| US 7,491,880 B2 | ||
| Sound control apparatus for a keyboard-based musical instrument | ||
| Kenichi Hirota, Hamamatsu (Japan); and Tetsuya Hirano, Hamamatsu (Japan) | ||
| Assigned to Kabushiki Kaisha Kawai Gakki Seisakusho, Shizuoka-ken (Japan) | ||
| Filed on Jul. 19, 2007, as Appl. No. 11/780,394. | ||
| Claims priority of application No. 2006-198800 (JP), filed on Jul. 20, 2006. | ||
| Prior Publication US 2008/0017019 A1, Jan. 24, 2008 | ||
| Int. Cl. G10H 3/05 (2006.01) | ||
| U.S. Cl. 84—724 [84/21] | 4 Claims |
| 1. A sound control apparatus for a keyboard-based musical instrument comprising:
a swingable key
a hammer having a hammer shank and a catcher, and adapted to swing associated with a swinging motion of said key;
a plate-shaped shutter integrated with said hammer and disposed between said hammer shank and said catcher, extending along
a plane including a swinging path along which said hammer swings, and formed with a cutout in an edge on an opposite side
to a direction in which said hammer swings associated with a touch on said key;
an optical sensor having a light emitter disposed on one side of the swinging path of said shutter for emitting light, and
a light receiver disposed on the other side of the swinging path for receiving the light from said light emitter, for generating
a detection signal in accordance with a light receiving state of said light receiver; and
sound generation timing setting means for setting a sound generation timing at which music sound should be generated based
on the detection signal of said optical sensor responsive to opening and closing of a light path of the light from said light
emitter of said optical sensor by said shutter, when said hammer swings.
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