US1718035A

US1718035A - Sound-reproducing needle

Info

Publication number: US1718035A
Application number: US191652A
Authority: US
Inventors: Leon F Douglass
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1927-05-16
Filing date: 1927-05-16
Publication date: 1929-06-18
Anticipated expiration: 1946-06-18

Description

Filed May 16, 192? Patented June is, 1929.

UNITED STATES LEON r. liJoUeLAss, or memo rnnx, CALIFORNIA.

SOUND-REPRODUCING NEEDLE.

Application filed mi 16, 1927. Serial No. 191,652.

This invention relates to improvements in sound reproducing needles of the kind used in connection with phonographs.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved phonograph needle adapted for use with phonographs having more satisfactory wearing and reproducing qualities than the needles now in use.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improvedphonograph needle having a pointed needle part which upon use adapts'itself to the size and'shape of a phonograph record groove, thereby enabling the production of tones that=are more satisfactory than those produced with needles now commonly used. I

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved phonograph needle having a construction which permits its being used for a great number of times with continued satisfactory results.

Other advantages more or less apparent will present themselves or will be specifical- 1y pointed out in the description to follow.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation-of a phonograph needle embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation" of the needle'as viewed from a point at right angles to the illustration shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the needle, a part of a soundbox of aphonograph, and a part of a phonograph record, showing theposition the needle assumes with reference to the groove of the record when it is being used for the first time; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the needle and a part of a phonographic record, show ing the position it assumes with reference to the groove of the record after ,it'lias been used for some time.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 represents the body portion of my improved phonograph needle, the upper or blunt end of which may be attached in the usual manner to the sound box 2 of a phonograph or other sound reproducing device. The body portion, adjacent but below its central part is tapered and assumes a gradually narrower width than its upper part, finally terminating in a slightly pointed end 3. Two of the narrowed and opposite sides of the body portion adjacent the pointed end 3, as shown by the numeral 4, are flattened, thereby 55 causing the lower end of the body portion to be of considerably less thickness than its width. One of the sides of the body portion, above the tapered part thereof is out out or flattened, as shown at 5, to provide,- a suitable means for grasping the needle and properly posltioning it in operative position in the sound box 2 of a phonograph. The said flattened surface 5 lies at right angles to the flatt ened'sides 4 of the tapered part of the body portion,

, and the thumbscrew 6 of the sound box 2 bears against the same when the needle is inserted into the sound box, thereby causing the flattened sides 4 of the bod y ortion to become positioned crosswise in t e groove 7 of a phonograph record 8.

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the needle is aced in an operating position within the grove 7 of the phonograph record 8, with the pointed end 3 located inside the said groove and the lower end of the flattened sides 4 positioned across the said groove. The needle may be so positioned by grasping the flattened surface 5 of the body portion 1 and placing it in the sound box of a phonograp with the flattened sides 4 extendin crosswise within the groove 7 of the recor 8. As shown iniFig. 3 the narrow edges of the flattened sides 4 adjacent the pointed end 2 of the needle, when the same is being used for the first time, contact against only a small part of the surface of the walls of the record groove 7. After continued contact, however, with the said walls of the groove of the rotating phono raph record 8, the edges of the flattened sides 4 graduall weifi downuntil a shoulder is formed whic rests on he ridges ofthe said groove, and the pointed end occupies practically the enid groove, as shown in tire width of the sa Fig. 4. The flattened sides 4 of the body, portion 1, where contact with the walls of the record groove 7 occurs, gradually wear down with. the shoulders above the ridges of the said groove becoming wider upon continued use.

The pointed end of the body portion 1, where the flattened sides 4 occur, being much wider than its thickness, prevents a blunted end from being formed, as is the result with other phonograph needles upon continued use.

The improved needle herein shown and described, because of its flattened end construction, may be used to play as many as three or four hundred records, with satis-- factory tones being reproduced in each instance. I p

' Unlike other needles now in use, the

' pointed end of the needle, having a greater width than thickness, wears down until it assumes and for a long time maintains practically the same size and shape of the record groove, thereby firmlycontacting with the walls of the said groove and assisting in the reproduction of tones which are of the most satisfactor nature.

Althoug improved reproducing needle may assume, it is evident to those skilled in the art that the principles of m. invention may be embodied in a number 0 forms as satisfactor as the one illustrated. I therefore do not esire to have invention limited to the-construc- I have shown but one form my tion shown and described but rather desire it to be included broadly within the spirit of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A phonograph needle comprising a body portion having a tapered end part which is provided with flattened sides adjacent its extreme end, the lateral edges-of the said flattened sides being inclined from the end.

I 2. A phonograph needle comprising a body portion, a tapering part extending from the body portion, the said tapering part being cut away at two of its opposite sides at points adjacent its end to pro de flattened. sides, the edges of the said flattened sides being inclined from the extreme end.

- LEON F. DOUGLASS.