Keyboard apparatus
AssigneeYamaha Corporation
InventorsShigeru Muramatsu, Hisashi Takeyama
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Abstract
A keyboard apparatus capable of being easily designed to have action units whose upper end positions are made low and whose efficiency of drive of whippens is increased. Each of keys of the keyboard apparatus has an upper front part, a bent part extending downward from a rear end of the upper front part, and a lower rear part extending rearward from a lower end of the bent part. An upper surface of a rear end portion of the lower rear part nearly horizontally extends at a height position lower than that of a key fulcrum. Action units are disposed above respective ones of rear end portions of the keys. A driven point of a whippen of each action unit is located at a position lower than the key fulcrum in a non-key-depression state.
Claims6
A keyboard apparatus comprising:
- a plurality of keys each pivotable about a key fulcrum;
- and
- a plurality of action units each associated with one of the keys,
- wherein each of the keys has a front portion located forward of the key fulcrum and a rear portion located rearward of the key fulcrum,
- wherein each of the action units has a whippen configured to be driven at a driven point thereof by the rear portion of an associated one of the keys so as to pivot about a whippen pivot fulcrum,
- wherein the rear portion of each of the keys has an upper surface that is at a height lower than that of the key fulcrum in a non-key-depression state,
- wherein an associated one of the action units is disposed above the upper surface, and
- wherein as viewed from front in a front-to-rear direction, the key fulcrum, the whippen pivot fulcrum, and the driven point are disposed in this order,
- wherein each whippen and the associated key pivot in the same direction as the associated key is depressed or released.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.