US1190673A - Phonograph. - Google Patents

Description

C B. REPP.

PHONOGRAPH.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. I2. I909.

Patented July 11, 1916.

. IwXrI III. II H monly known as j which casing nalnng the term CLINTON B. REPP, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PHONOGRAPH.

Z0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CLINTON B. Rrrr, a citizen of the United States, residing at the borough of Manhattan, in.the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Phonographs, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, which form a part thereo My invention relates to phonographs and more particularly to a type thereof comhornless phonographs.

In phonographs of the hornless type, whether such be phonographs or gr'amophones, the resonator or horn is ordinarily inclosed in the merely'conceals the horn, thus hornless in reality. a misnomer. The position of the horn, however, necessitates the projection of the sound Waves, reproduced by the diaphragm, downwardly into the mouth of said. horn, .or against the said resonator. In gramophones but little difliculty has been experienced in projecting these sound waves as described, owing to the lateral undulations of the 1nolentations upon the records, and the fact that the horn has a swiveling relation permitting the sound box and the reproducer point thereof, to follow the trend of the said indentations. With a graphophone, however, it has heretofore been found impractical to so project the sound waves, owing to the peculiar structure of the machine,=which ordinarily involves a laterally moving sound box caused to traverse the record in a straight line parallel to the axis of rotating of the record by means of a feed screw, the pitch of which conforms to dentations on the record. a

In my present invention the primary aim isto provide an apparatus or mechanism, transmitting the sound vibration from a reproducer point carried by a swiveling arm, to a diaphragm mountedwithin a stationary sound box, the outlet of which sound box will be presented downwardly so as to projcct the sound waves formed by the diaphragm, downwardly into the mouth of the resonator or horn. As an essential to this construction, the diaphragm, in. order to reproduce sound in sufficient volume to be of practical use, must be placed under tension and the vibrations must be transmitted thereto through a substance adapted to Specification of Letters Latent. Application filed August 12, 1909.

inner casing below the works that of the in;

Patented July Jill, 1916. Serial No. 512,552.

transmit such vibrations. As the diaphragm will ordinarily be tensioned by pressure applied in a direction opposite to the line of projection of the sound waves, and the reproducer point will be pressed upon the record in the same direction-as the line of projection of said waves, it is apparent that a member must be interposec between the arm carrying the reproducer point and the diaphragm, through which the vibrations will pass from the said arm to said diaphragm and that this interposed member must be so constructed and arranged as to transmit such vibrations and at the same time place the diaphragm under tension.

lence a further object of the invention is to provide a phonograph embodying therein a stationary sound box, a swiveling arm carrying the reproducer point, a member interposed between said arm and said diaphragm and means placing said diaphragm, and the means connecting said interposedmember with said arm and with said diaphragm under tension to impart, such tenseness to the mechanism transmitting the sound vibrations as well as to the diaphragm, as will make the entire transmission and reproducing mechanism highly sensitive, thus insuring accuracy of reproductions and richness or fullness of tone Without the accompanying false tones or blasts due to cross vibrations in such mechanism, as vibrations not solely dependent upon the indentations of the record. I

A still further object is to nograph wherein the arm carrying the reproduoer point will be subjected to that pressure necessary to bring the necessary intimate contact with the indentat'ons in the record, and the direction of such pressure Will be reversed as to the diaphragm, preserving, however the tension throughout the transmitting mechanism, and avoiding the presence of vibratory members in a relation where they will transmit cross vibrations to the diaphragm. A still further object is to provide a phonograph embodying therein a stationary sound box, and a swiveling arm carrying the reproducer point mounted on bearings eccentrically disposed as to the sound box, the vibrations passing along which arm will be transmitted to a second vibratory arm mounted in bearings having a fixed relation to the sound box, thus both tensioning the diaphragm, and transmitting sound vibrapoint into the provide a pho- I blasts iinjthe "horn.

mitted thereto by missionf nechanism 40 tions therete throughfan interposed member having no swiveling oroscillatory acti on. j

A still'fifurther" object is toprovide a p110- nograph wherein the sound box .will be fixed',and the sound vibrations will be transa' plurality of enchained members, one of which is capable of swiveling, and all of which are in tension with each other and the diaphragm, and wherein the f'means pressing the [reproducer point upon the record, and transmitting mechanism and-the diaphragm under tension will be an external force ap plied from the axis swiveling .member,

to insure the accurate feeding of the member-carrying} the '-repro 9f thespiral, I

ducer point under the control indentations of the record; 3

any pitch of the spiral,

of records without impalringthequalityof main horn or sound resonator will bemade of wood, and the connectionribetween said" horn and the sou'ndbox will be such as to' make the assembling desirablef to prevent cross 'vibratlons or And a still furtherfobs je i a p o e a ed for with a brator member one end of which is connected to said swiveling arm at the axis of rotation thereof and the other end ofwhich is connected to said' diaphragm, and means applying pressure to said interposed member through said swiveling arm at the axis of rotation thereof, whereby said diaphragm and said connections will be tensioned; and in such other novel, features of construction partsas are hereinafter set forth and described and more particularly pointed out inthe claims hereto appended.

Referring to thedrawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of a phonograph embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof with a portion of the case broken away to disclose the constructions of the concealedhorn or resonator; Fig. 3 is a view on an enlarged scale of the sound box and its apthe means placing the e p ograp of rotation 'of the said Y the. iop,ening-inzt A still further object 'is-toprovide a pho p i "f nogr'aph,' the' reproducer mechanism "of Y which will. automatically adaptQ-itself to. indentations of the. record and the reproducer point will be constructed and mounted as to bereadily readjusted to adapt'it to different pitches .gected nipple c,

said block 0 bymeans of'fiange d" made integral with the ing said flange phonograph the trans-I of which will be adapthornless phonograph, of. .the graphophonejtype.

he invention'c'onsists broadly in a'pho-- nogra'ph embodying therein a fixed soundor indicated sound waves of the record purtenances including the members of the transmitting mechanism disposed between the swiveling arm and diaphragm, the said sound box and diaphragm being shown in vertical section, and Fig. 4 is a detailed view on a larger scale of the fitting for the ad-- justable reproducer point carried by the' swiveling vibrating arm;

Like letters refer to like out the several views.

In theembodiment of my invention shown in: thenccompanying drawings, a indicates easing withinwhich is concealed a 'l10II1", of any desired construction. In the drawings;,-Ethis horn is shown asbeing compose a wo'oden trumpet b, havparts through 5 ing .an inletf formed in Ta iectangular block c. Thetrumpet 1) extends. horizontally and v .,-.;:block' c l 'extends in a orn tli'eghorizonta o the'z'vertical, B5. purpose of: receivin and. directing rdly} projected waves from n jto the j said ftrumpet. Se cured 'tothfjtop .of th'e block 0 is a metallic trumpet section ahthe upper end of which isf'adapted to receive the downwardly priotie ower end of which .is firmly secured by the ofthesound box f and section d,.and screws clampfirmly upon said block. By this construction sound waves emanating from the diaphragm in the sound box are of the device conyeng ient, and; also to secure that rigidityjof parts ity of the horn'structure throughout conp tributing to. this result.

-Mounted on 'the top of the case a is a metallic plate 9, encircling the trumpet section' d and having an extension 9' projecting radially of the section (Z and perpendicular to the axis of rotationof the mandrel 72, carrying the record, which extension carries a vertical stud a forming the lower center about which, the swiveling vibrator arm 7' rotates in following the spiral indentations The stud z carries fastening means, as the hook z", to which one end of the elastic means exerting that pressure necessary to force the reproducer point into engagement with the record,.and place the diaphragm under constant tension, is. secured.

The sound box f 1s supported horizontally above the section "(2 many desired manner,

- as by the uprightsq carried by the plate g,

with the outlet nipple or.,nozz1e c fitting closely upon and opening with said section. 1 This sound boxmay beiof any desiredconstruction embodying a diaphragm k of suflicient strength to withstand the constant tension under which it is placed by the elastic means hereinafter referred to and that varilao able tension due to the rapid vibration thereof as the vibratory waves are transmitted thereto through the transmission mechanism from thereproducer point and the record. A mica diaphragm, is preferable, but any other suitable material may be used. The edges of the diaphragm 7; are secured between soft rubber packing rings m-m as shown, in theusual manner, said rings being clamped upon said diaphragm by the ring a.

The outlet to "the sound box being presented, downwardly as above described, it is apparent that to avoid the presence of objects within the horn and the course of the sound waves reproduced by the diaphragm, it is essential that the sound vibrations be transmitted to said diaphragm from above, and that the pressure tensioning said diaphragm be also applied from above. It being essential to a commercially ope ative phonograph that these sound vibrations be conducted by a continuous vibratory mechanism, directly to the diaphragm, to secure the proper volume of tone in the reproduction, and it also being desirable to eliminate all vibratory parts about the diaphragm, excepting those utilized in transmitting the vibrations thereto, I have provided a special form of transmitting mechanism consisting of a plurality of enchained members all of which, not only will be under the same constant tensinn, butwill also place the diaphragm. under tension by a reversal of the direction of the pressure applied to said mechanism. This arrangement insures the accurate transmission of v1brat1ons from the V reproducer point to the diaphragm, and the elimination of all weak vibrations due to imperfection in the record or in the reproducer point, and the resultant scratching or blasts attributable thereto. While this constant tension makes the transmission mechanism sensitive, nevertheless, it has been demonstrated that the reproduced. sounds are clear,.---rich and full when the diaphragm and the transmission mechanism, are thus under a heavy tension; and that they become thin and irregular when the tension is too high, and weak and muffled when the tension is removed. This I attribute to a probability that with the proper tension, the vibrations pass sharply through the transmission members which respond readily and evenly thereto, to the diaphragm which vibrates regularly, rapidly and evenly while such vibrations continue, and cease to vibrate instantly with the cessation of vibration in the transmission mechanism.

The transmission mechanism' above referred to comprises in addition to the swiveling arm j, a vibrator member 0 mounted by means of horizontal pivots, in a suitable bracketn carried by the ring a. The said pivots while permitting-a free vertical re-,7

ciprocationfif the member 0, should have a fairly tight fit with their hearings in said bracket to prevent the rattling thereof due to a lateral movement of said member. The opposite ends of the member 0 have holes thercthrough through which are passed fiexible connections 0' 0 prefe ably waxed cord, by means of which said arm is connected at its opposite ends to the swiveling arm j and the headed stud 7) passed through and engaging the diaphragm is. The connections 0 0 arepneferably formed in a continuous loop, permitting the inner ends of the vibrator arm j to swivel freely relative to said interposed member 0. The connection 0 is connected to the member 0 at a point directly above the stud z, these two points being alined with the vertical axis of rotation of said arm.

The swiveling vibrator arm 7' is of wood, preferably a close straight grained wood such as bass-wood, and the'opposite ends thereof have mounted therein the reproducer point, and means coiiperating with the connection 0 for preserving physical continuity of the transmission mechanism preferably a hook j adapted to pass through the loop 0 Engaging the hook j and exerting a down-- terposed member 0 is reversed as to the inner arm thereof, which exerts a corresponding upward pressure upon the diaphragm is, through the cord 0, thus tensioning both said diaphragm and said cord. It will thus be observed that the entire transmission mechanism is in tension and that the various enchained elements are in physical contact with each other so as to permit a direct conduction of the vibration from one element to the other.

Preferably the pivots of the member 0 are arranged centrally thereof to equalize the tension on the various parts.

Extending from the stud i to a point adjacent to the outer end of the arm j is a spring 9, the function of which is to draw the'reproducer point firmly upon the record to secure the desired intimate engagement of'said point with the undulations or indicated sound vibrations of the record. The

acting on the arm j and therethrough upon other members of the transmission mechanism and the diaphragm, all converge to a point directly below the outer end of said arm 0, thus permitting to rotate about an axis cally of the diaphragm,

said vibrator arm j arranged eccentriwhile permitting said diaphragm to be tensioned by an upducer point to beautomatically fed by the mere rotation of the record on the mandrel A merely conventional showing of the mandrel and its driving mechanism is made in the drawings, and no detailed description thereof is entered into; as such are immaterial to the invention, any suitable rec- .ord support and actuating mechanism there for, being adapted for use with my invention.

Inasmuch as the automatic feeding of the reproducer point carrier permits the point to be fed by the record, I provide a mount for saidpoint and-a special type of point for use in said mount, to adapt a single arm to records having different pitches. lic stud 7- having a screw threaded shank r by-means of which it may be firmly attached to the end of the arm y'. I drill a hole 8 vertically through this stud and drill a countersink 8 above said drill hole. Adapted to be seated in the hole 8 and countersink and lock said s is a pin t having a central flange t adapted to rest uponthe bottom of the countersink. The opposite ends of this pin are adapted to have'mounted therein the ordinary reproducer point, the points mounted in the opposite ends being difi'erently shaped to permit them to engage the undulations in the bottom of the indentations in records having either 100 or 200 pitch. Passing through the end of the stud ris a set screw it adapted to engage the flange 15 pin on its seat. It will thus be observed that the point may be readily reversed to adapt a machine to differently pitched records.

The operation of my improved phonograph is apparent from the foregoing description. Sound vibrations imparted to the arm j by the record through the reproducer point are conducted along this arm, to the arm 0 interposed betweenit and the diaphragm through the flexible link 0 and to the diaphragmby said arm 0 through the flexible link 0, this transmission being through enchained members having physical contact one with the other, and all being 7 The mount consists of a metal avoiding any such looseness of parts as would tend to cause rattling, cross vibrations, or blasts.

The arrangement of the tensioning means is such as to tension the diaphragm by a. reversal of the direction of the pressure applied to the conductor mechanism and without impairing or interfering in any. way with the vibrations passing therethrough.

It is not my intention to claim broadly a swiveling conductive arm, nor a diaphragm under a constant tension, in this application, my present invention relating more particularly to those features incidental to projecting the sound waves downwardly, and to adapting the hornless phonograph to cylinder machines or graphophones. Nevertheless, it is not my intention to limit my invention to the precise details of construction shown in the-drawings as it is apparent that such may be varied to adapt the invention to phonographs of different design without devibrations along a swiveling member to a.

stationary diaphragm through an inter posed vibratory member 'and I intend to claim such broadly.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent is 2-' v 1. In a phonograph, a fixed sound box having a. downwardly p'resented sound outlet opening, a diaphragm therein, a vibrator member having a. fixed relation to said sound box, one end of said member projecting over said diaphragm, and the other end thereof projecting beyond said sound box, a vibrator member adapted to be impelled across record, connections between said last named vibrator member and the end of said first named vibrator member extending beyond said sound box and between the other end of said first named vibrator memher and said diaphragm, whereby sound vibrations are transmitted through said connections from one of said vibrator mem bers to the other, and therethrough to the diaphragm, and means acting to simultaneously tension said diaphragm and said connections between said first named vibra- .tor member, said diaphragm, and said other acting on said diaphragm through said connecting means and said last named vibrator member to tension said diaphragm, said last named means having constant uniform action to tension said diaphragm in a direction opposite to the direction of movement of the sound vibrations in passing to said diaphragm. I

3. In a phonograph, a sound box having a downwardly projected sound outlet, a concealed horn or resonator communicating with said outlet, a diaphragm in! said sound box, a vibratory member carrying a reproducer point mounted to rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of said diaphragm and eccentrically thereof, means applying a downward pressure upon said vibrator member, and interposed members between said vibrator member and said diaphragm whereby said pressure is reversed in diree tion as to said diaphragm, and said diaphragm and said interposed members are placed under tension.

4. In a phonograph, a sound box having a downwardly projected sound outlet, a concealed horn or resonator communicating with said outlet,. a diaphragm in said sound box, a vibratory member carrying a repro-,

ducer'point mounted to rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of said diaphragm and eccentrically thereof, a mounted in horizontal bearings fixed relatively to said diaphragm, flexible connections between the opposite ends of said last mentioned arms and said diaphragm and said first mentioned vibratory member, and an elastic member acting upon said first mentioned vibratory member directly below the flexible connections between the same and said fixed vibratory member whereby said connections and said diaphragm are placed under a constant tension, and said first mentioned vlbratory member is permitted to sw vel relatively to sa d second vibratory member to" follow the spiral indentations in the record.

5. In a phonograph, a sound box having a downwardly projected sound outlet, aconor resonator communicatin box, a vibratory member carrying a reproducer point mounted to rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of said diaphragm and eccentrically thereof, a vibratory arm mounted in horizontal bearings fixed relatively .to said diaphragm, flexible connections between the opposite ends of said last mentioned arm and said diaphragm and said first mentioned vibratory member, and a eccentrically thereof,

vibratory arm helical spring acting upon said first mentioned vibratory member directly below the flexible connectionsbetween the same and said fixed vibratory member whereby said connections and said diaphragm are placed under a constant tension, and said first mentioned vibratory member, is permitted to swivel relatively to said second vibratory member to follow the, spiral indentations in the record.

6. In a phonograph, a sound box having a downwardly projected sound outlet, a concealed horn or, resonator communicating with said o'utlet,a diaphragm in said sound box, a vibratory member-carrying. a reproducer point mounted to rotate about an axis parallel to the axis of said diaphragm and a vibratory arm mounted in horizontal bearings fixed relatively to said diaphragm, flexible connections between the opposite ends of said last mentioned arm and diaphragm and said first mentioned vibratory member, and a tioned,- vibratory member is permitted to swivel relatively tosaid second vibratory member to follow the spiral indentations in the record, and a spring extending from said first mentioned vibratory arm to the point of attachment of said first mentioned spring whereby the reproducer point is pressed upon the record.

1 7, In a phonograph, the combination with a stationary diaphragm and a swiveling vibratory arm of a mount consisting of a block carried by said arm having a vertical opening extending therethrough, said open ing being-stepped to provide a seat therein, a screw thread whereby said mount may be firmly secured to said arm, a pin the opposite ends of which carry reproducer points adapted to register with records differing in pitch, a flange intermediate said points adapted to rest upon said seat and a set screw for clamping said flange within said opening. 3

In witness whereof, I have hereunto affixed my signature, in the presence of two witnesses, this 10th day of August, 1909.

' CLINTON B. REPP. i Witnesses:

F. T. WEN'rWoR'rH, P. FRANK Sonnnx.

topics of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Uommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C."

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