US1968927A - Talking machine - Google Patents

Description

1934- H. 1.; T. BUCKLE 1,968,927

TALKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 50, 1927 11 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 7, 1934. H. T. BUCKLE TALKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 50, 192'7 11 Sheets-Sheet 2 H. L. T. BUCKLE TALKING MACHINE Aug. 7, 1934.

Filed Dec. 30 1927 11 Sheets-Sheet 5 Aug. 7, 1934. H T. BUCKLE I 1,968,927

TALKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1927 11 Sheets-SheetA H. L. T. BUCKLE 1,968,927

TALKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1927 11 Sheets-Sheet 5 g- 1934- H. T. BUCKLE 1,968,927

I TALKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1927 v 11 Sheets-Sheet 6 =4 Iliilllllllll 7,-193 14.1.1 BUCKLE 1,968,927

TALKING MACHINE Filed Dec I5 Aug. 7, 1934.

H. L. T. BUCKLE TALKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 50, 1927 11 Sheets-Sheet 8 xii 1934- H. L T. BUCKLE 1,968,927

TALKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 50, 1927 11 Sheets-Sheet' 9 A 1934- 7H. T. BUCKLE 1,968,927

TALKING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1927 11 Sheets-Sheet 1o Aug. 7, 1934.

H. L. T. BUCKLE TALKING MACHINE l1 Sheets-Sheet l1 Patented Aug. 7, 1934 PATE NT OFFICE TALKING MACHINE Horace Leopold Tucker Buckle, Iver Heath, England, assxgnor, by mesne assignments, to Radio Corporation of America, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware 1 a Application December 30, 1927, Serial No. 243,7 12

In Great Britain January 18, 1927 30 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in talking machines and more particularly to talking machines of the kind which are adapted for continuous sound reproduction, whether by playing 5 a succession of records automatically furnished for example from a magazine or by the repeated playing of the same record.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide a machine in which the sound box may be lifted, lowered and swung outwards by a member driven intermittently from the motor of the machine, the extent of the swinging movements being variable both automatically and manually.

A further objector the invention is to provide a machine which is adapted for use either as a magazine machine in which a number of records contained in a magazinecan automatically be moved in succession into the playing position, played and automatically removed, or as a repeater machine to repeat the playing of a single record as o ften as desired.

A further object of the invention is to pro-.-

vide a machine which may be used either as a magazine machine, a repeating machine or an ordinary machine manually operated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine in which the change-over from oneform of operation to another-may be effected at will bythe manipulation of a suitable control.

A further object of the invention is to provide an automatic magazine machine with which records of different sizes may be played. v According to the invention, a machine kind referred to is provided in which the sound box lifting, lowering and swinging means adapt-.

ed to be driven intermittently from the motor of the machine co-operates on the one hand with a sound box lifting and lowering lever and on the other hand with a sound box swinging lever.

swinging mechanism movements of different ex-.

tent, periodicity or rapidity.

. The movement of the intermittently drivenmember into alternative positions may also serve to connect or disconnectsaid member with or The member driven intermittently by the motor may be in the form of a reciprocable plate.

from means for feeding a new record to the machine.

The means for moving the sound arm outwards. may be in the form of a swinging lever operated by the member intermittently driven from the motor and auxiliary means may be provided to co-operate with the lever to move the sound arm outwards through distances corresponding to the diameter of the record to be played. These auxiliary means may be caused to occupy a plurality of positions according to the size of the record to be played and the positioning of said auxiliary means may be eifected either manually or automatically by a record in the course of the transfer of said record from the magazine to the turntable.

During magazine operation the sound arm is moved outwards, before playing is commenced, to a point beyond the edge of the largest record and means are provided to subsequently move said sound arm inwards to a point over the commencement of a record, said means being adapted to release the sound arm at an appropriate point corresponding to the size of the record to be played. The release of the sound arm at the appropriate point=may be effected bythe auxiliary sound arm positioning means referred to above.

During magazineoperation, whenthe magazine is emptied andthe last played record is removed from the turntable the sound arm is permitted to fall to a position below the playing position in whichposition it operates a switch to open the of the motor circuit and thereby stop the machine. 'The intermittently driven member is driven from the motor through a clutch device which is put in either by-hand to start the machine or automatically during playing when the end of a record is reached by the rocking of a detent memher. This detent, .when operated manually to i start the machine, closes a switch arranged in shunt with the switch previously referred to, so that the machine, can be'started even when the sound arm is in its lowest position.

Means are provided to prevent the clutch from being put in when the machine is set to operate as an ordinary machine even when the detent is rocked and in this case the movement of the detent when playing of a record is finished may be utilized to operate an automatic stopping device which during magazine and repeater operation remains inoperative- The record transferring mechanism is prefer-' ably of the kind in which the records are moved fromthe magazine in which they are arranged in a pile, by a horizontally swinging arm carrying n lock the control member against movement during the automatic cycle.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view of the compiete automatic apparatus, the turntable and sound arm being shown in dotted lines for the sake of clearness, the parts being shown in the position for automatic magazine operation, with the record trans ferring device in the position for engaging a record in the magazine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of part of the machine with the parts in the position for repeater operation.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the greater part of Fig. l but with the parts moved through a part of the automatic cycle during magazine operation.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of part of the machine showing the means for effecting the return movement of the sound arm during repeater operation with one standard size of record.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a part of Fig. 4 but showing the operation of the parts during repeater operation and when dealing with a record 01 another standard size.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view illustrating the means employed for ejecting a record during msg= azine operation.

Fig. '7 is a perspective view 01' the record transferring mechanism in the position of engagement with the uppermost record in the. magazine.

Fig. 8 is a view oi the parts shown in Fig. '1 but in the position where part of the movement for transferring a record to the playing position has taken place.

Fig. 9 is a view in elevation looking from the left in Fig. 1 and showing the means for operating the record transferring mechanism.

Fig. 10 is a view illustrating the sound arm bearing and the means for initiating the operation of the automatic mechanism when the end of a record is reached.

Fig. 11 is a sectional view of the sound arm bearing.

Fig. 12 shows the sound arm bearing and means ,for disengaging the needle from a record when the end of the record is reached.

Figs. 13, 14, 15, 16 and i7 illustrate various positions of the sound arm lifting means.

' driving motor and the gears connected therewith.

the record magazine and part of. the recomd transfer-ring mechanism.

Fig. 23 is an underside plan view of the main operating cam.

record engaging and releasing means such as is i Fig. 24 is a diagram of the electric wiring of the machine.

Referring to the drawings, the machine is mounted in a cabinet 1 (Fig. 1) divided into two main compartments 2 and 3, the compartment 2 containing the whole of the mechanism for raising, swinging and lowering the sound arm, for removing a record and for operating the maga-. zine member which brings a new record to the turntable. This mechanism is mounted by means of base plate 4 upon a motor board 5, while the compartment 3 serves as a receptacle for played records.

At the right hand side of the machine is a control lever '74 pivoted at 75 and having a roller '74 co-operating with a spring influenced notch bar 167 pivoted at 167, so that lever 74 can be set for magazine operation (Fig. 1), repeater operation (Fig. 2, full lines) or ordinary operation (Fig. 2, dotted lines).

An electric motor 180 (Fig. 22) furnished with the usual governor 181 and furnished with cur-. rent through switches described later, drives a vertical shaft 13, carrying the turntable 90. A toothed wheel 22 (Fig. 6) is fixedly mounted on the shaft 13, and with it is adapted to engage a tooth 21 on an arc-shaped clutch lever 17 pivotally mounted by means of a pin 29 on a clutch plate freely mounted on the shaft 13. The means for operating this clutch for initial starting of the automatic mechanism consist of a push rod 163 with button 162, mounted to move horizontally on guide pins 163 on the plate 4, against a pressure spring, and to rock the arm 24 of a lever pivoted at 24' against the action of a spring 25 anchored to the base plate 4 and push the end 23 of the lever out of engagement with the end 18 of the clutch lever 1'7, so that a spring 19 attached at one end to part 18 and at the other end to stud 20 on plate 15 turns the clutch lever 17 about its pivot 29, and engages tooth 21 with the toothed wheel 22, whereby the plate 15 is driven and will continue to rotate until, on the cycle of automatic operations being completed the clutch is disengaged by the arm 24 which has been moved by its spring 25 to engage again the end of lever '17. The clutch is out during the playing of a record and after a record has been played, the clutch is again engaged, but this time automatically through means (described below) thrown into operation by a reverse movement given to the sound arm after playing a record.

On the underside of plate 15 is carried a gear wheel 14 (Figs. 6 and 22) engaging with a larger gear wheel 16 which drives a shaft 12 journalled in the base plate 4. Mounted on the shaft 12 are the various cams which operate the several elements of the machine that furnish the records to the turntable, lift the sound box at the end of a record, and reposition it for replaying a record or playing a new one, and remove a record from the turntable.

The eccentric cam 11 (Fig. 23) lying immediately beneath the gear wheel 16 co-operates with a cam ring 9 having anti-friction rollers 10 which lie upon the periphery 'of cam 11, and an arm 7 extending from the ring 9 is pivoted at 8 upon one end of a flat plate 6 (Figs. 1-4, and

13-1'7) adapted to slide horizontally on a ball "towards the right in Figs. 1 and 13-16).

It is the reciprocation of this plate 6 which causes the lifting of the sound box and sound arm, the horizontal movement of the sound arm to take a new position, the lowering of the sound box onto the record, and also the movement of the record conveyor to and fro between the magazine and the turntable.

The means for lifting the sound arm and sound box and lowering same will now be described. Upon the upper surface of the reciprocating plate 6 (Figs. 12-17) is pivotally mounted at 66 a shaped and slotted plate 41. A light spring 67 anchored on plate 6 presses plate 41 against stop 47. The forward end 42 of plate 41 is bevelled off downwards towards the plate 6.

This bevelled end 42 co-operates with a roller 43 mounted in a slot in a lever 44 (Fig. 12 and in dotted lines in Figs. 13-16) which will be termed the sound arm lifting lever. This lever 44 is mounted to rock about a horizontal axis, being mounted at one end between studs 45 carried on the base plate 4, and is lifted by the bevelled end 42 of member 41 passing under the roller 43, as the reciprocating plate 6 is moved The free end 46 of the sound arm lifting lever 44 is flared and projects beneath a stud or post 47 (Fig. 12) carried on an arm 48 extending from a collar 54 surrounding the lower thickened end 51 of the vertical elbow portion of the sound arm 27 (see also Figs. 10 and 11). The collar 54 and sound arm 27 have common pivots 49' (Fig. 11) and a limited play is allowed between the collar and sound arm by means of a bolt 57, mounted on the collar 54, and nuts 59 which engage with a ring 58 secured on the sound arm. When the sound arm lifting lever 44 is rocked vertically, the post 47 is lifted and the radial arm 48 and sound arm 27 are rocked about their pivots 49 (Figs. 11 and 12) into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 12, to raise the sound box 50 above the playing position. The pivots 49 pass through the thickened end 51 of the sound arm, and through a short tubular member 52 shaped as shown in Fig. 11 to form a ball joint. This tubular member 52 forms a further extension of the sound arm 27 and is itself mounted to rotate in ball bearings 53. The axis ofthe ball bearing is at a small angle (of the order of 2) to the vertical in the direction which tends to cause the sound arm 27 and sound box to'swing by gravity towards the centre of the record for a purpose explained below.

A coiled spring 55 is provided on one of the pivot pins 49, one end being connected with the collar 54' and the other end to a tensioning nut 56 on the pin 49, so that the outer end of the arm 48 is gently urged downwards away from the sound arm 27. The arrangement is such that the sound arm is capable of a limited vertical movement, to permit the needle to accommodate itself during playing to any irregularities in the level of a record, without affecting the position of the collar 54 and arm 48, and furthermore when there is no record on the turntable the sound box is permitted to drop slightly below the playing position for a purpose to be described later.

' The sound arm lifting and lowering mechanism has of course to be operated when a record has been played, whether the machine is working as a magazine machine or as a repeating machine.

In the case of the mechanism being set for vmagazine operation, when the roller 43 has mounted the bevelled end of plate; 41, and lifted the lever 44 and the sound arm 27, it travels along again that a record is brought from the maga-- zinc and placed on the turntable and sound arm is swung outwards.

If, however, the machine is set to operate as a repeater, a lesser interval is required between the raising and lowering of the sound arm, and the path of travel of plate 6 is modified to produce the desired effect. When the control lever 74 and the guide roller 40 carried thereby is moved from the magazine position shown in Fig. 1 to'the "repeater position shown infull lines in Fig. 2. the path of the plate 6 and slotted plate 41 mounted thereon is so varied that the roller 43 on the sound arm lifting lever 44, after riding up the wedge-shaped end of the plate 41 (see Fig. 15) shortly thereafter runs down a rearwardly inclined surface 61 on the plate 41 (Fig. 16). The raising and lowering movementsof the sound arm 2'7 in this case succeed one another with a short interval and both take place during movement of the reciprocating plate 6 in one direction, i. e. towards the right in Figs. 15 and 16.

In order however that, during frepeater" operation no lifting of the sound arm 27 shall take place during the return movement of the reciprocating plate 6 the incline 61 during this return movement is brought out of the path of the roller 43, by movement of the plate 41 about pivot 66. This movement is effected as follows: A headed pin or plunger 62 (Fig. 12), is carried loosely in an aperture in the sound arm lifting lever 44, and kept down by a light spring 62' anchored at 62" on lever 44, so that the end of the plunger projects below the underside of lever 44. 'When the lever 44 is lifted as above described to raise the sound arm, the plate 41, as it moves to the right, passes freely beneath the plunger 62. When the lever 44 drops owing to roller 43 passing down incline 61, the lower end of the plunger comes to rest upon the surface 63 of plate 41 and it remains there until on further movementof plate 41 towards the right the plunger drops into the space 64, as shown in Fig. 16. During the return movement of plate 6 the plunger 62 will then engage the cam surface 65 on one side of space 64 and the lever 41 will thus be moved about its pivot'66 against the action of spring 67, into the position shown in Fig. 17 out of the path of roller 43 so that the return movement of plate 6 towards the left does not cause the sound arm to be lifted. The spring 67 returns the lever 41 to its normal position against stop 41' when the latter is released by the plunger 62 moving out of the slot 64.

The means for swinging the sound arm back to the starting position after the playing of a record will now be described. The sound arm 27 after being lifted from the record when playing is completed, is swung outwardly by means of a lever 68 (Fig. 3) pivotedat one endon a vertical pin 69 in the base plate 4, and having at a point intermediate its length a downwardly depending pin 70 which engages in a slot 71 in The slot '71 in the plate 6 is of substantially "i shape and the sound arm swinging lever 68 is only moved by the plate 6 when the pin on said lever is in the limb '22 of the slot, Figs. 3 and 4), the movement ceasing when the pin 70 moves into the limb '73.

When the machine is operating as a magazine machine it is necessary that the sound arm 27 shall always move outwards a greater distance than when the machine is in repeater operation, so that the sound arm may be clear of the new record being brought to the turntable.

The extent of movement of the lever 68, which determines the extent of movement of the sound arm 27, depends upon the path of travel of the reciprocating plate 6 for on this depends the time during which the pin 70 remains in what may be termed the active limb 72 of the slot '21.

For magazine operation therefore the path through which the reciprocating plate 6 moves is one which ensures that the pin '70 will traverse practically the whole length of the active limb '72 of the slot '71 before entering the other limb '73.

In Fig. 3 is shown in dotted lines the position I of the arm 68 before being moved towards the right by the movement of plate 6. It will be observed that in this position the pin '70 is near to the bottom of part '72 of the shaped slot and in this position it remains stationary until as plate 6 moves to the right the pin '70 is engaged by the left hand edge of part 72 of the slot and the lever 68 is thereby swung in a clockwise direction until the pin '10 enters the part '73 of j; the slot, when movement of the lever 68 and therefore outward movement of the sound arm 2'? ceases. The extent of movement of said pin 70 in the shaped slot is in this case a maximum and the sound arm is therefore swung outward for the maximum distance.

In the case of repeater operation however the sound arm 27 is required to be moved. outwards only through a distance which will enable the stylus to be lowered directly on to the edge of the record still on the turntable.

The reciprocating plate 6 therefore, as "previously described in connection with the raising and 74 in position for repeater operation, the pin '20 has a less distance to travel to reach the part '73 of slot '71 and bring the arm 68 fromthe full line position to the dotted position than is the case in Fig. 3.'

But while the sound arm is swung outwards a lesser distance for repeater operation and a greater distance for magazine operation, it is also necessary to provide for the needle descending (whether-during repeater or magazine operation) in different positions for 10 and 12 inch records. For repeater operation the position at which the needle drops depends on whether the radial arm 48 from the sound arm elbow is pushed outwards by engaging with the end of lever 68, or with a member 138 mounted movably thereon. For magazine operation, the position at which the needle drops depends, not upon the extent to which the arm 48 is pushed outwards but upon the extent to which it is subsequently pulled inwards again.

The mechanism determining these movements is as follows: A lever 129 (Fig. 3) mounted to rock vertically about a pin 195 carried on the base plate (see Fig. 18) has its free end normally urged upwards by a spring 130 arranged between the lever and the base plate 4 and a. headed pin 187 secured to the base plate 4 and passing through an aperture in lever 129 limits the upward movement of the latter. The lever 129 has at itsleft hand end an upturned edge 135, inclined and having a fiat 135' at its highest part. A horizontally rocking lever 132 mounted at 133 on the base plate 4 (Fig. 1) is moved either into the position shown in full lines or into that shown in dotted lines by the passage of a 10 or 12" record from the magazine, and the roller 134 on the end of said rocking lever either occupies a position on a flat 135' at the upper end of an inclined surface 135 of lever 129 and there depresses the lever 129, or has been dislodged from the flat and pushed down the incline by the lever 129 rising. The manner in which the size of the record passing from the magazine to the turntable determines the position of lever 132 will be described later in connection with the magazine itself.

Carried on the end of the radial arm 48 is an upstanding post 131 (Fig. 10) and this is as will be seen from Fig. 1 adapted to be engaged either by the lever 68 itself or by a T-shaped member 138 pivotally mounted at 138 on said lever 68. The post 131 is of such height that it lies in the path of lever 68 or the member 138 carried thereon when the. sound arm has been raised by its lifting mechanism, but it lies out of this path when the sound arm is lowered. The member 138 is pivoted at the base of the T to the edge of lever 68 as shown at 138 in Figs. 18 and 19. On the underside of the cross piece of the T is carried a downwardly extending pin 139 which rests upon the upper surface of lever 129 so that the T- shaped member is raised or lowered about its pivot 138' according to the position of lever 129. The stem of the T of member 138 is undercut so that in the lowered position the cross piece of the T can drop below the upper surface of lever 68 as shown in Fig. 19.

In the raised position of lever 129 (i. e. in the position for a 10" record) the member 138 is raised to a position where it passes over the post 131 as lever 68 moves outwards (towards the right in the drawings) and consequently the sound arm is moved outwards by contact of post 131 with the edge of the lever 68 itself.

In the lower position of lever 129 (i. e. the position for a 12" diameter record) the member 138 is lowered and the cross-piece of the T (see Fig. 1) acts as a packing piece between the edge of lever 68 and post 131 and the sound arm is moved a greater distance outwards for the same swing of lever 68.

In the case 01 repeater operation (Figs. 4 and 5) when the lever 132 is in the position shown in full lines'in Fig. 1 and lever 129 and packing piece 138 are raised the throw of lever 68 through the engagement of pin '70 in the slot '71 is exactly sufficient to re-position the stylus over or just outside the starting point of a. 10 record, and to reposition the stylus over or just outside the starting point of a 12" record (Fig. 4) when the lever 132 is in the position shown in dotted lines in 15 Fig. 1 and lever 129 and packing piece 138 are lowered. A slight inward movement of the sound arm (if required) is caused by the axis of rotation of the sound arm being at an angle to the vertical. If the repetition is to be effected of a record which in the first instance has been automatically transferred from 'the magazine to the turntable the control lever 74 is moved into the centre notch of catch plate 167, to suitably adjust the path of reciprocating plate 6. The lever 132 in this case is already in the proper position for determining the extent of outward movement of the sound arm. When a record is placed manually on the turntable and it is intended to play it repeatedly it may be necessary to adjust lever 132 by hand. During magazine operation (Figs. 1 and 3) the throw of lever 68 is sufiicient, owing to the increased length of time that pin 70 remains in part 72 of "l-shaped slot 71 in plate 6, to move the sound arm 27 outwards whether by the end of lever 68 or the member 138 engaging with post 131 until the stylus reaches a position outside the edge of the largest records. This as previously stated is for the purpose of aflordinga clear passage for the transferring lever 95 and the record carried thereby from the magazine to the tumtable. After the new record has been deposited it is necessary for the sound arm to be moved inwards to a position where the stylus will engage the edge of the ten or twelve inch record as the case may be, before playing can be commenced.

This inward movement is effected by means of a hook 189 pivotally mounted at 189' beneath the end of lever 68. This hook is adapted to engage post 131 only when the sound arm is in the raised position, but during magazine operation it remains in the raised position not only during its movement outwards but also during its movement inwards towards the edge of the record. During the movement of the sound arm outwards urged by lever 68 (or member 138) the hook 1891s caused by means described below'to take up a position where it embraces the post 131 and during the subsequent movement of lever 68 inwards the sound arm is moved inwards by the pull of hook 189 upon post 131. The distance moved inwards by the sound arm to engage the edge of a ten or a twelve inch record is determined by the moment at which the pivoted hook 189 is rocked to release post 131 and this is determined by the position of the movable lever 129 previously described. For these purposes the lever 129 carries on its upp r surface a pin 140 (Figs. 18 and 19) and a pair of stops 141 and 142 i at different positions on the lever and at such distances above the surface of the lever that one or other will occupy a position to engage the hook 189 according as the lever 129 is raised or lowered. These stops 141 and 142 may be formed in one piece as shown in Figs. 18 and 19. The hook 189 is provided with an elongated end or tail 143 (Figs. 3, 18 and 19), and during the outward movement of the lever 68 this tail meets the pin 140 so that the hook 189 is caused to turn about'its pivot 189 andto embrace post 131 as shown in full lines in Fig. 3. During the return movement of lever 68 the sound arm is drawn inwards by the hook 189 pulling upon post 131. When the tail 143 of the hook 189 contacts with one or other of the stops 141 or 142, whichever lies in the path of said tail 143, the hook 189-is caused to swing about its pivot 189' on lever 68 v and the inward movement'of the sound arm ceases. Whether this movement ceases at a point where the stylus is over the edge of either a 10" or a 12" record depends, as previously stated, upon whether the lever 129 carrying the stops 141 and 142 is in the raised or lowered position and this in turn depends upon the size of the record last conveyed from the magazine is clear of the turntable spindle, whereupon thev record is slewed off by its engagement with the edge of the rotating turntable at the side opposite to the movable post. This is illustrated in Fig. 6. v

The post '76 is mounted to move vertically in a tubular bracket 77 screwed to the base plate 4 by screws 77'.

The post 76 is furnished with a soft pad 78 on its upper end and its lower end rests upon the end 79. of a lever 80 mounted to rock vertically on a pin 81 carried in lugs 82 upstanding from a plate 83 mounted for a reason stated below to turn horizontally about a screw 84 in the base plate 4. On the end of lever 80 away from post 76 is carried a roller 35 adapted, during magazine operation, to roll on a cam 88 mounted to rotate with cam shaft 12. A spring 86 tends to push the outer end of lever 80 upwards. When, during magazine operation the roller 85 reaches the depression 87 in the revolving, cam 88, the end 79 of lever 80 rises under the action of spring 86 and lifts the movable part 76 so that the record on the turntable is tilted until it is free of the turntable spindle 13, when it is slewed off by the rotation of the turntable and slides onto an inclined chute (not shown) to the compartment 3 of the cabinet. 7

When the machine is set to operate as a repeater or as an ordinary machine, the record removing mechanism is rendered inoperative by means of the hand operated lever 74 referred to above, which is connected through a link 91 (see Fig. 2) with the plate 83 whereby the rocking lever 80 when lever 74 is moved, is moved about the screw 84 (Fig. 6) until the roller 85 is removed from the cam 88, the lever 80 then coming to rest upon a post 92 provided for the purpose.

The means employed in the construction illustrated for furnishing records to. the turntable during magazine operation will now bedescribed, but these means form the subject of my co-pending application for patent Serial No. 243,713. v A pile 01' records 93 (Fig. 7) which may be of the same or diflerent sizes, and without spacing means between them, is carried upon a fixed plate 184 supported upon an arm 185 (Fig. 1) extending from the base plate 4. A vertical spindle 94 extends through the plate 184 and through the apertures in the records to centre them. A swinging arm '95 (Fig. 7) mounted to rotate with a vertical shaft 96 carried in bearings 97, 98 on a part 99 fixed to the base plate 4, is arranged to swing between positions in which respectively a downwardly extending pin 'on the arm 95 Means described below are provided for mow ing the arm vertically upwards and downwards. and for swinging it horizontally from one operating position to another.

Short hooks, just long emugh to hold one disc, on the ends of spring arms radiating from a boss 191 on the underside of the swinging arm 95, operate when the swinging arm 95 is brought vertically downwards on the record pile 93 togrip and raise the uppermost record in the pile and after the arm 95 has been swung into the position over the turntable, as shown in Fig. 3, the hooks release the record which falls on to the turntable 90. Two sets of arms 100 are provided, one to pick up 10" discs and the other 12".

The arm 95 is swung during magazine operation between the record magazine and the turntable by the engagement of a projection 114 (Fig. 1) on the reciprocating plate 6 with the end 113 of a curved lever 101, pivoted to the base plate 4 at 102 and having a curved end 103 (Fig. 7) carrying a downwardly extending pin 104 which passes through an aperture 105 in a block 106 arranged to slide in a yoke 107 carried on a ring 108 on the pillar 96. During magazine operation movement 01 plate 6 towards the right rocks the lever 101 clockwise and the movement of this lever 101 is normally imparted to the pillar 96 to swing the arm 95 between the magazine and the turntable. The connection between the ring 108 and the pillar is however in the form of a spring catch, the spring 110 being carried on a collar 111 pinned to the pillar 96 while its ball end 112 engages in a depression in the ring 108. Thus the-arm 95 may when desired he swung about its axis without moving the lever 101, for the purpose of enabling records to be placed in or manually removed from the magazine.

The passage of a record from the magazine to the turntable determines, according to the size of the record, the position of the sound box when it is lowered on to the record. This is effected as follows:

During magazine operation the position of the lever 132 and consequently lever 129 is determined automatically by and during the passage of the record next to be played, from the magazine to the turntable. If the last record played was a 10" record, the arm 132 occupies the full line position in Fig. 1, or if a 12", the dotted position. On the record carrier 95 swinging to the right with the next record, the latter, even if a 10, will strike the stud 13B, and push the roller 134 off the flat 135, when the inclined surface 135 will push it to the other end to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1. Further movement of carrier 95 towards the turntable with a 10" record has no efiect upon lever 132 when in the position shown in full lines as the stud 137 on the other end of lever 132 is out of reach of the edge of a 1 record. In this case therefore the lever remains in the position shown in i'ull lines in Fig. 1 and the lever 129 remains in the raised position.

With a 12'record however, further movement of carrier 95 towards the turntable results in lever 132 being moved into the dotted position, through the edge of the record wiping against stud 137. In this case theretore, the lever'132 is caused to occupy the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1 and the lever 129 its lowered position.

In order to allow time m the record transferarm is swung over the turntable a limited moveue im ment of plate 6 is permitted before projection 114 contacts with the end 113 of lever 101 by provid ing a space between the parts 114 and 113 as shown at 123 in Fig. 1. 0n the other hand the arm 95 is required to commence its return movement quickly after depositing a record on the turntable and for this purpose an auxiliary lever 124 (Fig. 1) is pivoted at 102 on base plate 4., and one end of this lever is connected to lever 101 by a spring 125 while the other engages a surface 126 on plate 6.

During movement of plate 6 to the right the lever 124 is in contact with the plate 6, moving away from lever 101 under the pull of spring 125 until projection 114 contacts with the end 113 of lever 101 and moves the latter. But immediately the plate fibegins its return movement the lever 124 and also lever 101, owing to "the spring connection between these two, begin their return movement together with the transferring arm 95.

The underside of arm 95 carries a downwardly extending pin 127 (Figs. 7 and 8) which, in the extreme positions of the arm 95, registers with 'aperture 186 (Figs. 1, 8 and 8) in a part 128 forming an extension of the bearing 97, and the pin 127 enters one or other of said apertures during the rising and falling movements of the arm 95 and guides the latter during said vertical movements.

To alter the machine to operate as a repeater the path of the reciprocating plate 6 is, as pre viously described, changed by manipulating lever 74, and the projection 114 is raised in Fig. 1 so that during reciprocating movement of said plate 6 it passes the end 113 of lever 101.

The record transferring mechanism in this case therefore remains inoperative.

Vertical movements are imparted to the arm 95 for the purpose of enabling the record transferring means to engage and lift a record to a height sufiicient to enable it to be swung horizontally over the turntable and to release the record from the transferring device to allow it to fall on to the turntable. The latter movement however, is small as compared with the former.

. The up and down movements are imparted to the arm 95 by a lever (Fig. 9) pivoted on a support 116 extending downwards from plate 1, one end of sairl lever projecting beneath the lower end of the pillar 96 carrying the arm 95. while the other end carries a roller 117 engag ing an inverted box cam 118 (Fig. 22) on the lower end of the cam shaft 12. sions are formed in this cam, one of which 119. permits the lever 115 to occupy at the appropriate time the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 9 so that the arm 95 can fall by gravity the distance necessaw to enable the hooks on the spring arms 100 to grip the edge of the upper most record in the magazine. while the other depression permits the lever 115 to take up a position such that the arm 95 is free to drop a short distance when over the turntable. The pin 199 is capable of sliding vertically in a sleeve 191 extending below the boss 191 on arm 95. When the arm 95 is lowered, to release a record. the pin 190 strikes the turntable spindle 13, and the pin 190 and a spider 192 rigid therewith are raised with regard to arm 95 and the arms 100 holding the record are spread to disengage the hooks on the arms 100 from the edge of the record, so that the latter falls on to the turntable.

The support 116 for the arm 115 is moved in Two depresi iii Cir"

the plate 4 by the lever '74 through links 91 and 120 when the lever 74 is placed in the position for repeater operation, so that then the roller 11'? on lever 115 is out of the path of the cam 118 and no vertical movements are imparted to the record transfer mechanism.

That end of lever 115 carrying the roller 117 is arranged to rest upon one end of a second pivoted lever 121 (Fig. 9) the other end of which engages beneath the lower end of the vertically movable magazine spindle .94. Thus when the arm of the transferring mechanism is in the raised position, and held there by the cam 118 and lever 115, the spindle 94 is rigidly held raised by the lever 121 and the placing of records on the spindle to form the magazine is facilitated. When however, the arm 95 is lowered the lever 121 is free to rock and the spindle 94 to drop, when the pin 190 is lowered onto it, so

that the spring arms can pick up the uppermost record. Springs 122 are provided to balance the weight of the lowering parts.

When it is desired to use the machine as an ordinary manually operated machine, the clutch lever 17 is held out of engagement with teeth 22, so that the automatic mechanism acting on sound arm and magazine is not operated. This is ef-- fected as follows: When the control lever '74 is moved into the right hand notch in catch lever 167, it moves the plate 6 to a position where its lower edge in the drawings contacts with a member 144 (Figs. 1 and 2) pivoted on the base plate 4 at 144 and normally pulled in a counterclockwise direction by a spring 145. The member 144 is thereby rotated about its pivot 144' against the spring 145 and a projection 146 on said member 144 is moved against the end of clutch lever 1'7 as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and lever 17 is thereby prevented from moving into the clutched position even when detent lever 24 is rocked as previously described.

To prevent manual movement of the magazine arm 95 during ordinary running, a further looking device 4''! is connected with the link 120 and when the control lever 74 is moved into the position just referred to, a projection on this member 147 is moved into the path of a lug 124' on lever 124 (Fig. 2) and any possibility of swinging movement on the part of the record transferring mechanism is thereby prevented.

The machine is brought to a standstill automatically after magazine operation when the last record has been removed from the turntable. This is effected by cuting oiT the currentto the motor. For this purpose the ring 58 on the sound arm is provided with a forwardly projecting finger 156 (Figs. 1 and 10) which operates in a manner to be described to open the motor circuit by opening a spring switch 15'! (Figs. 1, 21 and 24) formed ofa pair of spring arms 158 and 159 normally urged together, the free end 159' of the lower* spring 159 being bent upwards and to lie over the end of the upper spring 158. During magazine operation, when the magazine becomes empty the record transferring device 95 moves over the turntable without a record in the same manner as i .when transferring a record. When the sound arm having been swung outwards, is afterwards moved inwards from its outermost position as previously described and is lowered as when about to engage the stylus with a record on the tumtable, the stylus drops slightly below the normal level owing to there being no record to support it. The sound box thereupon swings inwards towards the edge of the turntable owing to the inclination operation.

of the axis of the sound arm, and as a result of the additional drop of the sound arm, the finger 156 rests upon the upturned end 159 of the lower switch arm 159, bends this latter down as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 21, so that the contacts are moved apart and the motor circuit broken. The motor and thereby the machine is stopped.

A stop 160 is provided against which the finger 156 abuts to limit the inward movement of the sound arm so that the stylus or sound box shall not scrape against the edge of the turntable.

When the machine is operating as an ordinary manually operated machine, it is stopped after the playing of a record by the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 20, where a detent 151 is employed to retain the moving part 152 of an electric switch in the on position during playing, by the engagement of the detentwith a stop 153' on the switch arm 153, the detent 151 being rocked at the end of a record to allow the switch to rotate and cut off record isreached, by the movement of the arm 154 of the clutch detent lever24, the movement of the arm 154 being transmitted to arm 151' of detent 151 through a stud 155 on extension 148 of lever 74 when the latter is set for operating as an ordinary machine.

It will be clear that this automatic stopping means must not operate to stop the machine when the detent 24 is rocked during magazine 'or repeater operation and to this end the stud 155 is so mounted on the extension 148 of lever 74 that during magazine or repeater operation the stud is removed from between lever 154 and detent 151,

as shown in full lines in Fig. 2, and movements of the former are not transmitted to the latter. The stud is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 in the position for operating the stopping mechanism 152. The stud 155 is mounted in such a manner as to be capable of a limited movement in a slot in extension lever 148.

The means for automatically imparting movement in a counter-clockwise direction to detent 24 comprise a ratchet wheel 28 (Fig. 10) mounted to revolve against friction on a pin 28' on arm 166 of detent 24. An arm 48 extending radially from the sound arm carries a plate 26 capable of vertical movement about a pivot 26' (Figs. 10 and 12) on arm 48 but normally'tending to move downwards-under its own weight. This plate is provided with teeth on its lower edge which teeth enand detent 24 is rocked. If the movement impart-1 ed to plate 26 is. greater than the horizontal movement permitted to wheel 28, by the detent 24, the

wheel 28 will rotate against friction sufliciently to permit the additional movement of plate 26. The pivotal connection of plate 26 with arm 48 allows for variations in the height of the sound and owing to difierences in thickness length of stylus and permits the drop below the normal level as abo' K to operate switch 159 after completed ma azine In order to prevent the coiitrol. lever 74 beingmoved during thetime that the cycle of automatlc operations is taking place the extension 148 of said lever 74 (Figs. 1 and 2) is provided with a series of notches 149 into one or other of which a lug 150 on an arm 154 of detent 24 enters when the automatic cycle starts and remains held therein during the cycle, and is held in this position so long as the clutch is in. On the underside of the end 23 of lever 24 is a pin 30, which, when the clutch is out rests in a recess in the inner wall of a ring 31 upstanding from the member 34 rigid with the cam shaft 12. When the detent 24 is rocked either automatically or by the push rod 163 and. the clutch put in, the pin 30 is moved from within this recess 35, and since the ring 31 rotates with the cam shaft 12, the recess 35 is moved from a position opposite the pin 30, which is therefore unable to return to its previous position until the cam shaft 12 and the ring 31 have performed a complete revolution, corresponding to the cycle of automatic operation, and recess 35 returns to a position opposite pin 30. Lug 150 on arm 154 therefore locks control lever 74 during the whole of the time that cam shaft 12 is rotating and the automatic operations are being effected.

During revolution of the shaft 12, the pin 30 is guided between the ring 31 and cam 88.

The movement of detent lever 24 in a counterclockwise direction under the action of its spring 25, brings the end 23 into the way of clutch lever 17 and the tooth 21 is disengaged from the plate 15.

With a view to preventing hunting on the part of clutch lever 17 owing to its spring connection with plate 15, when the end of lever 17 suddenly meets end 23 of detent 24, a spring pressed finger 36 pivotally mounted on the upper surface of wheel 16 outside ring 31, is at the appropriate time brought to a position where its free end abuts against the rear surface of the end 18 of arc-shaped level" 17 and the member 36 thus serves as a stop to' prevent any tendency that the end 18 of lever 17 may have to move away from the end 23 of detent24.

If after the machine has last been stopped by the sound arm dropping and opening switch 157, and it is desired to start the machine afresh, this is effected after the magazine has been refilled by pressing upon knob 162 at the front of the machine and rocking detent 24 as previously described to engage the clutch 21, 22. The closing of the motor circuit is automatically effected simultaneously by means of a switch 161 (Figs. 1 and 2) provided in a circuit in shunt with the switch 157, so that the motor circuit can be closed independently of switch 157. This switch 161 comprises a pair of spring arms which rest normally apart, being suitably mounted on. the base plate 4. When the detent 24 is rocked by pressing the knob 162, a downwardly extendin pin 165 of insulating material on the underside of arm 166 of detent 24 presses the spring arms of switch 161 together. Thus the motor circuit is closed, the motor rotates, and the clutch being engaged the automatic cycle commences. The switch 161 remains closed until the pin 30 on detent 24 re-enters depression 35 when it opens owing to the detent lever 24 rocking counterclockwise, but in the meantime the sound arm has been moved and the other switch 157 is closed by the rising of spring arm 159.

The automatic operations can also be initiated at any time during the playing of a record by pressing knob 162 to rock detent 24.

In the wiring diagram Fig. 24, A and B are the points of connection of the motor circuit to the supply mains. C is a main switch and the switches 152, 157 and 161 are indicated diagrammatically.

The operation of the machine is as follows: For magazine working the pile of records to be played is placed in the magazine and the main switch C and switch 152 are closed. Control lever 74 is moved to the position where roller 74 engages in theleft hand notch of spring-pressed catch lever 167. Knob 162 is pressed inwards to move rod 163 longitudinally so that detent lever 24 is rocked about its pivot whereupon the clutch lever 17 is permitted to take up the clutched position and at the same time the motor circuit is closed through switch 161. The cam shaft 12 rotates and the plate 6 is moved to the right through the action of cam 11 upon ring 9 connected to said plate. The lever 44 is rocked about its pivots in studs 45, by engagement of roller 43 on said lever with member 41, to raise the sound arm and sound box about the axis 49. The lever 68 is swung outwards by the engagement of pin 70 in slot 71 to push the sound arm outwards to the fullest extent and the record ejecting post '78 is lifted but at the commencement of operations of course there is no played record on the turntable to be ejected.

The record transferring device 95 engaged with the uppermost record in the magazine, is first raised by box cam 118 and lever 115 and then swung over from the magazine to a position over the turntable, by the engagement of projection 114 on plate 6 with the end 113 of lever 101, and when this position is reached the record is allowed to fall on to the turntable. The lever 132 is set in the course of this transferring movement as described above, according to the size of the record transferred from magazine to turntable. After the record has been deposited the return movement of plate 6 commences. Transferring device 95 now swings back over the magazine and drops down to the extent necessary to engage the hooks on levers 100 with the now uppermost record in the magazine. At the same time return movement of lever 68 is effected and the sound arm is drawn inwards by engagement of the hook 189 with post 131, to a point where the stylus is over the edge of whatever size record is on the turntable, at which point post 131 is released by hook 189 through the engagement of tail 143 of the hook with one or other of stops 141 or 142. The sound arm is then lowered into engagement with the record through the lowering of lever 44 and playing commences.

The plate 6 moves towards the left until the cam shaft 12 comes to rest through the engagement of pin 30 in depression 35 and the removal of tooth 21 on lever 17 from toothed wheel 22 by the contacting of end 18 of lever 17 with the end 23 of detent 24.

The stylus moves in across the record and when the end is reached a reversal of direction of movement of the sound arm is imparted for example by an eccentric groove as stated above. Thereupon the detent 24 is again rocked this time by the engagement of ratchet 26 with ratchet wheel 28 and the clutch is again thrown in and the cycle of automatic operations is repeated. This process may be repeated as long as any recordsremain to be fed from the magazine. If during magazine operation it is desired to play a particular record over again one or more times instead of passing on to the next record, control lever 74 is -moved until roller 74 engages in the centre notch of catch lever 167. This results in a modification of 1,968,927 the position and subsequent path of travel of plate 6, and also the removal of the record ejecting post 76 from the influence of cam 32 through link 91 and pivoted plate 83.

In this-new position of plate 6 the projection 114 is caused to pass'the end 113 of lever 101 when the plate 6 moves and the record transferring means therefore remains inoperative. The sound arm, raised by lever 44 as before, is moved outwards by lever 68 but only so far as is necessary to bring the stylus to a position over the commencement of the record to be replayed whereupon it is lowered directly until the stylus contacts with the commencement of the record to be replayed. The sound arm remains unaffected by the return movement of the plate 6 towards the left owing to the automatic deflection of member 41 by plunger 62. In this case the record having been fed originallyfrom the magazine the lever 132 is already set to correctly position the packing piece 138 to give the correct extent of outward movement of the sound arm. If however the record to be repeated is placed on the turntable manually it may be necessary to set the lever 132 by hand to the correct position according to the size of the record to be repeated.

During magazine operation when the magazine is emptied the machine is stopped by the opening of switch 157 through the sound arm dropping to a level below that which it occupies when playing. If however the machine is required to stop at the end of any particular record, the control lever 74 may be moved during playing to the position where roller 74' is engaged in the right hand notch in the catch lever 167. In this position the clutch is held against moving in when the detent 24 is rocked by member 146, so that none of the automatic cycle of magazine or repeater operations takes place. The movement of lever 74 into this position introduces stud 155 between part 154 of detent 24 and detent 151, and the rocking movement of detent 24 when the end of a record is reached is imparted to member 151 and the switch 152 is thereby opened to stop the motor.

What I claim is:

1. In a talking machine of the class described, the combination of sound box lifting, lowering and swinging mechanism, a reciprocable actuating member operatively connected to said mechanism, and means for changing the location of the ,path of reciprocation of saidmember to effect changes in the actuation of said mechanism.

2. In a talking machine of the class described, the combination of sound box lifting, lowering and swinging mechanism, record transfer means,

connected to said mechanism and means for actuating the same, and manually operable means for disconnecting said member from said record transfer means.

3. In a talking machine of the class described, the combination of sound box lifting, lowering and swinging mechanism, record transfer means, a reciprocable actuating member operatively connected to said mechanism and means, means for 'a reciprocating actuating member operatively one of which said mechanism is actuated for reproducing a plurality of successive records and in another for repeating a record, means for disconnecting said member from said transfer means, means for shifting said member to a selected path of reciprocation, and a manually operable control member operatively connected with said disconnecting meansand said shifting means.

5. In a talking machine of the class described, the combination of sound box lifting, lowering and swinging mechanism, record transfer means including a record carrying arm swingable in a substantially horizontal plane, a reciprocable actuating member, and means operatively connecting said member with said mechanism and with said arm.

6. In a talking machine, the combination of sound box lifting, swinging and lowering mechanism, record transfer means including a record carrying arm swingable in a substantially horizontal plane, means for swinging said arm includf ing a lever, a reciprocable actuating member for said mechanism, and a projection on said member adapted to engage said lever to swing said arm.

7. In a talking machine, the combination of sound box lifting, lowering and swinging mechanism, record transfer means including a record carrying arm swingable in a substantially horizontal plane, a reciprocable actuating member for said mechanism, said member having a plurality of paths of reciprocation in one of which said mechanism is actuated for magazine operation and in another for repeater operation, a projection on said member adapted to engage said lever to swing said arm when said member is set for magazine operation, and means for shifting said member to another path of reciprocation and lever for simultaneous movement in the opposite direction.

9. In a talking machine of the class described, the combination of record transfer means including a horizontally swingable arm, means for swinging said arm including a lever, a reciprocable actuating member adapted in one direction of its movement to engage said lever to swing said arm, and a second lever resiliently connected with said first lever and having its free end bearing on said reciprocable member.

- 10. In a talking machine of the class described, the combination of sound box swinging mechanism, a cam for actuating said mechanism, and

means for varying the path of movement of said cam to vary the extent of movement of said sound box.

11. In a talking machine of the class described, the combination of sound box lifting and swinging mechanism, including a pivoted lever for swinging said box, a reciprocable actuating member, a

cam carried thereby and operatively engaging said lever, and means for controlling the path of reciprocation of said member to vary the amount of movement imparted to said lever by said cam.

12. In a talking machine of the class described,

the combination of sound box lifting and swinging mechanism, including a pivoted lever for swinging said box, a reciprocable actuating member having a cam slot therein extending

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