GB2047456A

GB2047456A - Speed change mechanism for gramophone turntable

Info

Publication number: GB2047456A
Application number: GB8014635A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1977-07-05
Filing date: 1978-07-04
Publication date: 1980-11-26
Also published as: GB2005452A; DD140814A5; ATA547379A; ZA783632B; BE868746A; ATA547479A; GB2002945B; GB2002944A; AT375482B; ES479201A1; FR2397039A1; MX145032A; LU79928A1; ES479200A1; ATA487878A; ZA801741B; FR2397039B1; GB1602953A; GB2003644B; ZA801740B

Abstract

The turntable includes a depending flange driven by belt 50 and the mechanism comprises drive pulleys 46, 48 and a belt shifting arrangement formed by members 308, 314 pivotally mounted on the gramophone base plate for scissors movement as member 308 is shifted by rod 302 connected to a speed setting lever. Member 314 has a flange portion inclined for moving the belt downwards on to the lower pulley and member 308 has an oppositely inclined flange for raising the belt to the upper pulley. <IMAGE>

Description

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SPECIFICATION Automatic record changer

5 The present invention relates to record changers, and more particularly, to automatic record changers which are arranged to play a series of phonograph records in the order in which the records are placed on the centering spin-10 die of the record changer.

Present day automatic record changers are much too complicated and expensive to manufacture. For example, the changer manufactured by BSR Ltd., which changer constitutes 15 approximately eighty percent of the total world's production of automatic record changers, has approximately 220 parts and requires a substantial amount of labor to assemble and test these parts in order to manufacture the 20 complete record changer. In addition, most, if not all, present day automatic record changers are sensitive to warpage and bending of the metal base plate on which the parts of the record changer are assembled. This base plate 25 is conventionally made of relatively thin sheet metal and the tone arm driving and positioning mechanisms become misaligned and malfunction when warpage or bending of the base plate occurs, either in production, during 30 shipping, or after the changer has been used by the customer. Furthermore, because the functions at the center of the turntable are interconnected with the functions at the tone arm mechanism by means of complicated 35 linkages, and the like, it is not possible to separately test and align the tone arm assembly before it is assembled in the main base plate. Accordingly, the manufacturing cost of such arrangements is substantially increased. 40 Also, in order to properly position the tone arm over the rest post of the changer, most conventional changers require indexing means associated with the tone arm quadrant for stopping the tone arm over the rest post and 45 lowering it onto the rest post during the last record shutoff cycle. However, such arrangements are also sensitive to warpage and bending of the base plate which tends to misalign the portion of the base plate containing the 50 rest post with respect to the area at which the tone arm is rotatably mounted.

With regard to the velocity tripping arrangements employed in many conventional changers, these velocity tripping arrangements usu-55 ally employ two or more parts which are frictionally interconnected and can become randomly oriented by shock or vibration as the main gear is detented. In order to prevent this action it is customary to employ a relatively 60 heavy friction force between the plates to prevent such misalignment. However, when such heavy friction is employed it is difficult to trip the changer with lightweight tone arm pressure in the order of one gram.

65 In the specification of my United States patent No. 3,254,896 an arrangement is disclosed for stopping the turntable during the record changing cycles so that records are deposited on a stationary turntable. While this 70 arrangement is generally suitable for its intended purpose, it is necessary with the arrangement disclosed therein to move the idler drive wheel out of engagement with the turntable rim before the turntable is stopped. In 75 my United States Patent No. 3,408,081 a two turntable arrangement is employed wherein both turntables are lowered during the second record changing cycle until the upper turntable engages stationary snubbing 80 blocks and hence becomes disconnected from the lower driving turntable. While these arrangements for stopping the turntable are generally satisfactory for their intended purpose, it would be desirable to provide a 85 somewhat simpler arrangement for stopping the turntable which could be readily incorporated into a particular automatic record changer if such a turntable pause feature is used.

90 An automatic record changer which exemplifies the present invention, as it will be described and claimed hereinafter, and also a number of other inventions which are claimed in Applications Nos. 28741/78 (Serial No. 95 2005452), 28742/78 (Serial No.

2003643), 28743/78 (Serial No.

2002944), 28744/78 (Serial No. 2002945) and 7923712 (Serial No. 2022308), all dated 4th July 1 978, are also described in 100 the specification of my Application No.

21318/78 filed 23rd May 1978. Some of the objects and features set out in that specification are included in the present specification for the sake of completeness although they 105 are not all directly concerned with or affected by the present invention.

Thus one such object is to provide a new and improved automatic record changer in which one or more of the above discussed 110 and other disadvantages or limitations of prior art arrangements are avoided or reduced.

A further object is to provide an automatic record changer which requires fewer parts than the usual conventional record changers 11 5 and one which can be manufactured on a mass production basis at low cost and with an economic amount of labour.

Another object is to provide a new and improved automatic record changer which is 120 relatively insensitive to warpage and bending of the base plate of the changer.

A further object is to provide a new and improved automatic record changer which employs a tone arm lifting mechanism which is 125 relatively insensitive to warpage and bending of the base plate.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer wherein positioning 1 30 of the tone arm over the rest post during the

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last record shutoff cycle is relatively insensitive to warpage and bending of the base plate or misalignment of parts.

It is another object of the present invention 5 to provide a new and improved automatic record changer wherein the tone arm is positioned during a last record shutoff cycle by physical engagement with a portion of the rest post, this engagement functioning accurately 10 to register the tone arm for subsequently lowering into engagement with the rest post.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer wherein the tone 1 5 arm is positioned over the rest post and lowered into retained engagement therewith somewhat before mid cycle of a last record shutoff cycle, the tone arm driving mechanism having a slip clutch arrangement to permit 20 such retained engagement at mid cycle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic record changer wherein the tone arm mechanism is mounted on a separate subassembly 25 which is interconnected with the main cycling gear of the changer by means of only two members for lifting and driving the tone arm, the positioning of which is relatively insensitive to warpage and bending of the base 30 plate.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved tone arm subassembly for use in automatic record changers which may be manufactured as a 35 separate item and aligned mechanically and electrically checked before it is assembled into the main base plate of the changer.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved tone arm 40 driving arrangement for use in an automatic record changer which is extremely simple and reliable and provides smooth tone arm movements by means of a slip clutch drive arrangement to permit the tone arm to be restrained 45 at any time and particularly at mid cycle during the last record shutoff cycle.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved tone arm driving arrangement for use in an automatic 50 record changer which also functions as a light force velocity tripping mechanism during the playing cycle.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved automatic 55 record changer wherein a single element is employed to interconnect the tone arm with a main cycling gear for controlling horizontal movement of the tone arm, this element also functioning as a velocity trip actuating mem-60 ber during the playing cycle.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a simplified cueing lever arrangement for use in an automatic record changer which may be employed for manually raising 65 and lowering the tone arm.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and improved record changer wherein the turntable is stopped during the record changing cycle by means of an 70 arrangement which is simple and economical to manufacture and does not require disengagement of the turntable driving motor or raising or lowering of the turntable.

It is another object of the present invention 75 to provide a new and improved automatic record changer wherein a single control knob which is used to turn on and reject the changer may also be moved to a repeat play position in which a record on the turntable is 80 continuously played until the operator moves the changer out of the REPEAT PLAY position.

Briefly, in accordance with the present invention an extremely simple record changer mechanism is provided wherein only two 85 members interconnect the tone arm subassembly with the main cycling gear in the spindle area of the changer. One of these members is employed to lift and lower the tone arm and the other member is used for 90 the dual purpose of moving the tone arm horizontally during the record changing cycle and also acts as a velocity trip actuating member during the playing cycle. Both members are designed to avoid damage to the 95 mechanism if the tone arm is accidentally moved or restrained during the record changing cycle. The presence or absence of a record on the spindle shelf is sensed by blade means which is moved in the direction of the shelf 100 during the initial portion of the record changing cycle. If no record is present on the shelf, somewhat before mid cycle the tone arm is lowered into engagement with a retaining notch on the rest post and the turntable motor 105 is turned off at the end of this last record shutoff cycle.

A turntable pause feature is provided by simply applying a braking force to the rim of the turntable while the turntable hub contin-110 ues to be driven, a simple washer of low coefficient of friction material between the turntable and its hub permitting the turntable to be stopped while the driving motor continues to rotate the turntable hub.

115 The control knob normally used for 0N-OFF-REJECT functions, is provided with a 4th position in which the record changer repeatedly play a record on the turntable without shutting off the machine. This REPEAT PLAY 120 position is reached by first moving the control knob to the ON or REJECT position and then moving it back OFF to a position between the ON and OFF positions. When so moved, a detent force is provided for the control knob 125 and an audible click is produced to inform the operator that the REPEAT PLAY position has been reached.

The invention both as to its organization and method of operation, together with fur-130 ther objects and advantages thereof, will best

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be understood by reference to the following specification taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Figure 7 is a top plan view of the record 5 changer of the present invention with a portion of the turntable broken away to show a portion of the record changing mechanism;

Figure 2 is a bottom view of the record changer of Fig. 1;

10 Figure 3 is a perspective view of the tone arm subassembly of the changer of Fig. 1 when the changer is turned off;

Figure 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the position of the tone arm near the 1 5 end of a last record shutoff cycle;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Figure 5A is a fragmentary external view similar to Fig. 5 but taken on a larger scale; 20 Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the lines 6-6 of Fig. 1;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 7-7 of Fig. 2;

Figure 7A is a sectional view taken along 25 the line 7A-7A in Fig. 1;

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken along the lines 8-8 of Fig. 1 and showing the tone arm drive-trip clutch in its rest position;

Figure 9 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 8 30 but showing the tone arm clutch in its tone arm drive position;

Figure 10 'is a perspective view of the velocity trip clutch employed in the changer of Fig. 1;

35 Figure 7 7 is a sectional view taken along the line 11-11 of Fig. 10;

Figure 72 is a fragmentary plan view taken on a larger scale, showing the speed shift mechanism of the changer of Fig. 1 in the 33 40 rpm position;

Figure 12A is a plan view similar to Fig. 12 but showing the speed shift mechanism in the 45 rpm position;

Figure 726 is a sectional view taken along 45 the line 12B-12B of Fig. 12;

Figure 72Cis a sectional view taken along the line 12C-12C of Fig. 12A;

Figure 12D is a sectional view taken along the line 12D-12D of Fig. 12A;

50 Figure 73 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating in diagrammatic form the operation of the drive-velocity trip mechanism of the changer of Fig. 1 in initiating a record changing cycle and showing the main gear in the 55 home or detent position;

Figures 14 to 19 are views similar to Fig. 13 but showing the main gear at different positions in the record changing cycle;

Figure 20 is a view similar to Fig. 1 3 but 60 showing the action of the velocity tripping mechanism of the changer of Fig. 1 during a playing cycle;

Figure 27 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the lines 21-21 of Fig. 6 and 65 showing the tone arm quadrant in the twelve-

inch record set down position;

Figure 22 is a bottom view of the tone arm subassembly of Fig. 3;

Figure 22A is a view basically similar to 70 Fig. 22 but showing the manner in which the tone arm subassembly is assembled on the base plate;

Figure 23 is a perspective view, partly in section, of the tone arm subassembly of Fig. 75 3 with a portion thereof cut away to show the operation of the cueing lever in the tone-arm-up position;

Figure 23A is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 23A-23A of Fig. 23; 80 Figure 24 is a view similar to Fig. 23 but shown with the cueing lever in the tone-arm-down position;

Figure 25 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 25-25 of Fig. 5 and 85 showing the control knob of the changer of Fig. 1 in the OFF position;

Figure 25A is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 25 but taken on a somewhat larger scale;

90 Figure 25C is a perspective view of the flat spring blocking member employed in the changer of Fig. 1 ;

Figure 26 is a view similar to Fig. 25 but showing the control knob in the ON position 95 and the main cam in a last record shutoff cycle initiating position;

Figure 26A is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 26 but taken on a somewhat larger scale;

100 Figures 27, 28 and 29 are views similar to Fig. 26 but showing the main cam in different positions during a last record shutoff cycle;

Figure 27A is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 27A-27A of Fig. 27; 105 Figure 28A is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 28 but taken on a somewhat larger scale;

Figure 30 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 25 but showing the control knob in the RE-110 JECT position to initiate a record changing cycle;

Figure 30A is a fragmentary sectional view similar to Fig. 30 but taken on somewhat larger scale;

115 Figure 37 is a view similar to Fig. 26 but showing the mechanism in a single automatic record play position;

Figure 32 is a view similar to Fig. 31 but showing the main gear at a later point in the 120 single record automatic play changing cycle;

Figures 33 and 34 are fragmentary sectional views similar to Fig. 5A but showing the parts in different positions of a last record sensing cycle;

1 25 Figure 33A is a view similar to Fig. 25 but showing the mechanism in a repeat play position;

Figure 35 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of an alternative record supporting 1 30 arrangement which may be used in the

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changer of Fig. 1;

Figure 36 is a plan view of the record supporting arrangement shown in Fig. 35;

Figure 37 is a side elevational view of the 5 arrangement of Fig. 35 when used to play seven-inch records with a large-hole record adaptor;

Figure 38 is a sectional elevational view of an alternative record sensing arrangement of 10 the present invention similar to Fig. 5 of the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 37;

Figure 39 is a sectional view taken along the line 39-39 of Fig. 38;

Figure 40 is a fragmentary plan view of an 1 5 alternative tone arm drive and velocity trip actuating mechanism which can be used in the changer of Fig. 1 ;

Figure 41 is a sectional view taken along the line 41-41 of Fig. 40;

20 Figures 42 and 43 are fragmentary plan views of further alterative drive-trip arrangements similar to the embodiment of Figs. 40 and 41;

Figure 44 is a fragmentary plan view of an 25 alternative tone arm drive and trip actuating mechanism which can be used in the changer of Fig. 1 ;

Figure 45 is a sectional view along the line

45-45 of Fig. 44;

30 Figure 46 is a sectional view along the line

46-46 of Fig. 44;

Figure 47 is a fragmentary plan view of an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein an idler wheel drive unit is employed 35 to rotate the turntable; and

Figure 48 is a fragmentary plan view of a further alternative embodiment of the invention wherein a modified drive link arrangement is employed to move the tone arm 40 horizontally; and

Figure 49 is a plan view of an alternative embodiment of the invention wherein a two-plate velocity tripping arrangement is employed.

45 Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to Figs. 1 through 34 thereof, the automatic record changer of the present invention is therein illustrated as comprising a metal base plate indicated generally at 10 on 50 which is mounted a rotatable turntable indicated generally at 12, a tone arm indicated generally at 14, and a balance arm indicated generally at 16. The turntable 12 is mounted for rotation about a centering spindle indi-55 cated generally at 18 on which a stack of records may be supported and the balance arm 16 moved from its rest position somewhat beyond the position shown in Fig. 1 to a position over the records so that these records 60 are balanced on the record supporting shelf of the spindle 18.

The tone arm 14 is rotatably mounted on a tone arm housing subassembly indicated generally at 20, the housing 20 being provided 65 with a rest post portion 22 which extends upwardly from the housing 20 and is provided with a relatively deep notch 24 in the top thereof within which the tone arm 14 may be seated when the record changer is turned 70 off. A cueing lever indicated generally at 26 is rotatably mounted in the tone arm subassembly 20 and may be moved from a generally verticaly position shown in Figs. 1 and 24 to a rearward inclined position shown in Fig. 23. 75 When the cueing lever 26 is in the vertical position shown in Fig. 1, it is ineffective to lift the tone arm. However, when the cueing lever is moved to the rearward position it is effective to lift the tone arm off of the record after 80 which it may be manually placed over another selection on the record or moved over the rest post 24. Then, the cueing lever may be used manually to lower the tone arm 14 into engagement with a record on the turntable 12, 85 or the notch in the rest post, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

A combined speed and size control knob 27 is provided which in the illustrated embodiment is movable between a 33-1/3 rpm 90 position an a 45 rpm position. In the 33-1/3 rpm position the tone arm 14 is automatically adjusted to play 12-inch records and in the 45 rpm position the tone arm is automatically adjusted to play 7-inch records. When small-95 hole seven-inch records are to be played they may be placed on the shelf of the spindle 18 and the balance arm 16 employed to balance the record stack. When large-hole seven-inch records are employed a suitable adaptor may 100 be placed on the spindle 18, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. In the event 10-inch 78 rpm records are to be played, the knob 27 may be provided with a third detent position ahead of the 45 rpm 105 position, as will be described in more detail hereinafter.

A multi-function control knob 29 is provided which has four positions, namely, an OFF position, a REPEAT PLAY POSITION, AN 110 ON position and a REJECT position, from front to back of the changer. When the knob 29 is moved from the OFF position to the ON position the driving motor for the turntable 12 is energized and when the knob 29 is moved 11 5 to the REJECT position a record changing cycle is automatically initiated. In accordance with an' important aspect of the present invention, the record changer mechanism is so arranged that when the knob 29 is first 120 moved to the ON position and then is moved back to the REPEAT PLAY position a slight detent force is exerted on the knob 29, which is not produced when the knob 29 is moved from OFF to ON, and an audible click is 125 produced to inform the operator that he is in the REPEAT PLAY position. With the knob 29 in the REPEAT PLAY position the record changer repeatedly plays the record which is on the turntable 12. As noted above, the 130 REPEAT PLAY position cannot be reached by

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simply moving the knob 29 from the OFF position to the adjacent REPEAT PLAY position. The knob 29 must first be moved to the REJECT position, so that the turntable motor 5 is turned on, and then moved back to the REPEAT PLAY position. With this arrangement the single knob 29 is employed to provide functions requiring several knobs in conventional changers.

10 In accordance with a further important aspect of the present invention, the base plate 10 is provided with a central depressed portion 28. Most of the parts of the record changing mechanism per se are mounted on 15 the top and bottom of the central depressed base plate portion 28, which is eccentric with respect to the spindle 18 to permit such mounting, thereby eliminating the conventional base plate subassemblies which are 20 normally employed to mount the operative parts of the record changing mechanism. By employing the central base plate portion 28 as a support for the control levers and other parts of the record changing mechanism, the 25 number of parts required is substantially reduced and in addition the amount of time required to assemble these parts in production is also substantially reduced. More particularly, a cycling gear indicated generally at 30 30 is rotatably mounted on a post 32 which is secured in the central base plate portion 28 and extends upwardly therefrom, the gear 30 being retained on the post 32 by any suitable means such as the C washer 34. A sleeve 35 bearing 36 is mounted in the eccentric portion 28 of the base plate 10 and the spindle 18 is secured within the bearing 36. A turntable hub 38 is rotatably mounted on the sleeve bearing 36 and rests on a thrust bearing 40 indicated generally at 40 which is positioned about the bottom end of the sleeve 36 and rests on the central base plate portion 28. The hub 38 is retained on the bearing 36 by means of the O-ring 37.

45 In order to drive the turntable hub 38

turntable driving motor 40 (Fig. 5) is mounted on the underside of the base plate 10 beyond the portion 28 and the shaft 42 thereof extends upwardly through an opening 44 in 50 the base plate 10. A drive turret having a 45 rpm step 46 and a 33 rpm step 48 mounted on the shaft 42 above the base plate 10 and a flexible belt 50 is employed to interconnect one of the turret steps 46, 48 with the 55 turntable hub 38, the belt 50 riding on the periphery of the hub 38.

In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, the turntable 12 is not directly connected to the turntable hub 38, 60 but instead rests on a thin and relatively wide washer 52 which is positioned between the upper surface of the turntable hub 38 and the bottom surface of the turntable 12 adjacent a central depressed portion 54 of the turntable 65 12. The washer 52 is made of low coefficient of friction material, such as Teflon (Registered Trade Mark) or the like. With this arrangement, the turntable 12 may be stopped during the record changing cycle, by brake 70 means to be described in more detail hereinafter, so that the turntable 12 is stationary when a record is dropped onto it. This construction also permits the turntable hub 38 to be continuously driven from the motor 40 75 during the record changing cycle, the washer 52 providing a sufficiently low coefficient of friction bearing to permit stopping of the turntable 12 without placing an excessive load on the motor 40, and without requiring 80 disengagement of the driving means between turntable and turntable hub by some means such as elevating or lowering of either the turntable hub 38 or the turntable 12. A suitable turntable mat 56 may be positioned 85 on the upper surface of the turntable 12 to provide a cushion for records deposited on the turntable 12. The turntable 12 is retained in the hub 38 by means of an O-ring 39 and the central opening in the turntable 12 rides on 90 the upper shaft portion 41 of the hub 38 which acts as a bearing for the turntable during braking.

In order to drive the main cycling gear 30 during a record changing cycle, the turntable 95 hub 38 is provided with pinion gear teeth 58 at the bottom end thereof which are adapted to engage the peripheral gear teeth of the gear 30. However, during the playing cycle the gear 30 is detented in a home position in 100 which a mutilated portion 60 of the gear 30 is opposite the gear teeth 58 so that these teeth are not in mesh during the playing cycle.

In order to initiate a record changing cycle, 105 a single velocity trip lever 62 (Fig. 1) is pivotally mounted on the upper face of the gear 30 by means of a pin portion 61 which is positioned within the central bore of a downwardly extending housing portion 63 110 (Fig. 5) of the main gear 30, the lever 62 being provided with an upstanding flange portion 66 (Fig. 1) in which a vertically extending shoulder 68 is formed. The shoulder 68 is arranged to be struck by a flange 70 11 5 provided on the central sleeve portion of the turntable hub 38 above the gear 58 when the shoulder portion 66 of the velocity trip lever 62 is moved inwardly by a predetermined amount. Movement of the velocity trip lever 1 20 62 is effected at the end of the playing-cycle by means of a velocity tripping mechanism to be described in more detail hereinafter. As soon as the velocity trip lever 62 has been pivoted by an amount sufficient to bring the 125 shoulder 68 into the path of the flange 70, the gear 30 is rotated by engagement of these members by an amount such that the gear teeth of the turntable hub gear 58 engage the adjacent teeth of the gear 30 and 1 30 rotate the gear 30 through one revolution

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during the record changing cycle.

In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, rotation of the main gear 30 is employed to effect the desired 5 lifting and rotation of the tone arm 14 by means of two members which are interconnected with the tone arm subassembly 20 in such manner that they may be readily disconnected. With this arrangement, the tone arm 10 subassembly 20 may be separately manufactured and tested prior to installation in the base plate 10, after which installation connection may be readily made to the automatic record changing mechanism through these 15 interconnecting elements. Furthermore, these interconnecting elements are so constructed that warping or bending of the base plate 10 does not interfere with the proper operation of the changer during the record changing cycle 20 or introduce errors in the set down adjustment of the tone arm 14 or the velocity tripping mechanism therefor.

TONE ARM LIFTING MECHANISM 25 Considering first the manner in which the tone arm 14 is lifted off of a record on the turntable 12 at the beginning of the record changing cycle, a tone arm lift rod indicated generally at 72 (Fig. 3) is provided with a 30 right angle end portion 74 which is mounted in spaced apart bearings in the tone arm subassembly 20. More particularly, the tone arm subassembly 20 includes a main housing 76 which is provided with a pair of down-35 wardly extending posts 78 and 80. A plate 1 82 is mounted on the posts 78 by means of the screws 84 and 86 (Fig. 22). The housing 76 includes an upstanding portion 88 which is provided with a vertically extending bore 90 40 which is adapted to receive the upper end of 1 the right angle portion 74 of the tone arm lift rod 72. The upper end of the bore 90 is arranged to form a bearing for the upper end of the right angle portion 74 and the plate 82 45 forms a lower bearing for this right angle end 1 portion 74. As a result, the lift rod 72 is supported by these two spaced apart bearings so that it may be smoothly raised and lowered. The upper end of the right angle end 50 portion 74 is threaded and an adjustable cap 1 92 is threaded onto the upper end of the right angle end portion 74, the cap 92 being arranged to engage the undersurface of a flat plate portion 94 of the tone arm 14. 55 The plate 82 is provided with a downwardly 1 extending offset flange portion 96 which has an inclined camming surface 98 formed in the bottom edge thereof. The tone arm lift rod 72 is biased upwardly into engagement with the 60 camming surface 98 by means of a coil spring 1 100 the bottom end of which is hooked around the tone arm lift rod 72. The spring 100 extends upwardly through an opening 102 (Fig. 22) formed in the plate 82 and into 65 the interior of an upwardly extending housing 1

104 formed in the plate 82. The upper end of the spring 100 is secured to the top wall of the housing 104. The other end of the lift rod 72 is provided with a right angle end portion 106 which is biased into engagement with a depending cam indicated generally at 108 (Fig. 7), which is formed in the bottom surface of the gear 30, this biasing force being achieved by virtue of the upward force exerted by the spring 100 adjacent the inclined camming surface 98 which tends to rotate the end portion 106 of the lift rod 72 toward the center of the gear 30.

When the gear 30 starts to rotate at the beginning of the record changing cycle the end portion 106, which is continuously biased into engagement with the cam 108 by virtue of the twisting action produced by the upward force of the spring 100 in relation to the inclined camming surface 98, follows the portion 110 of the cam 108 with the result that the lift rod 72 is pivoted about the above-described bearings for the end portion 74 thereof. However, since the spring 100 is continuously urging the lift rod 72 upwardly, as this rod is rotated it is also bodily lifted upwardly as it rides along the cam surface 98. Accordingly, the end portion 106 may be rotated by an amount sufficient to permit the lift rod 72 to be lifted up to the position shown in Fig. 4 wherein the portion 106 of the rod 72 engages the end of the slot 114 (Fig. 25) in the base plate 10. The flange 96 is also provided with stops 111, 112 at either end of the cam surface 98 to limit movement of the rod 72 during assembly. As this upward movement of the lift rod 72 occurs, the cap 92 on the upper end of the end portion 74 of the lift rod engages the plate 94 and lifts the tone arm upwardly off of the record which has just been played on the turntable 12. In this connection it should be noted that the tone arm 14 is shown in Figs. 3 and 4 in a position over the rest post 22. However, a similar lifting action is provided by the lift rod 72 when the tone arm 14 is resting on a record seated on the turntable 12.

The end portion 106 of the lift rod 72 extends upwardly through a slot 114 (Fig. 7) formed in the base plate 10 so that the upper portion of the end portion 106 may be biased into engagement with the cam 108 as described heretofore. The spring 100 maintains the lift rod 72 in an elevated position after the end portion 106 has been moved out of engagement with the cam portion 110 so that the tone arm remains in an elevated position during the portion of the record changing cycle during which the next record is being deposited on the turntable and the tone arm is moved inwardly to the correct record size position, as will be described in more detail hereinafter. However, near the end of the record changing cycle the end portion 106 of the lift rod 72 engages the cam portion 116

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of the cam 108. The cam portion 116 is not as steep as the cam portion 110 and hence the tone arm is gently lowered to the surface of the record on the turntable 12 as the end 5 portion 106 is engaged by the cam portion 116 and moved outwardly and the lift rod 72 is cammed down the surface 98 against the force of the spring 100. Very close to the end of the record changing cycle the end portion 10 106 engages an intermediate portion 118 (Fig. 26) of the cam 108. The portion 118 is formed along an arc having the center of the gear 30 as its center so that the biasing force which is exerted by the end portion 106 on 1 5 the cam 108 and hence the gear 30, is constant and minimized as the gear 30 approaches its home or detent position. In this connection it will be noted that the end portion 106 moves upwardly relative to the cam 20 portion 110 as the lift rod is bodily moved upwardly at the beginning of the record changing cycle. Also the end portion 106 is moved downwardly relative to the cam portion 116 as the tone arm is lowered. However, no 25 upward or downward movement of the end portion 106 relative to the cam portion 118 is experienced as the end portion 106 traverses the cam portion 118 so that minimal forces are exerted on the gear 30 as it approaches 30 the detent position. In this connection it will be noted that raising and lowering of the tone arm 14 is achieved solely in response to rotation of the end 106 of the lift rod 72 as controlled by the cam 108 so that an ex-35 tremely simple and yet efficient and smoothly acting tone arm lift arrangement is provided in accordance with the present invention. Furthermore, it is pointed out that the amount of lift is determined at the tone arm subassembly 40 20 by the cam surface 98 and warpage of the base plate does not change the height of the tone arm lift as it would with conventional linear motion slides which are directly connected to the main cycling gear. It is also 45 pointed out that the lift rod 72 functions smoothly with relatively little force because the cam surface 98 is positioned quite a distance from end portion 74 about which the rod 72 pivots. This construction permits the 50 cam surface 98 to have a gradual slope, whereas if this cam were placed close to the end 74 it would have to be relatively steep and substantial additional force would be required to move along it. However, the cam 55 surface 98 can be spaced away from the end 74 only because spaced apart bearings are provided for the end 74, as described heretofore, so that the rod 72 may be lifted smoothly and with little force exerted thereon.

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HORIZONTAL TONE ARM MOVEMENT

Considering now the manner in which the tone arm 14 is moved horizontally, in accordance with an important aspect of the present 65 invention a drive trip link 120 is employed to interconnect the gear 30 with the tone arm 14 so that the tone arm is moved outwardly during the first portion of the record changing cycle and is then moved inwardly over the 70 record which has been deposited on the turntable 12 and into engagement with the lead-in groove of this record. The drive trip link 120 also acts as a velocity trip actuating member during the playing cycle. The link 1 20, which 75 may be simply a stiff wire, is connected to the gear 30 at a point offset from the center thereof by means of a clutch mechanism indicated generally at 122. The other end of the link 120 is connected to a tone arm 80 quadrant member 124 (Fig. 2) which is connected to and moves with the tone arm 14 by means to be described in detail hereinafter. More particularly, the link 1 20 is provided with a right angle end portion 126 which 85 extends through the central opening in a bushing 1 28 which is loosely positioned in a slot 130 formed in the quadrant 124. As best illustrated in Fig. 11 the bushing member 128 is provided with a head portion 132 90 which rides on the upper surface of the quadrant 124 beyond the edges of the slot 130. A light coil spring 134 is positioned between an enlarged end portion 136 at the bottom of the bushing 128 and the underside of the 95 quadrant 124 so that a light clutch force is provided to prevent the member 128 from moving within the slot 130 unless this force is overcome. However, when the member 1 28 is moved into engagement with either end of 100 the slot 130 a positive drive connection is provided between the link 120 and the quadrant 124.

Considering now in more detail the clutch 122, an opening 140 is formed in the main 105 gear 30 which communicates with a recess 142 of larger diameter on the underside of the gear 30. A central annular wall 144 is formed in the gear 30 adjacent the opening 140 and an outer annular wall 146 is also 110 formed in the gear 30, the outer wall 146

having a pair of opposed cam actuating shoulders 148 and 150 formed therein which project upwardly above the top of the central annular wall 144. A clutch drive pivot 1 52 is 11 5 loosely mounted for rotation in the opening 140 in the gear 30 and is provided with a narrow slot 1 54 which extends upwardly from the bottom of the member of the pivot 1 52 and is adapted to receive the end portion of 120 the drive-trip link 120. The legs 156 and 158 which are formed in the pivot 152 by virtue of the slot 154 are provided with offset flexible end portions 160 and 162 which terminate in feet 164 and 166 which are adapted 125 to engage the recess 142 of the gear 30 when the pivot 1 52 is moved to an elevated position within the opening 140. The pivot 152 is also provided with opposed shoulders 1 68 and 1 70 which are adapted to rest on 130 the upper surface of the central annular wall

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144 when the pivot 1 52 is in the declutched or velocity tripping position shown in Fig. 8. In order to assemble the pivot 152 within the gear 30, the opening 140 is provided with 5 opposed grooves 172 and 174 (Fig. 14)

which permit the pivot 1 52 to be inserted upwardly through the opening 140 after which the pivot 152 is rotated and the end of the drive-trip link 120, which is inserted into 10 the groove 1 54 and can then rest on the upper surface of the wall, as shown in Fig. 8.

Considering now the operation of the above-described clutch 122 and drive-trip link 120 in moving the tone arm 14 outwardly to 1 5 the rest post 22 and then returning the tone arm to the desired set down position during the record changing cycle. During the initial portion of the record changing cycle, while the tone arm 14 is being lifted off of the 20 record as described heretofore, the clutch 122 does not interconnect the gear 30 with the link 120 so that no outward movement of the tone arm is produced during the tone arm lifting operation. This is because the link 120 25 remains loosely positioned within the slot 154 of the drive pivot 152 as the gear 30 is moved from the position shown in Fig. 13 to the position shown in Fig. 14. During this movement of the gear 30 the drive pivot 1 52 30 is however rotating slightly relative to the gear 30 since the pivot 152 is maintained in alignment with the link 120 by virtue of the fact that the link 120 extends through the transverse slot 154 in the pivot 1 52. 35 When the gear 30 approaches the position shown in Fig. 14 the link 120 rides up the inclined portions 180, 1 82 formed in the outer wall 146 and onto the upper surface of the opposed shoulders 148, 150. As this 40 occurs, the link 120 engages the top of the groove 154 and lifts the pivot 152 upwardly until the feet 164, 166 thereof are biased into engagement with the recess 142 in the gear, as shown in Fig. 9. The shoulders 148, 150 45 are made of sufficient height that the feet 164, 166 engage the gear 30 with sufficient force to clutch the drive-trip link to the gear 30 as the gear continues to rotate. However, this frictional force is not so great as to 50 prevent the pivot 152 from rotating relative to the gear 30 since the pivot 152 must remain aligned with the link 120 which extends through the notch 154 therein, and the other end of the link 120 is pivotally connected to 55 the quadrant 124 of the tone arm mechanism, as described in detail heretofore. During this rotary movement of the pivot 152 with respect to the gear 30 the feet 164, 166 slip along the surface of the recess 142 while 60 maintaining the above-described frictional force for the link 120.

As soon as the link 120 is moved upwardly into engagement with the upper surface of the shoulders 148, 150 the link 120 becomes 65 clutched to the gear 30 and as the gear continues to rotate the link 120 moves outwardly. If the velocity trip clutch bushing 128 is not positioned at the rear of the slot 130 in the quadrant 124, this initial outward movement of the link moves the member 124 to the outer end of slot 130 after which point the tone arm 14 is moved outwardly with the link 1 20 as the gear continues to rotate. The tone arm 14 is moved outwardly until it engages a blocking shoulder 184 on the rest post 22 the shoulder 1 84 extending upwardly a substantially greater distance than the inner shoulder 186 of the rest post 22. The relative position of the link 120 and the clutch 122 as the tone arm is moved into engagement with the rest post shoulder 184 is shown in Fig.

15.

Since the tone arm cannot move further outwardly when it engages the shoulder 184, as the gear 30 continues to rotate the clutch 122 permits such further rotation by slippage between the link 120 and the clutch 122. More particularly, while the frictional force with which the feet 1 64, 166 engage the gear 30 is sufficient to move the tone arm outwardly, as described heretofore, this force is not too great that it cannot be overcome when the tone arm strikes an obstruction such as the shoulder 184. When such an obstruction is encountered the link 120 slides over the upper surface of the shoulder 148, 150 and also slides relative to the pivot 152 by virtue of a sliding action of the link 120 in the bottom of the groove 154. Accordingly, as the gear 30 contines to rotate from the position shown in Fig. 15 to the position shown in Fig. 16 the clutch 122 continues to urge the tone arm against the shoulder 184 while the link 120 slides relative to the clutch 122 to the position shown in Fig. 16. However, as soon as the link 120 rides down the inclined portions 188, 1 90 formed in the outer wall 146 the feet 164, 166 of the pivot 152 are no longer biased into engagement with the gear 30 so that the link 120 becomes disengaged from the gear 30 while the tone arm 14 remains in its position in contact with the shoulder 184 of the rest post 22.

After the gear 30 has been rotated to the position shown in Fig. 17 the link 120 again rides up the inclined portions 180, 182 so that the gear 30 again becomes clutched to the link 120. As the gear 30 continues to rotate from the position shown in Fig. 17 to the position shown in Fig. 18 the link 120 is first moved so that the velocity trip clutch bushing 128 is moved to the forward end of the slot 130 and thereafter the link 120 functions to move the tone arm inwardly. By disconnecting the link 120 from the gear 30 during travel from the position shown in Fig. 17, the tone arm can remain in its position over the rest post for a longer period of time while the next record is being deposited on the turntable 12. This inward movement of

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the tone arm quadrant 124 continues until the twelve-inch record positioning shoulder 192, which is formed in the quadrant 124, striks the upturned flange portion 194 of a 5 size selector slide 196. The slide 196 is manually positioned at the twelve-inch position by means to be described in more detail hereinafter. When the shoulder 192 of the quadrant 124 strikes the size selector flange 10 194 further inward movement of the tone arm is prevented. However, since the gear 30 continues to rotate the clutch 122 again permits sliding movement of the link 120 relative to the shoulders 148, 150 and the pivot 152, 1 5 as described heretofore in connection with Figs. 15 and 16. It should be noted that as the gear rotates from the position shown in Fig. 18 to the position shown in Fig. 19, a constant pull is exerted on the link 120 so 20 that the velocity trip clutch bushing 128 remains positioned at the forward end of the slot 130 in the quadrant 124. The velocity tripping mechanism is thus continuously urged to the proper reset position of the 25 velocity trip clutch during movement of the gear from the position shown in Fig. 18 to the position shown in Fig. 19.

When the gear 30 reaches the position shown in Fig. 16 the link 120 rides down the 30 shoulders 188, 190 so that the gear 30

thereafter becomes disconnected from the link 120 as the gear 30 is returned to the detent or home position shown in Fig. 1. In the detent position the link 120 is completely free 35 to move since the pivot 152 is now supported by engagement of the shoulders 1 68, 1 70 thereof with the upper surface of the inner wall 144. Furthermore, the link 1 20 is positioned approximately midway between the 40 shoulder 148, 150 and rests loosely within the slot 154 in the pivot 152, as shown in Fig. 8.

VELOCITY TRIPPING MECHANISM 45 In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention the link 120 is also used during the playing cycle as a velocity trip actuating member. More particularly, the link 1 20 is moved to the position shown in Fig. 1 50 at the start of the playing cycle with the velocity trip clutch member 128 positioned at the forward end of the slot 130. As the tone arm moves inwardly over the record during the playing cycle the link 120 moves with the 55 tone arm quadrant 124 due to the light force exerted by the spring 1 34 on the under side of the tone arm quadrant 124. This light force is sufficient to move the link 120 axially through the slot 154 in the drive pivot 1 52 60 without disturbing the position of the velocity trip clutch member 128 relative to the slot 1 30. Since the link 120 rests loosely upon the inner wall 144 of the gear 30 during this movement, an extremely light clutch force can 65 be supplied by the spring 134.

As the tone arm nears the end of the record the link 120 is moved to a position where the end thereof engages the upstanding flange 66 of the velocity trip lever 62 which is pivotally 70 mounted on the gear 30. The lever 62 is mounted on the gear 30 so that it may be moved with a very light force and hence the end of the link 120 moves the lever 62 without moving the bushing 128 within the 75 slot 1 30. However, as the tone arm nears the end of the record the flange 70 on the turntable hub strikes the edge portion 67 (Fig. 16) of the flange 66 adjacent the shoulder 68 each revolution and moves the lever 62 and 80 hence the link 120 outwardly a slight amount against the force of the velocity trip spring 1 34. This force is, of course, not sufficient to interfere with inward stylus tracking of the record over the last few grooves of the record. 85 As a result, the bushing 128 is moved rear-wardly in the slot 130 as the last few playing grooves of the record are encountered.

When the runout groove of the record is encountered the link 120 is moved rapidly 90 inwardly with the tone arm so that the lever 62 is pivoted by a substantial amount and the shoulder 68 thereof is moved into the path of the flange 70 on the turntable hub 38. When the flange 70 strikes the shoulder 68 the gear 95 30 is rotated slightly so as to initiate a record changing cycle in the manner described in detail heretofore. This velocity tripping action of the link 120 is made possible by virtue of the fact that the clutch 122 disconnects the 100 link 120 from the gear 30 in the detent position of the gear 30 as described in detail heretofore. In this connection it will be noted that the velocity trip clutch connection of the link 1 20 to the quadrant 124 is always reset 105 to the maximum range during the record changing cycle because the bushing 128 is pulled to the forward end of the slot 1 30 by the link 120 as the gear 30 rotates. Furthermore, this resetting action lasts until near the 110 end of the record changing cycle when the gear 30 becomes disconnected from the link 1 20 (Fig. 1 9). This positive resetting of the bushing 128 also positions the end of the link 120 correctly in relation to the tone arm 14. 115 Accordingly, the position of the velocity tripping pawl 62 when it is initially engaged by the end of the link 120 may vary without interfering with proper velocity tripping since the link is correctly registered with respect to 120 the tone arm at the start of the playing cycle. However, the pawl 62 is prevented from moving into the path of the flange 70 as the gear 30 is detented by proper choice of the gears 58 and 30. Preferably, the ratio of teeth 125 58 on the hub 38 to the ratio of teeth on the gear 30 is such that there is an even ratio plus two teeth on the gear. As the gear 30 is detented the gears 58, 30 are timed so that the flange 70 is in the path of the edge 1 30 portion 67 of the velocity trip pawl 62 and

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hence prevents the pawl 62 from moving outwardly by an amount sufficient to position the shoulder 68 in the path of the flange 70. Preferably, the gear 58 has twenty-one teeth 5 and the gear 30 has 128 teeth.

It is also pointed out that the above-described velocity trip clutch may be eliminated and the link 120 pivotally connected directly to the quadrant 124. In such case a two-part 10 (or more) velocity trip pawl arrangement may be employed instead of the single pawl 62, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. However, such two-plate velocity trip mechanisms are subject to random alignment 1 5 which is usually overcome by providing more friction between the two plates. When such heavy friction is employed, velocity tripping with light tone arm forces in the order of one gram or less is not possible, whereas with the 20 velocity tripping arrangement described in detail heretofore reliable velocity tripping is provided with tone arm forces of less than one gram.

The velocity tripping pawl 62 may be reset 25 to its initial or rest position shown in Fig. 1 by any one of a number of arrangements. One such arrangement is shown in Fig. 16 wherein the intermediate portion of the link 120 is employed to reset the pawl 62 as the 30 gear 30 is moved from the position shown in Fig. 16 to the position shown in Fig. 17.

More particularly, as the gear 30 continues to rotate from the position shown in Fig. 16, the inclined top edge 200 of the flange portion 35 66 of the pawl 62 strikes the link 120. As the link 120 cams upwardly over the edge 200 the pawl 62 is moved inwardly away from the edge of the gear to the position shown in Fig. 1 as the link 120 rides over the top surface of 40 the flange 66. In the alternative the gear teeth 58 of the turntable hub 38 may engage the outwardly projecting portion 67 of the pawl 62 and move this pawl back to its initial position shown in Fig. 1 as the gear 30 45 approaches the detent position at the end of the record changing cycle.

RECORD SIZE SELECTION

Considering now the manner in which the 50 size selector slide 196 is positioned for seven-inch or twelve-inch records, it will be recalled from the general description heretofore, that the control knob 27 is employed as a combined record size and speed selector and may 55 be moved between either a 33-1/3 rpm position of a 45 rpm position. The control knob 27 is connected to an arm portion 204 of a speed-size lever 206 (Fig. 6), the portion 204 extending out beyond the edge of the 60 tone arm housing 20 through a slot 208 provided therein. The lever 206 is pivotally mounted beneath the base plate 10 by means of a tongue portion 210 which extends upwardly through an opening 212 in the base 65 plate 10. A spring wire 214 engages the tongue 210 on the top surface of the base plate 10, one end of the wire 214 being provided with an offset end portion which extends downwardly through an opening 216 in the base plate 10 and the other end of the wire 214 being provided with an offset end portion 218 which is positioned beneath the base plate 10. The lever 206 is provided with an upturned flange 220 (Fig. 13) which rides in an opening 222 in the base plate 10 and is urged against the wall 224 thereof by the spring 214. The wall 224 defines a pair of detent positions for the knob 27 corresponding to the twelve-inch 33-1 /3 rpm position or the seven-inch 45 rpm position. The control lever 206 is provided with a downwardly extending post 226 (Fig. 6) which is connected to the size selector slide 196 hy means of a wire link 228. One end of the link 228 is provided with an offset end portion 230 which extends into an opening in the slide 196 and the other end of the wire 228 is snapped into a groove at the bottom end of the post 226.

Movement of the size selector slide 196 is guided by means of a slot 232 (Fig. 22) in the slide 196 through which the right angle end portion 74 of the tone arm lift rod 72 extends, and a slot 234 in the end of the size selector slide 196 which is positioned by means of a pin portion 236 (Fig. 6) which extends downwardly from a stud 238 formed in the tone arm base member 76. The stud 238 is of rectangular cross section so that portions thereof adjacent the pin 236 act as a fulcrum for the end of the size selector slide 196. The slide 196 is continuously urged upwardly by means of a flexible arm portion 240 of the plate 82, the arm 240 being provided with the right angle end portion 242 which engages the underside of the slide 196 adjacent the fulcrum formed by the stud 238.

The flexible arm 240 pivots the size selector slide 196 about the fulcrum formed by the stud 238 so that the slide 196 is biased into engagement with a pair of projecting lug portions 244 (Fig. 6) formed on the opposite sides of the right angle end portion 74 of the tone arm lift rod 72. Accordingly, the size selector slide 196 is continuously biased by the arm 240 to follow vertical movements of the lift rod 72. When the lift rod 72 is elevated at the beginning of the record changing cycle to raise the tone arm off of the record, as described in detail heretofore, the size selector 196 is also permitted to move upwardly under the slight spring force exerted thereon by the flexible arm 240. At the beginning of the record changing cycle the tone arm quadrant 124 has not moved outwardly and hence the upstanding flange portion 194 of the slide 196 initially engages the under-surface of the quadrant 124. However, when this quadrant is moved outwardly by the link 120, as described in detail heretofore, the size

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selector slide 196 is permitted to move upwardly to the position shown in Fig. 4 wherein the slide 196 is disengaged from the projections 244. In the position shown in Fig.

5 4, the edge of the flange 194 is positioned to engage the twelve-inch shoulder 192 of the quadrant 124 when the tone arm is again moved inwardly, as described in detail heretofore in connection with Fig. 18.

10 When the speed control knob 27 is turned to the seven-inch 45 rpm position the post 226 depending therefrom, and hence the slide 196, is moved to the left, as viewed in Fig. 6 so that the flange portion 194 of the 15 slide 196 is now positioned to engage the seven-inch shoulder 246 (Fig. 18) formed in the quadrant 124. When the flange 194 is in engagement with the shoulder 246 of the quadrant 124 during a record changing cycle 20 the tone arm 14 is positioned to engage the lead-in groove of a seven-inch record positioned on the turntable 12.

As discussed generally heretofore, the record changer of the present invention may also 25 be arranged to play ten-inch 78 rpm records. To this end, the quadrant 124 is provided with a shoulder 248 which is positioned to be engaged by the flange portion 194 of the slide 196 and position the tone arm 14 for 30 ten-inch records. If ten-inch 78 rpm records are to be played, the opening 222 in the base plate 10 is provided with a third detent lobe which is nearer the front of the changer than the 45 rpm detent position. When the control 35 lever 206 is moved to this 78 rpm position the slide 196 is correctly positioned to engage the quadrant shoulder 248. It will be noted that the successive detent positions of the lever 206 are arranged in order of increasing 40 turntable speed rather than increasing record size, the shoulders 192, 246 and 248 being arranged on the quadrant 124 to correlate with the respective positions of the combined speed-size control knob 27.

45 When it is desired to rotate the turntable 12 at three different speeds, i.e. 33-1 /3 rpm, 45 rpm and 78 rpm, a conventional three-speed idler wheel drive arrangement for the rim of the turntable may be substituted for the 50 belt drive arrangement described heretofore. Such an idler wheel drive arrangement is shown in Dennis United States Patent No. 3,490,772 issued January 20, 1 970 the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by 55 reference. When an idler wheel drive arrangement is employed, the turntable brake feature described heretofore is eliminated, the washer 52 removed and the turntable 12 solidly connected to the hub 38. The control wire 60 302 would then control the three-speed idler wheel shifting mechanism shown in Dennis United States Patent No. 3,490,772 and would replace the control wire 124 shown in this patent.

TONE ARM MOUNTING MECHANISM

Considering now the manner in which the tone arm 14 is mounted for rotational and pivotal movement on the tone arm subassem-70 bly base member 76, a tone arm support post 250 (Fig. 6) is pivotally mounted between the upper end of a sleeve housing 252 formed in the tone arm subassembly plate 76 and a well portion 254 formed in the support plate 82. 75 To this end, a yoke 256 is seucred to the recessed end portion 258 of the post 250 by means of the nut 260 which is threaded onto the upper threaded end of the post 250. The yoke 256 is provided with a sleeve portion 80 262 which extends downwardly into the top of the housing 252 and is positioned between the housing 252 and the upper end of the post 250. The sleeve 262 thus acts as the upper bearing for the post 250. The post 250 85 is provided with a tapered end portion 264 which is seated in the well 254 to provide the bottom pivot for the post 250. The upper portion 258 of the post 250 is provided with a double D cross section which cooperates 90 with a similarly shaped opening in the yoke 256 so that the yoke 256 is accurately positioned relative to the post 250 when the sleeve 262 is inserted into the housing 252 and the nut 260 secured.

95 The quadrant 124 is positioned between two transversely extending blade portions 266 and 268 which are formed integrally with the post 250 and are provided with openings which are adapted to receive the head por-100 tions 270, 272 of a set-down adjustment member 274. The member 274 is provided with an eccentric intermediate portion 276 which is biased into engagement with a slot in the quadrant 124 by means of the spring 105 278. The upper end of the set-down adjustment member 274 extends through a slot 280 in the upper wall of the tone arm housing 76 and is provided with a slotted adjustment head 282 by means of which the mem-110 ber 274 may be rotated. The portions 266 and 268 are connected by integrally-formed ribs 267 and the spring 278 extends between the ribs 267 and loads the quadrant 124 against the eccentric portion 276 and the post 115 250. To this end the quadrant 124 is provided with a first notch 269 for the eccentric portion 276 and a clearance slot 171 to accommodate the ribs 267 and spring 278 (Fig. 13). The quadrant 124 is also provided 120 with a bearing slot 1 73 for the post 250. The head portions 270, 272 ride in arcuate slots 1 75 in the portions 266, 268. The quadrant 124 is also provided with a clearance slot 1 77 which permits the tone arm 14 to move 125 relative to the lift rod 74. When the member 274 is rotated the quadrant 124 is moved relative to the tone arm yoke 256 so that an adjustment of the setdown position of the tone arm 14 may be made.

1 30 The yoke 256 is provided with the upstand

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ing arm portions 284, 286 and the tone arm plate 94 is provided with ear portions 288, 290 (Fig. 1) which are adapted to be mounted in the upstanding arms 284, 286 of 5 the yoke 256. In this connection it will be understood that any other suitable tone arm arrangement may be mounted on the post 250 insofar as the present invention is concerned. However, such tone arm arrangement 1 0 must have a smooth undersurface equivalent to the plate 94 against which the cap 92 may ride as the tone arm 14 is moved outwardly and inwardly during the record changing cycle.

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RECORD SPEED SELECTION

Considering now the manner in which the belt 50 is shifted from the turret 48 to the turret 46, and vice versa, in accordance with 20 movement of the speed-size control lever 206, the lever 206 is provided with an offset arm portion 300 (Fig. 2) to the end of which is secured a control wire 302. The lever 206 is also provided with an arm 301, extending in 25 the opposite direction from the arm 300,

which rides on the under surface of the base plate 10 and prevents the lever 206 from twisting as it is moved between the 33-1 /3 rpm and 45 rpm positions. The wire 302 30 extends beneath the base plate 10, around the depressed central base plate portion 28 thereof and extends upwardly through an elongated slot 304 formed in the base plate 10. The control wire 302 is provided with an 35 offset end portion 306 (Fig. 12) which ex- 1 tends through an opening in a first control plate 308 which is pivotally mounted on the upper side of the base plate 10. More particularly, the plate 308 is provided with a down-40 turned flange 310 which is positioned in a 1 bow-tie-shaped opening 312 in the base plate 10. A second speed control member 314 is pivotally mounted on the plate 308 by means of a downwardly extending post portion 316 45 on the member 314 which extends through a 1 circular bearing hole 318 in the plate 308 and through an elongated arcuate slot 320 in the base plate 10. The stud 316 is formed with a head portion 322 which retains a coil 50 spring 324 positioned between the head 322 1 and a washer 323 on the underside of the base plate 10. While the members 308 and 314 are pivotally interconnected by means of the stud 316, this stud may itself move within 55 the slot 320. However, the member 314 is 1 also provided with a guide post 326 which extends through an elongated slot 328 in the base plate 10.

The control plate 308 is provided with an 60 upstanding flange 330 which includes an 1

inclined shoulder portion 332. The shoulder portion 332 is adapted to engage the belt 50, when the belt is riding on the 45 rpm turret 46, and urge the belt 50 upwardly into en-65 gagement with the 33 rpm turret 48 when 1

the control lever 27 is moved from the 45 to the 33 rpm position. The control member 314 is provided with a vertically extending flange portion 334 which terminates in a curved offset end portion 336 the outer edge of which is formed to provide an inclined shoulder 338.

When the control knob 27 is moved from the 33 rpm position shown in Fig. 1 to the 45 rpm position shown in Fig. 1 2A the resultant movement of the arm portion 300 of the lever 206 moves the wire 302 so that the control plate 308 and control member 314 are moved in a scissors type action from the position shown in Fig. 1 to the position shown in Fig. 12A. In so doing the flange portion 330 of the control plate 308 is first moved away from the belt 50 after which the flange portion 336 is moved into engagement with the belt 50 which is running on the turret 48 and the inclined shoulder portion 338 of the member 314 forces the belt downwardly over the 45 rpm turret 46 as the control plate 308 continues to move outwardly away from the belt 50 to the position shown in Fig. 12. In a similar manner when the control knob 27 is moved from the 45 rpm position to the 33 rpm position, the flange portion 336 of the member 314 is first moved back away from the belt 50 after which the inclined shoulder 332 of the control plate 308 engages the belt 50 and shifts it upwardly to the 33 rpm turret 48.

While the provision of the common control knob 27 to select size and speed has certain advantages, it is also possible to control record size selection and turntable speed selection by separate controls. This modification may be very easily accomplished with the arrangement of the present invention by connecting the wire 302 to a separate control knob which may be located at any desired location on the base plate 10, such as in the front right hand corner of the base plate. The control knob 27 then acts solely as a size selector to select the desired record diameter.

ANTI-SKATE MECHANISM

Considering now the facilities which are provided in accordance with the present invention to prevent the needle of the tone arm 14 from skating across the initial grooves of the record as the tone arm lands on the lead-in groove portion of the record, it will be recalled from the above description of the size selector slide 196 that this member is biased upwardly by means of the flexible arm 240 and after the quadrant 124 has been moved free of the right angle flange 194 on the slide 196 this slide is moved upwardly by the arm 240 to the position shown in Fig. 4. When the slide is in the position shown in Figs. 4 and 21 the vertical edge of the flange portion 194 of the slide 196 is positioned in the path of the quadrant 124 and hence the shoulder

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192 on the quadrant 124 is moved into contact with the lower portion of this vertical edge when the gear is in the position shown in Fig. 18.

5 In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention a controlled and limited skating action is provided for the tone arm 14 after it lands on the record to permit the stylus to find the lead-in groove of the record 10 without skating across the initial recorded grooves of the records. This controlled skating action is accomplished by making the upper portion 340 of the vertical edge of the flange 194 slightly inclined with respect to the verti-15 cal. With such an arrangement, when the slide 196 is lowered in synchronism with the tone arm lift rod 72 at the end of the record changing cycle, by engagement of the projections 244 with the upper surface of the slide 20 196, the slide 196 is moved downwardly as the tone arm is lowered onto the record. The stylus engages the record when the quadrant is even with the bottom end of the inclined edge 340. Accordingly, as the slide 196 25 continues to be lowered the slight incline of the edge 340 permits the quadrant 124, and hence the tone arm 14, to skate inwardly over the slick surface of the record in a controlled manner until it engages the lead-in groove of 30 the record. However, the tone arm is prevented by this arrangement from skating inwardly in an uncontrolled manner over the initial recorded grooves of the record. This action is shown in Fig. 21 wherein the low-35 ered position of the slide 1 96 is shown in dotted lines at 342. As the slide 196 is lowered to the position shown at 342, the quadrant 124 is permitted to move slightly inwardly as the shoulder 192 thereof moves 40 up the inclined edge 340 of the flange portion 194 of the slide 196. In this connection it will be understood that at the end of the record changing cycle the slide 196 is moved downwardly by an additional amount suffici-45 ent to position the flange 1 94 entirely below the bottom surface of the quadrant 124 so as to permit the tone arm to move inwardly over the record during the playing cycle. Thus, the controlled and limited skating action of the 50 inclined edge 340 occurs only for a brief interval after the tone arm has landed on the record.

An additional anti-skate provision may be made whereby a constant outward bias is 55 exerted on the tone arm at all times. To this end, a downwardly-extending post 346 is formed on the projecting arm portion 268 of the tone arm post 250 and a spring 348 is connected from the bottom end of the post 60 346 to a downwardly projecting post portion 350 formed in the tone arm base member 76. The spring 348 exerts a slight outward force on the tone arm at all times and hence is effective to provide an additional anti-skate 65 force on the tone arm as it lands on the lead-

in groove portion of the record. Also, the constant bias provided by the spring 348 during the playing cycle is desirable from the standpoint of minimizing wear on the records, 70 as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. It will be noted from Fig. 22 that as the tone arm is moved inwardly over the record, the post 346 moves in an arc about the center of the tone arm post 250 so that 75 the spring 348 is not lengthened appreciably and hence provides a substantially constant biasing force on the tone arm 14 during the playing cycle.

When the biasing spring 348 is employed 80 to provide a constant bias on the tone arm 14 at all times, it continuously tends to move the tone arm outwardly. Accordingly, when the stylus lands on the slick surface of the record the spring 348 may tend to pull the tone arm 85 14 off of the record. To prevent this, a slight frictional force may be exerted on the quadrant 124 during the record changing cycle. To provide such a frictional force, a plunger indicated generally at 352 (Fig. 6) is mounted 90 in a housing portion 354 which extends downwardly from the plate 82. The bottom wall of the housing 354 is provided with an opening through which the end portion 356 of the plunger 352 extends. Plunger 352 is 95 thus captivated between quadrant 124 and the housing 354. A coil spring 358 is positioned between the bottom wall of the housing 354 and the larger diameter intermediate portion of the plunger 352 within the housing 100 354. The upper end 360 of the plunger 352 is of reduced diameter so as to define a shoulder which is positioned below the size selector slide 196. When the record changer is in a playing cycle, or is turned off, the slide 105 196 is in engagement with this shoulder and holds the plunger 352 downwardly so that the upper end of the portion 360 thereof is positioned below the bottom surface of the quadrant 1 24.

110 When the tone arm lift rod 72 is elevated at the beginning of a record changing cycle the size selector slide 196 is moved upwardly by an amount sufficient to permit the top portion 360 of the plunger 352 to engage the under-115 side of the quadrant 1 24. Accordingly, a slight force is exerted, by means of the spring 358, on the plunger 352 and hence against the underside of the tone arm quadrant to provide the desired friction during the record 1 20 changing cycle. It will be noted that the plunger 352 is permitted to engage the quadrant 1 24 even though the flange 1 94 of the selector slide 196 strikes the underside of the quadrant 124. Accordingly, the frictional force 125 exerted by the plunger 352 is exerted on the tone arm as soon as it is lifted off of the record and before it is moved outwardly by an amount sufficient to clear the upstanding flange 1 94 of the slide 1 96. This frictional 130 force is continuously exerted on the quadrant

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124 until the slide 196 has been lowered below the position indicated in dotted lines at 342 in Fig. 21 so that this frictional force is present as the stylus lands on the record and 5 engages the lead-in groove thereof. This force is not removed until the end of the record changing cycle when the upper edge of the flange 194 has been moved below the quadrant 124. The frictional force exerted by the 10 plunger 352 on the quadrant 124 also functions to smooth out movement of the tone arm 14 during the record changing cycle. In this connection it is pointed out that the top portion 360 of the plunger 352 also rides in 15 the slot 232 formed in the size selector slide 196 for different-sized records, as described in detail heretofore.

LAST RECORD SENSING AND SHUT-OFF 20 In the record changer of the present invention, the last record sensing mechanism is combined with the record ejecting mechanism provided at the spindle 18. With this arrangement the balance arm may be of simple 25 construction and need not include any last record shutoff facilities as is conventional in many changers. Furthermore, by accomplishing the last record sensing in the area of the spindle 18 and gear 30, the record changer 30 mechanism is substantially simplified and no interconnection with the tone arm mechanism other than the above-described members 72 and 1 20 is required. This arrangement has the further advantage of rendering the record 35 changer less sensitive to warpage and bend- 1 ing of the main base plate 10 and hence misalignment of the tone arm area with respect to the center of the base plate.

In accordance with an important aspect of 40 the present invention, the last record sensing 1 operation is accomplished by movement of the record ejector balde in the same direction as this blade moves to eject a record from the shelf of the spindle 18. Such an arrangement 45 substantially simplifies the last record sensing 1 mechanism, as will be described in more detail hereinafter. Considering first the elements provided for ejecting a record from the shelf of the spindle 18, a push-off slide 370 50 (Fig. 5) is slidably mounted beneath the cen- 1 tral portion 28 of the base plate 10. More particularly, the slide 370 is provided with a cam follower pin 372 which is secured to one end of the slide 370. The pin 372 is provided 55 with a groove 374 which rides in the narrow 1 portion of a keyhole slot 376 formed in the central portion 28 of the base plate 10. A flange 378 extends downwardly therefrom through an opening 380 in the push-off slide 60 370, the flange 378 engaging the sides of 1 the opening 380 so that the slide is guided by means of the flange 378 and slot 376 for reciprocal movement with respect to the base plate portion 28. A push-off slide actuating 65 cam indicated generally at 382 is formed on 1

the underside of the main gear 30 and extends downwardly therefrom. The slide 370 is provided with a downturned flange portion 384 and a spring 386 is connected between the flange 378 and the flange 384 so as to bias the cam follower pin 372 into engagement with the outer surface of the cam 382. It will be noted that the spring 386 is connected to the flange 378 at a point closer to the base plate than the other end of the spring 386. Accordingly, the spring 386 also provides an upward bias on the slide 370.

In order to detent the main gear 30 in its home or detent position shown in Fig. 1 during periods between record changing cycles, a detent lever indicated generally at 390 (Fig. 25) is pivotally mounted on the base plate portion 28. More particularly, the lever 390 is provided with a pin 392 which extends into a keyhole slot 394 formed in base plate portion 28. A detent pin 396 is secured to an arm portion 398 of the lever 390 and extends upwardly through the opening 114 in the base plate portion 28. The detent pin 396 is biased into engagement with a main control cam indicated generally at 402 which is formed integrally with the main gear 30 and extends downwardly therefrom. The control cam 402 is provided with a notch portion 405 (Fig. 26) into which the detent pin 396 is biased by means of a spring 404 which is connected between a projection 406 formed in the arm 408 of the detent lever 390 and an opening 410 in the base plate portion 28. The spring 408 tends to rotate the lever 390 about the pivot pin 392 so that the detent pin 396 is held in the notch 405 when the gear 30 is in its home or detent position. The detent pin 396 is provided with a groove 397 (Fig. 7). One edge of the groove 397 moves along the arcuate edge portion 399 of the opening 114 in the base plate portion 28. With this arrangement the detent pin 396 is stabilized as the detent lever 390 is pivoted about the pin 392.

The push-off slide 370 is provided with a U-shaped end portion which defines a tab portion 412 (Fig. 5) which is positioned below the main portion of the push-off slide 370 and is immediately below an opening 414 in the slide 370 through which the lower end portion 416 of a record ejector blade indicated generally at 418 is positioned. The blade 418 is pivotally mounted in the body of the spindle 18 by means of a pin 420. The detent lever 390 is provided with an offset portion 422 (Fig. 25) at the end of the arm 408 which extends between the push-off slide 370 and its tab portion 412, as best illustrated in Fig. 5. The portion 422 of the detent lever 390 is provided with an arcuate narrow slot 424 (Fig. 25) which opens into a relatively wide slot 426, the intersection of the slots 424 and 426 defining an interference shoulder 428 in the vicinity of the end portion

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416 of the ejector blade 418.

Since the spring 404 is connected to the base plate portion 28 it urges the portion 422 of the detent lever 390 upwardly into engage-5 ment with the push-off slide 370 and hence exerts an upward bias on the slide 370 in addition to the bias provided by the spring 386. With this arrangement the tab portion 412 of the push-off slide 370 exerts a slight 10 upward force on the end of the record ejector blade portion 416. This force is employed during the last record sensing operation described in more detail hereinafter.

Considering first the operation of the push-1 5 off slide 370 in ejecting a record which is seated on the shelf 430 of the spindle 18, and assuming that a record changing cycle has been initiated in the manner described in detail heretofore, the push-off slide actuating 20 cam 382 is provided with a first lobe portion 432 (Fig. 25) which functions to move the push-off slide 370 a slight amount during the initial or record sensing portion of the record changing cycle. During engagement of the pin 25 372 with the lobe 432 of the cam 382 the push-off slide 370 is moved from the position shown in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. 33. During this movement the slight force which is exerted by the tab portion 412 on 30 the end of the record ejector blade portion 416 is insufficient to move a record seated on the shelf 430 off of this shelf. As a result, the end portion 416 remains in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 33 as the slide 370 35 is moved to the right during engagement with the cam lobe portion 432. During this movement of the slide 370 the ejector blade end portion 416 is not moved since the opening 414 in the slide 370 provides clearance be-40 tween the slide 370 and the end portion 41 6 during the record sensing portion of the record changing cycle. However, when the pin 372 engages the record ejecting lobe portion 434 on the cam 382, so that the push-off 45 slide 370 is moved farther to the right as viewed in Fig. 5, the end portion 416 of the ejector blade 418 is engaged by the edge of the opening 414 in the slide 370 and is moved to the position shown in Fig. 34. 50 During this push-off movement of the ejector blade 418, the upper portion 436 of the blade 418 engages the bottom record seated on the shelf 430 and moves this record off of the shelf so that the bottom record is depos-55 ited on the turntable 12. In this connection it will be understood that the position of the cam 382 on the gear 30 is so related to the position of the tone arm cam 108 that the tone arm 14 has been lifted upwardly and 60 moved outwardly beyond the edge of the record stack before the end portion 436 of the record ejector blade has moved the bottom record off of the shelf 430. After the record has been ejected the spring 386 con-65 tinues to bias the pin 372 into engagement with the cam 382 as the main gear 30 is rotated through the remainder of the record changing cycle. If desired, the ejector blade 418 may be provided with an elongated verti-70 cal slot for the pin 420 and is normally spring-biased so that the pin 420 is in the bottom of this slot. With such an arrangement the ejector blade may be depressed to the level of the shelf 430 by the record stack 7 5 above the bottom record as the bottom record is ejected. The weight of the record stack is thus removed from the upper end of the blade 418 which facilitates return of the blade 418 to its rest position under the force of the 80 return spring 386 through the slide 370.

Such a spring-biased arrangement is shown and described in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 38 and 39.

Considering now the manner in which the 85 absence of a record on the shelf 430 is sensed in accordance with the arrangement of the present invention, the control cam 402 on the main gear 30 is provided with a deep notch portion 440 (Fig. 25). During a normal 90 record changing cycle, and assuming a record is seated on the shelf 430, when the gear 30 has been rotated an amount such that the detent pin 396 is opposite the notch 440 the spring 404 tends to rotate the detent lever 95 390 and move the detent pin 396 into the notch 440 but this action is prevented by engagement of the record ejector blade portion 416 with the interference shoulder 428 formed in the end portion 422 of the detent 100 lever 390. In this connection it will be recalled that the light frictional force exerted on the end portion 416 by the tab 412 is insufficient to move the ejector blade 418 when a record is seated on the shelf 430. However, if 105 no record is present on the shelf 430, during the initial record sensing portion of the cycle, i.e. during the period when the pin 372 engages the lobe 432 of the cam 382 and the slide 370 is moved from the position 110 shown in Fig. 5 to the position shown in Fig. 33, the light force exerted on the end of the record ejector blade portion 416 is sufficient to move the ejector blade to the dotted line position 442 shown in Fig. 33. This move-115 ment of the bottom end of the ejector blade portion 416 causes a corresponding movement of the upper end 436 to the dotted line position 444 shown in Fig. 5. This last record sensing movement of the end portion 416 by 120 engagement with the tab 412 takes place just prior to the point in the record changing cycle at which the detent pin 396 is opposite the notch 440. Accordingly, when the detent pin 396 encounters the notch 440 the ejector 125 blade portion 416 is now moved into alignment with the notch 424 on the end portion 422 of the detent lever 390 so as to permit the spring 404 to rotate the detent lever 390 and move the detent pin 396 into 130 the bottom of the notch 440. This inward

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movement of the detent pin 396 toward the center of the gear 30 is employed to turn off the motor 40 in accordance with a last record shut-off mechanism which will now be de-5 scribed.

Considering first the control linkage which is employed to turn on and off the motor manually, a control knob 29 is connected to the end of an on-off lever 450 (Fig. 25) which 10 is rotatably mounted on a pin 452. The pin 452 is itself connected to a switch actuating plate 456 which is positioned below the lever 450. The pin 452 is provided with a groove 451 (Fig. 25B) which rides in the narrow 1 5 portion of a keyhole slot 454 formed in the base plate portion 28. A flat spring blocking member 458 is positioned between the lever 450 and the plate 456 and is secured to the pin 452. More particularly, the pin 452 is 20 provided with a first portion 453 of reduced diameter on which the on-off lever 450 is pivotally mounted. The pin 452 is also provided with a portion 455 of still smaller diameter which defines a shoulder 457 25 against which the blocking member 458 and switch actuating plate 456 are held by staking the end of the pin 452 so that the members 452, 456 and 458 move together. The plate 456 carries a pair of switch actuating arms 30 460 and 462 which are positioned on either side of the actuating button 464 of a slide switch indicated generally at 466. The on-off lever 450 is provided with an upwardly extending tongue portion 468 which extends 35 into a triangularly shaped opening 470 in the base plate portion 28. The switch actuating plate 456 is provided with a projecting lug portion 472 to which one end of a spring 474 is connected, the other end of the spring 40 474 being connected to an opening 476 (Fig. 1) in the base plate portion 28. The on-off lever 450 is provided with a shoulder 478, Fig. 27 which is normally held in engagement with an upturned flange portion 480 on the 45 switch actuating plate 456. In the OFF position of the control knob 29 the spring 474 functions to rotate the plate 456 so that the flange 480 thereof is in engagement with the shoulder 478 and the lever 450 is also ro-50 tated until the tongue 468 hits one end of the slot 470. In the OFF position of the plate 456 the arm 460 retains the switch button 464 of the switch 466 in the OFF position shown in Fig. 25.

55 The switch actuating plate 456 is provided with an upturned right angle flange portion

482 which extends upwardly through a notch

483 (Fig. 25C) in the blocking member 458 and an irregularly-shaped opening 484 in the

60 base plate portion 28. In the OFF position of the lever 450 one edge of the flange 482 rides on the curved edge portion or shoulder 486 of the opening 484 and is positioned substantially away from a right angle edge 65 portion 488 of the opening 484, the surfaces

486 and 488 forming an essentially right-angled shoulder or corner. When the lever 450 is moved upwardly (as viewed in Fig. 25) toward the ON position the lever 450 and 70 plate 456 move as a unit so that the flange 482 rides along the surface 486. However, as soon as the edge of the flange 482 is moved beyond the edge of the curved surface 486 the spring 474 moves the plate 456 with a 75 snap action to the ON position shown in Fig. 26 as the pin 452 moves to the bottom of the elongated slot 454. At the same time, the arm 462 of the plate 456 engages the button 464 and moves the switch 466 to the ON 80 position with a quick snap action movement. During this movement of the plate 456 the flange 482 drops down beside the surface 488 of the base plate opening 484. As soon as the flange 482 moves beyond the edge of 85 the curved surface 486 the linkage 450, 456 actually pivots about the end of the on-off lever 450 which is being held by the operator. However, the flange 482 is biased into engagement with the surface 488 by the 90 spring 474 and holds the lever 450 in the detented ON position.

When the control knob 29 is moved from the ON to the OFF position manually the on-off lever 450 rotates about the tongue 468 as 95 a fulcrum and lifts the pivot pin 452 within the notch 454. However, until the flange 482 has been moved inwardly by an amount sufficient to clear the inner edge of the surface 488 the spring 474 is unable to rotate the 100 plate 456 and actuate the switch 464. Accordingly, it is not until the plate 456 has been moved inwardly by an amount sufficient to cause the flange 482 thereof to engage the curved surface 486 that the spring 474 then 105 rotates the plate 456 about the pin 452 with a snap action and the arm 460 at this time moves the button 464 so that the switch 466 is turned to the OFF position. It will be noted that the above-described on-off control linkage 110 is effective to provide a snap action actuation of the switch 466 so that a relatively simple and inexpensive slide switch 466 may be employed to turn on and off the motor 40. A more expensive switch would be required if 115 the on-off control linkage were such that the switch 466 could be held momentarily in a mid position which could cause damage to the switching contacts. However, with the above-described control linkage of the present 120 invention it is impossible for the operator by movement of the control knob 29 to position the switch 466 in a position intermediate the ON or the OFF positions due to the above described snap action of the flange 482 with 125 respect to the shoulder 486, 488.

Considering now the automatic shut-off mechanism of the present invention which cooperates with the above-described on-off control linkage to turn off the machine when 130 the detent pin 396 enters the notch 440 in

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the control cam 402, it is first noted that this shut-off action is accomplished during the same record changing cycle during which the absence of a record on the shelf 430 is 5 detected by movement of the end portion 416 during the sensing portion of the record changing cycle. As described generally heretofore, the tone arm 14 is moved outwardly during the record changing cycle until it 10 strikes the back wall 184 of the tone arm rest post 22, during the mid portion of the record changing cycle. In accordance with an important feature of the present invention the tone arm is lowered during the period when it is in 15 engagement with the back wall 184 of the rest post 22 so that the tone arm is lowered into the notch 24 during the mid portion of the last record shut-off cycle. Furthermore, the tone arm remains in this somewhat lowered 20 position during the remainder of a last record shut-off cycle so that the tone arm is not moved back inwardly as the gear 30 rotates back to its detent position, the clutch 122 slipping during this motion of the gear 30, as 25 described in detail heretofore. Such an arrangement has the advantage that a set-down or rest post position for the tone arm is not required on the quadrant 1 24 or elsewhere with the attendant difficulties of aligning subh 30 a rest post position with the tone arm mechanism.

In order to lower the tone arm to an intermediate position within the rest post notch 24 after the tone arm has engaged the back wall 35 184, a tone arm latch member indicated generally at 490 (Fig. 25) is pivotally mounted on the detent pin 396. More particularly, the detent pin 396, which is staked to the detent lever 390 is provided with a shoul-40 der portion 492 (Fig. 7) on which the tone arm latch 490 is pivotally mounted, the latch 490 being preferably made of thin spring stock, or the like. The tone arm latch 490 is provided with an inwardly extending hook 45 portion 494 (Fig. 25) and an extension arm portion 496 which is adapted to engage a downturned flange portion 498 of the base plate portion 28 when the detent pin 296 enters the notch 440. The tone arm latch 490 50 is also provided with an arm portion 500 which rides on the surface 502 of the detent lever 390 to stabilize the tone arm latch 490 during pivotal movement thereof.

As described generally heretofore, during 55 the first portion of the record changing cycle the tone arm lift rod 72 is moved inwardly as the end 106 thereof follows the cam portion 110 on the gear 30. However, as the detent pin 396 enters the notch 440 the hook por-60 tion 494 of the tone arm latch 490 is moved inwardly to a point inside the end portion 106 of the lift rod 72 and as the arm 496 of the tone arm latch 490 engages the flange 498 the tone arm latch 490 is pivoted so that the 65 hook portion 494 thereof is in alignment with the lift rod end portion 106 as shown in Fig. 26. Accordingly, as the detent pin 396 moves out of the notch 440 to the position shown in Fig. 27 the hook portion 494 engages the lift 70 rod end portion 106 and moves it outwardly to the intermediate position shown in Fig. 27. At this point in the record changing cycle, the tone arm 14 has already been lifted from the record and moved outwardly into contact with 75 the back wall 1 84 of the rest post 22. Accordingly, when the lift rod end portion 106 is moved outwardly by engagement with the hook portion 494 of the tone arm latch 490 the tone arm is immediately lowered into the 80 notch 24 in the rest post 22. The detent pin 396 continues to ride on the periphery of the control cam 402 with the result that the latch 490 holds the lift rod 72 in the position shown in Fig. 27 until the end portion 106 of 85 the rod 72 is engaged by the cam portion 116 near the end of the record changing cycle. When the end portion 106 engages the cam 116 the tone arm lift rod 72 is moved further down the inclined camming surface 98 90 and the end portion 74 thereof is lowered while the tone arm remains in the notch 24 of the rest post 22.

In order to actuate the on-off control linkage 450, 456 to turn off the motor 40 when the 95 detent pin 396 enters the notch 440, a shut-off latch indicated generally at 510 (Fig. 25) is also pivotally mounted on the detent pin 396 and rotates on a shoulder formed by the reduced end portion 512 (Fig. 7) of the 100 detent pin, the shut-off latch being retained on the end portion 512 by means of the C washer 514. The shut-off latch 510 is provided with a clearance opening 516 (Fig. 25) to accommodate movement of the lift rod end 105 portion 106 and includes a first arm extension 518 which terminates in a hook portion 520, and an offset arm extension 522. Both of the arms 518 and 522 of the latch 510 are positioned in a slot 524 formed in a down-110 turned flange portion 526 of the base plate portion 28. Also, the tip portion 528 of the switch actuating plate 456 also extends through the slot 524. The switch actuating plate 456 is also provided with a hook portion 115 530 immediately adjacent the inclined end portion 532 of the flat spring blocking member 458. The flat spring blocking member 458, which is positioned between the on-off lever 450 and the switch actuating plate 456 120 is provided with a notch to receive the right angle flange 482 of the switch actuating plate 456 so that the members 456 and 458 move together. However, the flat spring blocking member 458 is provided with an offset flange 125 534 which spaces the intermediate portion 536 of the flat spring member 458 below the plane of the members 456 and 518.

During a normal record changing cycle the shut-off latch 510 is never moved to a posi-1 30 tion in which the hook portion 520 thereof

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can become aligned with the hook portion 530 on the switch actuating plate 456. This is because the detent pin 396 never enters the notch 440 during a normal record chang-5 ing cycle, as described in detail heretofore. However, when the detent pin 396 enters the notch 440 the shut-off latch 510 is moved so that the arm 518 thereof extends further through the slot 524. Also, when the detent 10 pin 396 enters the notch 440 the tone arm latch 490 is pivoted by engagement of the arm 496 thereof with the flange 498, as described heretofore. When the tone arm latch 490 pivots, a downturned flange portion 15 538 (Fig. 25) thereof engages the edge 540 of the shut-off latch 510 and pivots it about the detent pin 396 to the position shown in Fig. 26.

In this position the hook portion 520 is 20 positioned in alignment with the hook portion 530 on the switch actuating plate 456. Accordingly, as the detent pin 396 moves out of the notch 440, i.e. from the position shown in Fig. 26 to the position shown in Fig. 27 the 25 hook portion 520 raises the inclined end portion 532 of the flat spring 458, moves into engagement with the hook portion 530 and after engagement of the members 520 and 530 lifts the on-off linkage 450, 456 30 slightly so that the pivot pin 452 is moved upwardly in the keyhole slot 454 to the position shown in Fig. 27. By positioning all of the members 522, 528 and 518 in the common slot 524 the engagement and hook-35 ing of the members 520 and 530 is insured 1 without misalignment during a shut-off cycle.

The members 520 and 530 remain in the above-described hooked position as the detent pin 396 rides around the periphery of the 40 control cam 402. However, near the end of 1 the record changing cycle the detent pin 396 encounters an outwardly projecting inclined portion 542 (Fig. 27) of the control cam 402 which functions to move the switch actuating 45 plate 456 toward the center of the gear 30 by 1 an amount sufficient that the flange 482 thereof is moved inwardly beyond the end of the surface 488 in the base plate portion 28. When this occurs, the spring 474 exerts a 50 sidewise pressure on the interconnected mem- 1 bers 510 and 456 which is sufficient to move the edge of the flange 482 to the right to the position shown in Fig. 28, so that the edge of the flange 482 is now above the forward 55 edge of the curved surface 486 while the 1

shut-off latch 510 remains in latched engagement with the switch actuating plate 456. However, the arm 522 of the latch 510 engages the end of the slot 524 in the flange 60 526 and blocks the arm 528 of the plate 456 1 so that the plate 456 is prevented from rotating to the OFF position and the motor 40 continues to be energized. It is necessary to continue energization of the motor 40 be-65 cause the disclosed belt drive of the turntable 1

12 has relatively little coast after the motor is de-energized and the gear 30 might not be returned to the notch 405. If an idler wheel drive arrangement is employed for the turntable 12 considerable coast is provided so that the motor could be turned off earlier in the cycle.

As the gear 30 continues to rotate the detent pin 396 moves down the inclined portion 544 (Fig. 27) of the control cam 402. During this movement the edge of the flange 482 on the switch actuating plate 456 strikes the curved surface 486 which blocks further movement of the hook portion 530 while the hook portion 520 of the shut-off latch 510 continues to move away from the hook 530. As soon as the latch portions 520, 530 become disengaged, the spring 474 rotates the switch actuating plate 456 while the edge of the flange 482 rides on the curved surface 486 as a pivot. During this rotation of the switch actuating plate 456 the arm 460 thereof engages the switch button 464 and moves the slide switch 466 in a snap action to the OFF position, as illustrated in Fig. 29. When the switch 466 is opened the motor 40 is de-energized and the gear 30 is moved into the detent notch 405 on the control cam 402 by the force exerted thereon from the spring 404 through the detent lever 390 and the detent pin 396. As discussed generally heretofore, there is an extremely light load on the gear 30 at this point in the record changing cycle so as to insure that the detent pin 396 enters the home or detent notch 405 in the cam 402. As the switch actuating plate 456 is thus moved to the OFF position the flange portion 480 thereof engages the shoulder 482 on the on-off lever 450 and moves this lever to the OFF position in unison, as shown in Fig. 29.

MANUAL REJECT MECHANISM

Considering now the manner in which a record changing cycle may be manually initiated by moving the control knob 29 beyond the ON position to the REJECT position, reference may be had to Fig. 30 wherein the on-off lever 450 is shown in full lines in the REJECT position. In this position of the lever 450 the switch actuating plate 456, which rotates with the lever 450, is moved by an amount such that the flange 482 thereof is moved into engagement with a downturned flange 560 (Fig. 5A) on the velocity tripping member 62. The flange 560 extends through an opening 562 (Fig. 1) in the gear 30 and is provided with an offset end portion 564 which is adapted to be engaged by the flange 482 when this flange is moved to the REJECT position shown in Fig. 30. When the lever 450 is moved to the REJECT position the velocity tripping member 62 is moved by an amount sufficient to bring the shoulder 68 thereof into the path of the flange 70 on the

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turntable hub so that a record changing cycle is initiated in the manner described in detail heretofore. As soon as the control knob 29 is released, the spring 474 rotates the linkage 5 456, 450 back to the ON position shown in Fig. 31 wherein the side of the flange 482 engages the surface 488 of the opening 484 in the base plate portion 28. The lever 450 is thus restrained or detented in the ON posi-10 tion.

SINGLE RECORD PLAY ARRANGEMENT

In order to provide single record play facilities in a simple and economical manner so 15 that a single record may be placed on the turntable 12 and played automatically after which the changer is shut off, movement of the control knob 29 to the REJECT position is employed to disable the automatic shut-off 20 latch 510 during the record changing cycle which is initiated by movement of the knob 29 to the REJECT position. Such action is necessary because when a single record is played no record is positioned on the record 25 shelf 430 and hence the automatic shut-off mechanism would function immediately to turn off the changer if the automatic shut-off latch 510 were not disabled. More particularly, when the control knob 29 is moved to 30 the REJECT position the tip portion 528 of the switch actuating plate 456 engages the edge 568 (Fig. 30) of the arm portion 518 of the shut-off latch 510 and pivots the shut-off latch 510 about the detent pin 396 so that 35 the shut-off latch 510 is moved to the end of the slot 524 in the flange 526, as shown in Fig. 30. In this position of the shut-off latch 510, a shoulder portion 570 thereof is positioned above the end of the slot 524. When 40 the control knob 29 is released after being moved to the reject position the spring 474 returns the lever 450 back to the ON position but the shut-off latch 510 remains in the position shown in Fig. 30 with the shoulder 45 570 above the end of the slot 524. Accordingly, during the record changing cycle which is initiated after the single record has been placed on the turntable but before it has been played, when the gear 30 is rotated an 50 amount sufficient to bring the detent pin 396 opposite the notch 440, as shown in Fig. 31 the detent lever 390 is pivoted only slightly until the shoulder 570 engages the end of the slot 524 in the flange 526 after which en-55 gagement the detent pin 396 is prevented from moving into the notch 440 in the control cam 402. Accordingly, the shut-off latch 510 is blocked by engagement of the shoulder 570 with the flange 526 so that the latch 60 510 is not pivoted and the hooked portion 520 thereof does not engage the hook portion 530 of the switch actuating plate 456. The record changing cycle thus proceeds normally as the detent pin 396 moves into engagement 65 with the control cam 402 at the far side of the notch 440. However, as the record is being moved off of the shelf 430 by the blade 418 (approximately mid cycle) the flange 384 on the pushoff slide 370 engages the edge 70 portion 572 of the shut-off latch 510 and pivots the shut-off latch 510 about the detent pin 396 to the position shown in Fig. 32. The shut-off latch 510 is thus positioned so that the shoulder 570 thereof is positioned out of 75 alignment with the end of the slot 524 in the flange 526.

However, this movement of the shut-off latch 510 occurs after the detent pin 396 is well past the notch 440, so that the manually 80 initiated record changing cycle is completed in a normal manner. Accordingly, during the manually initated cycle the latching members 520, 530 are prevented from becoming interconnected so that the control linkage remains 85 in the ON position and the single record on the turntable is played during the following playing cycle. However, after this record is played a record changing cycle is automatically initiated and since there is no record 90 present on the spindle shelf 430 an automatic shut-off cycle is performed in a manner identical to that described in detail heretofore so that the machine is turned off after the single record is played.

95 It will be noted that when the control knob 29 is in the OFF position the end portion 528 of the switch actuating plate 456 engages the extension arm 522 of the shut-off latch 510 and holds the shut-off latch in the position 100 shown in Fig. 25. In this position the shoulder portion 570 of the shut-off latch 510 is positioned well away from the end of the slot 524 in the flange 526. This construction ensures that the shut-off latch 510 is not 105 inadvertently moved so that the shoulder 570 becomes aligned with the end of the slot 524 as the record changer is carried about. When the on-off lever 450 is thereafter moved to the ON position there is no danger that the 110 shoulder 570 will become latched against the edge of the slot 524 in the flange 526 and disable the last record shut-off mechanism so that the machine would not automatically shut off after the last record has been played. 115 It should also be noted that in the arrangement of the present invention a single record may be placed on the turntable the control knob 29 moved to the ON position (but not to the REJECT position) and the tone arm 14 120 manually placed on the record. Under these conditions, the machine will play the record placed on the turntable and then shut-off automatically. This is due to the fact that when the tone arm 14 is thus manually 125 placed on the record to initiate a playing cycle there is no preceding record changing cycle during which it is necessary to block the shut-off latch 510. The record changing cycle which follows playing of the single record is 130 an automatic shut-off cycle since no record is

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present on the shelf 430. On the other hand, when a single record play is initiated by moving the control knob 29 to the REJECT position, an automatic record changing cycle 5 is initiated before the single record is played and it is then necessary to block the shut-off latch 510, by engagement of the shoulder 570 with the edge of the slot 524, to prevent the machine from being shut off before the 10 record is played.

REPEAT PLAY ARRANGEMENT

In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, the control knob 29 is 15 provided with a REPEAT PLAY position which is intermediate the ON and OFF positions of the lever 450. When the control knob 29 is moved first to the ON position and then is moved approximately halfway back to the OFF 20 position a detent force is exerted on the control knob 29 and an audible click is produced to inform the operator that the REPEAT PLAY position has been reached. When the control knob 29 is thus moved first to the 25 REPEAT PLAY position, either a single record placed on the turntable 12 may be replayed repeatedly, or if a stack of records is on the spindle 18 the stack of records will be played and then the last record will be played repeat-30 edly. This repeated play of a record on the turntable will continue until control knob 29 is moved either to the ON position or the OFF position. To accomplish these objectives, the shut-off latch 510 is blocked when the control 35 knob 29 is moved to the intermediate REPEAT PLAY position so that the changer will continue to play a record on the turntable 12 without turning the motor 40 off. More particularly, assuming that the control knob is in 40 the ON position and that the tone arm 14 has been placed on the record, when the control knob 29 is moved toward the OFF position the on-off lever 450 is pivoted by engagement of the tab 468 thereof with the edge of 45 the opening 470 in the base plate so that the switch actuating plate 456 is moved in a translatory manner as the flange 482 moves along the surface 488 and the pivot pin 452 moves up within the narrow portion of the 50 keyhole slot 454.

The on-off lever 450 is provided with an extension arm 574 (Fig. 26) which includes a hook portion 576 which is adapted to engage the end of a repeat play control wire 578. The 55 arm 574 is bent downwardly so that it is in horizontal alignment with the arm 518 of the shut-off latch 510. The wire 578 is positioned beneath the base plate portion 28 but above the plate 456 and rests on the upper surface 60 of a downwardly offset tongue portion 577 of the base plate portion 28. The wire 578 is provided with a downturned right angle end portion 579 which is positioned in the path of the hook portion 576 as the lever 450 is 65 rotated. An intermediate portion 580 of the wire 578 is positioned on top of the base plate portion 28 and is secured within a notch 581 in the base plate portion 28 and a hole 583 therein, the end 585 of the portion 580 70 extending down through the hole 583, so that the wire 578 is prevented from moving lengthwise while at the same time permitting the wire 578 to be flexed sideways. The intermediate portion 580 of the wire 578 also 75 serves the additional function of retaining the pivot pin 452 within the keyhole slot 454. Accordingly, as the on-off lever 450 is moved from the ON position toward the REPEAT PLAY position the outer edge of the hook 576 80 engages the side of the end portion 579 of the repeat wire 578 and flexes the wire 578 so that it moves sidewise away from the base of the tongue 577. However, when the lever 450 reaches the REPEAT PLAY position mid-85 way between the ON and OFF positions the wire end 579 snaps into the hook portion 576 and the wire 578 moves back against the base of the tongue 577 giving an audible click as this occurs. The end portion 579 of 90 the repeat wire 578 is thus positioned within the hook portion 576 of the flange 574.

When the lever 450 is released the spring 474 urges the hook portion 576 into engagement with the end portion 579 of the wire 95 578 so that the plate 456 is held in the position shown in Fig. 33A in which the flange 482 is still in engagement with the surface 488 so that a detent force is provided which holds the lever 450 in the REPEAT 100 PLAY position. When the lever 450 is thus held by the wire 578 in the position shown in Fig. 33A, the end surface 582 (Fig. 26) of the arm 574 is positioned in abutting relationship to the end surface 584 on the extension 105 arm 518 of the shut-off latch 510. Accordingly, during any succeeding record changing cycle, when the detent pin 396 attempts to move into the notch 440 in the control cam 402 the end surfaces 582, 584 meet and the 110 shut-off latch 510 is blocked so that the detent pin 396 is prevented from entering the notch 440. When the shut-off latch 510 is blocked the hook portion 520 thereof is not moved into alignment with the hook portion 115 530 on the switch actuating plate 456. Accordingly, the on-off lever 450 is not actuated to the OFF position and the switch 466 remains on. This action occurs during each succeeding record changing cycle so that the 120 record on the turntable is repeatedly played until the control knob 29 is moved either to the ON position or to the OFF position.

Considering the operation of the mechanism when the control knob 29 is moved from the 125 REPEAT PLAY position to the OFF position, during such movement the on-off fever 450 is rotated about the tab 468 as a pivot and the flange 482 is moved upwardly by an amount sufficient to clear the upper edge of the 130 surface 488 so that the above-described snap-

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action movement of the switch actuating plate 456 is provided by the spring 474 and the switch 466 is turned off. During this movement of the lever 450 the hook portion 576 5 thereof moves away from the end portion 579 of the control wire 578. On the other hand, if the control knob 29 is moved back to the ON position from the REPEAT PLAY position, the on-off lever 450 pivots about the tongue 468 10 and the hook portion 576 thereof cams past the end portion 579 of the control wire 578. As soon as the hook 576 moves past the end portion 579 the spring 474 urges the pin 452 to the bottom of the slot 454 so that the 15 flange 482 of the plate 456 moves back down the surface 488 to the ON position shown in Fig. 26.

The last record shut-off facilities will then function normally when the knob 29 is moved 20 back to the ON position so that the machine is shut off during the record changing cycle which ensues after the knob is moved back to the ON position, as described in detail heretofore.

25

CUEING LEVER OPERATION

Considering now the manner in which the cueing lever 26 functions to raise and lower the tone arm 14 manually, in accordance with 30 an important aspect of the present invention a simple tone arm actuating mechanism is provided for relatively quickly lifting the tone arm 14 upwardly off of a record in response to movement of the cueing lever 26 to a gener-35 ally horizontal position while at the same time providing a relatively gradual lowering of the tone arm when the cueing lever 26 is moved to the substantially vertical position shown in Fig. 24. More particularly, a flat spring 590 is 40 provided with a bifurcated end portion 592 which is seated in a notch 594 (Fig. 23A) in a cue lever lift rod 596. The lift rod 596 is mounted in a vertically extending bore 598 formed in the housing portion 88 of the tone 45 arm subassembly base 76. The lift rod 596 extends through the clearance slot 1 77 in the quadrant 124 and a washer 597 is positioned on the rod 596 below the quadrant 1 24 and is held against a shoulder in the rod 596 by 50 means of a coil spring 599 which is positioned between the washer 597 and the end portion 601 of the rod 596. In the lowered position of the rod 596 shown in Fig. 6 the end portion 601 extends into a clearance 55 opening in the plate 82.

The lift rod 596 is provided with transverse grooves 600 within which is positioned a viscous material and the fit between the lift rod 596 and the bore 598 is relatively close 60 so that a dash pot type of action is produced in response to forces exerted on the post 596 by the spring 590. The flat spring 590 extends beneath a downwardly extending flange portion 602 of the base 76 and the horizontal 65 portion 604 of the cueing lever 26 is provided with an offset central portion 606 which engages the underside of the spring 590 between the post 596 and the flange 602. A right angle end portion 605 of the lever 26 is 70 retained in a suitable recess in the base 76. The end of the spring 590 is secured to the tone arm subassembly base 76 by any suitable means which provides adjustment of the flexure of this spring. In Fig. 23 an arrange-75 ment is shown wherein a screw 608 is threaded into a depending boss 610 on the member 76. The head of the screw 608 is adjustable from beneath the record changer and as the screw is tightened the spring 590 80 is flexed around the transverse partition 602.

In the alternative arrangement shown in Fig. 24 a screw 612 is threaded through the boss 610 and is secured in any suitable manner to the end of the spring 590. The 85 screw 612 is provided with a head portion 614 which is accessible from the top of the tone arm subassembly so that adjustment of the cueing lever setdown speed can be made without removing the changer from its hous-90 ing.

When the cueing lever 26 is moved from the tone arm down position shown in Figs. 6 and 24 to the tone arm up position shown in Fig. 23, the intermediate offset portion 606 95 of the lever 26 is rotated into engagement with the underside of the spring 590 and exerts an upward force on the lift rod 596 so that this rod moves upwardly and the top end thereof engages the underside of the plate 94 100 on the tone arm so that the tone arm is lifted off of the record. The force exerted by the spring 590 in lifting the tone arm is relatively great as compared with the lowering force exerted by the spring 590 because the offset 105 portion 606 of the cueing lever 26 acts as a temporary fulcrum to raise the tone arm and this fulcrum is relatively close to the lift rod 596. With this relatively short fulcrum the spring 590 is relatively stiff and a relatively 110 quick tone arm lifting action is provided.

When the lift rod 596 is moved upwardly, the washer 597 engages the underside of the quadrant 124 as the spring 599 is depressed so that a frictional drag is exerted on the tone 115 arm 14. This frictional drag is sufficient to prevent the tone arm 14 from moving outwardly under the force of the constant bias spring 348 when the tone arm is lifted off of or lowered onto a record. In less expensive 120 changer models, the constant bias spring 348 may be eliminated. In such case, the spring 599 and washer 597 may be eliminated.

Also, the flange 352 and spring 358 may be eliminated if the spring 348 is not used. The 125 viscous material in the grooves 600 may also be eliminated in such a low-cost changer so that the tone arm 14 is raised and lowered directly. This change is made possible in the arrangement of the present invention because 130 the separate lift rods 74 and 596 are pro

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vided for automatic and manual operation, respectively.

When it is desired to lower the tone arm onto the the record, the cueing lever 26 is 5 moved from the tone arm up position shown in Fig. 23 to the tone arm down position shown in Fig. 24. When this occurs the offset portion 506 is removed from beneath the spring 590. As soon as the intermediate por-10 tion 606 ceases to engage the underside of the spring 590 a new fulcrum point is established for the spring which is the transverse partition 602. Since the partition 602 is spaced a substantially greater distance from 1 5 the lift rod 596 than the offset portion 606, a relatively smaller spring force is exerted on the lift rod 596 to move this rod downwardly within the bore 598 against the action of the viscous material in the grooves 600. Accord-20 ingly, the tone arm is very gently and smoothly lowered onto the record or into engagement with the rest post 22 when the cueing lever is moved to the tone arm down position. As discussed heretofore the screw 25 608, or the screw 612, can be adjusted so as to provide a desired degree of flexure of the spring 590 and hence an adjustment of the set down speed of the tone arm.

30 TURNTABLE BRAKING ARRANGEMENT

It will be recalled from the preceding general description that facilities are provided in accordance with the present invention for stopping the turntable 12 during the record 35 changing cycle so that this turntable is stationary as a new record is deposited thereon. Furthermore, this turntable braking action is accomplished without de-energizing the motor 40 and without raising or lowering the turnta-40 ble 12. In order to accomplish these objectives, a tone arm brake lever indicated generally at 620 (Fig. 1) is pivotally mounted on a post 622 mounted in the base plate central portion 28. The brake lever 620 is provided 45 with an arm 624 which extends inwardly over a brake control cam track 626 on the upper surface of the main gear 30 and is provided with a pair of downwardly extending projections 628 and 630 which are positioned on 50 opposite sides of the cam track 626. The other arm 632 of the lever 620 is flexible and carries a transverse end portion 634 at the outer end thereof to which is secured a turntable brake pad 636 which is adapted to en-55 gage the inside of the rim of the turntable 12. As the gear 30 rotates during the record changing cycle the brake 620 follows the contour of the cam track 626 due to the follower action of the pins 628, 630. 60 When the gear 30 is detented in the home position shown in Fig. 1, the lever 620 is positioned so that the pad 636 is not in engagement with the rim of the turntable 12. However, when a record changing cycle is 65 initiated and the gear 30 starts to rotate, the pins 628, 630 cause the lever 620 to move in accordance with the contour of the cam track 626. When the portion 638 of the cam track is encountered the brake lever 620 is 70 pivoted so that the arm 632 thereof is moved outwardly and the pad 636 is moved into engagement with the turntable rim as the arm 632 flexes slightly to produce a spring biasing force urging the pad 636 into engagement 75 with the turntable rim with a predetermined force. After the record has been deposited on the turntable the portion 640 of the cam track 626 is encountered by the pin 628, 630 so that the brake lever 620 is pivoted about the 80 post 622 and the pad 636 is removed from the turntable rim.

In accordance with an important feature of the present invention there is no spring biasing force continuously exerted on the brake 85 lever 620. This is because a sufficient spring force is provided by flexure of the arm 632 when the pad 636 is urged into engagement with the turntable rim. When the lever is pivoted so that the pad 636 does not engage 90 the turntable rim there is no bias exerted on the main gear 30 through the brake lever 620. Accordingly, as the main gear 30 approaches the detent notch 405 of the control cam 402 the brake lever 620 does not intro-95 duce any frictional force which would prevent this gear from moving to its detent position after the teeth of the gear 30 have become disengaged with the turntable hub teeth 58 as the notch 60 is encountered. 100 As described generally heretofore, when the turntable 12 is stopped by engagement of the brake pad 636 therewith, the turntable hub 38 continues to be rotated by the belt 50 while the low coefficient of friction washer 52 105 provides slippage between the upper surface of the turntable hub 38 and the undersurface of the turntable 12. The turntable 12 and mat 56 are also provided with a slight clearance between the turntable hub 38 and the central 110 openings therein so as to permit the turntable to be stopped while the hub 38 continues to rotate.

ALTERNATE RECORD SUPPORTING AR-115 RANGEMENT

As discussed generally heretofore, the balance arm 16 may be of conventional construction and does not include last record shut-off facilities because detection of the last 120 record is sensed by movement of the spindle blade 418, as discussed in detail heretofore. In Figs. 35 to 37, inclusive, an alternative arrangement for supporting both twelve-inch and seven-inch records is shown which may 125 be preferable in certain instances. Referring to these figures, a post 650 is mounted on the base plate 10 by means of a pair of screws 652 which extend up through a locating plate 654 positioned beneath the base plate 10 130 and through the opening 656 in the base

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plate 10 into the base of the post 650. By using the locating plate 654, the opening 656 may be such as to accommodate the balance arm 16 so that either type of record 5 support may be used alternatively without major record changer re-design.

The post 650 is provided with a pair of arm portions 658 and 660 at the upper end thereof which extend outwardly at right angles 10 to each other and are adapted to support a stack of twelve-inch records 662 on the tips of the arm portion 658 and 660. A hold down member 663 provided with short parallel arms 664 is slidably and rotatably 1 5 mounted in the post 650. More particularly, the member 663 is secured to a post 666 which extends through an opening in the top wall 668 of the post 650 and through an opening in the locator plate 654 which acts 20 as the bottom bearing for the shaft 666. A spring 670 is positioned between the locator plate 654 and a C washer 672 positioned on the end of the shaft 666 so that a continuous downward bias is exerted on the member 25 663. The post 666 is provided with a first spline 674 which is relatively long and extends through a cooperating groove in the top wall 668 of the post 650 so as to locate the member 663 in the position shown in Figs. 30 35 and 36. However, when the member 663 is lifted upwardly by an amount sufficient to clear the spline 674 from the top wall 668 the member 663 may be rotated to a record loading position so that a stack of twelve-inch 35 records may be positioned on the platform arms 658, 660.

After the records have been positioned on the platform arms 658, 660 the member 663 is moved to the central position shown in 40 Figs. 35 and 36 and is lowered until centrally located hold-down portions 676 thereof are in engagement with the top record of the stack of twelve-inch records supported on the arms 658, 660. The portion 676 is positioned 45 between the arms 658, 660 so that a relatively wide support with good clamping action is provided by the spring 670 so as to hold a stack of twelve-inch records on the arms 658, 660. It will be noted that during the playing 50 of twelve-inch records the arms 664 do not engage the twelve-inch record stack.

In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, the centering spindle 653 which is employed in the embodiment of 55 Figs. 35 to 37, inclusive, is particularly adapted to function with the platform supporting arms 658, 660 without requiring an inclined upper portion for the centering spindle immediately below the shelf thereof. Conven-60 tional centering spindles which function with an edge-type platform support usually have an inclined upper portion so that when the record is ejected it will strike an inclined portion of the centering spindle, thereby facilitating 65 movement of the bottom record off of the platform edge support. However, such a centering spindle is quite expensive to manufacture.

The centering spindle 653 is provided with 70 a straight spindle body having a milled slot 665 therein which is adapted to receive the blade 655 which acts both as a last-record sensor and as a record ejecting member to eject the bottom record off of the shelf 430 of 75 the spindle 665. The blade 655 is provided with a lower end portion 667 which corresponds to the end portion 416 of the blade 418 in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive. The end portion 667 is moved to a 80 last record sensing position (similar to the position 442 shown in Fig. 33) in the absence of a record on the shelf 430. Also, the end portion 416 is actuated by the pushoff slide 370 to eject a record off of the shelf 430 of 85 the spindle 653 during the record ejecting portion of the record changing cycle. However, the upper end of the blade 655 is provided with an outwardly inclined forward edge 659 which extends outwardly beyond 90 the edge of the shelf 430 when the blade 655 is moved by engagement with the pushoff slide 370 to eject a record. Accordingly, as the bottom record is moved off of the platform arms 658, 660 the centering 95 aperture of the bottom record rides down the inclined edge 659 of the blade 655 and is pulled away from the ends of the support arms 658, 660. In order to permit this si-dewise movement of the bottom record imme-100 diately after it is ejected from the shelf 430, the spindle body of the spindle 653 is provided with a notch or undercut portion 657 so that a recess is provided in the spindle body opposite the forward edge of the shelf 430 to 105 permit the bottom record to follow the inclined surface 659 of the blade 655. The notch 657 can be milled in the spindle body at the same time the slot is formed. A retainer blade 651 is slidable mounted in the upper 110 end of the spindle body by means of the pins 661 and is arranged to engage all but the bottom-most record seated on the shelf 430 so that the records above the bottom record are not ejected with the bottom record, as will 115 be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The upper end of the blade 655 is also provided with a notch or recess 669 in the rear edge thereof so that when the blade 655 is moved to the record ejecting position the 120 recess 669 and the notch 657 in the spindle body cooperate to permit the above-described sideward movement of the bottom record as it follows the sloping forward edge 659 of the blade 655.

125 The purpose of providing the inclined forward edge 659 of the blade 655 is to assist the bottom record in moving off of the support arms 658, 660, and gives greater tolerance to the positioning of the post 650 with 1 30 respect to the centering spindle 653. If the

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inclined edge portion 659 is not employed then it would be necessary to adjust the position of the platform 650 with respect to the spindle 653 during the manufacture of 5 each record changer, which would be an extremely expensive operation. On the other hand, the centering spindle 653, which may be formed by simple milling operations, is considerably simpler than spindles having in-10 clined upper portions which require bending operations to form the same.

In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, when it is desired to play seven-inch records with the arrangement 1 5 shown in Figs. 35 to 37, the member 663 is lowered until a second spline 678 engages the top wall 668 of the post 650, i.e. the position shown in Fig. 37. In this position the tip portions 680 of the arms 664 are posi-20 tioned at the correct level to support the edge of te bottom record of a stack of seven-inch large-hole records when a 45 rpm adaptor indicated generally at 682 is positioned on the spindle 18. The adaptor 682 may be of 25 the type described in Dennis United States Patent No. 3,689,080 and reference may be had to this patent for a detailed description thereof. However, for the purposes of the present invention it is pointed out that the 30 bottom record of the seven-inch large-hole record stack is seated on the shelf 430 of the spindle 653 and the outer edge portion of this record rests on the tip portions 680 of the arms 664. By employing the spaced-apart 35 short arms 664 as a support for the 45 rpm records a relatively stable support is provided without requiring the use of any hold-down arms on the top of a seven-inch large-hole record stack.

40 The inclined interference shoulder portion 684 of the adaptor 682 is particularly important when last record sensing is accomplished by means of movement of the ejector blade 655 of the spindle 653 in the direction of the 45 shelf 430, as described in detail heretofore. During the early sensing portion of the record changing cycle the blade 655 is moved against the inner edge of the bottom record seated on the shelf 430. When a relatively 50 lightweight record is positioned on the shelf 430 and the arm portion 680, the force with which the ejector blade 655 engages the inner edge of the bottom record on the shelf 430 during the sensing portion of the record 55 changing cycle may be sufficient to cause ejection of a record prematurely. However, the inclined interference shoulder 684 provides an additional obstacle which must be overcome by a substantially larger force than that 60 produced during the sensing portion of the record changing cycle. Of course, when the bottom end portion 416 of the ejector blade 655 is engaged by the back edge of the opening 414 in the pushoff slide 370, as 65 shown in Figs. 33 and 34, a positive drive action is provided for the ejector blade 655 which then moves the seven-inch record off of the shelf 430 against the blocking action of the interference shoulder 684. In this connec-70 tion it should be noted that the stack of seven-inch large-hole records may be supported on a shelf provided on the adaptor 682 rather than on the shelf 430 of the centering spindle 653. An adaptor provided 75 with a shelf for supporting large-hole records is shown, for example, in Krahulec United States Patent No. 3,191,941.

ALTERNATE LAST RECORD SENSING AR-80 RANGEMENT

In Figs. 38 and 39 there is shown an alternative last record sensing embodiment of the present invention wherein a last record sensing force which is somewhat greater than 85 the force employed in the embodiments of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive, may be utilized without causing ejection of the bottom record during the last record sensing operation. Referring to these figures, two relatively 90 thin blades 418a and 418b are mounted on the common pivot 420 within the body of the spindle 18A. The upper portion of the body of the spindle 18A is milled to provide a slot 689 for receiving the upper portions of the 95 blades 418a, 418b and the lower portion of the spindle body is provided with a bore 691 which communicates with the slot 689. The first pivotally mounted blade 418a acts as a record ejector blade to eject the bottom record 100 seated on the shelf 430 off of this shelf. However, the bottom portion 416a of the blade 418a does not extend below the bottom surface of the pushoff slide 370a. Also, the blade 418a is biased to its rear position 105 shown in full lines in Fig. 38 by means of a flat spring 690 which is positioned between a shoulder 694 formed in the back edge of the blade 418a and an opening 692 in the lower portion of the spindle body. The spring 690 110 continuously urges the ejector blade rear-wardly away from the shelf 430 but is overcome by engagement of the bottom end portion 416a with the pushoff slide 370a during the record ejecting portion of a record chang-115 ing cycle, as described in detail heretofore.

The pushoff slide 370a is substantially identical to the slide 370 described in detail heretofore except for the fact that the tab portion 412 of the slide 370 is eliminated in 120 the embodiment of Figs. 38 and 39. Also, the spring 386 may be somewhat lighter in the embodiment of Figs. 38 and 39 since it is aided by the spring 690 insofar as biasing the ejector blade 418a to its rear position is 125 concerned. In other respects, the record changer employed in the embodiment of Figs. 38 and 39 may be identical to the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive, described in detail heretofore.

130 The second blade 418b is also pivotally

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mounted on the same pin 420 within the body of the spindle 18a and acts solely as a record sensing blade to sense the presence or absence of a record on the shelf 430 during 5 the initial sensing portion of the record changing cycle. The end portion 416b of the blade 418b does extend downwardly below the bottom surface of the slide 370a and into the slot 426 in the offset portion 422 of the 10 detent lever 390. The end portion 416b thus acts as a blocking member for the detent lever 390, in the same manner as the end portion 416 of the blade 418 in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive, previously described, 1 5 during record changing cycles other than a last record shut-off cycle. A second flat spring 696 is positioned between an outwardly formed notch portion 698 in the body of the spindle 18a and a shoulder portion 700 20 formed in the forward edge of the sensirlg blade 418b. The notch 698 is formed in the spindle body after the central bore is made by inserting a tool through the opening 692 and deforming the wall of the spindle body out-25 wardly as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The spring 696 continuously exerts a force on the blade 418b tending to move the upper end of this blade in the direction of the record supporting shelf 430. 30 However, the force exerted by the spring 696 on the blade 418b is somewhat less than the force exerted by the spring 690 on the blade 418a.

Both of the blades 418a and 41 8b are 35 provided with elongated slots 695 within which the common pin 420 is located. A single spring 697 is positioned in the slots 695 and normally urges the pin 420 to the bottom of these slots. Such construction per-40 mits the blades 418a and 418b to be depressed by the records above the bottom record when the bottom record is ejected from the shelf 430, as discussed heretofore in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 45 34, inclusive. Preferably, the slots 695 are slightly wider at the top to accommodate movement of the blade 41 8b relative to the blade 418a when the absence of a record on the shelf 430 is sensed by movement of the 50 blade 418b.

If a record is present on the shelf 430, during the initial sensing portion of the record changing cycle the spring 696 urges the upper end of the sensing blade into engage-55 ment with the edge of the bottom record adjacent the shelf 430 while at the same time the spring 690 urges the upper end of the ejector blade 418a into engagement with the opposite edge of the bottom record. Since the 60 spring 690 is stronger than the spring 696, the sensing blade 418b is unable to move the bottom record off of the shelf 430 and the blades 418a and 418b remain in substantial alignment during the sensing portion of the 65 record changing cycle. Accordingly, in the embodiment of Figs. 38 and 39 a substantial force may be exerted on the sensing blade 418b to move this blade in the absence of a record on the shelf 430 while at the same 70 time positively insuring that the force exerted by the blade 418b on a record seated on the shelf 430 will not be sufficient to eject the record, due to the large force exerted on the back edge of the bottom record by the ejector 75 blade 418a.

Assuming still that a record is positioned on the shelf 430, as the record changing cycle continues after the last record sensing portion thereof, the end portion 416a is engaged by 80 the back edge of the opening 414 in the slide 370a so that the blade 418a is moved into engagement with the bottom record on the shelf 430 and moves it off of the shelf and onto the turntable 12. As this occurs, the 85 blade 418b is continuously urged in the direction of the shelf 430 by the spring 696 and hence follows movement of the ejector blade 418a as it moves the bottom record off of the shelf 430.

90 As soon as the last record is moved off of the shelf 430, the sensing blade 418b is moved to the last record shut-off position shown in full lines in Figs. 38 by the spring 696. The last record is not moved off of the 95 shelf 430 before the detent pin 396 has passed the notch 440 in the cam 402 so that even though the bottom portion 416b of the blade 41 8b is moved out of its blocking position with respect to the detent lever por-100 tion 422 no last record shut-off cycle is established and the last record is thereafter played in the normal manner. However, during the last record sensing portion of the next record changing cycle the detent pin 396 is permit-105 ted to enter the notch 440 and a shut-off cycle is set up so that the changer is turned off at the end of this cycle, as described in detail heretofore. During this shut-off cycle the ejector blade 418a is moved by engagement 110 of the end 416a thereof with the back edge of the opening 414 in the slide 370a but this movement has no effect on the last record shut-off mechanism since the end portion 416a of the blade 418a is cut off and does 115 not extend into the path of the detent lever 390.

The embodiment of Figs. 38 and 39 is particularly adapted for use in situations where there is little or no clamping force on 120 the record stack. For example, the two-blade arrangement of Figs. 38 and 39 is particularly adapted for use in the arrangement of Figs. 35 and 36 when small-hole 45 rpm records are played, as is customary in Europe, for 125 example. To play such records no large-hole record adaptor is required and the record stack is supported on the shelf 430 of the spindle 18a and the end portions 680 of the arms 664, it being noted that the arms 664 130 will have to be longer by an amount equal to

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one-half of the diameter of the large-hole centering aperture when small-hole 45 rpm records are to be played, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

5 When a single 45 rpm record which is of relatively little weight, rests on the arms 664 a relatively light sensing force must be used with the single blade embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive, to be sure that the record is 1 0 not moved off of the shelf 430 during the sensing operation. However, with the two-blade arrangement of Figs. 38 and 39 the ejector blade 418a functions to hold a lightweight record in the shelf 430 even 1 5 though the sensing blade is urged against the opposite edge of the record with a substantial sensing force. Since no adaptor is used with such an arrangement, the two-blade embodiment of Figs. 38 and 39 is particularly desir-20 able because the action of the ejector blade 418a in holding records on the shelf takes the place of the interference shoulder 684 when a 45 rpm adaptor is used as described heretofore in connection with Fig. 37. However, it 25 will be understood that the two-blade embodiment of Figs. 38 and 39 may be useful in any arrangement where little or no clamping force is exerted on the record stack, either in the spindle area or at the edge of the record 30 stack.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the tone arm subassembly 20 includes an audio clip indicated generally at 704 (Figs. 4 and 22) on which the female 35 type electrical receptacles 706 and 708 are positioned. The clip 704 comprises a flat panel of electrically insulating material which slides within a slot in a downwardly extending portion 710 of the tone arm subassembly 40 base 76, the other end of the clip 704 being supported in a notch in the plate 82. With this arrangement the phonograph pickup supported on the forward end of the tone arm 14 may be electrically connected to the recep-45 tacles 696, 698 and the entire tone arm subassembly 20 may be manufactured as a unit and tested electrically before it is installed in the base plate 10. Installation of the completely assembled and tested subassembly 20 50 on the base plate 10 is conveniently accomplished by providing the openings 776, 778 and 780 (Fig. 22A) in the base plate 10. The lift rod 72 is first inserted is first inserted into the opening 776 and the housing 76 is 55 provided with depending offset feet 782 and 784 which interlock with the corresponding edge portions 786 and 788 of the opening 776. The bottom edge of the housing 76 rests on the upper surface of the base plate 60 10 and the subassembly 20 is secured to the base plate by means of screws which are inserted through the openings 790 in the base plate 10 and into the housing 76. The drive-trip link 120 is then connected to the 65 quadrant 124 by simply inserting the end portion 126 into the bushing 128, as shown in Fig. 11.

Referring now to Figs. 40 and 41 of the drawings an alternative tone arm drive and 70 velocity trip actuating arrangement is shown therein which may be used in place of the arrangement described in detail heretofore in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive. In this alternative embodiment 75 the drive-trip link 1 20a is connected to the tone arm quadrant 124 by means of the bushing 1 32 which is positioned within the elongated slot 130 in the tone arm quadrant 124, as described in detail heretofore. How-80 ever, in the embodiment of Figs. 40 and 41 an alternative clutch arrangement is employed to interconnect the link 120a with the main cycling gear 30a. More particularly, the end of the link 120a is formed in a modified 85 hairpin shape to provide a relatively wide slot 720 and a somewhat narrower slot 722, the end portion 724 of the link 120 being secured to the main portion of the link by any suitable means, such as welding or brazing. A 90 drive pin 726 may be rotatably mounted in the gear 30a and retained on the gear 30a by means of the retaining washer 728. The U-shaped end portion 730 of the link 120a rides on the upper surface of an annular wall 95 portion 732 formed in the gear 30a and extending upwardly from the upper surface thereof.

The drive pin 726 is provided with an enlarged head portion 734 which is posi-100 tioned over the end portion 730 of the drive link 1 20a to retain it in place while permitting longitudinal and rotary motion thereof with respect to the gear 30a. Sufficient vertical clearance is provided between the head por-105 tion 734 and the link 120a so that when the gear 30a is in the detent position shown in Fig. 40 the link 120a is not interconnected with the gear 30a and the end portion 730 may be moved forwardly toward the flange 110 66 as the tone arm moves inwardly over the record during the playing cycle. When the end portion 730 engages the flange 66, the link 120a is effective to move the velocity tripping pawl 62 to the record changing cycle 115 initiating position, as described in detail heretofore in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive. In the alternative, the pin 726 may be formed integrally with the gear 30a and suitable means provided for 120 retaining the link 120a on the pin 726.

The diameter of the drive pin 726 is substantially less than the width of the slot 720 in the drive link 120a. Accordingly, during the first portion of the record changing cycle 125 while the tone arm is being lifted off of the record, the link 1 20a is not interconnected with the gear 30a. However, when the pin 726 engages the narrower slot portion 722 of the link 120a the pin 726 becomes wedged 130 into the slot 722 and interconnects the gear

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30a with the tone arm quadrant 124 so that the tone arm is moved outwardly. When the tone arm strikes the blocking portion 184 of the rest post 22 the tone arm cannot move 5 outwardly any further and the drive pin 726 slips within the slot 722 of the link 1 20a as the gear 30 continues to rotate. During the latter half of the record changing cycle the drive pin 726 is moved in the opposite direc-10 tion and functions to move the tone arm quadrant 124 inwardly until the shoulder 192 thereof engages the size selector slide flange 1 94. When this occurs the pin 726 again slips within the slot 722 while the tone arm 1 5 remains positioned for engagement with a twelve-inch record. This action continues until the pin 726 is moved into the larger slot 720 of the link 120a whereupon the link 120a becomes disconnected from the gear 30a as 20 this gear moves to its home or detent position. It will be noted that in the embodiment of Figs. 40 and 41, the clutching action which interconnects the gear 38 with the link 120a is accomplished without requiring verti-25 cal movement of the drive pin 726.

In Figs. 42 and 43 alternative tone arm drive and velocity trip actuating arrangements are shown wherein the drive link 120b is provided with a single elongated narrow slot 30 740, the U-shaped end portion 742 of the link 1 20b being employed as a velocity tripping member which engages the flange 66 of the pawl 62 to initiate a record changing cycle when the gear is located in the detent 35 position shown in Fig. 42. In the embodiment of Fig. 42 a drive pin 744 is provided with a head portion 746 which is positioned over the U-shaped end portion 742 of the link 1 20b to retain this link on the upper surface of the 40 wall 732. However, the drive pin 744 is solidly secured to the cycling gear, by any suitable means, so that as this gear rotates the cross section presented to the slot 740 changes. As this cross-sectional dimension in-45 creases, the pin 744 becomes wedged into the slot 740 and a driving connection is established between the cycling gear and the link 120b so that the tone arm is moved outwardly. However, when the tone arm 50 strikes the arm portion 184 of the rest post 22, the pin 744 slips within the slot 740 to provide the necessary slip clutch action as the cycling gear continues to rotate. When the cycling gear is in the detent position the pin 55 744 is completely disconnected from the link 120b so that this link may be used as a velocity trip actuating member, as described in detail heretofore in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive. In the 60 embodiment of Figs. 42 the pin 744 is provided with a D-shaped cross section. In the embodiment of Fig. 43 the pin 744 is provided with a diamond-shaped cross section. In both of these embodiments the changing 65 cross-sectional dimension of the pin 744 relative to the width of the slot 740, as the main cycling gear rotates, produces the necessary wedging action to interconnect the cycling gear with the link 120b.

70 Referring now to Figs. 44 to 46, inclusive, an alternative tone arm drive and velocity trip actuating arrangement is shown wherein a drive trip link 120c is employed to interconnect the main cycling gear 30c with the tone 75 arm quadrant 124. in the embodiment of Figs. 44 to 46, inclusive, the elongated slot 130 in the quadrant 124 is eliminated and the link 1 20c is pivotally connected directly to the quadrant 124 through the bushing 128 80 without permitting any lost motion between these members. A drive pin 750 is rotatably mounted in an opening 752 formed in the gear 30c and is provided with a transverse slot 754 within which the end portion of the 85 drive link 120c extends. The gear 30c is provided with an upstanding annular wall portion 756 adjacent the opening 752 and the link 120 rides on the upper surface of the wall 756. The pin 750 is provided with 90 flexible leg portions 758 and 760 which terminate in feet 762 and 764 which are adapted to engage the underside of the gear 30c within a recess 766 formed therein.

When the main cycling gear 30c is posi-95 tioned in its home or detent position shown in Fig. 44 the pin 750 is positioned so that the arcuate bottom surface 768 thereof is in engagement with an upturned flange portion 770 provided on the base plate portion 28, as 100 shown in Fig. 45. In this position of the gear 30c the pin 750 is held in an upper position within the opening 752 so that the link 120c rides loosely within the opening 754 in the pin 750. Accordingly, during the playing cy-105 cle the link 1 20c is free to move within the slot 754 as the tone arm moves inwardly over the record. In this connection it will be noted that the opening 754 in the pin 750 is of sufficient width to permit the slight sideward 110 movement of the link 120c as the tone arm is moved to the runout groove of the record.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 44 to 46, inclusive, the tone arm tripping arrangement does not include a velocity trip clutch 115 connection between the link 120c and the quadrant 1 24. Accordingly, this embodiment is arranged to provide a change cycle initiating action which is responsive to the position of the tone arm rather than to the change in 120 velocity when the tone arm engages the runout groove of a record. Thus, the link 1 20c is made of the correct length so that when the tone arm reaches the runout groove of a record on the turntable the end of the link 125 1 20c will engage the flange 66 and move the pawl 62 into the path of the flange 70 thereby initiating a record changing cycle. In the alternative, a photo-electric sensing and tripping arrangement may be employed which 1 30 is responsive to movement of the link 120c to

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a predetermined point during the playing cycle, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. It will also be understood that a velocity trip clutch including the mem-5 bers 128, 130 and 1 34 may be employed in the embodiment of Figs. 44 to 46 if desired so that a velocity tripping action is provided as described in detail heretofore in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclu-10 sive.

Considering now the operation of the slip clutch connection between the gear 30c and the link 120c in the embodiment of Figs. 44 to 46, inclusive, after the gear 30c has ro-15 tated an amount sufficient to permit lifting of the tone arm, the pin 750 is moved away from the flange 770 on the base plate portion 28 and assumes the position shown in Fig. 46. In this position the flexible leg portions 20 758, 760 urge the pin 750 downwardly within the opening 752 so that the link 120c is gripped between the upper wall of the slot 754 and the upper surface of the annular wall 756. Accordingly, as the gear 30c continues 25 to move the tone arm 14 is moved outwardly until it engages the upstanding blocking portion 184 of the tone arm rest 22. When the tone arm is moved into engagement with the portion 184 the link 120c slips with respect 30 to the flange 770, as described in detail heretofore in connection with the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive.

In desired, the link 120c may be disconnected from the gear 30c during the mid 35 portion of the record changing cycle so that the tone arm can remain in its outward position adjacent the rest post 22 as long as possible before it is moved inwardly to the edge of a twelve-inch record. More particu-40 larly, a second arcuate upstanding flange 772 may be formed in the base plate portion 28 in the path of the pin 750. When the gear 30c has rotated somewhat less than 180 degrees the surface 768 of the pin 750 is lifted to a 45 position similar to Fig. 45 in which the link 120c is no longer clamped between the upper surface of the slot 754 and the upper surfaces of the annular wall 756. After the gear 30c has rotated by an amount sufficient to move 50 the pin 750 away from the flange 772 the pin 750 again assumes a position similar to that shown in Fig. 46 and moves the tone arm inwardly until the shoulder 192 engages the flange 194 on the size selector slide 196. 55 After the tone arm is thus restrained at the correct twelve-inch record position, the link 120c slips with respect to the pin 750 as the gear 30c continues to rotate. As the home or detent position of the gear 30c is reached, the 60 pin 750 engages the surface 774 of the flange 770 so that the pin 750 is lifted to the position shown in Fig. 45 wherein the link 120c is disconnected from the gear 30c and may be used for a velocity trip actuating 65 operation during the playing cycle.

In Fig. 47 of the drawings, an alternative embodiment of the present invention is disclosed wherein the turntable hub 38 is driven by an idler wheel arrangement rather than the 70 belt drive of the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive. Referring to Fig. 47, an idler wheel 794 is rotatably mounted on an arm 796 which is itself pivotally mounted on a pin 798 in the end of a member 800 of U-shaped 75 cross section. The member 800 is pivotally mounted on a post 802 which is mounted on the base plate 10a and extends through a slot 804 in a multi-level positioning member 806 which is slidably mounted on the base plate 80 10a. The control wire 302a, which is similar to the wire 302 in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, is connected to one end of the member 806. The idler wheel arrangement is generally similar to the idler wheel drive mechanism 85 shown in Dennis United States Patent No. 3,490,772 and reference may be had to this patent for a detailed description thereof. However, for the purpose of the present invention it may be stated that when the control wire 90 302a is moved to different speed positions, the member 800 is moved up and down the post 802 by engagement of an adjustment screw 808 with the multi-level surface of the member 806. As a result, the idler wheel 794 95 is moved into engagement with different steps on a multi-step turret 810 positioned on the upper end of the shaft of the turntable driving motor. The idler wheel 794 is biased into wedging engagement with the outer edge of 100 the turntable hub 38 and the turret 810 by means of a spring 812 which is connected from the arm 796 to the base plate 10a. In the embodiment of Fig. 47, the other portions of the automatic record changer are identical 105 to that described in detail heretofore in connection with Figs. 1 to 34. Accordingly, the turntable 12 may be stopped during the record changing cycle, by means of the brake member 620, while the idler wheel 794 con-110 tinues to drive the hub 38 and the washer 52 provides slippage between the members 38 and 12. It will be noted that the change from belt drive of the hub 38, as in Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive, to the idler wheel drive of the hub 115 38 in Fig. 47 may be made very simply and economically with no changes in the automatic record changing mechanism itself. This simplification is made possible by driving the hub 38 by engagement with the outer periph-120 ery thereof. In conventional changers the idler wheel engages the inner surface of the turntable rim to drive the turntable.

In Fig. 48 an alternative embodiment of the invention is disclosed wherein separate tone 125 arm drive means and velocity tripping means are employed. Referring to this figure, the slip clutch 122 on the main cycling gear 30d is employed to connect a drive link 120d to the tone arm quadrant 124d for moving the tone 130 arm horizontally but a separate velocity tripp

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ing arrangement is employed to initiate a record changing cycle. In the embodiment of Fig. 48 the quadrant 124d is provided with a rectangular opening 820 within which is posi-5 tioned the downturned right angle end portion of the drive link 120d. The link 120d is held at the correct level for engagement with the opening 820 by means of a member 822 which extends downwardly from the upper 10 wall of the housing 76 and is provided with an opening 824 within which the intermediate portion of the link 120d is positioned.

In the embodiment of Fig. 48 the link 120d is only employed to move the tone arm and 15 other velocity tripping means are employed to initiate a record changing cycle. For example, the velocity tripping arrangement shown in Dennis United States patent application Serial No. 432,089 filed January 9, 1974 may be 20 employed. In such case a velocity tripping arm, similar to the arm 338 in said application, is mounted for rotation about the tone arm pivot and is frictionally connected to the tone arm, said arm being arranged to engage 25 the flange portion 560 of the trip pawl 62 in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34 of the present invention. In other respects the embodiment of Fig. 48 may be identical to the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34 described in 30 detail heretofore.

In the embodiment of Fig. 48, when the gear 30 has moved to a position corresponding to Fig. 14, the clutch 122 connects the gear 30 to the link 120d. As the link 120d 35 starts to move outwardly from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 48 there is no movement of the quadrant 1 24d until the end of the link 120d engages the back edge 826 of the opening 820 in the quadrant 124d. 40 When this occurs, the link 120d moves the quadrant 124d, and the tone arm 14, outwardly to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 48 at which position the tone arm engages the blocking portion 184 of the rest 45 post 22 and during further outward movement of the link 120d the clutch 122 slips, as described in detail heretofore. During the return motion of the link 1 20d the quadrant 124d is not moved until the end of the link 50 120d engages the forward edge 828 of the opening 820 whereupon the quadrant 1 24d is moved inwardly until the shoulder 192 engages the slide 196 at the twelve-inch record position and the clutch 122 slips as 55 the gear 30 continues to move back to its detent position, as described in detail heretofore in connection with Figs. 1 3 to 19, inclusive. During the playing cycle the quadrant 124d is moved inwardly as the tone arm 60 moves inwardly over the record. During this movement the quadrant 124d is completely disconnected from the link 120d so that no loading from the link 120d is placed on the tone arm, the opening 820 in the quadrant 65 124d providing this lost motion connection between the quadrant 124d and the link 120d during the entire playing cycle.

In Fig. 49 of the drawings an alternative embodiment of the invention is disclosed 70 wherein a two-plate velocity tripping mechanism is employed in place of the plate 62 and clutch member 132 in the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive. Referring to Fig. 49, a drive-trip link 1 20f is connected to the main 75 gear 30 through the clutch members 122 as the gear 30 rotates, as described in detail heretofore. However, in the embodiment of Fig. 49, the end of the link 1 20f is pivotally connected to the quadrant 124 but the slot 80 130 is eliminated so that there is no lost motion between the members 120f and 1 24. A two-plate velocity tripping mechanism is mounted on the gear 30, this mechanism comprising a bottom plate 852 and top plate 85 62a. The top plate 62a is provided with a pin 61a which extends through a hole in the bottom plate 852 and into an opening in the gear 30 so that the members 62a and 852 are each pivotally mounted for rotation about 90 the axis of the pin 61a. The bottom plate 852 is provided with a pair of upstanding ears 850 and 856 which limit movement of the bottom plate 852 relative to the top plate 62a. The bottom plate 852 is provided with a flange 95 854 which is adapted to be engaged by the end of the link 1 20f. The plate 62a includes the downturned flange 560 which extends through the opening 562 in the gear 30 and has a shoulder 68a which is adapted to be 100 engaged by the flange 70.

Near the end of the playing cycle the end of the link 1 20f engages the flange 854 and moves both members 62a and 852 toward the centering spindle. However, the flange 70 105 engages the plate 62a behind the shoulder 68a thereof and moves the top plate 62a back slightly while the plate 62a slips with respect to the bottom plate 852. When the run-out groove is encountered, the link 1 20f 110 moves both members toward the spindle by an amount sufficient that the flange 70 engages the shoulder 68a on the top plate 62a and moves the gear 30 so that a record changing cycle is initiated. During the record 115 changing cycle the members 62a and 852 are reset to their desired positions by engagement with the teeth of the gear 58 on the turntable hub. The bottom plate 852 is provided with a protruding portion 858 which is first engaged 120 by the teeth of the gear 58 so that the ear 856 is reset to a position in engagement with one side of the member 62a. Thereafter, the members 62a and 852 are moved together to a position in which the shoulder 68a is posi-125 tioned out of the path of the flange 70. It will be seen that the embodiment of Fig. 49 provides a lost motion connection between the link 120f and the plate 62a instead of the lost motion connection at the other end of the 1 30 link 120 provided by the slot 1 30 in the

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embodiment of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive. In other respects the embodiments of Fig. 49 is identical to that of Figs. 1 to 34, inclusive.

Claims

5 CLAIMS

1. In a record player of the type provided with a turntable having a flange for engagement with a drive belt and a pair of drive pulleys of different diameter, a belt shifting

10 arrangement for shifting said belt from one pulley to the other comprising a base member, a first member pivotally mounted on said base member and movable between first and second positions, said first member having a 15 flange portion adapted to engage one side of said drive belt and shift said belt from a first one of said pulleys to the second pulley when said first member is moved to said first position, a second member pivotally connected to 20 said base member and interconnected with said first member at a point between the respective pivot points of said first and second members, said second member having a flange portion adapted to engage said drive 25 belt and shift said belt from said second pulley to said first pulley when said first member is moved from said first position to said second position.

2. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein 30 said flange portions of said first and second members have inclined edges which are adapted to engage the same side of said drive belt and shift said belt between said first and second pulleys upon movement of said first 35 member between said first and second positions.

3. The arrangement of claim 1, wherein said first and second members are interconnected so that they are pivoted in opposite

40 directions about their respective pivots in response to movement of said first member from said first position to said second position.

4. The arrangement of claim 3, wherein 45 said flange portions have edge portions which are inclined in opposite directions and are adapted to engage the same side of said belt and shift it from one of said pulleys to the other in response to movement of said first 50 member between said first and second positions.

5. A record player having a belt shifting arrangement as claimed in claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference

55 to the accompanying drawings.

Printed for Her Majesty's Stationery Office by Burgess & Son (Abingdon) Ltd.—1980.

Published at The Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings,

London, WC2A 1AY, from which copies may be obtained.