US1489671A - Automatic stop for phonographs - Google Patents

Description

April 8 1924. 1,489,671

P. RICHTER AUTOMATIC STOP FOR PHONOGRAPHS Filed May 23. 1923 f MENTOR 2 a0 i9 36 7 m 9- Arrmzvzys.

PAUL RICHTE Patented Aer.

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PAUL RICHTER, 01'" DALE CITY, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC STGI? FOR PHONOGBAPHS.

Application filed May 23,

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it l'nown that I, PAUL RICHTER, a eiti zen of the United States, residing at Daly City, county of San Mateo, and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in an Automatic Stop for Phonographs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a stop mechanism for phonographs and especially to a stop mechanism which is actuated by movement of the tone arm and whereby a brake is automatically applied to stop the turning movement of the turntable when the end or any point desired on a record is reached.

The object of the present invention is to generally improve and simplify the construction and operation of an automatic stop mechanism of the character described; to provide a stop mechanism which may be readily applied to practically any phonograph employing a disk record, and further a stop mechanism which is sensitive and which may be readily and accurately set to stop the turntable and the record supported thereby at the end of the record or at any intermediate point desired.

One form of which my invention may sume is exemplified in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of a phonograph showing the application of the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail side eleva tion of the inner end of the stop mechanism.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view or" the sup porting bracket.

- Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail sectional view of the inner end of the pointer arm.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly to Fig. 1, A indicates the top of a phonograph case, 2 the turntable, 3 a record supported thereby, l the reproducer, 5 the tone arm, and 6 the sleeve about which the tone arm swings during playing 01 the record.

The stop mechanism forming the subject matter of the present application consists of a supporting bracket generally shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and indicated at B. This bracket consists of an upper segmental shaped arm 7, a pair of supporting legs 8, and a base section 9, which is perforated as at 10 to permit it to be secured to the 1923. Serial No. 540,818.

top of the phonograph case by means of screws or the like. The segmental arm 7 forms a portion of a true circle, the center of which is located at 11. The arm 7 forms a support for a pointer arm generally indicated at C. The inner end oi this arm terminates in a segmental shaped bearing member 12 which engages the outer edge'ot the arm 7, and it is furthermore provided with two inwardly extending arms 13 and let, one extending above the arm 7 and one below the arm The inner ends of the arms 13 and 14: are connected by a vertical pin 15 and this in turn forms a support for a fiat leaf spring 16, which engages the inner edge of the arm 7. The spring 16 serves the function or maintaining a predetermined frictional engagement between the inner segmental shaped end 12 of the pointer arm and the arm 7, the amount of friction maintained being just sullicient to retain the pointer aim in the position which it as sumes when the pointer 17 formed on the outer end of the arm has been adjusted. The arms 13 and 14 also serve the function of retaining the pointer arm C in a horizontal position, and to further secure the arm in a horizontal position an overlapping lip 18 is formed on the segment 12.

The arm C serves two functions: first that of: supporting the pointer 17, andsecondly that of supporting a rocker arm generally indicated at D. The rocker arm in reality is nothing more or less than a bell crank. The arm proper is jouinalled on top of the pointer arm in bearings indicated at 19. One end of the arm is extended as indicated at 20 to engage a locking lever generally indicated at E, which will hereinafter be described. The opposite end of the rocker arm supports a trip lever 21 in the upper end of which is mounted an adjusting screw 22 which is adapted to be engaged by the tonearm as will hereinafter be described. The locking lever is pivot ally supported the point 23 (see Fig. 2 upon a bearing lug 2secured to or forming a part or" the base member 9. The lower end of the locking le' er is provided with a cam face 25 and a locking shoulder 26. The portionot the locking lever disposed just above the shoulder 26 is also provided with an extended cam face 27, which terminates in l cking lug 28 and it is otherwise extended to form a lever arm 29 by which it is graspedwhen the locking mechanism is manually released. Also supported by the base section 9 is a bearing lug and pivota-lly supported thereby, as at 81, is a lever which consists of an upper arm 32 and a lower arm 83, thearms 32 and 83 being connected by a vertical intermediate section 34. The upper section 32 is attached to a helical tension spring 85, which in turn is secured to the base as at 36, while the lower arm 33 is provided with a brake shoe 37 which extends in under the turntable 2 and it is adapted to frictionally engage the same when the record is to be stopped. The operation will be as follows:

By referring to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the pointer arm C swings in a true circle about the point 11, this point being the center of the sleeve 6 about which the tone arm 5 also swings. It will further be noted that the pointer 17 on the end of the arm has a range of movement from the beginning of the record to the end thereof, and it is, therefore, possible to set the pointer at any point intermediate the beginning of the record to the end of the record. If it is desired to automatically stop the phonograph when the end of the record is reached, it is only necessary to grasp the arm C and to swing it until the pointer 17 aligns with the last groove in the record, and then to swing the tone arm, together with the reproducer, until the needle on the reproducer also registers with the last groove in the record. When the pointer 17 and the needle on the reproducer have both been placed in the last groove of the record, it is only neces sary to adjust the screw 22 so that it engages the tone a-rm. Once this adjustment has been made it becomes permanent and no further attention will be required as far as the adjusting screw 22 is concerned; that is, screw 22 is so adjusted that whenever the needle on the reproducer registers with the point. of the pointer 17 engagement is made with the screw 22 and the trip lever 21 is thereby actuated. This adjustment once made, as previously stated, becomes permanent and it is, therefore, only resorted to when the stop mechanism is first applied.

\Ve will now suppose that the record shown in Fig. l is to be played and that it is desired to automatically stop the record when the end of the groove is reached. if this is the case and if screw 22 has previously been adjusted, it is only necessary to swing the arm C until the pointer 17 registers with the last groove. Tone arm 5, together with the reproducer, may then be set at the beginning of a record in the usual manner and the phonograph is started. During the playing of the record, the reproducer is automatically fed inwardly towards the center of the record and the tone arm will, as a consequence, swing in unison there with. The moment the last groove of the record is reached engagement is simultaneously made with the screw 22 and as this is carried by the upper end of the trip lever 21, it can be seen that a rocking movement will be transmitted therto. The trip lever is secured to the rocker arm D and therefore also imparts a rocking movement thereto. The extended end 20 of the rocker arm will thus engage the cam surface 27 and by this engagement will force the locking lever in the direction of arrow 1:. (See 2.) The locking shoulder 26 of the locking lever is thus swung out of engagement with the arm 82 and when so released it is pulled downwardly by the spring 35. The opposite end of the lever 32 or that indicated by the lower section 33 is, as a consequence, swung in an upward direction and the brake shoe 3? carried thereby is forced into engagement with the lower face of the turntable 2, thus applying a braking action which will almost instantly bring the turntable to a stop. The

downward pull of the spring 35 serves two functions, first, that of imparting a rocking movement to the arms 32 and to apply the brake, and, secondly, that of swinging the locking lever to released position; that is, by downward movement of arm 32 engagement is made with the cam face 25. The locking lever is thus swung in the direction of arrow a about the pivot 23; said movement in this direction being limited by flattening the lower end thereof as shown at to form a stop shoulder. If it is desired to repeat the record, it is first necessary to release the brake shoe 3?. This is accomplished by grasping the upper end 29 of the locking lever and pulling it inwardly or in a direction opposite to that indicated by arrow 0. Cam face 25 will thus engage the arm and raise the same against the tension of spring It will simultaneously depress the arm 38 and thereby move the brake shoe out of engagement with the turn table. ,The cam face 27 will simultaneously engage the extended end 20 of the rocker arm and will thus impart a rocking movement thereto, which will swing the trip lever 21 into proper position and as the cam face 27 terminates in the locking lug 28, it will retain the rocker arm in its raised position. The shoulder 26 locks the arm 32 when a vertical position is reached and as already stated it also locks the rocker arm D and the trip lever 21. The tone arm may now be swung to replace the reproducer and the pointer arm C may also be adjusted to another position if desired. but if it is desired to merely repeat the record the pointer arm will naturally remain in its previous position where the pointer registers with the end of the recoru. It may, however, be ad justed after the locking lever has been re-set and the brake shoe released as it swings about the center 11, and the possibility of adjusting after the locking lever has been reset 18 also due to the fact that the extended end 20 of the rocker arm is segmental shaped and presents an arcuated face which is formed with the point 11 as the center. In other words, arm 20 can swing freely under the locking lug 28 without releasing the lever,'this being due to its circular or arcular shape, and also due to the fact that the locking lever is not released except when arm 20 is raised, when rockin movement is imparted to the arm D through means of the trip lever 21. I

The stop mechanism here illustrated is exceedingly simple. The base portion of the supporting bracket is formed on a curve which fits the exterior formation of the sleeve 6. It is thus easily centered and positioned and may be secured by inserting two or more screws through the perforations indicated at 10. Gnce secured it is readily adjusted as previously stated by aligning the pointer 17 and the needle of the reproducer and then adjusting the position of the screw 22. The pointer 17, by the way, is turned downwardly against the record and assumes a position so close thereto that it is an exceedingly simple matter to adjust the arm C so that the record may be stopped at any point desired. The construction of the stop mechanism is also such that it may be aoplied to practically any phonograph emp oying a disk record, this being true whether the phonograph was previously constructed for the reception thereof or not. The only change required when applying the stop mechanism to phonographs of different makes is to increase or decrease the size of the base portion 9 as this should in all instances conform to the exterior diameter of the sleeve 6 of the base portion thereof. Most phonographs on the maraet today are, however, more or less standardized and such adjustment, is therefore, readily taken care of.

l vhile certain features of the present invention are more or less specifically illus trated, I wish it understood that various changes in form and proportion may be re sorted to within the scope of the appended claims; similarly that the materials and finish of the several parts employed may be such as the experience and judgment of the manufacturer may dictate or various uses may demand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. The combination with the turntable ofa phonograph and a record supported thereby, of a tone arm movable across the face of the record, a support for the tone arm having a central oint about which it swings, a pointer arm also movable over the face of the record and adapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, said pointer arm being manually adjustable with relation to the face of the record and normally stationary, and also adapted to be engaged by the tone arm, and means actuated by such engagement for automatically stopping the turntable.

2. The combination with the turntable of a phonograph and a record supported thereby, of a tone arm movable across the face of the record, a support for the tone arm having a central point about which it swings, a pointer arm also movable over the face of the record and adapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, said pointer arm being manually adjustable with relation to the face of the record and normally stationary, a trip lever carried by the pointer arm and adapted to be engaged by the tone arm when it has travelled a predetermined distance across the face of the record, and means actuated by such engagement for automatically stopping the turntable.

3. The combination with the turntable of a phonograph and a record supported thereby, of a tone arm movable across the face of the record, a support for the tone arm having a central point about which it swings, a pointer arm also movable over the face of the record and adapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, said pointer arm being manually adjustable with relation to the face of the record and normally stationary, a trip lever carried by the pointer arm and adapted to be engaged by the tone arm when it has travelled a predetermined distance across the face of the record, a brake engageable with the turn table but normally held out of engagement therewith, and means actuated by the trip lever for releasing the brake so that it may be automatically applied to stop the turn table.

4. The, combination with the turntable of a phonograph and a record supported there by, of a tone arm movable across the face of the record, a support for the tone arm having a central point about which the tone arm swings, a pointer arm also movable across the face of the record and adapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, a reproducer carried by the tone arm, a needle on the reproducer, a pointer on the pointer arm, said pointer arm and pointer adaptedto be manually adjusted to register with any point on the face of the record, and means for automatically stopping the turning movement of the record when the needle on the reproducer advances to a point where it aligns with the pointer.

5. The combination with the turntable of a phonograph and a record supported thereby, of a tone arm movable across the face of the record, a support for the tone arm having a central point about which the tone arm swings, a pointer arm also movable across the t'ace of the record and adapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, a reprodueer carried by the tone arm, 'a needle on the reproducer, a pointer on the pointer arm,' said pointer arm and pointer adapted to be manually adjusted to register with any point on the face of the record, a trip lever carried by the pointer arm; an adjusting screw on said trip lever, said screw being adjusted so as to be engaged by the tone arm when the needle on the reproducer registers or aligns with the pointen and means actuated by said engagement for 'automaticall stopping the turntable.

6. llhe combination with the tone arm of a phonograph and a support about which it swings, of a supporting bracket adapted to he secured to the phonograph at a point concentric with the support about which the tone arm swings, a segmental shaped arm carried by the supporting bracket, a pointer arm slidable on the segmental. arm, said pointer arm adapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm, a stop mechan ism for the phonog'aph, and a trip lever carried by the pointer arm and adapted to a tuate the stop n'ieehanism.

T. The combination with the tone arm of a phonograph and a support about which it swings, of a supporting bracket adapted to be secured to the phonograph at a point concentric with the support about which the tone arm swings, a segnnental shaped arm carried by the supporting bracket, a pointer arm slidable on the segmental arm, said pointer arm adapted to swing about the same central point as the tone arm. a trip lei'er pivotally mounted on the pointer arm. a rocker arm to which the trip lever is secured, a brake shoe, a rocker arm pivotall supporting the same a spring; normally eX erting a pull to raise the .iralre shoe into operable positioin a locking lever engagable with said arm ane adapted to hold the brake shoe in inoperative position. and a cam on said locking lever adap ed to he engaged b the rocker arm, said rocker arm and cam adapted to swing the rocker arm to a posi tion where it will release the brake shoe and arm when the trip lever is actuated.

PAUL RICHTER.

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