Patent Application
20230335093
This patent application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority under 35 USC 119 of Japanese Patent Application No. 2022-066718 filed on Apr. 14, 2022, the entire disclosure of which, including the specification, claims, drawings and abstract, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
The present disclosure relates to a pedal device and an electronic keyboard instrument.
There have conventionally been disclosed musical instruments such as a piano and an electronic keyboard instrument which include a pedal device for imparting a damper effect to sounds produced by such a musical instrument and causing the musical instrument to perform a predetermined operation.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a pedal device including a pedal case including an opening portion, a base member on which the pedal case is provided, a pedal projecting outwards of the pedal case via the opening portion and provided rotatably by a rotational shaft supported by a bearing portion provided on the base member, and a pedal leg portion provided on the base member, including a setting member provided in such a manner as to be brought into abutment with a setting surface, and projecting outwards of the pedal case on a side where the pedal projects.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described based on drawings. An electronic keyboard instrument 10 shown in
Connecting rods 51 (connecting members), that is, a left connecting rod 51 and a right connecting rod 51 are connected to the central support member 22 of the leg portion 20. Each connecting rod 51 is connected to a rear surface of the central support member 22 at an upper end portion while extending downwards therefrom. The left and right connecting rods 51 are connected individually to a left side and a right side of a pedal device 50, respectively. That is, the pedal device 50 includes the connecting rods 51 which are the connecting members which connect with the leg portion 20 (the legs 21) for supporting the electronic keyboard instrument 10 as an attachment target thereof. The leg portion 20 and the connecting rods 51 may be connected indirectly to each other via another member such as the central support member 22 as in the case of the present embodiment or may be connected directly to each other.
The pedal device 50 includes a pedal case 53 which covers a base plate 161, sensor units 160, bearing portions 153, and the like (which will be described later). The pedal case 53 is formed substantially into a rectangular parallelepiped box elongated in the left-right direction and including a front and rear surfaces, an upper surface, and a left and right surfaces. Thus, the pedal case 53 is opened in a lower surface side. The pedal case 53 includes three opening portions 53a formed therein.
The pedal device 50 provided on the electronic keyboard instrument 10 also includes three pedals 52 which are aligned in a row to be positioned on a left side, a right side, and at a center (a right pedal 52a, a left pedal 52b, a center pedal 52c). Each pedal 52 projects forwards (outwards) via the corresponding opening portion 52a in the pedal case 53 and is provided rotatably. A pedal leg portion 200 is disposed below each pedal 52.
As shown in
The setting member 201 of the pedal leg portion 200 constitutes a member which is provided to face a setting surface so as to be set on or lie close to the setting surface. Adjustment members 103, which function as adjustable setting members 201, are provided individually on pedal facing portions 102 which correspond to the right pedal 52a and the left pedal member 52b. The adjustment members 103 are configured to move in a vertical direction so as to be brought into abutment with the setting surface by operation of a screw construction for adjustment.
As shown in
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An upper base member 150 is provided above the lower base member 100 via the upper sheet metal member 120. The upper base member 150 includes spring holding portions 151 which are provided individually on respective proximal end portions of the pedal facing portions 102 of the lower base member 100. The spring holding portion 151 has a cylindrical shape and includes a coil spring 54 disposed in an interior thereof. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Here, the base member of the pedal device 50 includes the lower base member 100 and the lower sheet metal member 110 which are made integral with the screw members 118c and the upper base member 150 which is fixed to the lower base member 100.
In addition, as shown in
Here, as shown in
With the pedal device 51, a relationship expressed by an expression (1) is set for a moment around the axis center CL1 of the adjustment member 103 due to the distance L1 being set sufficiently shorter than the distance L2.
Distance L1×Force F1<Distance L2×Force F2 (1)
With the pedal 52, based on the principle of leverage, letting the position of the force F1 be a point of effort, the axis center CL of the adjustment member 103 be a fulcrum, and the rotational shaft 55 be a point of action (a force applied to the rotational shaft 55 be F3), then, an expression (2) is established as below:
Distance L1×Force F1=Distance L3×Force F3 (2)
Then, from the expression (1) and the expression (2), an expression (3) is given as below:
Distance L3×Force F3<Distance L2×Force F2 (3)
That is, the pedal device 50 is set so that even when the pedal 52 is depressed, the rear legs 21 are prevented from moving apart from the setting floor surface FL, which would otherwise be caused as a result of the rear of the electronic keyboard instrument 10 being lifted up via the connecting rods 51 with the upward force F3 applied to the rotational shaft 55 of the pedal 52. Thus, although the description is made heretofore only on the right pedal 52a, the same can be true with the left pedal 52b and the center pedal 52c. In particular, as to the center pedal 52c, the same can naturally be said in the case that the pad 104, which is the setting member 201 for the center pedal 52c, is in abutment with the setting floor surface FL. However, even in the case that the pad 104 is not in abutment with the setting floor surface FL, as long as the left and right adjustment members 103 are in abutment with the setting floor surface FL, as has been described heretofore, the risk is reduced that the rear legs 21 are caused to move apart from the setting floor surface FL when the center peal 52c is depressed.
In addition, in relation to its position in a front-rear direction, the axis center CL2 of the connecting rod 51 is disposed between a center axis CL3 of the coil spring 54 as a biasing member for biasing the pedal 52 upwards and an axis center CL4 of the rotational shaft 55. As a result, in the front-rear direction, a distance between the downward force (load) F2 and the upward force F3 and a distance between the downward force (load) F2 and the biasing force applied by the coil spring 54 are both set small.
Thus, according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, the pedal device 50 has the pedal case 53 including the opening portions 53a, the base member (the lower base member 100, the upper base member 150, and the like) on which the pedal case 53 is provided, the pedals 52 which project outwards of the pedal case 53 through the corresponding opening portions 53a and which are provided rotatably by the rotational shafts 55 as the rotational shafts supported by the corresponding bearing portions 153 provided on the upper base member 150 of the base member, and the pedal leg portions 200 which are provided on the lower base member 100 of the base member, which include individually the setting members 201 provided in such a manner as to be brought into abutment with the setting floor surface FL, and which project outwards of the pedal case 53 on the side where the pedals 52 project.
As a result, since each setting member 201 is disposed in the vicinity of the position where the pedal 52 is depressed (the position denoted as F1 in
In the base member including the lower base member 100 and the upper base member 150, the bearing portions 153 are provided on the upper base member 150, and the setting members 201 are provided on the lower base member 100. As a result, the base member including the setting members 201 and the bearing portions 153 can be provided compact into a single integral unit by providing the setting members 201 under the pedals 52.
The setting member 201 (the adjustment member 103, the pad 104) is disposed within the projected area S of the pedal 52. Further, the pedal leg portion 200 is also disposed within the projected area S. As a result, when the pedal device 50 is seen from above along the line of sight of the player who is playing the electronic keyboard instrument 10, the pedal leg portion 200 and the setting member 201 become invisible, and the pedal leg portion 200 and the setting member 201 become visible only when the player sits down by the pedal device 50 to look at it closely. Thus, the pedal device 50 can be provided which provides for a good external appearance. In addition, the adjustment member 103 of the setting member 201 includes the screw construction for adjustment, and hence, the adjustment member 103 in particular is preferably positioned within the projected area S. In other words, although the pedal leg portion 200 can be disposed outside the projected area S only with the setting member 201 disposed within the projected area S, the pedal leg portion 200 is also preferably disposed within the projected area S from an aesthetic point of view.
The connecting rods 51, which are the connecting members connecting to the leg portion 20 (the legs 21) for supporting the electronic keyboard instrument 10 which is the attachment target of the pedal device 50, are fixed to the base member (the lower base member 100 and the lower sheet metal member 110). The distance L1a from the axis center CL1 of the setting member 201 to the distal end of the pedal 52 is smaller than the distance L2 from the axis center CL1 of the setting member 201 (the adjustment member 103, the pad 104) to the axis center CL2 of the connecting rod 51.
As a result, the position where to depress the pedal 52 (the position denoted by F1 in
In addition, the pedal device 50 has the coil springs 54 for biasing the corresponding pedals 52 upwards. The axis center CL2 of the connecting rod 51 is disposed between the axis center CL3 of the coil spring 54 and the axis center CL4 of the rotational shaft 55. As a result, the axis center CL2 of the connecting rod 51 to which the force F2, which is the part of the load of the electronic keyboard instrument 10, is applied can be disposed near the coil spring 54 and the rotational shaft 55, whereby the biasing force of the coil spring 54 and the force F3 applied to the rotational shaft 55 can be cancelled by the force F2 without generating as much moment as possible.
The pedal leg portion 200 includes the cushion member 105, which functions as the lower limit restricting member for restricting the lower limit of the pedal 52, provided on the axis center CL1 of the setting member 201 (the adjustment member 103, the pad 104) which faces the lower surface of the pedal 52. As a result, the depressing force F1 with which the pedal 52 is depressed can be borne by the pedal leg portion 200 (the setting member (201) without generating as much moment as possible.
The adjustment member 103 of the setting member 201 is configured to move in the vertical direction by the screw construction. As a result, the pedal device 50 can be set on the setting floor surface FL in an ensured fashion with the simple configuration.
In addition, the pedal device 50 includes the three pedals 52 (the right pedal 52a, the left pedal 52b, the center pedal 52c), and the adjustment members 103 are provided individually on the right pedal 52a and the left pedal 52b which constitute the outer pedals 52 in the three pedals 52. As a result, the pedal device 50 can be set on the setting floor surface FL with a good balance in the left-right direction.
The electronic keyboard instrument 10 includes the pedal device 50. As a result, the electronic keyboard instrument 10 can be provided which includes the pedal device 50 which can reduce the risk that the electronic keyboard instrument 10, which is the attachment target of the pedal device 50, is caused to move while it is being played even when the pedals 52 of the pedal device 50 are depressed and which can provide for the good external appearance by making the pedal leg portions 200 (the setting members 201) hardly visible by concealing them under the pedals 52. In the present embodiment, while the pedal device 50 is described as being provided on the electronic keyboard instrument 10, the pedal device 50 can also be provided on other musical instruments and electronic musical instruments.
While the embodiment of the present invention has been described heretofore, the embodiment is presented as the example, and hence, there is no intention to limit the scope of the present invention by the embodiment. The novel embodiment can be carried out in other various forms, and various omissions, replacements and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Those resulting embodiments and modified examples thereof are included in the scope and gist of the present invention and are also included in the scope of inventions claimed for patent under claims below and their equivalents.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-066718 | Apr 2022 | JP | national |
