle part 12aC. The left end 12aL and the right end 12aR are roughly rectangular parallelepipeds that extend in the front-back direction. The middle part 12aC is roughly rectangular parallelepiped that extends in the left-right direction. Therefore, the left end 12aL, the right end 12aR, and the intermediate section 12aC each have a top surface, left surface, right surface, front surface, and rear surface, respectively. The left surface of the intermediate section 12aC is connected to the upper end of the right surface of the left end 12aL. The right surface of the intermediate section 12aC is connected to the upper end of the left surface of the right end 12aR. The top surfaces of the intermediate section 12aC, the left end 12aL, and the right end 12aR are slightly inclined downwards from rear to front.

[0011] On the upper front of the middle section 12aC, various operation switches 26, including a power switch, are arranged horizontally. A volume dial 28 is provided to the left of the operation switches 26. In the space between the keyboard 14 and the bottom section 12b, a known key striking mechanism is provided to achieve key striking intervals and tones close to those of a real piano when the performer strikes each key of the keyboard 14. In addition, speaker boxes 16LB and 16RB (see Figure 1, etc.) are installed inside the left and right sides of the middle section 12aC, respectively. The speaker boxes 16LB and 16RB are roughly rectangular in shape with the left-right direction as the longitudinal direction. Speakers (sound-emitting members) 16L and 16R are housed inside the speaker boxes 16LB and 16RB, respectively. Since keyboard model 10 has a relatively large number of keys, it is expected that speaker boxes 16LB and 16RB will also extend in the longitudinal direction. However, if the fixed legs are located at the four corners of the housing 12, excessive bending may occur in speaker boxes 16LB and 16RB along with the bending of the housing 12, potentially causing deformation or damage to speakers 16L and 16R. Therefore, speaker 16L is positioned near fixed legs 20a and 20c, and speaker 16R is positioned near fixed legs 20c and 20d. Specifically, speakers 16L and 16R are positioned near the line segment connecting fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d. More specifically, as shown in Figure 4(c), in a plan view, a portion of speaker 16L overlaps with the line segment connecting fixed leg 20a and fixed leg 20b. In a plan view, a portion of speaker 16R overlaps with the line segment connecting the fixed legs 20c and 20d. Speakers 16L and 16R are particularly firmly supported in the front-to-back direction and are less susceptible to the effects of deflection occurring in the housing 12. Speakers 16L and 16R are, for example, sealed speakers with a sealed section. Speaker grilles (not shown) corresponding to speakers 16L and 16R are provided on the left and right sides of the upper surface of the intermediate section 12aC, respectively.

[0012] As shown in Figures 2 and 4(b) and (c), the bottom portion 12b is a plate-like member extending in the left-right direction, and faces the mounting surface LS (see Figure 5) when the keyboard model 10 is placed on the mounting surface LS. The bottom portion 12b has a handle 18, a plurality of fixing legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d, a plurality of first adjustment legs 22L and 22R, and a plurality of second adjustment legs 24F and 24B. The handle 18 is located at the central rear end of the bottom portion 12b. When viewed from below, the handle 18 has a roughly rectangular shape with the left-right direction as its longitudinal direction and is recessed.

[0013] The fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d are flat, cylindrical members that extend in the vertical direction. The fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d protrude downward from the bottom 12b (towards the mounting surface LS). Specifically, the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d are arranged on the bottom 12b in the left-right direction such that the line segments connecting the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d form a rectangle RS that extends along the longitudinal direction of the housing. Fixed leg 20a is located on the left front part of the bottom 12b, and fixed leg 20c is located on the right front part of the bottom 12b. More specifically, fixed leg 20a overlaps with the front end of the sixth white key 14aL from the left when viewed from above, and fixed leg 20c overlaps with the front end of the sixth white key 14aR from the right when viewed from above. Furthermore, the fixed leg 20b is located on the left rear of the base 12b, and the fixed leg 20d is located on the right rear of the base 12b. In other words, the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d are not positioned below the keys at the outermost (leftmost and rightmost) ends. If fixed legs were placed at the four corners of the housing 12, which has a relatively large number of keys, the amount of deflection in the central part would become excessively large, potentially impairing contact between adjacent keys and the uniform feel of keystrokes. Therefore, the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d are positioned so as to maximize the distance between them while keeping within the acceptable range of deflection of the housing 12.

[0014] As shown in Figure 5, the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d are always in contact with the mounting surface LS when the keyboard model 10 is placed on the mounting surface LS, thereby supporting the housing 12 from below. The material of the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d is, for example, an elastic material such as rubber. Therefore, even if the mounting surface LS has unevenness, the elastic deformation of the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d mitigates the unevenness of the mounting surface LS, and rattling of the housing 12 is suppressed.

[0015] The fixed leg 20b is located near the speaker 16L, and the fixed leg 20d is located near the speaker 16R. Since the fixed legs 20b and 20d are always in contact with the mounting surface LS, the portion of the housing 12 near the fixed legs 20b and 20d is less prone to bending.

[0016] The first adjustment legs 22L and 22R are flat, cylindrical members that extend in the vertical direction. The first adjustment legs 22L and 22R protrude downward from the bottom 12b (towards the mounting surface LS) and are spaced apart from the mounting surface LS. Specifically, when viewed from below, the first adjustment legs 22L and 22R are positioned symmetrically on the bottom 12b, outside the rectangle RS that extends in the left-right direction, formed by the line segments connecting the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d (in other words, outside the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d in the left-right direction). More specifically, the first adjustment leg 22L is positioned below the outermost (leftmost) key and in front of the key in the direction of extension. The first adjustment leg 22R is positioned below the outermost (rightmost) key and in front of the key in the direction of extension. Because the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d are not positioned at the four corners of the housing 12, when the key groups 14L and 14R, which are located outside the fixed legs, are struck, a force acts on the key group 14c that tries to lift it upwards, using the fixed leg as a fulcrum, due to the principle of leverage. By positioning the first adjustment legs 22L and 22R outside the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d, the generation of this lifting force can be suppressed, and a stable keystroke sensation can be obtained.

[0017] The first adjustment feet 22L and 22R come into contact with the mounting surface LS as the housing 12 flexes when the keyboard 14 is keyed. By coming into contact with the mounting surface LS, the first adjustment feet 22L and 22R support the housing 12 with elastic deformation and suppress excessive flexing of the housing 12. As shown in FIG. 2, when the keyboard 14 is not being keyed (when the housing 12 is not flexed), the first adjustment feet 22L and 22R have a slight (e.g., 0.3 mm) first clearance d1 with respect to the mounting surface LS. The material of the first adjustment feet 22L and 22R is, for example, an elastic body such as rubber.

[0018] The second adjustment feet 24F and 24B are flat cylindrical members extending in the vertical direction. The second adjustment feet 24F and 24B project downward (toward the mounting surface LS side) from the bottom 12b and are spaced apart from the mounting surface LS. The second adjustment feet 24F and 24B come into contact with the mounting surface LS as the housing 12 flexes when the keyboard 14 is keyed. By coming into contact with the mounting surface LS, the second adjustment feet 24F and 24B support the housing 12 with elastic deformation and suppress excessive flexing of the housing 12. As shown in FIG. 2, when the keyboard 14 is not being keyed (when the housing 12 is not flexed), the second adjustment feet 24F and 24B have a second clearance d2 that is larger (e.g., 1.5 mm) than the first clearance d1 with respect to the mounting surface LS. The second clearance d2 is larger than the first clearance d1 because the amount of flexing of the housing 12 due to keying depends on the distance from the keying position to the nearest fixed foot. That is, the amount of flexing of the housing 12 is smaller when keying the left end 12aL or the right end 12aR than when keying the middle part 12aC (especially the central keyboard). In the case of the keyboard model (electronic keyboard instrument) 10, the distance from the first adjustment foot 22L to the fixed foot 20a is smaller than the distance from the second adjustment foot 24F to the fixed foot 20a, and the amount of flexing in the vicinity of the first adjustment foot 22L is smaller than the amount of flexing in the vicinity of the second adjustment foot 24F. Therefore, the second clearance d2 is set larger than the first clearance d1. The material of the second adjustment feet 24F and 24B is, for example, an elastic body such as rubber.

[0019] The second adjustment legs 24F and 24B are arranged inside the rectangle RS (inside the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d in the key arrangement direction). Specifically, the second adjustment legs 24F and 24B are respectively arranged at the central part in the key arrangement direction of the bottom 12b and on one side and the other side in the key extension direction. More specifically, the second adjustment leg 24F is located at the front part of the central part in the left-right direction of the bottom 12b. The second adjustment leg 24B is located at the rear part of the central part in the left-right direction of the bottom 12b. In other words, the second adjustment leg 24B is located in front of the handle 18.

[0020] In this way, at the front part of the bottom 12b, from left to right, the first adjustment leg 22L, the fixed leg 20a, the second adjustment leg 24F, the fixed leg 20c, and the first adjustment leg 22R are arranged in this order. At the rear part of the bottom 12b, from left to right, the fixed leg 20b, the second adjustment leg 24B, and the fixed leg 20d are arranged in this order. Note that the height dimensions of the members of the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d, the first adjustment legs 22L and 22R, and the second adjustment legs 24F and 24B are all the same, but they are arranged with different heights at the installation parts on the bottom 12b. Also, when the height dimensions of the members are different (when the height dimensions of the first adjustment legs 22L and 22R and the second adjustment legs 24F and 24B are shorter than the height dimensions of the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d), the material cost can be reduced.

[0021] The keyboard 14 is arranged in the area surrounded by the left end 12aL, the right end 12aR, and the middle part 12aC of the housing 12, and a plurality of keys of the keyboard 14 are arranged in the left-right direction. In other words, the keys of the keyboard 14 are arranged side by side in the left-right direction in front of the middle part 12aC. For example, when the keyboard 14 has 76 keys, it includes 36 white keys 14a and 25 black keys 14b.

[0022] Next, the effects of the keyboard model 10 will be explained. If fixed legs are placed at the four corners of the keyboard model 10 and adjustment legs are placed between these fixed legs, the amount of deflection of the housing 12 will increase, and there is a risk that adjacent keys will come into contact with each other. In other words, there is a limit to the suppression of deflection by placing fixed legs at the four corners of the housing 12 and adjustment legs in between. It is also conceivable to shorten the distance between the central adjustment legs and the mounting surface in order to suppress the amount of deflection, but when the total number of keys becomes large enough, the amount of deflection increases, and the distance between the adjustment legs and the mounting surface must be made excessively small, gradually becoming the same as having fixed legs in the center, and thus the wobbling could not be eliminated. For this reason, in the keyboard model 10 of this embodiment, the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d are arranged so as to maximize the distance between them while keeping within the range of acceptable deflection of the housing 12, and the first adjustment legs 22L and 22R are placed outside the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d. Therefore, rattling and bending in the housing 12 are suppressed.

[0023] In the keyboard model 10 of this embodiment, the four fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d suppress rattling in the housing 12 while reducing material costs compared to cases where there are five or more fixed legs that are always in contact with the mounting surface LS. In addition, the second adjustment legs 24F and 24B suppress excessive bending in the housing 12 caused by striking the key group 14C. Therefore, even though the keyboard model 10 of this embodiment has a key group 14C that is struck relatively frequently, the housing 12 is effectively supported when the keys are struck, and it has playability equivalent to that of a 61-key model.

[0024] Furthermore, in the keyboard model 10 of this embodiment, the first adjustment legs 22L and 22R suppress excessive deflection of the housing 12 caused by striking the key groups 14L and 14R. In addition, at the front of the bottom 12b, adjustment legs (first adjustment leg 22L, second adjustment leg 24B) and fixed legs (fixed legs 20a, fixed legs 20c) are arranged alternately along the left-right direction. At the rear of the bottom 12b, adjustment legs (second adjustment leg 24B) and fixed legs (fixed legs 20b, fixed legs 20d) are arranged alternately along the left-right direction. In this way, by arranging the first adjustment legs 22L and 22R and the second adjustment legs 24F and 24B between the fixed legs 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d that are in contact with the mounting surface LS, excessive deflection of the housing 12 is effectively suppressed. Furthermore, the first adjustment legs 22L and 22R effectively suppress the deflection that occurs in the housing 12, making it possible to minimize the number of adjustment legs and thus reduce manufacturing costs.

[0025] Furthermore, in the keyboard model 10 of this embodiment, the first clearance d1 between the first adjustment legs 22L, 22R and the mounting surface LS when there is no deflection in the housing 12 (when the key groups 14L, 14R are not being struck) is smaller than the second clearance d2 between the second adjustment legs 22F, 22B and the mounting surface LS when there is no deflection in the housing 12. With this configuration, since the keys on the central side of the keyboard 14 are struck more frequently than the keys on the ends of the keyboard 14, the deflection caused by keying in the housing 12 is made uniform. As a result, the performer can obtain a uniform keying feel.

[0026] Generally, speakers 16L and 16R are often placed near the left and right ends of the enclosure to achieve three-dimensional sound and to ensure balanced sound reproduction by assigning low and high frequencies to each speaker. However, speakers 16L and 16R are affected by the deflection of the enclosure 12, which can cause them to deform or break, or cause them to detach due to the resulting gap between them and other components. Therefore, simply placing fixing feet at the four corners of the enclosure would result in a large distance between the fixing feet and speakers 16L and 16R, leading to the problem of speakers 16L and 16R being greatly affected by deflection. In contrast, in the keyboard model 10 of this embodiment, speakers 16L and 16R are firmly supported by being placed near the fixing feet 20a, 20b, 20c, and 20d. Therefore, speakers 16L and 16R are less susceptible to the effects of the bending of the housing 12, and deformation and damage are suppressed.

[0027] Furthermore, since the left hand, which is used for accompaniment, tends to press multiple keys simultaneously and is struck more forcefully, and the keys at the ends are used more frequently, as a modification of the above embodiment, the clearance of the left first adjustment leg 22L from the mounting surface LS may be made larger than the clearance of the right first adjustment leg 22R from the mounting surface LS.

[0028] The embodiments described above are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The present invention may be applied, for example, to an electronic keyboard instrument having a keyboard with 61 or 88 keys. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0029] 10: Keyboard model, 12: Enclosure, 12b: Bottom, 14: Keyboard, 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d: Fixed legs, 22L, 22R: First adjustment leg, LS: Mounting surface

Claims

1. A roughly rectangular housing having a bottom facing the mounting surface, The enclosure is provided with a keyboard having a plurality of keys arranged in the longitudinal direction of the enclosure, The bottom portion has a plurality of fixing legs that protrude from the bottom portion toward the aforementioned mounting surface and contact the aforementioned mounting surface to support the housing from below, and a first adjustment leg that protrudes from the bottom portion toward the aforementioned mounting surface and is positioned apart from the aforementioned mounting surface on the outside of the fixing legs in the direction of the arrangement of the keys, The fixed leg and the first adjustment leg are positioned below any of the plurality of keys. Electronic keyboard instrument.

2. The aforementioned fixing legs are provided in four positions on the bottom, corresponding to each vertex of a virtual rectangle extending along the longitudinal direction of the housing. Each of the aforementioned fixed legs is not positioned below the outermost key among the multiple keys. The first adjustment leg is positioned below the outermost key, The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1.

3. The first adjustment leg is positioned on one side in the extending direction of the key. The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1.

4. The first adjustment leg is positioned on the front side in the extending direction of the key. The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 3.

5. A substantially rectangular housing having a bottom facing the mounting surface, The enclosure is provided with a keyboard having a plurality of keys arranged in the longitudinal direction of the enclosure, The bottom portion has a plurality of fixed legs that protrude from the bottom portion toward the aforementioned mounting surface and contact the aforementioned mounting surface to support the housing from below, a first adjustment leg that protrudes from the bottom portion toward the aforementioned mounting surface and is spaced apart from the aforementioned mounting surface on the outside of the fixed legs in the direction of the key arrangement, and a second adjustment leg that protrudes from the bottom portion toward the aforementioned mounting surface and is spaced apart from the aforementioned mounting surface and is located inside the fixed legs in the direction of the arrangement, The clearance between the first adjustable leg and the aforementioned mounting surface is smaller than the clearance between the second adjustable leg and the aforementioned mounting surface. Electronic keyboard instrument.

6. Having multiple second adjustable legs, The second adjustment leg is positioned in the central part of the bottom in the direction of arrangement, and on one side and the other side in the direction of extension of the key, respectively. The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 5.

7. Equipped with sound-emitting members, The sound-emitting member is provided in the vicinity of the line segment connecting the plurality of fixed legs in a plan view of the housing. The electronic keyboard instrument according to claim 1.

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