US1358178A - Phonograph-needle - Google Patents

Description

M. J. RUDERT.

PHONOGRAPH NEEDLE.

APPLICATION man APR.8.1919.

1,358,1 '78, Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

TES PATENT OFFICE man a. annum, or nenn-amas, CALIFORNIA.

PHON@ GRAPH-NEEDLE.

Specification or Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

Application filed Aprile, 1919. Serial No. 288,563.

To a?? wiz-0m. it may concern.

Be it known that I, MAX J. RUDERT, a citizenI of the United States, residing at Redlands, in the county of San Bernardino, State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Phonograph- Needles, iication.

This invention relates to needles for phonograph machines; and the object of the invention is to provide a phonograph needle which will give improved reproduction results and will have a long operating life, and will not damage the record. It is a further object to provide a needle which is adjustable for loud and soft reproduction; and to provide such 'a needle in simple, inexpensive and easily manufactured form.

I provide a needle construction which emof which the following is' a specibodies a line wire forming the needle properforming the reproducing point--A such wire being in an adjustable mounting, so that the fine wire needle may be extended out of, or retracted into, its holder to adjust the projecting length of needle and thereby to vary the loudness and softness of tone and also to advance the needle from time to time to take care of' wear. This advancement to take care of wear I find to be very slight; a quarter inch length of needle sufiices for many hundred reproductions.

The holder in which the needle proper is 'held embodies a simpleieasily manipulated device having a shank adapted to be held in any ordinarysound box clamp. The details of this holder and the detailed features of my invention, together with other objects thereof, will be most clearly apparent from l the following specific description of a speciflc preformed form of needle, reference being had for this purpose to the acco1npanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is an enlarged elevation of the needle showing the needle proper in its position of first insertion in the holder; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the needle; Fig. 3 is a view showing the needle proper; Fig. 4 is a furtherenlarged view of the recordfollowing-end of the needle; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken as" indicated by line 5-5 on Fig. 2.

1 utilize a needle wire, which I term the needle proper, as shown at 10. This needle wire is about 0.006 in diameter; and in using a small needle of this character l nd that it is not necessary to sharpen the record following end, it being only necessary to somewhat round off the end or round the end edge as is indicated at 11 in Fig. 4. 11nd I find that this rounded edge formation is maintained by wear of the needle in the record groove; that is, as the lneedle wears away its end keeps about the form shown in Fig. l4. y

This needle proper is mounted in a holder 12 which is provided with a shank 13 adapted to be inserted and clampedin the needle clamp of any ordinary sound box. Shank 13 forms a part of the holder body 14; this body being a cylindrical metal member preferably of steel and having at 15a collar against which one end of an internally threaded rotatable sleeve 16 bears. Sleeve 146 may have a knurled collar 17 to facilitate manual rotation of the sleeve.

At lits forward end the body 14 is conical as shown at 18, and a conical cap 19 ts over the forward end of the body, being preferably pressed onto the body, but it may be secured on the body in any suitable manner. Cap 19 has a needle aperture 20 of just the right size to pass the needle 10 and hold the needle against any loose motion, at the same time allowing the needle 10 to move freely' longitudinally through the cap. Body 14 has a narrow longitudinal slot or groove 21 whose bottom 22 is preferably semi-cylindrical and registers accurately with the needle aperture 20 in cap 19; so that the inner part of needle 10 will rest against the bottom of the groove as is thickness to fit more or less snugly in groove 21 and having a serrated edge l211 which enga es with the screw-threads 25 of sleeve 16. ug 23 may be formed by stamping or any other similar operation and may then be secured to the needle 10 by brazing, sweating or soldering, or in any other suitable manner. The lug 23 may also be provided with a handle 26 formed integrally therewith and connected thereto by a narrowneck 27; handle 26 affording ready means for handling the needle to insert it in the holder and being then broken off when the needle has been inserted in the position shown in Fig. 1. The needle may then be advanced or retracted by rotation of-sleeve 16.

Fig. 2 shows the needle .fully extended;

stantially cylindrical body, a shank adapted Fig. 1 shows the `needle extended only a small distance. The amount of needle extension may be varied to suit the loudness or softness of reproduction desired. If the needle is extended only a short distance the maximum` loudness is obtained, and Vif the needle is extended farther, a softer reproduction will be obtained. As the needle wears away by use it may be extended from time to time. This wear is extremely slight and a needle wire of an effective length of about l, or I iind will last a very long time. The wire itself, although it. may be harder or softer as conditions'may require, I prefer to make not excessively hard and not very soft.

Having described a preferred form of my invention, I claim: c

1. A phonograph needle comprising a body provided with a shank adapted to be secured in a sound box clamp and having a longitudinalgroove extending through one end' thereof, an internally threaded sleeve rotatably supported on the body and extending across said groove therein, and a wire within the groove provided with a laterally projecting lug that engages the thread on said sleeve.

2. A phonograph needle comprising a body adapted to be attached to a sound box and provided with a longitudinal groove extending through one end thereof, a cap fitted over said end-of the body with an aperture in alinement with the groove, an internally threaded rotatable sleeve surrounding the body, and a wire vextending 'through the aperture in the cap into said groove and provided within the sleeve with a laterally projecting lug that engages the thread on the sleeve.

3. A phonograph needlecomprising a subto` be clamped in the sound box clamp and having a collar midway its ends, the end of the body `opposite the `shank being conical, and the body having a longitudinal groove extending from the conical end to a point lbehind the collar, a rotatable internally meente .threaded sleeve surrounding the body and bearing at one end against the collar, a conical cap fitted upon the conical end of the body and confining the rotatable sleeve, said cap having a central needle aperture registering with the bottom part of said groove,

a needle Wire with its inner end lying in the groove and its outer end projecting through the needle aperture, and a lug on the inner end of the needle with an edge engaging said threads.

4. A phonograph needle comprising a body provided at one end with a shank .adapted to be secured in a sound box clamp by movement of the sleeve.

6. In a phonograph needle, the combination of a body, an interiorly threaded sleeve rotatably surrounding the body, and a wire adapted to move longitudinally of the body and having at oneend a lateral projection terminating in a serrated edge which engages the thread on said sleeve, for the purpose described.

7. A phonograph needle embodying a suitable length of fine wire pointed at one end and having at its other end a thin, fin-like, lateral projection, the edge of which remote from the body of the wire is serrated.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 14th day of February, 1919.

MAX J. RUDERT Witness V. BEmNenR.

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