Patent ID: 7049576

Claim:
A keyboard musical instrument for generating tones on the basis of pieces of music data information representative of attributes of said tones to be generated, comprising: plural series combinations of links respectively having plural keys, and selectively actuated by exerting force on said plural keys for specifying said tones; plural vibratory members associated with said plural series combinations of links, and energized by the associated series combinations of links for generating said tones; and an electric system including an array of position transducers monitoring said plural keys for generating positional signals representative of current positions of said plural keys, each of the position transducers having an optical device having an output port and an input port for a light beam and converting said light beam incident on said input port to one of said positional signals, an optical modulator traveling on a predetermined trajectory for modifying an optical intensity of said light beam in proportion to a relative position of an associated one of said plural keys to said optical device and a coupler having a locating portion snugly received in a recess formed in said associated one of said plural keys so as to be held in abutting engagement with an inner surface defining said recess, thereby placing said optical modulator on said predetermined trajectory, said recess exposed through an opening on at least one of a lower surface and at least one side surface of said associated one of said plural keys, said coupler adhered to the inner surface so that said optical modulator is hung from said associated one of said plural keys, a data processing sub-system connected to the optical devices respectively associated with said plural series combinations of links and analyzing the relative positions of said plural keys expressed by said positional signals for producing music data codes representative of said tones to be generated, and a converter connected to said data processing sub-system, and generating said tones on the basis of said music data codes.