US1119906A - Combined player-piano and phonograph. - Google Patents

Description

E. S. VOTEY.

\ COMBINED PLAYER PIANO AND HHONOGRAPH.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.2 191s.

Patnted Dec. 8,1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET 1.

In ven tor:

E. S. VOTEY.

COMBINED PLAYER PIANO AND PHONOGRAPH.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 2, 1913.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

In ventor:

E.-S. VOTEY.

COMBINED PLAYER PIANO AND PHONOGBAPH.

APPLICATION FILED we. 2, 1913.

1,1 19,906, Patented Dec.8, 1914.

In ventor:

ET rai e ooaizinmo PLAYEEPLANO AND PHONOGBAPHQ i,ii,%n

' Application filed August 2,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I," EDWIN S. VOTEY, acitizen of the'United States, and resident of Summit/fin the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combined Player Pianos and Phonogra'phs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in combined player pianos and phonographs.

T he object of myinvention is to provide a new and improved instrument of this kind which is simple in construction, etl'ective and reliable in action and in which the phonograph record disk while being started and ,until is has-the proper speed of rotation is driven jointly by the phonograph spring motor and by the air" motor of the player piano which is used for moving the perforated music sheet and after the disk has obtained the proper speed the air motor is automatically thrown out'of operative connection'with said disk or its support sothat the disk is driven by its spring motoronly,

thi i-s-maki'n g it possible to obtain proper synchronism between the record disk and the perforated music sheet from tliestart.

In the accompanyingdrawings Figure 1 is a' frontelevation of a combined piano playerand phonograph embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same, partsbeing broken away and others shown in section. Fig; 3 isv a plan view of the same, the top of the piano casing being removed and parts being broken away, Fig.4 is a side-view of the clutch and clutch operating means, parts being shown in section. Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view on the line a-n of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a face view of the beginning part of the perforated music'sheet to be usedin connection with the instrument. ,Fig. 7 is a plan view of the record disk. Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the air motor, clutch. tracker and the relation and connections of the several parts.

The player piano is provided with the conventional. casing 1 in the upper front part of which there is a chest 2 containing the tracker 3, the music roll 4 and the takeup roll 5, which music and take-up rolls are driven in the conventional manner by means of an air motor 6 of any approved construe tioiti and connected with thetakc-np and music-rolls by any well known motion trans Knitting ger'iing, all of which forms no par- Specification of Letter's Patent.

Patented Dec. 8, 1914.

1913. Serial No. 782,556. Y

ticular part of the present invention. -Th'e rotative support 7 for the phonograph or' talking machine record 8 is provided abovej the top of the chest 2 at the front of the 1 piano casing 1 and is driven by a spring motor 9 such as is commonly used for roe tating a talking machine record in the conventional way. The phonograph recordsupport 7 and the, perforated music sheet 10 v i are provided with suitable contrivances for sheet, but these mechanisms formno part' operating, at ,regular intervals, valves or whatever of the present invention and may as well be substituted by others as {far as the present invention is concerned.

The perforated music sheetlO is provided in advance of the ordinary musicslots or perforations 11 along one edge, preferably the right hand edge, with aslot 12. 0t.

greater or less length, whichcan register with a supplemental tracker duct 1.3 in the tracker 3.v From this tracker duct 13 a tube 14 leads to valves 15 and from the latter a I machine record support 7 so that thelatter i is now free-to rotate. A branch tube 19 connected With the tube 16 leads 'to a bcllows 20, to the movable board of which is attached anarin 21 connected with a rod 22 which is pivoted to a lever23 having pin 24 entering a groove 25in acollar- 26.011 a shaft 27 driven by the air motor 6: Onthe 'end of the shaft27' a clutch member 28'is fixed which can be engaged with a clutch member 29 fixed on the shaft 30 operativelv connected by suitable power gearing 31 with the spring motor 9 for the reco d diskl l/Vhen the two. clutch members 27 and 28 are disengaged the spring'motor for the phonoe graph disk operates entirely independent ofthe air motor 6, but as long as these two clutch members are engaged, the spr ng motor 9 for the talking machine record support is assisted by the airn otor 6. llieii' ,thef'} beginning of the slot 12 inftlieperforated;

f le an is admitted to the valves controlling the bellows l? and 20 whic'li are' music sheet 10 arrives at'tlie tracker diibtlf} lapsed whereby the brake lever 18 is moved to release the record support 7 and at the same time, by the collapsing of the bellows 20 the clutch members 28 and 29 are engaged so that'the' spring 'motor is now as S1S i. *,d by the air motor and thus the disk 18 immediately started at the required speed as d stinguished fronr the rather sluggish rotative movement which the disk support would have at the-beginning if started by the spring motor only. By the time thatj the rear'end of the slot 12 arrives at the tracker duct 13 the disk support 7 has'acguiredthe requisite speed and by the closing of the tracker duct 13 by the-imperforate part of .the paper-of themusic sheet the valves 15 of the bellows 17 and 20 are -sooperated as. to permit the expansion of these bellows by their conventional extend- .ing springs, with the result that'the clutch members 28 and 29 are disengaged and the brake lever isheld in disengaged osition from the rim of the record support by the 'usual locking device, provided for such brake lever, and which locking device per se forms no part of the present invention.

It willthus be seen that the perforated music sheet is provided with a slot which determines the starting of the spring motor. It is essential that there shall be a proper relation between the starting of the spring motor and the music slots in the perforated music sheet. For this purpose the record disk 8 is provided with--a depression or recess 32 into which the needle 33 of the phonograph sound box 34 is-placed before the mechanism is started so that when the disk starts rotating, the disk and perforated music sheet will be in perfect synchronism, which synchronism is to be maintained by the devices previously mentioned, but which form no part of the present invention. However, it is necessary that the depression or recess 32 be in a certain position and this is indicated by the pointer 35 preferably extending over the rim of the record support 7 and by a mark or indicator 36 on the rim of said support, or in other words, the support must be brought into a position with its indicator 36 at the pointer 351'" Therefore allthat is necessary for-the operator to perform before starting s to adjust the record support'so that its indicator 36 is at the pointer 35, the support being locked in ,this position by the brake lever. Then thedesired record 8 is placed upon the'support and turned axially until its recess'32 isat the pointer 35 and is thus in proper. position. The operator then places the needle of the sound box 34 into said recess 32'. 'The music sheet 10 is then placed into the che st"'2in the conventional manner and cmmectedwith the take-up roll. Then. the ellows are operated and thereby themusic sheet is .wound upon the take-up" roll and as soon as the beginning of the slot 12 arrives at the tracker duct 13 the clutch members 28 and 29 are thrown into gear, the disk support 7 is released from the brake and is rotated at a. uniform speed and the music sheet is maintained at a speed commensurate with that of the disk by means of the synchronization devices above mentioned but forming no part of the present invention.

When the piece has been played and the sheet is to be rerolled, this is accomplished in the conventional manner by shifting the rewinding lever37 which reverses the driving gearing from the motor in the conventional manner. By shifting the lever 37 a valve 38 is opened in the end of a tube 39, which tube in turn controls a valve 40, from which a tube 41 leads to a bellows 42 which when exhausted brings the lever 18 into position for locking the disk support.

Having descr bed my invention what I talities, of an independent motor in each for,

driving an independent record device -'in each instrumentality, and means'controlled from one record device for throwing the motor of the instrumentality to which said record device pertains into gear with the motor of the other instrumentality and also automatically throwing them out of gear at a predetermined time, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with two instrumentalities, of an independent motor for each instrumentality, two record devices each driven by the motor of one of the instrumentalities, a shaft operativelydriven from one motor, another shaft operatively driven from the other motor, clutch devices on said latter shaft, means controlled in the operation of one ofsaid records for automatically throwing said clutch devices into engageunease being provided with an indicator, of a pointer adjacent to the said support and means controlled in the operation of the music sheet for throwing the motor of the player piano into and out of gear with. the motor of the phonograph, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination with a player piano comprising a motor for moving a perforated music sheet, a tracker, supports for a perforated music sheet passing over the tracker a perforated music sheet provided in advance of the music perforations with a slot, the tracker having a supplemental duct for registry with said slot, a phonograph comprising a motor, a disk support, a sound box and a needle thereon, the support having an indicator, of a pointer adjacent to said support, a record on said support, said record having a recess in communication with the record lines, which recess is adapted to receive the needle on the sound box, substantially as set forth.

Signed at New York city in the county of New York and State of New York this 15th day of July A. D. 1913.

EDW'IN SCOTT VOTEY.

Witnesses Grouse B. KELLY, EDITH L. ROBINSON.

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