Music – Instruments – Electrical musical tone generation
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-28
2001-02-27
Donels, Jeffrey (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Electrical musical tone generation
C084S171000, C084S220000, C084S236000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06194649
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a keyboard musical instrument and, more particularly, to a keyboard musical instrument with a silent system for playing a passage on a keyboard without acoustic tones.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The keyboard musical instrument is fabricated on the basis of an acoustic piano, and equipped with a silent system and an electronic sound system. The silent system has a hammer stopper changed between a free position and a blocking position. While a pianist is playing a tune on the keyboard, the hammers rebound on the hammer stopper in the blocking position before striking the music strings, and the music strings do not vibrate. The electronic sound system detects the key motions, and generates electronic sounds instead of the acoustic tones. When the silent system is changed to the free position, the hammer stopper is moved out of the trajectories of the hammers, and the hammers are allowed to selectively strike the associated music strings for generating the acoustic tones.
A shank stopper is a kind of the hammer stopper, and is popular with the actual products. The shank stopper laterally extends between the music strings and the hammer shanks, and, accordingly, is shared between the hammers. While a hammer is being driven for rotation toward the associated music string, the hammer shank is brought into contact with the shank stopper, and rebounds thereon. The shank stopper is, by way of example, connected through a wire to a grip or a pedal. A suitable converting member may be connected between the wire and the shank stopper so as to convert reciprocal motion of the wire to rotation of the shank stopper between the free position and the blocking position.
A problem is encountered in the prior art silent system in that workmen feel the installation inside the acoustic piano and the maintenance work time-consuming. This is because of the fact that the plural independent parts are assembled into the prior art hammer stopper. While workmen are assembling the plural independent parts such as the shank stopper, the converting member, the wire and the pedal/grip into the prior art hammer stopper inside the acoustic piano, the workmen connect the independent parts to one another in a predetermined sequence, and regulate the play and gap between the parts. When a workman replaces one of the parts to new one, the workman disassembles the prior art hammer stopper, replaces the part with new one, assembles them into the prior art hammer stopper, again, and regulates the play and gap between the parts. Thus, the installation and the maintenance work are time-consuming.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a keyboard musical instrument with a silent system, which is easily installed and maintenance work is simple.
To accomplish the object, the present invention proposes to restrict a contact between a first transmitter and a second transmitter in a direction to transmit a force.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a keyboard musical instrument comprising an acoustic keyboard including plural keys selectively depressed by a player, plural music strings respectively associated with the plural keys and plural strikers driven by depressing the plural keys for striking the associated music strings and a silent system including a stopper moved between a free position and a blocking position so that the plural strikers strike the plural music strings without any interruption thereof at the free position and rebound thereon at the blocking position before striking the plural music strings and a change-over mechanism having a first transmitter connected to the stopper for changing the stopper between the free position and the blocking position and a second transmitter held in contact with the first transmitter without any restriction in a first direction for transmitting a force to the first transmitter in a second direction different from the first direction.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5565636 (1996-10-01), Sugiyama
patent: 5583306 (1996-12-01), Hayashida et al.
patent: 5600077 (1997-02-01), Honda
patent: 5602351 (1997-02-01), Kawamura et al.
patent: 5874687 (1999-02-01), Kawamura
patent: 5949013 (1999-09-01), Satoshi
patent: 6011214 (2000-01-01), Kawamura
patent: 230279 (1995-08-01), None
patent: 8-63149 (1996-03-01), None
patent: 10-149154 (1998-06-01), None
Itou Katsuo
Tamaki Takashi
Donels Jeffrey
Morrison & Foerster
Yamaha Corporation
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