Key and keyboard apparatus
AssigneeYamaha Corporation
InventorsIchiro Osuga, Hiroyasu Abe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A key having a key-depression surface with a woody characteristic and durability without the need of a surface treatment and capable of being formed from a simple-shaped uncompressed wood. A key for use as a black key includes a resin part and a compressed wood part secured at its lower surface to an upper surface of the resin part. The compressed wood part is used to constitute a portion of a key top including an upper surface and positioned above an upper surface of white keys which are in a non-key-depression state. The compressed wood part is obtained by compression molding of unprocessed wood. The compressed density in the vertical direction in the compressed wood part is higher toward rearward from a front end of the compressed wood part.
Claims15
A key for a keyboard instrument, comprising:
- a part including an upper surface that constitutes at least a key-depression surface of the key, wherein said part is made of compressed wood, and a compressed density of the compressed wood is different by portion, wherein the key is used for as a black key of the keyboard instrument, said part made of compressed wood includes at least another part adapted to be positioned above upper surfaces of white keys of the keyboard instrument which are in a non-key depression state, and a compressed density in a width direction in said another part of the key is lower toward downward from the upper surface of said part of the key.
A key for a keyboard instrument, comprising:
- a part including an upper surface that constitutes at least a key-depression surface of the key, wherein said part is made of compressed wood, and a compressed density of the compressed wood is different by portion, wherein:
- said part made of compressed wood includes portions that constitute corner portions and ridge portions of the key and are higher in compressed density than in other portions of said part made of compressed wood.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.