US2244658A - Controlling mechanism for radio sets - Google Patents

Description

v.nine 1o, 1941.

E. BRUGGER coNTjoLLING MEcHANIsu Fon RADIO ss'rs Filed June 23, 1 93'7 3 Sheets-Sheet `1 ATTORNEY June l0, 1941.

E BRUGGER CONTROLLING MECHANISI FOR RADIO SETS Filed June 23, *1937 s sheets-sheet 2 June l0, 1941. a BRUGGER CONTROLLING IECHANISI FOR RADIO SETS 3 Sheetsheet 3 Filed June 23, 1937 WIZEBRMSGER Paenfea June 1o, 194i 2.244.658 coN'rnoLLlNG mgilmsm Fon-RADIO i Emile mum, valley stream, N. Y. Application June 23, 1937, Serial No. 149,813 1 claim. (ci. 11s- 301) This invention relates to 'controlling mechanism for a radio set and is an improvement on my application Serial No. 61,295 flied January 29, 1936, which has since matured into Patent #2,106,715 dated Feb. 1, 1938.

Many of the features disclosed i-. said application such as the ability automatically to select any one of a plurality of stations throughout the period of twenty-four hours with provisions for determining the time during which any particular station shall be received are included herein.

The present invention, however, has for its principal object the greater iiexibility of control in the selecting of stations.

With this general objectin view, a feature of the invention resides in the provision of a plurality of normally ineffective station selectors carried by or movable with the tuning mechanism of a radio set with provisions for rendering any station selector eective and at the same time moving the tuning mechanism to select a station in accordance with a station selector which has been rendered eiective.

' A 'furtherfeaturevof the invention resides in -the provision of one or more devices of unitary Stili another feature of the invention relates manual means for quickly preselecting any one of a plurality of stations and automatically rendering effective the circuit for the radio set.

Further features will become apparent from the following detailed description and claim when taken in connection with the accompanylng drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a portion of the panel board of a radio set with portions of the panel board broken away.

cure 1.

structure which 'for convenience .of nomenclature, I designate determinators, which determinator or determinators when plugged into the panel board of the radio set are adapted to cooperate with station selecting members and time unit devices with provision for rendering the control of a determinator ineffective and directly controlling the effectiveness of any station selector by manually settable means.

A further feature of the invention relates to a determinator which may be plugged in to the panel board of a radio set, which determinator is of unitary structure but carrying a part or parts which may be adjusted so that when said determinator is plugged into the panel board the adjustment of a part or parts carried thereby will determine whether the determinator cooperates with one or another of' a plurality of station selecting members. Said determinator may carry a plurality of elements each of which may be independently adjustable to cooperate with diil'erent station selecting members in any order depending upon the adjustment of each adjustable part of each element. As for example a determinator may carry four elements each of which has an adjustable part, each of which` may be adjusted to cooperate with any one of a plurality of station selecting members, each element determining how long a particular stationfshall be received. v ,me

Figure 2 isna section on the line 2-2 of Fig- Flsure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 ure 1. Figure 4 is a section on ure 5. y

Figure 5 is a part elevational and a part sectional view of a determinator having four elements carried ythereby and showing the determinator plug into the panel board.

Figure 6 is a section on ure 5.

Figure '7 is a detail showing some modification of the construction of the panel board to provide for manual selection of a station and manual movement of the tuning mechanism.

Figure 8 is a section on the` line l-l of Figure '1. t

of Figthe line 4--4 of Fig,-

matic view of parts of Figure 8.

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic assembly@ View showing the arrangement of the electrical circuits an'd details oi' mechanism.

Referring to the drawings in detail, l indicates the panel board of a radio set, said set as shown in figure 9, also being designated as a whole by the same reference character. Just inside of the panel board is shown one element 2 of the usual condenser which with the station-f ary element l thereof, constitutes the usual tuning mechanism. The movable member I of the condenser is mounted on a shaft l to which is attached the usual dial l.

An electric motor 8 is provided with a shaft carrying a worm Il which engages a worm wheel I2 secured to a shaft il, supported at one end an up-standing bracket Il and/at the other end by bearing Ii. A friction clutch I! enables the motor to drive the shaft l but permits hand setting of said shaft independently of the motor drive. The motor is reversible, adapting it vfor use where the-.condenser is limited to an arc of about althoigh the. invention is the line 6.,-6 o! Figobvious, however, that others may be provided.

'I'he station selectors 22 are adjustable circumferentially of the member 23 by means of screws 24 engaging in a circumferential slot in the member 23. The selectors 22 are of electrical conducting material and are adapted to engage either a conducting segment 26 or a similar segment 21. These segments are suitably supported in a frame 26 and are separated by a gap, in the center of which is a small conducting segment 29 which is insulated from the segments 26 and 21. Each segment extends through an arc a little less than 180 and their'ends remote from the conducting segment are separated by a small segment 29a of nonconducting material. Connected to the selectors 22 are respective electric conductors 36, 32 and 34,-Figures 1 and 9. These lconductors are in the form of coiled wire and so wound that the coils may expand and contract as the member 22 is rotated in one direction or another. From the segment 26 a conducting wire 35 leads to the fleld 36 of the motor. A similar wire 31 is connected to the segment 21 and leads to the other field 36 of the motor.

The current for supplying the motor and the operating circuit for the radio set may be derived from any suitable source and as shown in Figure 9, the usual plug 46 is provided.

In one form of my invention, a circuit is closed through any one yoi' the station selectors 22 through the medium of a timing mechanism and a determinator. This mechanism is used for automatic selection of a station at a predetermined time. This automatic selection is lsimilar to that of my aforesaid application and will be described la'ter in greater detail.

As stated, one of the features of the present invention Iresides in the provision of means whereby the automatic control through the timing mechanism and a determinator is rendered ineffective and manual control of station selecting brought about. For this purpose, referring to Figure 1 there is provided a-lever 42 which in normal position forms part of the circuit between the determinator .and timing mechanism whereby said mechanisms are effective to control station selection. The lever 42 may, however, be moved from its normal position shown in Figures 1 and 9, to any one of four other positions.. When moved to vany one of three of these positions it directly closes the motor circuit through one or another of the station selectors 22. 1 L To illustrate the operation of the mechanism thus far described and assuming that the lever 42 has been moved from its normal position shown in full lines in Figure 9 to the dotted position in said figure, then current from the minus side of the line at the plug 46 will pass along the conductors 44 and 46 to the terminal 46, thence WOR.

to 66, thence through wire 36 to the 4station selector 22 which in the particular illustration corresponds, for instance, to station The current will then pass through the selector 22 to the segment 26, through the conductor 36 to the field 36 oi' the motor 8, thence through conductors 6I. 52 and 53 to the plus side of the une. It is to be noted that at this time there is no current supplied to the radio set. However, when the motor begins to operate, the member 23 is rotated in an anti-clockwise direction until the brush or station selector 22 corresponding to WOR, reaches the gap between the segments 26 and 21. At this time the motor circuit will immediately be broken and the motor and the parts driven thereby will stop. The tuning mechanism has then been positioned to select the particular station, in this` case WOR. At this time the operating circuit for the radio set is established. This is brought about by means of a conductor 54 which is connected to the small conducting segment 29 thereby establishing a current through conductor 54,

conductor 66 'to the radio set, current passing from said set through conductor 56 to conductor 63 and thus tothe plus side of the line.

The station thus selected by the lever 42 will must be rotated in a clockwise direction and it will be noticed at this time that the WJZ selector engages the segment 21. The current then passes through conductor 31 to-{the field 36 of the motor which acts to reverse the direction of movement of the same and thereby 'to cause the member 23 to rotate in a clockwise direction. This will result in the selector for WJZ being moved to the position shown in Figure 9 as there occupied by the selector WEAF. When WJZ is in such position, the motor circuit is broken as previously described and the operating circuit for the radio set established.

While the control of station selecting through the timing mechanism and one or more determinators is in general similar to 'that shown in my application above referred to, some changes have been made to 'simplify the construction and in order that the present disclosure may be complete, the mechanism for automatic control will now be described.

Referring to Figure 2 there is provided at the left-hand portion thereof a timing mechanism, such as an electric clock, and constituting a constant speed motor, diagrammatically shown lat 61|.v On the shaft 6| of this motor which makes one'rotation in fifteen minutes, is a friction clutch, one member of thisl clutch 62 being connected to the shaft 6| while the other member 63, is connected to a shaft 64 suitably supported in the casing. At its outer end the shaft 64 carries a knob 66 which may be turned independently of the constant speed motor by reason of the friction clutch. The shaft 64 carries a disc 66 having an electrically conducting lug 61, Figure ,9, which at each rotation of the shaft 64 and its carried disc 66 bridges electric terand the plate minals and 00 to thereby energize electromagnet 10.

The current for this magnet passes from the minus side of the line. Figure 9 through conductor 1| and through a transformer or resistance 12 to conductor 10, thence through the lug 01 to conductor 1l. The return circuit from the electro-magnet is completed through conductors 15 and 10.

lWith the mechanism just described, the circuit through the electro-magnet 10 is closed once every fifteen minutes and when closed actuates an amature 10 pivoted at 10. At its left hand end the armature 10 carries a pawl 00 which engages the teeth of a ratchet wheel 02 secured. to a shaft 00 suitably supported in the casing of the radio set.

A plate 00 is secured to the panel board just back of an opening 01 therein, said plate being provided with two circular series of holes, Figure- 1, into which anyfone or more determinators may be inserted.

Secured to the 4shaft 00 just inside of the plate 00 is a cup 00,y the upper portion of which as viewed in Figure 3. carries a disc 00 having on its periphery an electrically conducting ring 00 which is constantly engaged by a spring pressed brush 00 to which is connected an electric conductor 00 which in turn connects with the lever 02. When said lever is in the normal position shown in full lines in Figure 9, current will be supplied to the Abrush 00 and thence to the ring 0l.

Arranged about are two series of members in the forni, of rings,

the periphery ofthe dise as the inner series yconsisting of the rings 02; v90" and 90 yand the outer series, of rings 90, 00, and 01.- The rings are of electrically' conducting material ut are separated from each other and from the plate 86 by insulating ringsA 00. The rings 02 to 91 constitute a station selecting mechanism and there are as many rings in each series as there are stations to be selected. As in my previous application the inner series of rings enable the selection of stations during the P. M. period, while the outer set 0r series of rings correspond to the A. M. period. All of the rings are secured together and to 'the plate 00 and are stationary.

Each of the, insulating rings 00 is provided with perforations as indicated in Figure 3, the perforatlons of the inner series being continuous and registering with a similar series of perforations |00, Figure 1, in the plate 06. The

perforations of the outerl series are arranged in groups of four and register with corresponding groups of ,perforations |02, in the plate 00. Be-

by step by the pawl 00 under control of thetiming mechanism.

In thisconnection, it is pointed out that the contact pin |00 unit .device during a deiinite time interval. In the present embodiment this is fifteen minutes. When, however, the electro-magnet 10, Figures l3 and 9, is energized, the cupl 00 and its carried contact pin |04 make a step of movement so that the contact pin passes fromA engagement with one time unit device into contact with the next adjacent time unit device. 1' The selecting rings 02 and 95 are electrically connected through; switching mechanism, which will be later described, to the appropriate station selector 22. If, therefore a particular time unit device with which the pin |00 is in contact, is bridged with a particular station selecting ring or member, the station selector 22 appropriated to that particular station will be included in the circuit and hence cause the motorl to become energized and the selection of a particular station brought Aabout. The bridging of one or more time unit-devices with'one or more station selecting rings is brought about by means of determinators which may be plugged into the plate 00 of the panel board and determine the selection of a particular station..

The determinators of the present invention diiIer in construction from those disclosed'in my prior application already referred to and that construction will now be described.`

. Each determinator consists of handle portion |00, of insulating material, Figure 4 and 5, and one or more elements. Each ele ent comprises a stationary part |01 and an adjustable part |00, the adjustable part being slidable longitudinally of the part 01 as clearly shown in Figures 4 and 5 and is electrically conducting. TheI lower portion of each part |00 is provided with three holes anyone of which may be brought into register with a hole in the part |01 and a spring pressed plunger |00 holds the part |00 in any one of its adjusted positions. Each element of each determinator carries a contact ||0 secured to the handle portion |06 and each part |00 of each element carries a contact ||2 which may engage different-station selecting rings according to the adjustment of the part |00 longitudinally of the part |01.

In my prior application above referred to. each element of the determinators has a definite contour enabling it to cooperate with a timeunit device and with one or another station selecting ring. It was therefore necessary to provide not tween'the plate 06 and the adjacent insulating ring 00, Figure 3 are a series of time unit devices |00 (see also Figure 1). Each of these time unit devices has two holes registering with the perforations respectively in the insulating rings vals. In the present embodiment, since the time unit interval chosenls one-quarter of an hour, Dforty-eight time unit devices are provided.

For convenience in description, the rings 02 and 0l are shown as appropriated to station WOR, the rings 00 and 00 to WEAF and the rings 04 and 01 to WJZ.

A spring pressed electrically conducting contact pin |00 carried by the cup 00 makes contact with'one or another of the time unit devices |00 as the cup and disc 00 are advanced step 00. There are as many of these time unit devices as thereare time unit interonly determinators having a different number of elements to control the time interval but it was also necessary to provide a diil'erent determinator for each station.

In the present embodiment of my invention with determinators having adjustable elements, the same determinator may select any station and the necessary number is thereby reduced. Of course in order that aset-up may be made for the entire twenty-four hours of the day and night, it may be desirable to duplicate some determinators, but this is a matter of convenience rather than necessity.

Referring again to Figures 4 and 5, it will be noted that the determinator there shown carries four elements and referring particularly to Figure 5, the element atthe left has its part |00 adjusted for the station WOR., the next element to the right being adjusted for WEAF, the third for WJZ and the fourth for WOR. When a determinator of this character is positioned as remains in contact with a time shown in Figure 5, station WOR, will be received for fifteen minutes, WEAF and WJZ for the succeeding two intervals of fifteen minutes and WOR again received during the last fifteen minutes of any particular hour chosen. contacts always engage a time unit device |03 but the particular station selecting ring which is contacted by the contact ||2 is determined by the adjustment of the part |08 of each element.

As long as the contact pin |04 is in contact with a particular time unit device, which time unit device is at the moment in electrical contact with a station selecting ring, a. circuit will be established to one or another of the station selectors 22. Just as soon, however, as the pin |04 passes to a time unit device which is not bridged to a station selecting ring, by an element of a determinator, the circuit is broken, as -will be more definitely set forth hereinafter.

Referring to Figure l the inner or P. M. series of holes in the plate 86 are continuous and equally spaced from each other, the outer series of holes corresponding to A. M., however, are arranged in groups of four, but the arc passing through the center of said group of holes is struck from the same radius as the adjacent group of holes corresponding to P. M. This enables a determinator having four elements to be placed in any group of A. M. holes or in any four adjacent P. M. holes.

The face of the Icup 83 adjacent the plate 86 is 'inscribed with va series of fifteen minute time intervals running through twelve hours which are visible through a sight opening I I4 provided in the plate 86. A knob ||3 on shaft 84 serves the purpose of setting the cup in case the clock should stop. The knob 65 also .serves to set the disc 66. i

Assuming that a determinator having four elements such as shown in Figure 5 has rbeen plugged into a group of holes |02 in the panel board, and that lever 42 is in full line position shown in Figure 9, the current then passes from the minus side of the line through lead 44 to terminal 46, through lever 42 to conductor 80 and brush 88 to ring 85 whence it is conducted. throughwire ||5a to contact pin |04 thence through t'he time unit device |03 which is at the moment in contact with said pin, thence by means of contact ||0, Figure 4, and electrically conducting part |08 to contact i|2 to any one of the station selecting rings depending upon the adjustment of the particular element of the determinator. In Figure 5 as already stated, the left hand element isadjusted for the station WOR and therefore said elementI will conduct the current to the ring 85. Referring' now to Figure 9, the current will pass from the ring 85 along wire |l5 to terminal |I6through switch arm ||1. to terminal ||8,'thence along wire ||8 to terminal |20 which is connected to the station selector 22 by means of wire 30.A Current will then be supplied to the motor, the member 23 will begin to rotate and position the tuning mechanism to select the station WOR.v As soon as -this station has been selected the motor circuit will be broken and the operating circuit for the radio set established as `has already been described. Referring again to Figure 5, the second element from the left has been adjusted to station WEAF and hence a circuit will be closed to the selecting ring 86 as soon as the pin |04 passes into contact with the time unit device |03 with which the contact ||0 of the element adjusted for WEAF makes contact. From the ring 96 corresponding to WEAF,

Figure 9, current passes along the wire |2| toterminal |22 thence through switch arm |23 to terminal |24 and by means of wire |25 it passes to terminal |26 thence along wire 32 to the station-selector 22 corresponding to WEAF. Re-

, ferring again to Figure 5, the third element from the left thas its part |01 adjusted for station WJZ and the current at the proper time will pass to conducting ring 81 thence along wire |28 to terminal |28, switch arm |30, to terminal |3| and thence by means of the wire |32 to terminal |33 which is connected to the WJZ station selector 22 by means of wire 34.

It is to be noted that `the switch arms ||1, |23 and |30 are in such position that they are connected to the terminals of wires I|5, |2|. and |28 which wires in turn are connected to the outer rings 85, 96 and 81 respectively, which rings are the A. M. rings.

In order that the control exercised by the determinator may automatically be switched from A. M. to P. M., means are provided for moving the switch arms ||1, |23 and |30 when the time indications visible through the slot ||4 pass from A. M. to P. M. 0r from P. M. to A. M.

For this purpose the shaft 84, Figures 2 and 9, carries a cam |34 which controls movement of a. slide |35 slotted to engage the shaft 84 and guided in a sleeve |36. A spring |45 normally tends to move the slide upwardly as shown in Figure 9. Pivoted to the slide is an arm |31 the upper end of which may engage a notch in a `bell crank lever |38 or |38 depending upon the position of the slide |40 to which the bell cranks |38 and |39 are loosely pivoted. These bell cranks are suitably supported by stationary pivots |4|. The switch arms ||1, |23 and |30 are pivoted to the slide |40, the left hand end of which is provided with two notches with either |44 of the Slide |35 drops Oil' the high part 0f the cam |34 the spring |45 acts to move the slide |35 upwardly and its end engages the notch in the bell crank |38 and moves the slide |40 to the left thereby moving the switch arms ||1, |23 andA |30 so that the contacts H6, |22 and |28 are broken and contacts |46, |41 and |48 established. Contact |46 is connected by wire |50 to the inner station selecting ring 82 corresponding to WOR. The contact |41 is connected by means of wire I'5| to the inner station selecting ring '83 corresponding to WEAF land the contact |48 is connected by means of wire |52 to the inner station selecting ring 84 corresponding to WJZ. In this connection it is to bev noted that the shaft 84 makes one rotation each twelve hours and the drop in the c am |34 is so positioned that the slide |35is permitted to move under influence of its spring just as the numeral |2 passes the sight opening ||4, Figure 1. i

With the switching mechanism above described, the control which a. determinator exercises on station selecting is thus automatically changed from A. M. to P. M. or from P. M. to A. M. and the user of the radio set may thus set up a program which may be received at various times during the twenty-four hours depending upon the position of the several determinators used and the adjustment of the elements of each determinator.

plunger to be moved to the left as shown in Fig,

During automatic station selection under control of the determinators, the lever 42, `Figures 1 and 9,` is in the position shown in full lines in Figure 9 which may be considered its normal position.

At any time, however, this lever may be moved from its normal position to any one of three other positions (the present disclosure having for purposes of illustration, only three stations) and when so moved the circuit' leading to the brush 69 is broken and automatic control of station selection by the determinators is suspended and direct control of the member 23 is brought about. 'Ihe operation of the motor to move the tuning rnchanism to the particular station selected by lever 42 has been already fully described. When lever 42 is moved to a fourth position, marked R,-

in Fig. l, the circuit to the radio set .is directly closed as illustrated in Figure 9 and station selecting may be brought about in the usual way by turning the knob 6.

In the modification of the invention shownin I Figures 7, 8 and 8a, the movement of the tuning mechanism andthe rendering of a station selector effective are both manually controlled. In this modified form of the invention the shaft 4 carrying the tuning mechanism is extended a short distance beyond the panel board aslshown in Figure 8 and the member 26a carrying the station selectors is somewhat modied. This member is somewhat cup-shaped and may carry a dial |54 having the usual arbitrary graduatons for station selection. The station selectors |56 are carried by the member 23a but are somewhat differently constructed from the selectors 22. Each selector is movable radially in a slot in the member 26a and is normally urged to inoperative position by a spring |51 as clearly shown in Figure 8. The member 23a is also provided with several apertures, |56, one for each station. Loose on the shaft 4 is an arm |59 having a housing |60 at its outer end for carrying a spring pressed plunger |6|. The plunger is bevelled on its inner face at |62 and when the plunger is in operative position as shown in Figure 8, the bevel face |62 engages a corresponding bevel face on a station selector. |56 such movement acting to cam the station selector to operative position. Surrounding the station selectors is a control ring |63 having a notch |64 at one portion of its inner periphery, which notch is adapted to be entered by a spring pressed detent |65 carried by each of the station selectors |56. When the detent enters this notch Nthe tuning mechanism is positioned at the station desired. The operation to select a particular station will be understood from a consideration oi Figures 7, 8 and 8a and consists in rst pulling out the knob |66. This disengages the end of the plunger from the station selector |56 with which it was previously engaged. The arm |59 is then moved to position its plunger opposite another slot |56 corresponding to the new station desired. The knob |66 is then released and a spring within the housing |66 causes the ure 8 and its cam end |62 moves the station selector radialiy. The arm |59 is then rotated and with it the member 23a and the shaft 4 until the station selector which has been protruded engages in the notch |64. 'I'his acts as a check or locating device for the parts which have been moved by the lever |59, including the tuning mechanism, which is then in position to tune in the station selected. This movement also results in establishing the operating circuit for the radio set and the manner in which this is accomplished is illustrated in Figure 8a. Two leads |66 pass through the ring |63 adjacent the notch |64 and are bridged by the detent |65 which is of electrical conducting material.

After the knob |66 is pulled out and the plunger |6| disengaged from a stationA selector |56, the spring |51 immediately moves the selector to inoperative position thereby breaking the circuit through the radio set. The arm |59 may then be moved to a position where the plunger IBI cannot enter any of the apertures |56 and the radio set is of course inoperative during this time. It is of course obvious that suitable designations may be placed adjacent the apertures |56 and these may designate different stations either by name, number or any other symbol.

'I'he arm |59 moves the either direction, directly to' a position to select a station. I

Whether the tuning mechanism is under control of the manual settable arm |59 or as in the construction first described, under control of the motor either through the determinators or through the lever 42 it is to be noted that I have provided a member such as 23 to 23a which is movable with the tuning mechanism. I have also provided normal ineffective station selectors carried by said member which control the movement thereof to tune in a s ta-tion. Any station selector may be rendered efective'in three ways.

With the modified form shown in Figures '7,v 8. and 8a, by the plunger |6| controlled by the knob |66, the selection is entirely manual. A selector may also be rendered effective by causing it to be included in an electric circuit with the motor through a determinator and the timing mechanism. A third method is brought about through the direct positioning of the lever 42.-

When a selector has been rendered effectiveI in any of the ways described the member 22 or 23a is moved to position accordance with the selector rendered effective.

What I claim is:

In a radio receiving set having tuning mech- I anism and a panel board, in combination, a plurality of station selecting members, a determinator of unitary structure, and means carried thereby to cooperate simultaneously with a plurality of station selecting members.

BRUGGER.

tuning mechanism in` the tuning mechanism in A

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