US1828901A - Multiple radio control - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 27, 1931.

A. J. MACY MULTIPLE RADIO CONTROL Filed March 14, 1929 5 m u L/ Z more Patented Oct. 27, 1931 UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE ALFRED J. MACY, or EVANSTON, ILLINoIs, ASSIGNOR, BY manor AND MESNE AS- sIeNMENrs, or NINETEEN SIXTIETHS T0 JOSEPH L. LYNCH, or OAK PARK, IL- LINoIs, AND FORTY-ONE SIXTIETHS 'ro BARITONE RADIO coRroRArIcN, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS M'U'LTIPLE RADIO CONTROL Application filed March 14, 1929. Serial No. 346,838.

This invention relates to improvements 1n multiple radio controls, and contemplates articularly the provlsion of an mproved method of and means for providmg selective radio entertainment from various broadcasting stations, in a plurality of places, isolated from each other, if so desired, from a unitary source of rece tion. The present invention is highly desira l e for use In hotels, apartment hotels, and the like. 0

An object of this inventlon is to prov de means whereby individual radio entertainment is made available in the various rooms or apartments of a building and each user thereof may choose his program from any one of a number of radio recelvmg sets located at a centraland tuned to different radio broadcasting stations. a

It is a further object of this lnventlon to provide means whereby each user may control the volume of the output of his loud speaker without appreciably changmg the constants of the circuit connectmgthe loud speaker with the receiving set while doing so.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a method of mounting a loud speaker in a room so that a wall or the ceiling of the room coacts with the loud speaker in voice and music reproduction.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a method of mounting a plurality of loud speakers in a room so that an artistic efl'ect is produced, and so that music. 1S reproduced -without efli'ects analogous to those of glare and shadows in illumination.

The invention includes these andother features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter described and shown in a preferred form in the drawmgs and as more particularly indicated in the clalms.

In the drawings Figure 1 illustrates somewhat diagrammatically an embodiment of my invention.

Figures 2 and 3 show, in elevation and In section, respectively, the manner of supporting a loud speaker andits switch control means on a wall of a building.

As shown in the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a plurality of radio-receiving sets,

as many as may be desired, located at some common point, and each set tuned to a ditlerw ent radio broadcasting station. To each set there is connected a pair of trunk or main lines 2 which are carried to the several floors of a hotel, or the like, and from the trunk lines go out branch lines 3 to the'rooms on each floor, so that the occupant of a room may connect a loud speaker 10 through a selector switch 4 and a selected pair of branch and trunk lines to receive the program output of a selected receiving set. The selector switch 4, is typical, and conveniently shows the manner in which the branch lines 3, terminating in contacts 5, may be connected through the switch blades 6 to the terminal equipment in the room.

A potentiometer 7, comprising a resistor 8 and an adjustable contact switch 9, has its resistor 8 connected to the switch blades 6, so that the resistor 8 becomes the terminal impedance or load of the pair of lines to which the switch is connected. The loud speaker or reproducer 10 is connected to the resistor 8 through conductors 11 and the adjustable contact switch 9, and it will be evident to those familiar with the art that the volume of the reproduced music may be con trolled by varying the position of the switch 9 to vary the potential at the terminals of the conductors 11.

It is important to note that the resistor 8 is a substantially constant non-inductive terminal impedance or load for the pair of lines connecting it to the output sides of the radioreceiving set. The reslstor 8 shunts the distributed capacity of its connected pair of trunk and branch lines, and in doing so it improves the quality of the reecived signals. The resistor 8 becomes the immediate source of the driving voltage of the reproducer 10, and the complex variations in the impedance of the reproducer 10 have practically no effeet on the regulation of the transmission system, and therefore do not produce distor tion and poor quality in the transmitted signals. This is a very important and beneficial result in a program distributing system for hotels and apartments because when the combination just'described is employed, the several trunk and branch lines may be installed by the electricians installing the power and light wiring, and the cost of the installation is not made prohibitive by calling for unusual skill and care.

The potentiometer 7 also provides means for substantially matching the normal impedance of the reproducer with that of the output circuit of the receiver. It is also important to note that variations in the energy taken by the reproducer 10 following manipulation of the switch 9 do not appreciably eflect the regulation of the connected system and do not, therefore, annoy other users connected to the same receiver.

The potentiometer 7 with its resistor 8 and its adjustable contact switch 9 may be mounted with the selector switch 4 on a small panel 12; and the assembled units may be secured to wall 13 of a room, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, or they may be incorporated in the base of a portable reproducer 10, for the convenience of invalids.

In Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings, a reproducer 10 of the disk or drum type is shown housed in a recess 14 in a wall 13 of a room, so that the wall transmits the vibrations of the reproducer and coacts with it in the reproducing of music and the voice. It has been found that when a relatively small and inexpensive reproducer is so mounted the combination reproduces music and voice of volume and quality equivalent to that of large and more expensive reproducers not so combined.

lVhen a plurality of reproducers 10 are housed in recesses in the ceiling 15 of a room in the manner of Figure 3, and distributed in the ceiling in the manner indicated diagrammatically in Figure 1, music is heard equally well in all parts of the room, and there are no annoying diilerenees in sound intensity within the area treated. The ceiling transmits the vibrations of the reproducers, and coacts with them in the reproducing of music and voice. It will be understood that the distribution indicated diagrammatically is merely suggestive, and that the reproducers may be distributed as desired to best meet a particular situation without departing from the spirit of my invention. The reproducers 10 are connected in parallel, and may be controlled by a single potentiometer 7 or the output of each may e controlled by a potentiometer 7 in its own circuit, so that differences in reproducer impedances and characteristics may be compensated by different settings of the several adjustable contact switches 9, and the output of each adjusted to produce a desired blending of their outputs. When a plurality of reproducers are housed in the ceiling in the manner disclosed, the room may be amply filled with music although the output from each speaker is but moderate and directional effects will be practically absent. And since the horizontal component of the output of each reproducer is relatively small, the total output may be large without disturbing persons in adjacent rooms and hall ways.

When my program broadcasting system is installed in an apartment hotel, it may be desirable that the system, as a whole, be governed from a central point to reduce the outated at some predetermined time by means of a clock 16 suitably connected to the switch lever 9 through an operating link 17. The lever 9 may be shifted in one step, or in several steps, at certain time intervals, to warn the users of the system that it is about to be adjusted for its final all-night condition, and to also serve as means for indicating the time.

It will be obvious that the general principles herein disclosed may be embodied in other organizations different from those i1- lustrated without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the following claims.

lVhat is claimed is 1. In combination, in a program distributing system, a radio receiving set, external output circuits for the set, reproducers, and

Illinois.

ALFRED J. MACY.

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