Supporting and pivot device made of plastic for keys of pianos, electronic organs and the like

• US 4,044,646 A
• Filed: 03/26/1976
• Issued: 08/30/1977
• Est. Priority Date: 04/01/1975
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Danyel SAS
• Original Assignee: Danyel SAS
• Inventors: Invernati, Carlo
• Primary Examiner(s): Tomsky, Stephen J.
• Application Number:
  US05/670,982
• Time in Patent Office: 522 Days
• Field of Search: 84/435, 84/434, 84/433
• US Class Current: 84/435
• CPC Class Codes: G10C 3/12 Keyboards; Keys
• CPC Class Codes: G10H 1/344 Structural association with individual keys electrically operated wind-actuated organs G10B3/22

Abstract

A supporting and pivot device for use in a keyboard of a musical instrument. The device is preferably made of plastic and is wedge-shaped having a pair of adjacent slots, one of said slots being adapted to securely receive a pin by virtue of the resilient deflection of one wall of the receiving slot towards the other slot. The lever of the keyboard is pivotably secured to the support frame through the device and secured pin.

Claims

1. A supporting and pivot device to be connected to the lever carrying a key of keyboard of a piano, electronic organ or the like, to be pivotally connected with a transverse pivot pin or rod supported by the stationary frame of said keyboard and where the key is associated with a return spring, characterized by the fact that the device comprises a body made of plastic having a sufficient strength and capable of a slight elastic deformation, said body being shaped substantially as a wedge having an upper flat surface designed to be connected with said lever, and curved front and rear surface portions which merge at their respective lower portion, one of the curved rear surface portions of said body includes a first transverse slot extending upwardly and inwardly where it terminates at a central cylindrical hole, the axis of said hole being parallel to the axis of the pivot pin and having substantially the same diameter as that of said pin, said slot having a width slightly smaller than the diameter of said pin, a second slot which is adjacent to and parallel with said first named slot which cooperates with said first slot to increase the elastic deformability of one of the side walls of said first slot when said pivot pin is received into said first slot where it is secured within said hole associated with said first slot.

2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the lever is made of metal and comprises a first front portion to be connected with the key, a central portion provided with an inner recess designed to receive and to hold the upper portion of the device, and a third rear portion to which a helical compression spring is anchored at one end, the other end being connected to the frame, said spring being designed to return the respective key to its inoperative position after having been depressed.

3. A device according to claim 1 wherein each of said slots have openings at one end which communicates with the curved surface of said device, the opposite end of each slot being a bore hole of a diameter slightly larger than the slot width, the axis of each bore being aligned in a substantially perpendicular orientation with respect to the plane defined by the upper surface of the device.

4. A device according to claim 3, wherein the width of the slot for receiving said pin is larger than the width of the adjacent slot.

5. A device according to claim 1, wherein said first and second named slots each have a transverse opening in a curved surface of said device, the material thickness between said openings being predetermined to permit the thickness to deflect into the second named slot when said pin is inserted into said first named slot, said thickness returning to its normal position after said pin is received in said hole at the end of said first named slot to prevent said pin from inadvertantly coming out.