US4920848A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Musical wear
Assignee: Yamaha Corp
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Filing: 1988-02-26
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Granted: 1990-05-01
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Expires: 2008-02-26
Abstract
Abstract A finger switch is mounted at a player's finger so as to detect bending and stretching actions of a player's finger. Such finger switch at least consists of a thin plate made of plastic materials which is mounted on the back of the player's finger, a push button mounted on the thin plate near a center portion of the player's finger and a movable member which can be moved along the thin plate in response to the bending and stretching actions of the player's finger. When the player bends his finger, the movable member is moved toward the push button so that the push button will be pushed by the movable member. By mounting a plurality of such finger switches on the fingers of the player, a musical scale or a tone pitch of a musical tone to be generated can be controlled based on a combination of on/off states of the push buttons.
Inventors
- 👤 Hideo Suzuki
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 17:43
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10H; G10H1/00; G10H1/18; G10H1/32; G10H1/34; G10H2220/00; G10H2220/155; G10H2220/321; G10H2220/326; H; H01; H01H; H01H9/00; H01H9/02; H01H9/0214; H01H2009/0221; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S200/00; Y10S200/02
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
107 words
A musical tone generating apparatus comprising: (a) a plurality of detectors each mounted at a player's finger for detecting bending and stretching actions of the player's finger; (b) musical tone data generating means for converting detected results of said detectors into musical tone data representative of a specific musical tone based on a combination of the bent or stretched fingers such that a player can designate a number of musical tones greater than the number of detectors; and (c) musical tone signal generating means for converting said musical tone data into a musical tone signal, whereby a musical tone corresponding to said musical tone signal is generated.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
107 words
A musical tone generating apparatus comprising: (a) a plurality of detectors each mounted at a player's finger for detecting bending and stretching actions of the player's finger; (b) musical tone data generating means for converting detected results of said detectors into musical tone data representative of a specific musical tone based on a combination of the bent or stretched fingers such that a player can designate a number of musical tones greater than the number of detectors; and (c) musical tone signal generating means for converting said musical tone data into a musical tone signal, whereby a musical tone corresponding to said musical tone signal is generated.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
172 words
A musical tone generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said detector is a finger switch comprising: (a) a thin plate made of plastic material, one edge of said thin plate being mounted near a finger base portion of the player's finger, while an opposite edge of said thin plate is stretched toward a finger tip edge portion of the player's finger, whereby said thin plate can be bent and stretched in response to bending and stretching actions of the player's finger; (b) a gate member having a gate shape, said gate member being mounted near a center portion of the player's finger, whereby said thin plate is inserted through an opening of said gate member; (c) a contact mounted at said gate member in a direction of the finger tip edge portion; and (d) a contact driving member mounted at said opposite edge of said thin plate, said contact driving member driving said contact to turn on and off in response to the bending and stretching movement of said thin plate.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
50 words
A musical tone generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said detector is a pressure sensitive element for detecting pressure applied thereto by a finger tip edge of the player's finger, so that the bending and stretching actions of the player's finger can be detected by said pressure sensitive element.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
35 words
A musical tone generating apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising tone color setting means for selectively setting one of a predetermined tone colors as a tone color of said musical tone to be generated.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
39 words
A musical tone generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said musical tone data generating means generates musical tone data having a musical scale or a tone pitch corresponding to a combination of said detecting results of said detectors.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
67 words
A musical tone generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined detector mounted at a predetermined player's finger changes on octave number of said musical tone when said predetermined detector detects the bending action of the predetermined player's finger, wherein a combination of said detected results, of said detectors other than said predetermined detector designates a musical scale or a tone pitch of said musical tone.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1993-04-30 | 1993-10-30 | 1994-05-01 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1997-04-30 | 1997-10-30 | 1998-05-01 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2001-04-30 | 2001-10-30 | 2002-05-01 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |