US2229920A - Keyboard operated radio apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Jan; 2s, 1941.n A A, GEDDE 2,229,920

KEYBOARD OPERATED RADIO APPARATUS Filed Oct. 4, 1937 Patented Jan. 28, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Andrew A. Gedde, Chicago, Ill.,

assigner to Seeburg Radio Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application October 4, 1937, Serial No. 167,262

2 Claims.

An object of my invention is to provide a radio apparatus having a cabinet including a keyboard with a plurality of keys mounted thereon for automatically selecting different radio stations, the control board of the radio thus differing substantially from the usual type having rotatable knobs which are rotatable on an axis at sub stantially right angles to the control board.

A further object is to provide a radio apparatus in which a control board is provided and arranged at an angle between the vertical and horizontal planes, preferably closer to the horizontal.

A further object is to provide a radio cabinet having a control board arranged substantially horizontal so that the user, when operating the radio, can stand comfortably in front of it and readily observe the various stations designators without having to stoop in order to operate the radio in a convenient manner and with a comfortable posture.

Another object is to provide a co-ntrol board for the operation of the apparatus in a radio cabinet having keys or similar operating elements thereon, the cabinet being so arranged that a pull board can be provided to extend over the control board, thus covering it from view, or extend into the cabinet, thus exposing the control board to View and making it accessible for operation of the radio apparatus.

Still another object is to provide radio apparatus in which keys or the like are provided for automatically switching from one frequency setting of the radio circuit to another in addition to a manually operable means for selecting stations over the range of the radio circuit, a switch being provided for changing from one type of operation to the other.`

Still a further object is to provide two separate illuminating means, one for the selecting keys and the other for the dial which indicates the position of the manual station selector, the respective illuminating means being controlled by the switch which transfers from one type of operation to the other, thus indicating which type of operation the radio apparatus is set for and illuminating the station designator for that operation only.

With these and other objects in View, my radio apparatus consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts there* of, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

(Cl. 25d-Ml) Figure l is a perspective View of a keyboard operated radio embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional View on the line 2--2 of Figure 1 illustrating internal details of construction and the relation of the keyboard to the cabinet of the radio.

Figure 2a is a sectional View on the line iid-2a, of Figure 2.

Figure 3 is a view similar to a portion of Figure 2 showing one of the control keys depressed.

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view on the line 4--4 of Figure 2 showing the construction and mounting of one of the control keys.

Figure 5 is a plan View of the control board and the various controlling elements and the station designating dial appearing thereon.

Figure 6 is an electro diagrammatic view showing the essential features of the radio circuit as affected by my invention; and

Figure 7 is a sectional view showing a key of modied construction as compared to the one shown in Figure 2.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the reference character C to indicate generally 'a radio cabinet. The cabinet C includes a keyboard K, which, it will be noted by referring to Figure l, is countersunk in the forward upper corner of the radio cabinet C. The keyboard K is preferably arranged at an angle between the horizontal and vertical planes but closer to the horizontal. Accordingly, the control elements on the keyboard can readily be seen and op erated by an operator standing in front of the radio cabinet without the necessity of stooping over to read the station designating means, as on a vertical control board as provided in the usual type of radio now on the market.

The keyboard K has spaced thereon` a piurality of keys lil. The keys It are preferably of translucent material and pivotally mounted as 40 on a rod H. The rod il extends longitudinally of the keyboard K and is suitably supported in a horizontal slot l2 of the supporting board I3 for the keyboard K. The keyboard K itself may be molded of Bakelite or the like and secured to 45 the supporting board it by screws it.

Each key it, as shown in Figure 4, has adjacent the pivot rod li a pair of inturned flanges I5. A station designating element it may be inserted slidably under the flanges lil and nor- 50 mally rests against an upwardly depressed portion I1 of the key. The station designating element Iii is accordingly removable and replaceablewith another one, depending on what station` the particular tuning element is tuned to. The ele- 55 ment I 6 is preferably of translucent or transparent material having the call letters of the station printed thereon in opaque paint or the like.

Above the keys I I1 I provide a dial plate I8 with which a pointer I9 coacts for designating selected stations in the ordinary manner. The pointer I9 may be protected by a transparent cover 20.

The usual `tuning condenser of variable type for the condenser circuit of the radio is indicated at 2l. The condenser 2| may be controlled from a position on the keyboard K in any suitable manner. By way of illustration I show' a control disc 22 projecting through a slot 23 in the keyboard K. The disc 22 has a knurled periphery and is mounted for rotation on a shaft 24. By means of a drive pulley 25, driven pulley 26 and belt 2, the shaft of the condenser 2l may be rotated by rotation o-f the disc 22. Idler pulleys 28 are provided for the belt 2l so as to properly direct the stretches ofthe belt toward the pulleys 25 and 26.

The pointer I9 is illustrated as being slidable in` a horizontally arranged guideway 29. A finger 30 extends from the pointer and enters a helical slot 2| in a drum 32 which rotates with the pulley 25 In this manner an operative connection between the condenser 2l and the pointer I9 is provided so that the pointer at all times indicates the frequency to Which the condenser 2I is tuned due to the different adjusted positions thereof.

Each key Ill is adapted to control a tuning element such as preset condensers 33, 33a, 33h, etc. These may be set for diiferent Wave channels such as 550, 560, 570 kilocycles, and so on. Any circuit arrangement may be provided for controlling the respective condensers by the respective keys I0. By way of illustration I showin Figure 6, switches 34, 34a, 34h, etc. for this Ipurpose.

Each switch (see Figure 3) has an actuator 35 slidably mounted in a bracket 36. The actuator 35 is normally retained in raised position by a. spring 31. The actuator 35 carries a switch blade 38 Yadapted to coact with a contact 39. Each of the switches referred to as 34, 34a, etc. in Figure 6, have the elements 38 and 39 as a part thereof.

A retainer plate 40 `has trunnions 42 for pivotally mounting the plate relativeto the bracket 36. A leaf spring 43 normally retains the retainer plate 40 engaged with the actuators 35 When any one of the actuators 35 is slid downwardly by depressing its respective key I0, the retainer plate 40 is swung against the bias of the spring 43 by a latch lug 44 of the lactuator until the plate snaps in behind the latch lug and thereby retains the depressed actuator in such position as shown in Figure 3. Subsequently another key depressed will release the plate 40 and thereby the key previously depressed, and the second depressed key will then be locked by the plate 40 in depressed position for rendering its respective tuning element or condenser 33 operable.

The condensers 33, 33a, etc. are shown as single condensers in Figure 6, although, as illustrated in Figure 2 there is usually a bank of three condensers for each wave channel of a superheterodyne radio circuit. Likewise only one variable condenser 2l is illustrated in Figure 6, whereas there are usually three. For the purpose of disclosing mechanism for selecting automatic operation by depression of the keys I0 or manual operation by rotation of the disc 22, however, single condensers have been shown merely by way of illustration and to conserve space on thedrawing.

For selecting either manual or automatic operation I provide a switch S. The switch S selectively controls the condenser circuit of the radio so that either the variable condenser 2| or the xed condensers 33, 33a, etc., are in the circuit. The switch S also controls an illuminating means of selective variety for the dial I8 and the keys I0.

The illuminating means is shown as a pair of electric bulbs 45 and They are supported on a divider plate 41 so that when the bulb 45 is energized only the keys I8 will be illuminated, while energization of the bulb 45 will cause illumination of only the dial I8. The dial I8 of course is preferably translucent so that the indicia thereon will be readily illuminated.

As shown in Figure 6, the switch S controls the current supply to the bulbs 45 and 45 so that when the switch is set for automatic control by the keys Ill, the'bulb i5 is energized. When the switch is set for manual operation only the bulb 45 is energized. Thus I provide an automatic means for illuminating only the station designating means in operation as selected by the switch S.

In an effort to depart from the usual radio design wherein control knobs extend from the control board and are, to some extent, unsightly, I have provided the .neat arrangement of a keyboard as illustrated in my drawing. Aside from the disc 22 and the switch S, other controls as illustrated may be mounted on the vboard in a similar manner. (Some of these are omitted from Figure l wherein the scale is considerably smaller than in the other gures.) As a further means to provide a neat appearing instrument, I provide a pull board 43 adapted to cover the keyboard K. The pull board 48-has a front molding 49 adapted to rest on the keyboard and give to the front edge thereof a neater closed appearance when the pull board is in position covering the keyboard.

The pull board 48 extends through a slot 55 in the front wall 5I of the upper part of the cabinet C. Inside the cabinet, a recess 52 is adapted lto receive the pull board 48 -when the front end thereof is raised and the board'ispushed back into the recess 52. of the pull board is shown by dotted lines in lFigure 2. An enlargement 53 is formed alongthe inner edge of the pull board to limit its-outward movement relative to the wall 5I.

Although I have illustrated keys Ill for the i' purpose of depressing the actuators 35, it is 'obvious that knobs 54 or the like may be mounted on the upper ends of the actuators, As shown in Figure 7, thus eliminating the necessity of providing separate keys and mountings therefor, as

shown in Figure 2. I iind that the knobs or buttons 54 are also readily adaptable for use in connection with the keyboard of the slanting type illustrated. A change of the character shown in Figure 7 and others as well may be made without departing from `tne real spirit of my invention and it is, therefore, my intention to cover Icy-my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a radio apparatus, a cabinet including a keyboard, a series of keys and a manual tuning element mounted thereon for automatic and manual tuning respectively of the radio appa- F ratus, a station indicating means for said keys, a second station indicating means for said manual tuning element, illuminating means for each of said indicating means, and a change-over means for changing from key to manual or from manual lThe retracted-position to key tuning operation and simultaneously there with selectively operating the illuminating means of the series of keys or of the manual tuning element, depending on which is rendered operable by said change-over means.

2.v In a radio apparatus, -a cabinet including a keyboard, a series of keys and a manual tuning element mounted thereon for automatic and manual tuning respectively of the radio apparatus, a

10 station indicating means for said keys, a second station indicating means for said manual tuning element, illuminating means for each of said indicating means, and a switch for changing from key to manual or from manual to key tuning operation and simultaneously therewith selectively operating the illuminating means of the series of keys or of the manual timing element, depending on which is rendered operable by said switch.

ANDREW A. GEDDE.

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