Electronic musical instrument with string-simulating switches
US4570521A · kind A · utility
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 30, 1984 |
| Grant date | Feb 18, 1986 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 30, 2004 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10S84/30
- WIPO fieldOther consumer goods
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
An electronic musical instrument includes a fingerboard having a plurality of switches which are player-actuated to produce musical tones through electronic tone-generating means. The fingerboard, which is on an elongate neck, has, underneath its exterior surface, one or more rows of cavities, each cavity containing a pressure-actuable membrane switch. The surface of the fingerboard above each cavity is flexible, and each switch is closeable in response to a localized deformation of the flexible fingerboard area above the cavity in which the switch is located. A continuous flexible bar is situated on the fingerboard above each row of cavity enclosed switches. Pressure applied to the bar by a player at a location above a selected cavity results in a localized deformation of both the bar and the underlying fingerboard, thereby transmitting sufficient pressure to the switch in the selected cavity to close it. The deformation is sufficiently localized to result in the closing of only one selected switch. The resilience of the bar and the fingerboard causes the switch to reopen upon release of the pressure on the bar.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.