Music – Instruments – Stringed
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-29
2001-01-30
Masih, Karen (Department: 2837)
Music
Instruments
Stringed
C084S177000, C084S423001, C084S108000, C084S438000, C403S408100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06180859
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a panel assembly for an electronic keyboard musical instrument. The panel assembly is disposed over a substantially entire width in a direction in which keys are arranged (i.e., in the right and left direction of a keyboard) to thereby cover electronic circuits or the like contained inside the electronic keyboard musical instrument.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a panel for use in an electronic keyboard musical instrument is ordinarily formed in the following shape. Namely, it extends from the back of a keyboard at an upward inclination toward the rear of the electronic keyboard musical instrument, and thereafter forms a horizontal portion. It further extends substantially vertically downward to thereby form a rear wall of the electronic keyboard musical instrument. The panel covers electronic circuits and mechanisms such as an action (i.e., a mechanism to operatively function the keys), or the like of the electronic keyboard musical instrument. In this manner, the electronic circuits or the like are prevented from being exposed to the outside. Further, in that inclined portion of the panel which extends from the back of the keyboard at an upward inclination, there are disposed switches such as for varying the tone and indicators such as light-emitting diodes (LED's) or the like. This kind of panel must be provided with the inclined portion, the horizontal portion, and the rear wall portion in the back and forth direction (i.e., in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the keys are arranged). Therefore, the shape of the panel varies in a complex manner in this direction. On the other hand, the shape of the panel in the right and left direction (i.e., in the direction in which the keys are arranged) does not vary but remains constant. Therefore, the panel is integrally formed as a single piece of member by using an extruded material which is formed by extruding a metallic material such as aluminum or the like in the right and left direction of the keyboard.
However, when the electronic circuits become complicated and large in size, or when the action in the keyboard become large in size, the width of the electronic keyboard musical instrument in the back and forth direction becomes large. It follows that the width of the panel in the back and forth direction, i.e., in the direction perpendicular to the one in which the panel is extruded, becomes large. If the above-described width of panel becomes large, metallic dies for use in extruding process also become large in size and expensive. In addition, the extruding force must be increased. As a result, a large size of extruding apparatus must be used. Further, in case the panel is subjected to surface treatment for a decorative purpose, the surface treatment of the front portion of the panel is sometimes made different from that of the rear portion thereof. If such different surface treatments are made on the integrally formed single piece of panel, that portion of the panel which is not subjected to surface treatment must be covered by a masking material to prevent it from being surface-treated. Another masking must also be made on the already surface-treated portion when the remaining portion is surface-treated. In this manner, the surface treatments take a lot of working steps and manpower.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In order to solve the above-described problems associated with the prior art, the present invention is a panel assembly for an electronic keyboard musical instrument, which panel assembly is disposed over a substantially entire width in a direction in which keys are arranged and which panel assembly serves to cover therewith electronic circuits or the like contained therein. The panel assembly is made up of two members of a front panel and a rear panel which are divided in the direction in which the keys are arranged.
By making the panel assembly of the electronic keyboard musical instrument by two members of the front panel and the rear panel, the width of extrusion of each of the members constituting the panel assembly becomes smaller than the width of extrusion of a panel made of an integrally formed single piece of member. Therefore, the panel assembly according to the present invention can be formed with a smaller size of extruding apparatus.
Preferably, a rear end portion of the front panel is placed on top of a front end portion of the rear panel, and the front panel and the rear panel are connected together by screw means to be screwed from a lower side into a lower surface of the rear end portion of the front panel. By employing the above-described construction of connecting the two members, the connected portion of the two members is less visible to the eye from the front side of the electronic keyboard musical instrument.
In case the two members are connected in this manner, it is considered to employ the following construction. Namely, when the front panel is formed by extrusion, projections which are U-shaped in cross-section are formed on the lower surface of the rear end portion of the front panel, with the U shape opening in a direction away from the lower surface. Openings are formed in the front end portion of the rear panel and a self tapping screw is inserted from the lower side into each of the openings. By screwing the self tapping screw into the recess of the U shape of each of the projections, the front panel and the rear panel are connected together. If the front panel and the rear panel are connected together in this manner, the projections remain interposed between the front end portion of the rear panel and the rear end portion of the front panel. As a result, the distance between the rear end portion of the front panel and the front end portion of the rear panel becomes large, and the thickness of the connected portion becomes large. Then, the front end portion of the rear panel must be inserted deep enough into a region in which the printed circuit boards are disposed, whereby the freedom in the design of the electronic keyboard musical instrument is largely limited.
As a solution to this problem, preferably, the front panel further comprises bosses which project from a lower surface of the rear end portion of the front panel, and the rear panel has at a front end portion thereof openings for receiving therein the bosses. The front panel and the rear panel are connected together by inserting screw means into the bosses in a state in which the bosses are inserted into the respective openings. By thus inserting the bosses into the openings, the rear end portion of the front panel comes into close contact with the front end portion of the rear panel and, therefore, the thickness of the connected portion of the front panel and the rear panel becomes small.
Further, preferably, at least one of the front panel and the rear panel is subjected to a surface treatment before both the panels are connected together. By employing this arrangement, it is not necessary to mask the other panel and, as a consequence, the steps and manpower required for the surface treatments can be reduced.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5353675 (1994-10-01), Kimura et al.
patent: 5460564 (1995-10-01), Bowes et al.
patent: 5838540 (1998-11-01), Wen-Shyong
patent: 5907115 (1999-05-01), Matsunaga et al.
Arent Fox Kintner & Plotkin & Kahn, PLLC
Hsieh Shih-yung
Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki
Masih Karen
LandOfFree
Panel assembly for electronic keyboard musical instrument does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Panel assembly for electronic keyboard musical instrument, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Panel assembly for electronic keyboard musical instrument will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2512806