US1389169A - Automatic starting and stopping mechanism for phonographs - Google Patents

Description

J. c. TOBCHIA. AUTOMATIC STARTING AND STOPPING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9,1920- 1. n 1 7 N w w c d2 m P J. C. TORCHIA.

AUTOMATIC STARTING AND STOPPING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 9, I920.

1,389, 169. mama Aug. 30, 921.,

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

I IN

UNITED STATESP'ATENT OFFICE.

- JULIUS C. TORCHIA, 01: ITAZLETON, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC STARTING AND STOPPING MECHANISM FOR PHONOGRAPHS.

Application filed June 9,

T 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JULIUS C; TORCHIA, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hazleton, in the county of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Starting and Stopping Mechanism for Phonographs, of which the following is a specification. 1

This invention relates to improvements in automatic starting and stopping mechanisms the mechanism when the brake is 'set or for sound re oroducin a 3 aratus and has as its general object to provide means actuated through the movement of the tone arm of the apparatus to automatically release and to automatically set a brake member which coacts with the record supporting turntable so that when the tone arm is swung to position to start the stylus in the outer end portion of the record groove, the brake will be released, and when the arm reaches the inner end of its travel, the brake will be set thus stopping the rotation of the said turntable.

Another object of the invention isto provide a mechanism for the purpose stated which may be readily applied to practically any of the ordinary makes of phonographs and readily attached in place without any appreciable alteration of the phonograph itself.

Another "obj ect of the invention is to construct the tripping member of the mechanism so that the same may be readily adjusted to adapt the mechanism for applicationto various types of machines.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a. plan view of the mechanism embodying the present invention, the view illustrating the mechanism in its operative relation to certain parts of a phonograph and which parts are illustrated partly in dotted lines; p v

Fig. 2 is a similar view but showing the relative positions assumed by the parts of active; p 7

Fig. '3 is a detail perspective view illus-' trating the mechanism detached, the view also illustrating a portion of the tone arm and a portion of the record supporting turn- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug; 30, 1921 1920. Serial No. 387,655.

the mechanism embodying the present invention is' designed to coact. The mechanism of the invention is substantially completely housed beneath the turntable 3 and the same comprises a base plate 5 which is designed to be secured to the upper surface of the top board or table of the phonograph. The mechanism includes a brake member which is indicated in general by the numeral 6 and this member comprises a head 7 which is mounted by means of a pivot 8'upon the base plate 5 near one end of the latter. An arm 9 projects from the periphery of the head 7 and has an upwardly directed end 10 which carries a small brake shoe 11 designed for coaction with the inner side of the flange 4;, the said shoe being brought into and out of engagement with the flange by turning movement of the head 7 upon its pivot 8.

i In order to hold the head 7 in such position as to maintain )the brake shoe 11in in active position, a detent member is provided and this member is indicated in general by the numeral 12 and comprises an arm 13 which is pivotally mounted as at 14 upon the base plate 5 near the opposite end of the lat ter. At its free end the said detent arm 13 is provided with a laterally projecting tooth 15 engageable in a notch 16 formed in the periphery of the head 7 and when the tooth is engaged in the notch the head 7 will be in such position of rotation that the brake shoe ll will be held clear of the flange 4 of the record supporting turntable as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawin s. In order to effect automatic movement of the brake member to active position when released by the detent 12, and to yieldablv hold the brake shoe in engagement with the flange 4, a coiled spring 17 is connected atone end to an upstanding flnger 18 upon thehead 7 of the brake member 6 and at its other end to a, similar finger 19 upon the detent arm 13.

Not only does the spring 17 tend to rotate the brake member to active position but it also exerts a pull upon the detent arm 13 tending to swing the outer end of the said 4:, and beyond the periphery of the record the brake member is in or swung to active position. Thus as the brake member 16 is rotated to inactive position, the arm 13 will be automatically swung inwardly so that its tooth 15 will engage in the notch 16and retain the member in inactive position when this position is reached, notwithstanding the pull exerted thereon by the spring'lT. On the other hand upon initial movement of the head 17 to cause the brake member to assume an active position, the direction of pull of the spring upon the arm 13 will be changed so that the arm will then tend to swing outwardly to cause the tooth 15 to clear notch 16. The numeral 20 indicates an arm which projects from the periphery of the head 7 beneath the lower edge of the flange supporting turntable.

Mounted upon the pivot let for rocking movement, is a tripping member which is indicated in general by the numeral 21 and this tripping member comp ises arms 22 and 23 which extend in diverging relation and the former of which is formed near its outer end with alongitudinally extending slot2i receiving a pin 25 carried at the outer end of the arm 20. It will be evident at this point that rocking movement of the member21 and consequently of its arm 22 will result 1n rocking movement of the arm 20 and conse-- quently in rotation of the head 7 of the brake.

member 6.

The arm 23 supports a tripping member which is indicated in general by the numeral 26, and this member is mounted upon the arm by means of a screw 27 which is fitted through the member near its'inner end and threaded into the end of the arm 23. A frie tion disk 28 is disposed upon the screw 27 between the under side of the said member 26 and the upper side of the arm 23 and it will therefore be evident that by loosening the screw 27, the member 26 may be angularly adjusted with relation to the arm 23 and that by again tightening the screw the mem-' her will be secured in its position of adjust- I ment. In order to provide for accurate adjustment oi the member and to insure against its accidental displacement under working conditions after it has been adjusted to the proper angular position with relation to the arm 23, a set screw 29 is adjustably threaded through an upstanding ear 30 upon the said arm 23 at one side thereof and bears at its inner end against one lateral edge of the rear end portion of the member 26. This member 26 is provided at its outer end with two fingers one indicated by the numeral 31 and the other by the numeral 32. The fingers extend along relatively diverging lines, and the one indicated by the numeral 32 has one of its edges of cam formation as indicated by the numeral 33 and is provided with an exten sion 34: designed to project beyond the pe said 7 .end of the fin er 31 by means of a set screw 37 fitted through the inner end of the said finger 36 and threaded into the said member 26, a friction disk or washer 38being interposed between the said inner end of the fin er and the upper surface of the said member 26 so that by loosening the set screw 37 the.

finger 36 may be angularly adjusted and tightening the set screw the finger may be held in its positionof adj ustmenta The tone arm 1 is provided upon its under side near its inner end with a downwardly projecting pin which is indicated by the numeral- 39 and which coacts with the trip member 26 in a manner which will now be described;

In applying the mechanism to a selected sound reproducing apparatus, the base plate 5is secured to the top board of the box or cabinet of'the apparatus in such position that when the parts ofthe device are as shown in Fig. 2, the brake shoe 11 will be'in firm engagement with the depending flange 4 of the record turntable, and when the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, the brake shoe will be out of such engagements. Also the device is so positioned that the'fin'gers 31, 32 and 36 will be in the path of move- 'ment of the pin 39in the swinging movement of the tonearm.

InFig. 2 ofthe drawings the parts of the mechanism are in such position that the brake is active and consequently in engagement with the flange of the turntable. In this position of the parts the pin 39 isrlocated in the angle between the fingers 31 and 32 and behind the cam 330i the latter finger. After the record has been placed upon the turntable it is only necessary in order to start the machine, to swing the tone arm to the right so as to position thestylus in the outer end'portion of the record grooveq hen the tone arm is thus moved; the. pin

39 will ride against thecam portion 33 of the arm 32 thus-effecting angular movement of the member 26 and consequently of the As this arm is swung, Swinging arm'22. movement will be imparted to-the arm 20 and consequently the head 7 will be rotated and it finally assumes aboutlthe positionshown in Fig. 1 of the drawings in which position the arm 13 will have been moved inwardl nthrough the influence ofthe spring 17' so .asto bring the tooth 15 into. engage ment in the notch 16 and in this manner the gagementof the pin against the finger, the

detent arm 13 willrestrain the brake member 6 against movement to active position. In the playing of the record, the tone arm 1 willbe carried inwardly in the usual manner as the stylus travels inthe record groove, until finally the pin 38 willcome into engagement with the finger 31. Upon such enmember 26 will beslightly rocked about its pivot and this motion will be transmitted to the inactive position of the brake, thespring .17 extends between the fingers, l8 and 19 along a linepassing directly. above the; tooth 15 which is at such timeengaged withinthe notch 16 but upon slight movement of the:

brake member about its pivot caused through the movement of the arm '22 under the conditions above stated, the position of the spring will be slightly shifted so that the detent.

member 12 will be swung out of active position andthe spring will then immediately act to swing the brake member 6 so as to bring its shoe member 11 into braking engagement with the flange of the record turntable. In the manufacture of the device, the fingers 31 and 32 may be suitably relatively positioned to adapt the device for application to a sound reproducing machine of a certain definite type-and make and likewise to suit records of a certain definite size but where records of another size are to be employed and where the record grooves thereof would terminate a distance from the center of the record greater than that which would provide for the tone a-rm being carried inwardly to bring the pin 39 into engagement with the finger 31, the finger 36 may be brought into use and angularly adjusted so that it will be engaged by the said pin 39 substantially at the moment the stylus-upon the tone arm reaches the inner end of the groove in the particular type of record to be employed. Likewise a supplemental adjustment may be effected by adjusting the set screw 29.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In automatic starting and stopping mechanism for phonographs controlled through the movement of the tone arm, a brake member, a tripping member mounted for oscillatory movement and connected with the brake member, meanstending to move the brake member to active position, a detent for holding the brake member in inactive positi'onand adapted to be rendered inmechanismfor the-brake member, means tending to move fforoscillatory movement and connected with thebrake member to activejposition, a desaid tripping memberhaving spaced fingers the arm 22 and to thebrake member 6. In.

one-engageable by the said actuating ele-j direction to effect actuation of the tripping member to render the vbrake member active and the other engageable by the said actu- ,ating element to eifect movement of the trippingmember to render the brake member inactive. a I I a r c '3. In automatic starting and stopping phonographs controlled through, the movement of the tone arm, a

.ment, when the .tone. arm is: moved in one brake member, a trippingmember mounted for oscillatory movement and connected with the brake member, means tending to move the brake member to active position, a detent for holding the brake member in inactive position and adapted to be rendered in active upon movement of the tripping member in one direction, an actuating member formovement with the tone arm and for coaction with the tripping member, the said tripping member having spaced fingers one engageable by the said actuating element when the tone arm is moved in one direction to effect actuation of the tripping member to render the brake member active and the other engageable by the said actuating element to effect movement of the tripping member to render the brake member inactive, and means whereby the fingers may be angularly adjusted.

4:. In automatic starting and stopping mechanism for phonographs controlled through the'movement of the tone arm, a brake member, a tripping member mounted for oscillatory movement and connected with the brake member, means tending to move the brake member to active position, a detent for holding the brake member in inactive position and adapted to be rendered inactive upon movement of the tripping member in one direction, a member mounted for angular adjustment upon the tripping member and having spaced abutment fingers, and an actuating element for movement with the tone arm and for coaction with the said fingers.

5. In automatic starting and stopping mechanism for phonographs controlled through the movement of the tone arm, a brake member, a tripping member mounted for oscillatory movement and connected 'with the brake member, means tending to active position and adaptedto be rendered comprising an angularly adjustable member provided with a cam portion, and an actuatingelement for movement w1th the .tone

tive position and adapted to be rendered in" active upon movement of: the tripping mem- 'ber in one direction. the tripping means having spaced rigidly connected fingers one arm and for coaction with the said cam por tionof said finger to move the tripping member in a manner to render the brake member inactiveand for c'oaction with the other finger to render the detent member inactive and release the brake member for movement to active position. 6. In automatic starting and stopping mechanism for phonographs brake member, a tripping member mounted for oscillatory movement andconnected With the brake member, means" tending to move" the brake member to active position, a deto render the detent member inactive and release the'brake member for movement to active positiomand' a supplemental finger"- angularly adju'stably mounted upon the controlled through the move-ment of the tone arm, a tion to be engaged by the actuatingelement in preference to engagement of the said tent for holdingthe brakemember in inaccomprising an angularly adjustable member having spaced rigidly connected fingers one provided with a cam portion, an actuatin element for movement with the tone arm and for coacrtion with the said cam portion of said finger to move the tripping member'in:

a manner to render the brake member' inactive and for coaction with the other finger tripping memberandl adjustable to posielement with: one of: the first-mentioned fin I gers;

Iii-testimony whereof I' ailix my-signature;

JULIUS TORCHrI-A. 1,. ea]

Images