Portable Electronic Musical Instrument Having Separable Controlling Panel and Keyboard

This invention relates to a portable electronic musical instrument, and more particularly a portable electronic musical instrument provided with a separable controlling panel and a keyboard.

Various types of electronic musical instruments have been developed which can be classified into the following two types, one being a relatively large size electronic musical instrument of an installed type incorporated with large-scale tone production structures capable of producing variety tones, and the other being a portable type which can be readily handled, transported by hand to any place and easily performed at any time.

Recently there has been a demand for a portable electronic instrument which has the same performance as the large size electronic musical instrument. A typical example is a musical synthesizer. The synthesizer is defined as an electronic musical instrument in which various parameters necessary to form a musical tone can be set as desired by a performer. In the electronic musical instruments of this type which have been developed, if one tries to increase the number of keyboards so as to produce as many tones as possible and to provide a mechanism permitting the setting of as many parameters as possible for the purpose of producing desired tone colors, the portability of the electronic musical instrument has been degraded which makes it difficult to transport. In other words, according to the prior art, a usual electronic musical instrument having high performance and various functions lacks of portability whereas a portable type electronic musical instrument is insufficient in its performance and function.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an electronic musical instrument having a structure which permits a good portability even when the high performance capability and various functions are given to the instrument.

Another object of this invention is to provide a portable electronic musical instrument provided with a separable controlling panel and a keyboard which has a compact construction and can produce variety of musical tones.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an electronic musical instrument having a separable keyboard that can vary performer's touch feeling.

According to this invention, to accomplish these and other objects, there is provided a portable electronic musical instrument comprising a first unit provided with a keyboard including a plurality of keys, and a second unit removable from the first unit and provided with an controlling panel for setting parameters of tone to be produced corresponding to a depressed key and side walls on both side of the controlling panel. Usually, the second unit is vertically mounted on the first unit to provide a performable state, but for portage, the second unit is horizontally mounted on the first unit to form a portable box like structure. The upper edges of the side walls of the first unit are inclined or stepped toward the front end of the keyboard so as not to interfere with the performer's hands in playing the instrument. In some case at the time of performance the first and second units may be mounted on independent tables.

Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective exploded view of one embodiment of a portable electronic musical instrument according to this invention in a performable state;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the musical instrument shown in FIG. 1 in a contained or portable state;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the electronic musical instrument in a contained state;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the keyboard clamping member shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing another example of the portable electronic musical instrument of this invention in the performable state;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing still another example of the portable electronic musical instrument of this invention in a performable state;

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are vertical sectional views showing modified keyboards of the electronic musical instrument; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a modified keyboard.

A preferred embodiment of the electronic musical instrument 1 shown in FIGS. 1 through 4 is a musical synthesizer and comprises a lower unit (first unit) 2, that is the main body of the musical instrument, an upper unit (second unit) 3 and a blind plate 4.

The upper unit 3 is mounted on the rear portion of the lower unit 2 to form a performable assembly as shown in FIG. 1. By covering the lower unit 2 with the upper unit 3 and the blind plate 4 as shown in FIG. 2, an enclosed box shaped portable musical instrument can be formed.

The lower unit or the main body 2 is formed with a bottom board 5, a front board 6 forming a key slip, a rear board 7, a pair of side boards 8a and 8b and an upper board 9, and takes the form of a box as a whole. The upper board 9 has a narrow width and positioned at the rear portion so as to open the fore half of the upper portion, and a plurality keys corresponding to respective notes in respective octaves are arranged in two stages in the opened portion. End block members 11a through 11d are disposed on both sides of the key stages for forming first and second keyboards respectively comprising key groups A and B. Keys 10A of the key group A of the lower keyboard are constructed just like a key mechanism of an ordinary piano as shown in FIG. 2. Substantially the central portion of each key 10A is supported by a balancing pin 13 secured by a balance rail 12 to be swingable in the vertical direction, and the front portion of the key is prevented from moving laterally by oval pins 15a and 15b mounted on a front rail 14. Under normal or not depressed state, each key 10A is maintained at an inclined state by a weight 16 mounted on the rear end of the key, that is in a state in which the fore end of the key is maintained in a floating state, while the rear end engages a back rail 17. When the fore end of the key is depressed down, a lever 200 secured to the rear end is raised to operate a key switch 201 mounted on a pedestal 202 so as to electrically form and produce a musical tone corresponding to the depressed key.

More particularly, the lower unit 2 comprises a key frame 18 of the keyboard secured to the inner surface of the bottom board 5, the back rail 17, the front rail 14 and the base 12 mounted on the key frame 18, the oval pins 15a and 15b and a balance pins 13 secured to the front rail 14 and the base 12 respectively, and the weights 16 mounted on the rear end of the keys 10A. Each balance pin 13 penetrates through a funnel shaped opening 13a formed at substantially the center of each key 10A so as to permit the key to swing in the vertical direction about the bottom of the funnel shaped opening 13a. The upper ends of the oval pins 15a and 15b are normally received in the recesses on the lower surface of the front end of the key to prevent transverse movement thereof. The weight 16 mounted on each key produces a touch feeling similar to that of a piano. Since the weight 16 is used to provide a touch feeling similar to a piano, an action mechanism utilized in an upright piano or a grand piano may be used instead of the weight 16.

A frame 20 is provided above the central portion of the lower key group A, and the upper key group B is disposed above the frame 20.

The keys 10B of the upper key group B are constructed similar to those of the lower key group A. More particularly, the rear end 21 of each key 10B of the upper keyboard is received in an opening 25 of the vertical rear wall 26 of the frame 20 to swing in the vertical direction, and the key is biased by a coil spring 28 to rotate in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1. Furthermore, a depending hook 22 is provided on the lower surface of each key near its front end. The hook 22 normally engages an opening 27 of the frame 20 to be swingable in the vertical direction for a small angle. Each key 10B of the key group B is provided with an actuator 23 depending from the central portion of the key, and a key switch 29 is mounted on the lower surface of the frame 20 at a position corresponding to the actuator 23. Accordingly, when a key 10B of the key group B is depressed, the actuator 23 is also depressed downwardly through an opening 20a to operate the key switch 29 to produce a musical tone in the same manner as the key group A.

With the construction described above, the same key touch feeling as that of the usual electronic organ can be obtained with the upper key group B, and the same key touch feeling as that of a natural piano can be obtained with the lower key group A so that two key touch feelings can be provided by a single electronic musical instrument thus enabling said instrument to produce a variety of performance.

A vertical plate 30 is supported between two side boards 8a and 8b. The frame 20 is secured to one side of the plate 30 through a bracket 31. The key group B is formed as keyboard unit by the frame 20, the vertical plate 30, the key switch 29 and the end block members 11c and 11d. The keyboard unit is incorporated into the lower unit 2 by inserting projections (not shown) on the inner sides of the side boards 8a and 8b of the lower unit 2 into recesses (not shown) on the lower outer sides of the end block members 11c and 11d and by abutting the upper surfaces of the rear ends of the end block members 11a and 11b against the lower end of the vertical plate 30. At the time of transporting the electronic musical instrument, the keyboard unit is positively held by projections, not shown, formed on the inner surfaces of the side boards 48a and 48b of the upper unit 3.

Various operating knobs 32 such as a tone adjusting variable resistor, push buttons and a power switch are mounted on the upper surfaces of the end block members 11a through 11d.

The front portions of the upper edges of the side boards 8a and 8b are slanted at a suitable angle to form inclined surfaces 34a and 34b which are provided for the purpose of preventing the performer from being interfered by the side boards 8a and 8b. Fittings 35a, 35b, 36a and 36b are secured to the outer sides of the side boards 8a and 8b near the front and rear sides thereof. These fittings are used for fixing the upper and lower units 3 and 2 with each other into a contained or portable state. The fittings 36b and 36a are respectively used to engage fittings 57a and 57b of the upper unit 3 for mounting the same on the lower unit 2 to realize the performable state. Two pairs of rectangular openings 41a, 41b, 42a and 42b are provided near both ends of the upper face board 9, and a stop bar 37 is provided at the central portion of the front edge of the upper face board 9 for preventing slippage of a music sheet. Openings 38a and 38b are formed on the rear side of the opposite ends of the stop bar 37 to receive both legs of substantially U shaped music supporting frame 39 shown by dot and dash lines in FIG. 1. The music supported by the supporting frame 39 is held substantially upright with the lower edge arrested by the stop bar 37. The height of the music supporting frame 39 is adjustable and when it is not used, it is contained in a box for containing various parts of the musical instrument. The height of the front board 6 is reduced so that the front ends of the keys 10A of the lower keyboard project upwardly. On both ends of the upper edge of the front plate 6 are formed openings 40 for receiving pins (to be described later).

The upper unit 3 is shaped as an enclosed box constituted by an upper face board 46, a rear board 47, a pair of side boards 48a, 48b, a bottom board 49 and an controlling panel 50, and contains a musical tone forming circuit, a control circuit, various electrical component parts, a connector adapted to be connected with an electric cord 211. A cord 210 is adapted for connection to a power supply. Since the embodiment is a synthesizer, an external speaker is used to produce a sound of the instrument which is connected by a cable to the speaker. Of course, a speaker may be incorporated into either the upper unit or the lower unit. Since these electrical circuits and components are well known and immaterial for understanding the instant invention, they are not shown. When combined into a portable state, the upper face board 46 is mounted on the rear board 7 of the lower unit 2. Carrying handles 53a and 53b which are received in recesses 52a and 52b of the rear board 47 in the not used state are provided for the upper face board 46.

The front end surfaces of the side boards 48a and 48b abut against the upper edges of the side boards 8a and 8b of the lower unit 2 in the portable state. For this reason, the lower portion of the side boards 48a and 48b are inclined as at 54a and 54b to respectively fit with the inclined surfaces 34a and 34b in the portable state. On the other hand, these inclined portions 54a and 54b serve also to stabilize the upper unit 3 when it is mounted on the lower unit 2 in the performable state. Fittings 55a and 55b are secured to the lower front edges of the side boards 48a and 48b to cooperate with aforementioned fittings 35a and 35b of the lower unit 2. Fittings 56a, 56b, 57a and 57b are secured to the side boards 48a and 48b near the upper front edges and the lower rear edges thereof to cooperate with the fittings 36a and 36b described above. These fittings 35a, 35b, 36a, 36b; and 55a, 55b, 56a, 56b engage respectively at the time of combining the upper and lower units 3 and 2 into a portable state, but the fittings 36a, 36b; and 57a, 57b engage respectively at the time of the performable state. As the fittings may be used those utilized in trunks or the like so that their detail will not be described.

The bottom board 49 is positioned on the upper face board 9 of the lower unit 2 in the performable state. Two pairs of positioning projections 60a, 60b, 61a and 61b which also act as legs in the portable state are formed on the lower surface of the bottom boade 49 at positions corresponding to the rectangular openings 41a, 41b, 42a and 42b. Accordingly, when the projections 60a, 60b, 61a and 61b are fitted into the openings 41a, 41b, 42a and 42b while holding the controlling panel 50 directed forwardly, the upper unit 3 is mounted on the lower unit 2 at a correct upright position and by engaging fittings 36a and 36b with fittings 57a and 57b respectively, the upper and lower units 3 and 2 are combined into an integral structure. A pair of pin receiving openings 62a, 62b are formed on the lower surface of the bottom board 49 near its front edge.

The blind board 4 is used to close an opening defined by the front edges of the frong board 6 of the lower unit 2 and the bottom board 49 of the upper unit 3, and pairs of pins 63a, 63b and 64a, 64b are provided on the upper and lower edges of the board 4 at positions corresponding to the openings 62, 62a, 62b and 40a, 40b.

Accordingly, by horizontally mounting the upper unit 3 on the lower unit 2 for transportation, fitting the pins 63, 63a, 63b, 64a and 64b into corresponding openings 62a, 62b, 40a and 40b, by mounting the blind board 4 between the front board 6 and the bottom board 49 and by engaging the fittings 55a, 55b, 35a and 35b with fittings 35a, 35b, 56a and 56b respectively, an enclosed box like structure as shown in FIG. 3 can be obtained in which the lower unit 2, the upper unit 3 and the blind board 4 are combined to form a box like structure.

A keyboard clamping member 65 is secured to the inner surface of the blind board 4 to extend above substantially the entire length thereof. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the keyboard clamping member 65 takes the form of a box constituted by a horizontal plate 66 with one end secured to the inner surface of the blind board 4, a vertical plate 68 with its upper end pivotally connected to the other end of the horizontal plate 66 by means of a pair of hinges 67a and 67b, a key clamping plate 69 with one end secured to the inner surface of the blind board 4 and the other end engaged with the lower end of the vertical plate 68, and a pair of side plates 70a and 70b. As shown in FIG. 2, one end of the key clamping plate 69 located close to the vertical plate 68 is bent to form a hook so as to engage the upper end surface of all keys 10A of the lower key group A thereby holding these keys at lowered positions shown by dot and dash lines, thus preventing free swinging and damage of the keys 10A during transportation. The music supporting frame 39, the music, and the electric cord 210 may be contained in the keyboard clamping member 65. This member 65 may be also used as a box for containing various component parts of the electronic musical instrument. As shown in FIG. 4, there are also provided handles 71a and 71b, locking members 72a and 72b, and panel mounting members 73a, 73b and 73c for mounting the controlling panel 50 on the upper unit 3. Legs 75a and 75b are used to cooperate with legs 60a, 60b, 61a and 61b extending in the same direction when the upper unit is contained in the box.

In the performable state key switches in the lower unit 2 are electrically connected to electric circuits in the upper unit 3. Such electric connection can be made by sockets and plugs provided for the lower and upper units 2 and 3 or a cable 211 shown in FIG. 1.

As above described, according to this invention, the electronic musical instrument is constituted by a lower unit 2 containing keyboards, and an upper unit 3 removable from the lower unit 2 and including a controlling panel 50 and electric component parts for producing a musical tone, the upper and lower units being combined into a box like structure for transportion. Moreover, the upper surfaces of the side boards 8a and 8b between which the keyboards are clamped are inclined so as not to interfere with the performer, and inclined lower portions of the side boards 48a and 48b of the upper unit 3 stabilize the same when it is vertically mounted on the lower unit 2. This construction permits reduction in the thickness of the box like structure, thereby making compact the electronic musical instrument when the upper and lower units are combined for transportation. Moreover, the keyboard clamping member 65 is used to contain component parts of the electronic musical instrument, thus effectively utilizing the space above the keys.

Instead of vertically mounting the upper unit 3 on the lower unit 2 as shown in FIG. 1, these units can be placed side by side on independent tables as shown in FIG. 5 for establishing the performable state. In FIG. 5, the units 2 and 3 are electrically interconnected by a connector 80 and an electric cable 211. This not only makes easy the arrangement of a plurality of component units of the electronic musical instrument but also permits free motion of the performer. More particularly, another keyboard musical instrument, e.g. a portable music synthesizer 90 can be stacked on top of the unit 2 and further the performer can concentrate his attention to the keyboards without regarding the controlling panel 50 on the unit 3.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the portable electronic musical instrument according to this invention. The lower and upper units 2 and 3 shown in FIG. 3 are slightly different from those described above. For example, the front board 6 is not provided in front of key groups A and B of the lower unit 2, and operating units are not provided on both sides of the key groups A and B. In addition, the controlling panel 50A of the upper unit 3 comprises a substantially vertical panel 50A1 and an inclined panel 50A2 disposed between the panel 50A1 and the lower unit 2. A slip preventing bar 90 and music clamping members 91a and 91b are provided to form a music support 92 at the central portion of the panel 50A2. This construction is similar to that shown in FIG. 1 so that its description is omitted. With this construction, the surface 93 of the music is held at a position easy to read.

Instead of using well known fittings of the type described above for combining the upper and lower units 3 and 2 into portable state other locking means can also be used, for example rabbit locks.

When combining units 2 and 3 into performable state in the above embodiment, the pins or projections 60a, 60b, 61a and 61b of the upper unit 3 are fitted into openings 41a, 41b, 42a and 42b of the lower unit 2, but where the pins are not utilized as the legs of the musical instrument in the portable state, the pins and openings may be reversed. It should also be understood that the shape of these pins and openings may be of any desired type.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing still another embodiment of the lower unit of this invention in a portable state in which keyboards having keys of different touch feelings are incorporated.

More particularly, this embodiment is different from the foregoing embodiment in that a key mechanism 100 shown in FIG. 7 is constructed to provide a key touch feeling similar to that of a pipe organ wherein the force of the spring 28 is greatly reduced relative to the foregoing embodiment and a twisted coil spring 101 is added. Thus, the spring 28 is used to merely bring a depressed key 102 back to the original position, so that its restoring force may be small. To mount the twisted coil spring 101, a vertical supporting plate 104 is provided at about the center of the bottom of the key 102 and a pin 105 is secured to the lower end of the supporting plate 104. The frame 20 is provided with a perforation 106 at a position corresponding to the supporting plate 104. A pin 107 parallel with pin 105 is secured to one side of the perforation. The pin 105 is positioned obliquely above pin 107 spaced therefrom by a predetermined distance h. The opposite ends of the twisted coil spring 101 are rotatably supported by the pins 105 and 107 so as to hold the coiled portion 101a of the spring beneath the perforation 106. The purpose of the twisted coil spring 101 is to provide for the key 102 a predetermined touch feeling, that is a key touch feeling resembling that of a pipe organ and the spring is set to have a predetermined tension. Other elements are identical to those shown in FIG. 2 so that they are designated by the same reference numerals.

When the key mechanism 100 is constructed as above described, so long as the key 102 is not depressed, a hook member 110 engages the upper edge of opening 27 so that the key would be maintained horizontal. At this time, the pin 105 and hence the key 102 is applied with an upward force by the twisted coil spring 101.

Under this state, when key 102 is depressed it is rotated in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 7 to lower the supporting plate 104. Accordingly, pin 105 is also lowered to decrease the difference h of height between pins 105 and 107. As this difference h decreases, the vertical component of the force applied to the key by the twisted coil spring 101 decreases, whereas the horizontal component increases. When the key 102 is depressed further to decrease the difference h to zero, the vertical component becomes zero, and the horizontal component becomes maximum.

As the key is further depressed to bring the pin 105 to a position lower than pin 107, the direction of the vertical component is reversed thus applying a slight click to the key. At the same time, the horizontal component decreases to apply a force to the key tending to move it toward right and downward.

Thus only the vertical component has a influence upon the depression of the key and the horizontal component has no influence. As above described, the vertical component decreases as the key is depressed down. As above described, the upper key group 10B affords a key touch feeling resembling that of a pipe organ which is different from that of the key group 10A of the lower stage resembling that of a piano.

As the spring 28 is designed to have a larger repulsive force than the downward force of the twisted coil spring 101, the spring 28 returns a depressed key 102 to the original position when it is released.

The key touch feeling resembling that of a pipe organ can be afforded by other known springs other than the V shaped spring 101. Where it is desired to apply to the key 102 a click feeling various key touch mechanisms utilizing a cam mechanism, a leaf spring, a magnet, etc., may be used as disclosed in Japanese Preliminary Publication of utility model Nos. 29122/1977, dated Mar. 1, 1977, and 125432/1977 dated Sept. 24, 1977, and in Japanese Publication of utility model No. 10752/1975 dated Apr. 4, 1975.

FIG. 8 shows still another embodiment of the lower unit of this invention which is different from that shown in FIG. 7 in that the lower key group 10A shown in FIG. 2 which resembles the key group of a piano is substituted by the key group A shown in FIG. 1. The lower key group 110 shown in FIG. 8 comprises a supporting plate 112 which pivotally supports the rear end of a key 111, a spring 113 applying a restoring force to the key 111, and a L shaped hook 115 which engages an opening 113 of a frame 112 to limit the upward movement of the key. Other elements are identical to those of previous embodiments.

FIG. 9 shows yet another embodiment of the lower unit of this invention in which the upper key mechanism 100 shown in FIG. 8 is substituted by a plurality of push buttons 120 and a plurality of switches operated thereby. Other constructions are the same as those shown in FIG. 8.

While in the foregoing embodiments the upper and lower stage key groups are operated by different key mechanisms it should be understood that the invention is also applicable to three-stage or four-stage keyboard and that keys of single stage may be divided into left and right sections operated by different key mechanisms.

Further, instead of inclining the upper edges of the side plates of the lower unit toward the front end of the keyboard, where upper and lower keyboards are provided at different levels, the upper edges may be cut away to form an L-shaped step thereby to conform with the levels of the upper and lower keyboards so as not to interfere with the performer's hands.