IP Library Granted Patent US 12,456,444
Granted Patent B2
US 12,456,444 · App. 18/489,858 · Granted Oct 28, 2025

Keyboard device and cooling method of drive device

Inventors: Hitoshi Sato (Shizuoka, JP); Yutaka Goto (Shizuoka, JP); Kousuke Ishikawa (Shizuoka, JP)
Assignee: Roland Corporation
G10H1/346
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,456,444
App. No.
18/489,858
Granted
Oct 28, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

A keyboard device includes keys, drive devices, a housing, and a fan. The keys are arranged side by side in a scale direction. The drive devices apply, to the keys, a driving force swinging the key. The housing includes a shelf plate supporting the drive devices. The fan is attached to an upper side of the shelf plate of the housing and exhausts air in the housing to outside. The shelf plate includes an air intake port for sucking in air outside the housing by the fan.

Claims (54)

1. A keyboard device comprising:

a plurality of keys arranged side by side in a scale direction;

a plurality of drive devices that apply, to the plurality of keys, a driving force swinging the key;

a housing that comprises a shelf plate supporting the plurality of drive devices; and

a fan that is attached to an upper side of the shelf plate of the housing and exhausts air in the housing to outside, wherein

the shelf plate comprises an air intake port for sucking in air outside the housing by the fan.

2. The keyboard device according to claim 1 , wherein the fan exhausts air toward a rear side of the housing.

3. The keyboard device according to claim 2 , wherein the housing comprises:

a large roof pivotally supported at an end of the housing on a bass side in the scale direction;

a soundboard arranged below the large roof; and

an attachment plate that rises upward from a front end side of the soundboard and to which the fan is attached, wherein

the fan is attached to a treble side of a center of the attachment plate in the scale direction.

4. The keyboard device according to claim 3 , further comprising:

a speaker that is provided inside the housing and emits sound toward a soundboard side, wherein

the housing comprises a rear plate extending upward from a rear end side of the shelf plate to the attachment plate, and

the speaker is arranged in a space in the housing formed on a rear side of the rear plate.

5. The keyboard device according to claim 1 , wherein the housing comprises:

a panel that covers an upper surface of a rear end side of the plurality of keys; and

a keyboard cover that rotates on an upper side of the panel, wherein

at least one of the panel and the keyboard cover comprises a blocking part that blocks a gap between the panel and the keyboard cover in an opened state of the keyboard cover.

6. The keyboard device according to claim 5 , wherein the blocking part is a protrusion that is formed on an upper surface of the panel and extends in the scale direction, and

the protrusion faces a rear surface of a lower end side of the keyboard cover in the opened state of the keyboard cover.

7. The keyboard device according to claim 6 , wherein at least one of the panel and the keyboard cover comprises an elastic body that is sandwiched between the rear surface of the lower end side of the keyboard cover and the protrusion in the opened state.

8. The keyboard device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a support member made of metal that supports the plurality of drive devices and is attached to the shelf plate, wherein

the support member is formed in a plate shape rising from the shelf plate and comprises a fixed part at which the plurality of drive devices are fixed on a front surface or a rear surface of the fixed part, and

the fixed part comprises an opening for heat dissipation.

9. The keyboard device according to claim 8 , wherein the opening is formed at a position facing the drive device.

10. The keyboard device according to claim 8 , wherein a gap is formed between the drive devices adjacent to each other in the scale direction, and

the opening is formed at a position facing the gap.

11. The keyboard device according to claim 8 , wherein the fixed part comprises a plurality of protruding parts for heat dissipation that protrude from an edge of the opening.

12. The keyboard device according to claim 11 , wherein the plurality of protruding parts in a plate shape extending in an up-down direction are arranged side by side in the scale direction, and

the air intake port is formed below the protruding part.

13. The keyboard device according to claim 1 , further comprising: a plurality of support members that support the plurality of drive devices and are arranged side by side in the scale direction, wherein

the plurality of support members are configured to be capable of swapping arrangements of each other to attach to the shelf plate.

14. The keyboard device according to claim 13 , wherein

among the plurality of support members, a pitch of the drive device supported by one support member and a pitch of the drive device supported by another support member are set to be identical, and

the pitch of the drive device is set based on an average value of a pitch of the keys to which a driving force is applied from the drive device supported by the one support member, and a pitch of the keys to which a driving force of the drive device supported by the another support member is applied.

15. The keyboard device according to claim 14 , wherein the pitch of the drive device is ±0.1 mm of the average value.

16. The keyboard device according to claim 15 , wherein the support member is arranged at a position where an error in an arrangement of the drive device with respect to the key in the scale direction becomes 1 mm or less with respect to the plurality of keys.

17. The keyboard device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

a support member that supports the plurality of drive devices and is attached to the shelf plate on a rear side of the key;

a holder that is attached to the support member and extends forward from the support member toward an upper surface side of the key; and

a panel that is attached to a front end side of the holder and covers an upper surface of a rear end side of the plurality of keys.

18. The keyboard device according to claim 17 , wherein the support member is provided as a plurality of support members that have a same configuration and are arranged side by side in the scale direction,

the plurality of support members are configured to be capable of swapping arrangements of each other to attach to the shelf plate, and

the holder is capable of being attached to the support member without changing an arrangement of the holder before and after swapping the arrangements of the support member.

19. The keyboard device according to claim 1 , wherein the drive device is a solenoid.

20. A cooling method of a drive device, which is a cooling method of a drive device in a keyboard device comprising:

a plurality of keys arranged side by side in a scale direction;

a plurality of drive devices that apply, to the plurality of keys, a driving force swinging the key;

a housing that comprises a shelf plate supporting the plurality of drive devices; and

a fan that is attached to an upper side of the shelf plate of the housing and exhausts air in the housing to outside,

the cooling method comprising:

forming, at the shelf plate, an air intake port for sucking in air outside the housing, and cooling down the drive device with the air sucked from the air intake port by the fan.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 22, 2023
From: SATO, HITOSHI; GOTO, YUTAKA; ISHIKAWA, KOUSUKE
To: ROLAND CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 065302/0336 →
Priority Claims (1)
JP 2022-185679 · Nov 21, 2022 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240169964A1 · May 23, 2024
References Cited (8)
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JP H0415692 · 1992 [cited by applicant]
JP H05015093 · 1993 [cited by applicant]
JP H05030892 · 1993 [cited by applicant]
JP H06222752 · 1994 [cited by applicant]
JP H09269773 · 1997 [cited by applicant]
JP 2000338964 · 2000 [cited by applicant]
JP 2001184054 · 2001 [cited by applicant]