US2532692A - Means to support portable loud-speakers - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 5, 1950 w. BORBERG MEANS TQ SUPPORT PORTABLE LOUD SPEAKERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 12, 1949 mwm lfl mmwwmmwmmmmmwmwmmm w w w umwmm wm mmwmw nunnunu- INVENTOR 'W/LLY [5023520 2 BY ATTORNEY Dec. 5, 1950 w. BORBERG 2,532,692-

MEANS 'ro SUPPORT PORTABLE LOUD SPEAKERS Filed March'lZ, I949 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ZY a ATTORNEY fiatenteii flee. 5, 1956 MEANS o SUPPORT PORTABLE LOUD-SPEAKERS Willy Borberg, Astoria, N. Y., assignor to Inter" national Projector Corporation,

N. L, a corporation of Delaware Application March 12, 1949, Serial No. 81,191

This invention relates to an improvement in the means to support portable loud speakers or sound reproducers such as are used in the wellknown drive-in 01' open air motion picture theatres, and is more particularly design as an improvement on a well-known form of speaker support now on the market.

The sound transmitters or loud speakers individual to each parking place on the several concentric ramps are generally supported on posts and within easy reach of the motorist as he sits in his car, the loud speakers being connected by flexible conductors with a ramp cable leading from the sound reproducer of the moving picture installation.

The user, after the automobile has been positioned facing the screen of the theatre, with one of its windows adjacent the post on which the speaker is supported, will reach out of the open window, lift the speaker off its support and bring it inside the car, the flexible conductor being of such length as to permit this.

It has been customary in several instances, to provide a hook-like means projecting from the rear face or back of the loud speaker, whereby the speaker may be removably attached to or hung on the base of the junction box or housing fixedly mounted on the upper end of the loud speaker :post, which hook may be utilized also to hang the loud speaker on some suitable support within the car, as on the upper edge of the partially raised car window, the sun viser or other convenient appurtenance.

I When the user wishes to leave the theatre, it is intended that he shall return the portable loud speaker to its normal position on the supporting post, and it is at this point that much difficulty arises, resulting in damage and injury to the loud speaker, and consequent expense to the theatre owner.

' In many instances, there is but a single position in which the loud. speaker may be hung on its support, and careless or inattentive .users, in the partial darkness generally prevalent in the drivein theatres, coupled with the somewhat awkward position of the users relatively to the posts or supports, are quite liable to make two or three attempts to return the loud speaker to its normal position on the post, and failing to properly engage the hooked device on the back of the loud speaker with the post support, the user will impatiently drop the loud speaker and drive away.

The loud speaker casing encloses a cone speaker with its diaphragm speaker magnet and a volume control adjustable by a knob or turn-button pro- 3 Claims. (Cl. 179-146) or break the loud speakers.

2 I I truding into a recess formed in the face of the loud speaker for access by the user. The flexible. conductor leading from the housing on the post to the portable loud speaker, being longer than the height of the post, does not prevent the loud speaker, when dropped, from striking the ground and the shock and concussion occasioned by forcible contact of the loud speaker and ground or with the concrete base in which the lower end of the supporting post is usually embedded, is very likely to damage or harm the casing. j

Greater damage is likely to result from the fact that While the speakers lie on the ground, the cars moving into or away from parking positions near the posts are liable to run over and crush Also if the loud speaker should come to rest face upward on the ground, rain, dirt, dust and other extraneous material can enter the speaker cone through the louvers of the loud speaker casing, damaging the sound transmitting and am-' plifying qualities of the speaker.

That form of support heretofore devised for portable loud speakers on which the present in vention is an improvement, comprises a skeleton basket mounted on and [projecting from the base of the housing on the post to from a pocket to accommodate the lower ends of the ellipsoidal loud speakers.

The basket type of loud speaker receptacle or support is an improvement over the other types since the same nicety of judgment and handling is not required to drop the lower end of the ellipsoidal loud speaker easing into the pocket or seat in the basket. Nevertheless, the same ob jections heretofore set forth, attach to this form as well though in less degree, since this form off basket container permits only two positions in which to drop the loud speaker into the basket, that is, face outward or face inward.

The present invention is an improvement on the prior forms of means to support portable loud speakers in that this invention provides a portfable loud speaker s0 equipped that it may hung on the basket in at least two different positions, in addition to the two seated positions already providedjthus enabling the user, despite careless and awkward handling and impatience or haste,

to hang the loud speaker onto its basket or leaves the motion picture theatre, he will not use the same care, especially if he desires to get the right of way over other patrons or is in a hurry for any reason.

In such case, the present invention enables the loud speaker to be seated with its lower end in the receptacle, face outward or inward as it may chance, or the speaker may simply be hung on the receptacle face outward or inward.

Another object of the invention is to so arrange the novel structure that the speaker, when hung in either of its positions on the receptacle, will automatically assume an angular relation with its face inclined toward the ground to thus reduce the liability of entry of driving dust, rain or snow through the louvers into the mechanism of the speaker.

Still another object is to facilitate the operation of replacing the loud speaker on its receptacle. This is eifected by, in effect, extending the normal reach of the user several inches more.

Thus in former types of basket supports .for loud speakers, the casing can only'be dropped substantially vertically into its seat in the basket,

and'to properlyposition the lower free end of the casingover the upper open end ofthebasket, the user is often required to stretch his arm to its fulllength and rise out of his seat. Otherwise, when the user releases the loud speaker, it will slide ofi the upper edge of the basket and fall Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification and claims, and 'will be .di'sclosed in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. l is a perspective View .of .a post or other support equipped with one form .of the in- .Vention, and showing aloud speaker in one of its normal angular positions, when .hungfrom the speaker receptacle, and another'lou'd speaker,

thelower end of which is seated in the recep- :tacle; Fig. '2 is an enlarged .perspective view to more clearly show the shape of .the skeleton receptacle and the manner of hanging the loud speakers thereon, andFig. Bis atop plan view of the support and receptacle to bring out the "formation thereof, the loud speakers being re- 'moved.

In a drive-in or open air .moving picture theatre, a series of speaker posts or supports I, I, are arranged along the arcuate ramps '(not shown), the speaker supports being spaced apart a suflicient distance to enable autois'ts to park their cars adjacent the respective supports which designate the parking places.

A concrete base 2, conveniently ovate'in form,

is laidat each speaker location,'which base projects some distance above the ground level to protect the speaker post andithe connected parts frominjury by the automobiles as they arrive and depart.

"Thespeaker posts I, I,genera1lyof. hollow pipe, extend through th concrete bases and project vertically upward therefrom, individual conductors 3 (Fig. 2) leading off from the ramp cable and up through the hollow posts.

A collar 4 depending from a horizontal base plate 5, fits over the upper end of the hollow post I to which it is affixed in any suitable manner, as by a set screw 6. The conductors 3 pass through an aperture (not shown), the upper ends of the conductors being respectively connected with a coupling transformer (not shown) mounted on the upper face of the horizontal base plate, which 1 transformer in turn, is connected with one or more flexible conductors 'I' through an insulated terminal plate (not shown). The flexible conductors I pass down through suitable holes in the base plate5 outside the post I and lead to their respective loud speaker instruments.

The transformerand the electrical connections on the upper face of the base plate I are protected by a dome-like cover 8, the open end of which fits closely upon the upper face of the base plate to which the coverissecured by a suitable fastening 9.

The skeleton-basket or receptacle It is preferably formed of wire bent to the proper shape, as shown in the drawings, the opposite ends of the wire being entered in parallel horizontalsockets II, II (Fig. 2) formed on the lower face of the base plate 5 and held in place, as by set screws I2 (Fig. 3).

Issuing from the sockets, the parallel horizontal wires are first bent respectivel cutwardly, at I3, then forwardly in parallelism and then inwardly as at I4, to form shoulders between which shoulders and the arms IS, the speaker casing fits. From the shoulders I4, the wires extend downwardly in parallelism, leaving a throat I5 between them, the wires being thencurved rearwardly, as at I 6, and then upwardly, forming a bight H spaced apart fromthe downwardly, extending portionsof the .wire to form, in combination therewith, a pocketcr seat to accommodate the lower end of the speaker unit.

The working mechanisms comprising the usual speaker cone and magnet, and a volume control (not shown) have been enclosedheretofore in a casinghaving ahollowhorn I8; projecting rearwardly from the back of thecasing at its upper end and at substantial right angles to the rear face of the casing. The .flexible ,conductor 1 passes through aperforation I9 (Fig. 2) formed through the .outer closed endof the horn, the conductor being connected with the volume and speaker magnet, respectively, inthe usualmanner. The flexible conductor 1, from the ,point Where it emerges "from .t .e base plate :5 to .the point where it enters thei'loud speaker casing, is of sufiicient length to enableithe loud speaker to be drawn intoa car or other vehicle parked within, say, three feet more or less, of the supporting post I, without placing undue strain on the flexible conductor. A convenientplac for supporting the speaker unitinside a.car.is tohang the speaker by its horn IBon the upperedgeof a lowered window or on the window-casing, itself, a depending lip on the outer free end of thehorn catching against the outer face of the car door, or window to prevent the speaker from sliding off its support.

The mechanism'thuslfar described is generally old and well-known'in theart and constitutesa part of my present invention jonly insofar-asit co-acts with the novel features .now to be explained The basket or receptacle I0 .above explained provides only for seating the lower free end of the portable speaker unit, either face outward or face inward, in the skeleton basket or pocket.

The present improvement utilizes the open throat l5 of the earlier basket or receptacle to enable the user of the speaker unit, when returning the unit to its place, to suspend the unit on the receptacle in a manner similar to hanging an article on a hook, whereby to afiord the user additional and more facile methods by which to attach the speaker unit to the receptacle, so that the user has a choice of a plurality of different methods, any of which he may adopt, which from his position, is the easiest by which to replace the unit on the receptacle.

To accomplish this result, the hollow projection 18, extending rearwardly from the back face of the former structure, is made of less width than heretofore, so as to enter and slide freely in the open throat I5 of the skeleton receptacle, or conversely, the vertical sides of the throat may be set farther apart.

Lastly, the lip or catch depending from the outer end of the hollow projection I8 is extended laterally beyond the side edges of the hollow projection to form ears or lugs 2|, the distance between which is greater than the width of the throat or slot [5.

With a speaker unit constructed in accordance with the above improvement, the user, when he wishes to leave the theatre, may elect to pocket the unit in the skeleton receptacle in which event, if he is close enough, he may grasp the speaker unit by its horn or rearward projection and, lifting the unit so that its lower end is over the upper open end of the receptacle, thrust the unit downwardly endwise to insert the lower end into the upper open end of the receptacle.

If the user is too far from the receptacle to pocket the speaker unit in the above manner, he can grasp the speaker unit by its lower free end and holding the unit with either face substantially horizontal, extend the upper end of the unit and its rearward projection toward the receptacle until the lip or catch clears the upper front edge of the receptacle with the projection l8 in line with the open throat l5, whereupon, by a sort of chopping motion, he may slide the projection down the throat until the lateral lugs 2| contact the parallel curved sections it forming the bight or bottom of the receptacle, after which he will release the speaker unit.

Because, at this time, the center of gravity of the speaker unit is out of the vertical, the unit will rock to a position wherein the face of the unit with its louvers is inclined towards the ground, thus operating to prevent entry of dust, rain or snow through the louvers into the speaker cone, and this automatic or gravity centering of the speaker unit, when hung on the receptacle, occurs irrespective of whether the unit is hung face outward or inward, so that the louver openings will face downwardly.

Also, it is evident that the reach of the user is, in effect, extended a distance almost equal to the length of the speaker unit, when the unit is grasped by its lower end, which enables a user to hang up the unit even when he is too far from the receptacle to pocket the unit.

The forward shoulders I4 of the receptacle are sloped at their inner ends adjacent the throat Hi to facilitate the entry of the rear projection l8 into the throat.

What I claim as new is:

1. In a support for portable speaker units, the compination with a receptacle having an open upper end, and a throat communicating at its upper end with the front edge of the upper opening, the throat leading downwardly and rearwardly; of a speaker unit; a projection extending rearwardly from one end of the speaker unit and of a width to slidably fit in the throat; and lugs carried by the projection, and extending laterally beyond the opposite side edges thereof, to engage the side walls of the throat and prevent disconnection of the speaker unit and receptacle when the projection is properly entered in the throat.

2. In a means to support portable speaker units, the combination with a receptacle having an open upper end, and a passage leading downwardly from the open upper end of the receptacle; of a speaker unit, the lower end of the speaker fitting the grasp of the user, the face of the speaker unit having louver openings therein; a projection extending rearwardly from the upper end of the speaker unit and of a width to slidably fit the downwardly extending passage in the receptacle; and lugs extending laterally from the opposite sides of the rearward projection and spaced apart sufiiciently to rest on the side walls of the downwardly extending opening when the rearward projection is slid down the passage, said lugs engageable with the side walls of the passage when the speaker unit is held face upward or downward at the users convenience, the supporting lugs being spaced a sufficient distance from the center of gravity of the speaker unit to enable the unit to rock to a position wherein the louvered face of the unit inclines toward the ground.

3. In a means to support in various positions portable speaker units used in out-door theaters, the combination with a receptacle having an upper open end; of a speaker unit, one end of which is insertible bodily into the receptacle through the upper open end of the receptacle, so as to seat in the receptacle; a projection extending rearwardly from one end of the speaker unit at the back thereof; lugs on the projection, said lugs extending laterally beyond the respective planes of the respective sides of the projection; the receptacle having a passage extending downwardly from the outer side of the upper open end of the receptacle, said passage being of a width to slidingly accommodate the rearward projection of the speaker unit, and of less width than the distance between the opposite ends of the lugs, to enable the rearward projection of the speaker unit to enter the passage so that the lugs lie within the receptacle and extend transversely of the passage to engage the inner side walls thereof and suspend the speaker unit in a hanging position below the receptacle.

WILLY BORBERG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 328,851 Lane Oct. 20, 1885 596,724 Steppart Jan. 4, 1898 2,469,986 Phyfe May 10, 1949

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