Patents by Inventor Naota Katada

Naota Katada 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: 20010011496
    Abstract: A sensing device is constructed by a sensor case which is attached to a bottom surface of a footwear (e.g., sole of a shoe) and which contains a piezoelectric sensor, a sensor fixing member, a disc plate pressure member and an annular elastic member. The sensor fixing member has elastic deformability so that the sensor fixing member is located to face with the disc plate pressure member with an air gap in which the sensor fixing member is capable of deforming within a limit of elasticity thereof. Thus, it is possible to perform musical tone control in response to an output of the piezoelectric sensor when a foot motion is applied to the footwear. In addition, a musical tone control apparatus of a percussion instrument type is constructed using a pad unit stored in a pad storage portion of an upper case. Herein, the pad unit is constructed by a pad skin unit and a sensing unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 20, 2001
    Publication date: August 9, 2001
    Inventors: Junichi Mishima, Naota Katada, Yasuhiro Hinago
  • Patent number: 5440070
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument has a plurality of detectors, a plurality of converters and a selector. The plurality of detectors, which are arranged, respectively, at predetermined joints of a human body or in the vicinity thereof, detect angles formed by respective ones of the predetermined joints, and generate a plurality of angle data indicative of the respective detected angles. The plurality of converters have different input/output characteristics and thereby convert the plurality of angle data into respective single frequency data each indicative of a frequency of a musical tone. The selector selects desired one from among the plurality of converters.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 30, 1993
    Date of Patent: August 8, 1995
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Tetsuo Okamoto, Naota Katada
  • Patent number: 5070758
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument includes a first tone generator for generating a musical tone in response to each depression of key on an accompaniment keyboard and a second tone generator for generating a musical tone in accordance with the musical performance data read from the memory. In a specific mode, the player can cause the first tone generator to generate a musical tone through the accompaniment keyboard with the accompaniment being automatically played. In a mode for recording an accompaniment of a music into the memory in a step manner, a chord is detected from keys depressed on the accompaniment keyboard, and data representative of the detected chord is written into the memory together with data representative of a note-length designated by note-length selection switches. In a mode for recording an accompaniment in real time, each time keys are depressed, the chord data of the depressed keys is written into the memory together with the contents of a tempo clock counter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 1989
    Date of Patent: December 10, 1991
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Naota Katada, Kosei Terada, Tadashi Yamada
  • Patent number: 5027690
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument having a keyboard, includes a plurality of keys, a plurality of musical tone signal generation systems, a touch detector for producing touch data representing a key touch accompanied by a key depression, a panel operation unit for setting a touch sensitivity representing a sensitivity with respect to a key touch for each of the musical tone signal generation systems, and a register unit for modifying the touch data in accordance with the touch sensitivity corresponding to each of the musical tone signal generation systems. Different tone groups are assigned to the musical tone signal generation systems, and a musical tone signal which has a tone color belonging to the corresponding musical tone group and a pitch corresponding to a key depression is produced from each of the musical tone signal generation systems. Each musical tone group includes at least two tone colors having a common attribute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 1989
    Date of Patent: July 2, 1991
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Masatada Wachi, Naota Katada, Kosei Terada, Takeshi Adachi, Takaaki Mutoh
  • Patent number: 4915007
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument has a parameter setting system for setting a parameter necessary for controlling a musical characteristic which is a tone color or a musical effect such as a vibrato in a musical tone generating section. The parameter setting system comprises a memory (RAM) for storing a plurality of sets of parameters each set including, for example, a vibrato delay parameter and a vibrato speed parameter. When one of tone-color selection switches on a control panel is depressed, the set of parameters corresponding to the depressed tone-color selection switch are read and supplied to the musical tone generating section to thereby control the vibrato of the musical tone. The selected set of parameters in the RAM can be changed by the player through menu selection switches and data-up and data-down switches to desired values. The system may include a quit switch for restoring the set of parameters precedingly selected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 11, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 10, 1990
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Masatada Wachi, Kosei Terada, Naota Katada, Tsuyoshi Futamase, Toshiaki Sato
  • Patent number: 4829869
    Abstract: A tone control apparatus for use in an electronic musical instrument is responsive to an easily accessible switch such as a foot-lever switch to control conditions of muscial tone which include, for example, a tone pitch, a tone color, a tone volume and a tone effect. The tone control apparatus has a keyboard for designating a frequency of a musical tone to be generated and a musical tone generating circuit for generating a musical tone having a frequency designated by the keyboard. The tone control apparatus further has a memory for storing a plurality of groups of tone control data. Each time the foot-lever switch is operated by the performer, one of the tone control data group is read and supplied to the musical tone generating circuit to control the conditions of the generating musical tone. In a first mode, the plurality of tone control data groups are sequentially read in synchronization with the operations of the foot-lever switch.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 27, 1987
    Date of Patent: May 16, 1989
    Assignee: Yamaha Corporation
    Inventors: Naota Katada, Kosei Terada
  • Patent number: 4287802
    Abstract: An electronic musical instrument having its keyboard divided into plural key ranges with musical tones being generated with tone colors which are different one key range from another. For achieving this object, the instrument comprises channel processors, tone generators, additional tone generators for the lowest (or highest) key in each key range, a common key coder for obtaining key data of depressed keys and a control circuit for supplying key codes delivered out of the key coder to only a channel processor of a corresponding key range. The key coder delivers out key data of depressed keys sequentially one key data at one time slot. According to the invention, the lowest (or highest) tone in a predetermined key range is generated with a tone color corresponding to the key range and also with a different tone color.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 17, 1979
    Date of Patent: September 8, 1981
    Assignee: Nippon Gakki Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Akio Imamura, Naota Katada