Pivot mechanism and keyboard apparatus including the same

A pivot mechanism, comprising:

• a shaft portion;
• a bearing configured to contact an outer circumferential surface of the shaft portion and pivot about a pivot axis;
• and
• a reinforcement protruding from the outer circumferential surface of the shaft portion in a direction orthogonal to a pivot-axis direction,
• wherein the reinforcement is configured such that a position, in the pivot-axis direction, of a boundary of a region in which the outer circumferential surface of the shaft portion contacts the bearing is located between a first end and a second end of the reinforcement in the pivot-axis direction.

A keyboard apparatus, comprising:

• a key;
• a hammer assembly configured to, in response to pressing of the key, pivot about a pivot mechanism comprising (i) a shaft portion, (ii) a bearing configured to contact the shaft portion and pivot about a pivot axis, and (iii) a reinforcement protruding from an outer circumferential surface of the shaft portion, the outer circumferential surface comprising a first region contactable by the bearing in a range of pivotal movement thereof and a second region not comprising the first region in a region opposed to the first region via the pivot axis, the reinforcement extending from at least a portion of the second region to an outside of the bearing in a pivot-axis direction;
• a sensor disposed below the key and configured to detect an operation on the key;
• and
• a sound source section configured to produce a sound waveform signal in response to an output signal of the sensor.