Music – Instruments – Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-30
2002-03-05
Donels, Jeffrey (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
active
06353163
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fallboard arrangement for a keyboard instrument, such as an electronic piano, for opening and closing a performance section, including a keyboard, of the keyboard instrument, by sliding a fallboard thereof in a front-rear direction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 10
shows a conventional fallboard arrangement of the above-mentioned kind. The fallboard arrangement
50
is applied to an electronic piano
60
and includes a fallboard
51
. The fallboard
51
is mounted to a piano body
61
such that it can slide in a front-rear direction between a closed position (indicated by solid lines in
FIG. 10
) for closing a performance section of the electronic piano
60
and an open position (indicated by two-dot chain lines in the figure) for opening the same.
As shown in
FIGS. 11A
,
11
B, the fallboard
51
includes a fallboard main section
52
in the form of a rectangular plate which is long sideways i.e. in a left-right direction, as well as a fallboard front section
53
and a fallboard rear section
54
which are also long sideways. The fallboard front and rear sections
53
,
54
are fastened to the respective front and rear ends of the fallboard main section
52
by screws. The fallboard front section
53
has left and right front projections
53
a
,
53
a
outwardly projecting leftward and rightward from respective lower left and right corners thereof.
On the other hand, as shown in
FIGS. 12A
,
12
B, the fallboard rear section
54
has a lower end to which a rotary shaft
55
is rotatably mounted. The rotary shaft
55
has left and right end portions fitted with respective left and right gear members
56
. Each of the gear members
56
is a unitary member comprised of a rear projection
56
a,
a pinion
56
b,
and so forth, which are arranged in line in the mentioned order from the outside and integrally formed with each other. The gear member
56
is fixed to the rotary shaft
55
by a screw
57
screwed into the rotary shaft
55
through a slot
56
c
formed through the gear member
56
.
The piano body
61
has left and right arms
61
a,
61
a
to which left and right front guide rails
62
,
62
and left and right rear guide rails
63
,
63
are attached, respectively. Each front guide rail
62
extends forward and downward along a corresponding one of the arms
61
a.
The front guide rail
62
is formed with a front guide groove
62
a
extending over the whole length thereof. The front projection
53
a
is slidably engaged with the front guide groove
62
a.
On the other hand, each of the rear guide rails
63
extends along a corresponding one of the arms
61
a
in the front-rear direction. The rear guide rail
63
includes a rear guide groove
63
a
and a rack
63
b
integrally formed with each other. The rear guide groove
63
a
and the rack
63
b
each extend over the whole length of the rear guide rail
63
in a manner forming a slightly upwardly curved arcuate shape, not shown. The rear projection
56
a
is slidably engaged with the rear guide groove
63
a,
and the pinion
56
b
is meshed with the rack
63
b.
Further, in plan view, the left and right ends of the fallboard
51
overlap the respective racks
63
b,
63
b
(see FIG.
10
).
Thus, when the fallboard
51
is drawn forward or pushed rearward, the front projections
53
a
are guided by the respective front guide rails
62
, and the rear projections
56
a
by the respective rear guide rails
63
, while the pinions
56
b
in mesh with the respective racks
63
b
rotate, whereby the fallboard
51
is moved in the front-rear direction without turning sideways with respect to the piano body
61
.
During assembly of the electronic piano
60
, the length of the rotary shaft
55
in the direction of width of space between the arms
61
a,
61
a
is adjusted according to an actual distance between the arms
61
a,
61
a
so as to place the gear members
56
,
56
in engagement with the respective left and right rear guide grooves
63
a,
63
a
in a proper positional relationship. More specifically, a proper position of each gear member
56
for engagement with the corresponding rear guide groove
63
a
is located by shifting the gear member
56
with respect to the rotary shaft
55
in the left-right direction. Then, when the proper position is located, the gear member
56
is fixed to the rotary shaft
55
by the screw
57
. On the other hand, when the fallboard
51
is required to be dismounted from the piano body
61
e.g. for maintenance of the electronic piano
60
, the screws
57
are turned and loosened, and then the gear members
56
are each shifted inward by relatively sliding the screw
57
along the slot
56
c.
As a result, the rotary shaft
55
including the left and right gear members
56
is shortened and thereby dismounted from the rear guide rails
63
. Then, the front projections
53
a,
53
a
are each disengaged from the corresponding front guide rail
62
via an opening of the rear end of the front guide rail
62
. Thus, the fallboard
51
is dismounted from the piano body
61
. Thereafter, when the fallboard
51
is mounted to the piano body
61
again, the mounting operation is carried out by the reverse of the above procedure, and at the same time, the rotary shaft
55
is adjusted in length.
In the above conventional fallboard arrangement
50
, however, in order to mount the fallboard
51
to the piano body
61
during assembly of the electronic piano
60
or to dismount the fallboard
51
from the piano body
61
e.g. for maintenance of the electronic piano
60
, as well as in order to adjust the length of the rotary shaft
55
in the direction of width of the space, it is required to lengthen or shorten the rotary shaft
55
by turning and loosening the screws
57
,
57
provided at the respective left and right end portions of the rotary shaft
55
and then axially moving the gear members
56
,
56
also fitted on the respective left and right end portions of the rotary shaft
55
, which is troublesome and laborious. Further, since the racks
63
b,
63
b
each form an upwardly curved arcuate shape and the left and right ends of the fallboard
51
overlap the respective left and right racks
63
b,
63
b
in plan view, if the thickness of the fallboard main section
52
is increased e.g. due to design change of the fallboard
51
, the bottom surfaces of the portions of the fallboard
51
overlapping the respective racks
63
b
are caught in the racks
63
b
during sliding of the fallboard
51
. Even when the thickness of the fallboard main section
52
is not increased, if the racks
63
b
are designed to extend rearward and downward particularly with a view to preventing the fallboard
51
from being closed by its own weight during its opening or closing operation, the bottom surfaces of the portions of the fallboard
51
overlapping the respective racks
63
b
can be caught in the racks
63
b
similarly to the above case. In the conventional fallboard arrangement
50
, as is apparent e.g. from the above fact that it is impossible to increase the thickness of the fallboard main section
52
, the degree of freedom in designing the fallboard
51
is low.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a fallboard arrangement for a keyboard instrument, which has a construction facilitating operations of mounting and dismounting a fallboard as well as an operation of adjusting the length of a rotary shaft of the fallboard, and makes it possible to enhance the degree of freedom in designing the fallboard.
To attain the above object, the present invention provides a fallboard arrangement for a keyboard instrument, for opening and closing a performance section including a keyboard and arranged within a body of the keyboard instrument, by being slid in a front-rear direction.
The fallboard arrangement according to the invention is characterized by comprising:
a fallboard mounted to the body of the keyboard instrument, for opening and closing the performance section;
a rotary shaft extendi
Crowell & Moring LLP
Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho
Lockett Kim
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