Patents by Inventor Masatsugu Okazaki

Masatsugu Okazaki has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20230169940
    Abstract: A vibration plate for a musical instrument includes: a plate-shaped vibration plate main body that has a deformation anisotropy property; a first elongated reinforcing member disposed on a first face of the vibration plate main body, and that projects outwardly from the first face and extends along the first face in a direction that prevents the vibration plate main body from deforming; and a second elongated reinforcing member disposed on a second face of the vibration plate main body, and that projects outwardly from the second face and extends along the second face in the direction that prevents the vibration plate main body from deforming. As viewed from a thickness direction of the vibration plate main body, at least part of the first elongated reinforcing member overlaps with at least part of the second elongated reinforcing member.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 22, 2022
    Publication date: June 1, 2023
    Inventors: Banri ABE, Ichiro OSUGA, Masatsugu OKAZAKI, Shinji SUMINO, Taishi SHINOHARA, Takashi KITAGAWA, Takuya ABE
  • Patent number: 10984760
    Abstract: Provided is a musical instrument including a vibratable body; and a vibrator. The vibrator includes a vibrating body that vibrates in a predetermined direction; and a coupling member coupling the vibrating body and the vibratable body and that transmits vibration of the vibrating body to the vibratable body. The coupling member includes a shaft extending between the vibrating body and the vibratable body; a first wire rod coupling one end portion of the shaft and the vibrating body; and a second wire rod coupling another end portion of the shaft and the vibratable body. A resonance frequency of each of the shaft, the first wire rod, and the second wire rod is at least 10 kHz.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Date of Patent: April 20, 2021
    Assignee: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Banri Abe, Masatsugu Okazaki, Ichiro Osuga, Shinji Sumino, Takuya Abe, Takashi Kitagawa
  • Patent number: 10891923
    Abstract: A vibrator includes: a movable portion connected to a vibratable member; a driver configured to drive the movable portion to cause vibration of the movable portion to vibrate the vibratable member; and a driver supporter secured to a support member and configured to support the driver such that the driver is pivotable about an axis extending in a direction intersecting a movable direction of the movable portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 6, 2019
    Date of Patent: January 12, 2021
    Assignee: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masatsugu Okazaki, Ichiro Osuga, Banri Abe, Shinji Sumino, Takashi Kitagawa, Takuya Abe
  • Publication number: 20200184935
    Abstract: Provided is a musical instrument including a vibratable body; and a vibrator. The vibrator includes a vibrating body that vibrates in a predetermined direction; and a coupling member coupling the vibrating body and the vibratable body and that transmits vibration of the vibrating body to the vibratable body. The coupling member includes a shaft extending between the vibrating body and the vibratable body; a first wire rod coupling one end portion of the shaft and the vibrating body; and a second wire rod coupling another end portion of the shaft and the vibratable body. A resonance frequency of each of the shaft, the first wire rod, and the second wire rod is at least 10 kHz.
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 14, 2020
    Publication date: June 11, 2020
    Inventors: Banri ABE, Masatsugu OKAZAKI, Ichiro OSUGA, Shinji SUMINO, Takuya ABE, Takashi KITAGAWA
  • Publication number: 20200152160
    Abstract: A vibrator includes: a movable portion connected to a vibratable member; a driver configured to drive the movable portion to cause vibration of the movable portion to vibrate the vibratable member; and a driver supporter secured to a support member and configured to support the driver such that the driver is pivotable about an axis extending in a direction intersecting a movable direction of the movable portion.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 6, 2019
    Publication date: May 14, 2020
    Inventors: Masatsugu OKAZAKI, Ichiro OSUGA, Banri ABE, Shinji SUMINO, Takashi KITAGAWA, Takuya ABE
  • Patent number: 9899016
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument includes a storage unit storing waveform data WD constituted by a plurality of sample values, the waveform data expressing an acoustic waveform of a musical sound emitted from a speaker while a rotor rotates about a rotation axis by a predetermined angle, and a reproduction unit configured to sequentially read out the sample values from the storage unit and generate a musical sound signal based on the read-out sample values, the reproduction unit being configured to change a reproduction speed of the musical sound expressed by the plurality of sample values, without changing a pitch and formant of the musical sound.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 25, 2016
    Date of Patent: February 20, 2018
    Assignee: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masatsugu Okazaki, Taro Shirahama
  • Publication number: 20170061945
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument includes a storage unit storing waveform data WD constituted by a plurality of sample values, the waveform data expressing an acoustic waveform of a musical sound emitted from a speaker while a rotor rotates about a rotation axis by a predetermined angle, and a reproduction unit configured to sequentially read out the sample values from the storage unit and generate a musical sound signal based on the read-out sample values, the reproduction unit being configured to change a reproduction speed of the musical sound expressed by the plurality of sample values, without changing a pitch and formant of the musical sound.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 25, 2016
    Publication date: March 2, 2017
    Inventors: Masatsugu OKAZAKI, Taro SHIRAHAMA
  • Patent number: 9536508
    Abstract: An accompaniment data generating apparatus has a storing portion 15 for storing sets of phrase waveform data each related to a chord identified on the basis of a combination of chord type and chord root, and a CPU 9. The CPU 9 carries out a chord information obtaining process for obtaining chord information by which a chord type and a chord root are identified, and a chord note waveform data generating process for generating phrase waveform data indicative of chord notes of the chord root and the chord type identified by the obtained chord information in accordance with the obtained chord information by use of the sets of phrase waveform data stored in the storing portion 15, and outputting the generated data as accompaniment data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2015
    Date of Patent: January 3, 2017
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Masatsugu Okazaki, Masahiro Kakishita
  • Patent number: 9438220
    Abstract: A state detecting circuit has a first switch circuit connected to a first selection line and a second switch circuit connected to a second selection line. The first switch circuit includes two switches, and performs an arithmetic operation of ON/OFF states of the switches and a selection signal. Thus, since one switch circuit performs an arithmetic operation using ON/OFF states of the two switches, the number of selection lines and the number of parts can be reduced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 21, 2015
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masatsugu Okazaki
  • Publication number: 20160118031
    Abstract: A state detecting circuit has a first switch circuit connected to a first selection line and a second switch circuit connected to a second selection line. The first switch circuit includes two switches, and performs an arithmetic operation of ON/OFF states of the switches and a selection signal. Thus, since one switch circuit performs an arithmetic operation using ON/OFF states of the two switches, the number of selection lines and the number of parts can be reduced.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 21, 2015
    Publication date: April 28, 2016
    Inventor: Masatsugu OKAZAKI
  • Publication number: 20150228260
    Abstract: An accompaniment data generating apparatus has a storing portion 15 for storing sets of phrase waveform data each related to a chord identified on the basis of a combination of chord type and chord root, and a CPU 9. The CPU 9 carries out a chord information obtaining process for obtaining chord information by which a chord type and a chord root are identified, and a chord note waveform data generating process for generating phrase waveform data indicative of chord notes of the chord root and the chord type identified by the obtained chord information in accordance with the obtained chord information by use of the sets of phrase waveform data stored in the storing portion 15, and outputting the generated data as accompaniment data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 20, 2015
    Publication date: August 13, 2015
    Inventors: Masatsugu OKAZAKI, Masahiro KAKISHITA
  • Patent number: 8791350
    Abstract: An accompaniment data generating apparatus has a phrase waveform data storing portion for storing sets of phrase waveform data each indicative of a phrase of accompaniment tones preformed at a reference tempo and each corresponding to a different reference note. The accompaniment data generating apparatus obtains a reproduction tempo, obtains the first reference note, selects a set of phrase waveform data corresponding to the second reference note whose tone pitch is different from a tone pitch of the first reference note, and reads out the selected phrase waveform data set at a speed by which the tone pitch of the second reference note of the selected phrase waveform data set agrees with the tone pitch of the first reference note of a case where a set of phrase waveform data corresponding to the first reference note is reproduced at the reference note.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Masatsugu Okazaki
  • Patent number: 8706506
    Abstract: In a waveform compressing apparatus, a trial mode selecting portion selects a trial mode having the highest compression rate from a plurality of candidate modes which have not been selected before as a trial mode for generating a residue code, the selected trial mode comprising a scalar quantization mode or a vector quantization mode. A waveform data compressing portion compresses a given data amount of original waveform data according to the selected trial mode so as to generate the residue code, the data amount being determined in correspondence with the selected trial mode. A waveform data restoring portion generates a restored waveform data from the compressed data using the generated residue code. A determining portion measures an evaluation value of a quantization error contained in the restored waveform data relative to the original waveform data, and determines whether the evaluation value is equal to or smaller than a predetermined allowable value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 27, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 22, 2014
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Masatsugu Okazaki
  • Publication number: 20130305902
    Abstract: An accompaniment data generating apparatus has a storing portion 15 for storing sets of phrase waveform data each related to a chord identified on the basis of a combination of chord type and chord root, and a CPU 9. The CPU 9 carries out a chord information obtaining process for obtaining chord information by which a chord type and a chord root are identified, and a chord note waveform data generating process for generating phrase waveform data indicative of chord notes of the chord root and the chord type identified by the obtained chord information in accordance with the obtained chord information by use of the sets of phrase waveform data stored in the storing portion 15, and outputting the generated data as accompaniment data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 12, 2012
    Publication date: November 21, 2013
    Applicant: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Masatsugu Okazaki, Masahiro Kakishita
  • Patent number: 8530736
    Abstract: A musical tone signal is synthesized based on performance information to simulate a sound generated from a musical instrument having a string and a body that supports the string by a support. There is provided a closed loop circuit having a delay element that simulates delay characteristic of vibration propagated through the string and a characteristic control element that simulates a variation in amplitude or frequency. A string model calculation circuit inputs an excitation signal based on the performance information to the closed loop circuit, and calculates first information representing a force of the string acting on the support based on a cyclic signal generated in the closed loop and representing the vibration of the string circuit. A body model calculation circuit calculates second information representing a displacement of the body or a derivative of the displacement. A musical tone signal calculation circuit calculates the musical tone signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 2, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 10, 2013
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Encai Liu, Masatsugu Okazaki, Eiji Tominaga
  • Publication number: 20130047821
    Abstract: An accompaniment data generating apparatus has a phrase waveform data storing portion for storing sets of phrase waveform data each indicative of a phrase of accompaniment tones preformed at a reference tempo and each corresponding to a different reference note. The accompaniment data generating apparatus obtains a reproduction tempo, obtains the first reference note, selects a set of phrase waveform data corresponding to the second reference note whose tone pitch is different from a tone pitch of the first reference note, and reads out the selected phrase waveform data set at a speed by which the tone pitch of the second reference note of the selected phrase waveform data set agrees with the tone pitch of the first reference note of a case where a set of phrase waveform data corresponding to the first reference note is reproduced at the reference note.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 31, 2012
    Publication date: February 28, 2013
    Applicant: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventor: Masatsugu OKAZAKI
  • Publication number: 20120137857
    Abstract: A musical tone signal is synthesized based on performance information to simulate a sound generated from a musical instrument having a string and a body that supports the string by a support. There is provided a closed loop circuit having a delay element that simulates delay characteristic of vibration propagated through the string and a characteristic control element that simulates a variation in amplitude or frequency. A string model calculation circuit inputs an excitation signal based on the performance information to the closed loop circuit, and calculates first information representing a force of the string acting on the support based on a cyclic signal generated in the closed loop and representing the vibration of the string circuit. A body model calculation circuit calculates second information representing a displacement of the body or a derivative of the displacement. A musical tone signal calculation circuit calculates the musical tone signal.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 2, 2011
    Publication date: June 7, 2012
    Applicant: YAMAHA CORPORATION
    Inventors: Encai Liu, Masatsugu Okazaki, Eiji Tominaga
  • Patent number: 7692087
    Abstract: Compressed waveform data structure is proposed which is suited for segmentation of a plurality of samples of compressed waveform data into a plurality of frames and subsequent storage of each of the frames. The number of bits per sample of the compressed waveform data is variable between the frames, but uniform, i.e. the same among all of the samples, within each of the frames. Each of the frames has a same data storage size. Each of the frames includes, in a predetermined layout, an auxiliary information area for storing auxiliary information that includes compression-related information to be used for decompressing the compressed waveform data, and a data area for storing a plurality of samples of the compressed waveform data of the frame with each of the samples comprising a same number of bits. Thus, respective start positions of the frames and compressed waveform data in a memory can be fixed at predetermined positions common to the frames, so that readout control can be performed with ease.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 6, 2010
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Masatsugu Okazaki, Tokio Shirakawa
  • Patent number: 7521621
    Abstract: Compressed waveform data structure is proposed which is suited for segmentation of a plurality of samples of compressed waveform data into a plurality of frames and subsequent storage of each of the frames. The number of bits per sample of the compressed waveform data is variable between the frames, but uniform, i.e. the same among all of the samples, within each of the frames. Each of the frames has a same data storage size. Each of the frames includes, in a predetermined layout, an auxiliary information area for storing auxiliary information that includes compression-related information to be used for decompressing the compressed waveform data, and a data area for storing a plurality of samples of the compressed waveform data of the frame with each of the samples comprising a same number of bits.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 24, 2007
    Date of Patent: April 21, 2009
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Masatsugu Okazaki, Tokio Shirakawa
  • Publication number: 20080167882
    Abstract: In a waveform compressing apparatus, a trial mode selecting portion selects a trial mode having the highest compression rate from a plurality of candidate modes which have not been selected before as a trial mode for generating a residue code. A waveform data compressing portion compresses a given data amount of original waveform data according to the selected trial mode so as to generate the residue code, the data amount being determined in correspondence with the selected trial mode. A waveform data restoring portion generates a restored waveform data from the compressed data using the generated residue code. A determining portion measures an evaluation value of a quantization error contained in the restored waveform data relative to the original waveform data, and determines whether the evaluation value is equal to or smaller than a predetermined allowable value.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 27, 2007
    Publication date: July 10, 2008
    Applicant: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventor: Masatsugu Okazaki