US3336441A

US3336441A - Ppeamp. volume^ control

Info

Publication number: US3336441A
Authority: US
Priority date: 1962-11-06
Filing date: 1963-10-29
Publication date: 1967-08-15
Anticipated expiration: 1984-08-15
Also published as: CH429834A; BE639516A; ES293132A1; GB1065326A; AT237062B; FR1373546A

Description

R. GORIKE Aug-15, 1967 3,336,441 MICROPHONE ARRANGEMENT WITH REVERBERATION UNIT AND. CONTROL MEANS THEREFOR 2 Sheets-Sheet j Filed Oct. '29. 1963 FIG? RUDOLF SCHEME INVENTOR.

'AGENT United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Microphone arrangement having a reverberation unit, microphone and amplifier, together with at least a manually operable reverberation control and a common housing which is mountable upon a stand.

- Microphones have already been disclosed which enable the speaker, singer or the like to control the quality of his reproduction at the microphone during the recital. For this purpose, the microphone housing and/ or a stand carrying the microphone has been provided with one or more control devices, which enable the desired control of the transmitting system by means of a remote-control line. More particularly, it has been suggested to provide means for continuously controlling volume and reverberation by a volume-control element and by a reverberation-control element mounted on the microphone or the stand.

The known arrangement has the disadvantage that a mnlti-cored remote-control cable is required which must extend from the microphone to the amplifiers. Such cables are expensive and cause trouble unless they are carefully handled; besides, they are in most cases an obstruction.

The invention avoids all disadvantages of such a re 'mote control by arranging the microphone or microphones, the reverberation device and the associated amplifiers or amplifiers closely adjacent one another. In such an arrangement, only the microphone cable extends away from the stand and all other devices usually preceding the main amplifier are disposed adjacent to the stand.

The invention may be embodied in numerous forms, some of which will be described hereinafter. For instance, the reverberation device and the associated amplifier may suitably constitute a fully transistorized unit which is provided with a current-supply battery and accommodated together with the microphone in a common housing whereon the controls for the reverberation and sound volume are disposed in a manner known per se. Such a unit is mounted on the stand as a whole, just like an ordinary microphone.

This solution, however, is not always desirable, particularly if a control of the reverberation is not often required. In this case, it is more suitable to incorporate the reverberation device with the associated amplifier and the controls in a separate housing, which has preferably plug connections and is simply interposed between the stand and the microphone.

Alternatively, the reverberation device and the required amplifier may be firmly incorporated in the stand. In this case, it is advantageous to incorporate the amplifier in the upper part-of the stand, where the microphone is usually mounted, whereas the reverberating device consisting in most cases of helical wires is accommodated in the hollow central column of the stand. The control knobs or other control elements for the sound volume and reverberation may be mountedin this case directly on the stand, on the amplifier housing or'on the microphone housing. The

choice of the location of the control elements is at the discretion of a person skilled in the art.

According to a further feature of the invention, the microphone or microphones may be provided with a preamplifier, which may be incorporated in -a common housing with the amplifier for the reverberation device and, if desired, with the reverberation device itself.

Because the reverberation device in the form of coiled Wires has in most cases a relatively large length to enable a sufiiciently long reverberation time to be achieved, it will certainly be suitable in many cases to accommodate the reverberation device in the stand, preferably in its central column, whereas the other devices, such as amplifier(s), microphone etc. are combined in separate units which can be plugged together.

Because only transistor amplifiers will be used at the present state of the art, the above-mentioned units will be operated with battery current. For this reason, it is convenient to design the housings for accommodating these units so that they can also accommodate the batteries.

Some embodiments of the invention will now be explained by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation showing a microphone um't according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic elevational view of a microphone and a stand constituting a basic embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of a microphone arrangement according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation of a microphone arrangement comprising two prefabricated parts; and

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of a microphone arrangement comprising three prefabricated parts.

In FIG. 1, 1 denotes an upper part and 2 a lower part of a microphone housing. Part 1 contains only the microphone proper whereas part 2 contains the reverberation device, one or two amplifiers and control elements 3, 4 for the sound volume and reverberation. A rotatable ring 5 has an opening 6, which upon a rotation of the ring in the direction of the arrow exposes another opening which is formed in the housing 2 and through which the batteries required for the amplifier or amplifiers can be inserted. The entire arrangement is carried by a base 7, which is provided with connecting plugs 8 and can be fixed by a cap nut to a stand or some other suitable support.

Such a plug connection may also be provided in the plane indicated by the line AB so that the housing parts 1 and 2 can be separated from each other and the housing part 1 can be mounted directly on the stand or connected to a part 2 which does not contain a reverberation device but, for instance, includes only a preamplifier.

In the embodiment diagrammatically shown by way of example in FIG. 2, the microphone unit comprising the housing 1, 2 and the controls 3, 4 is mounted on a stand which has a tubular central column 9. The central column 9 accommodates a helical spring 10, required for producing the reverberation voltage, as well as an input coil 11 and an output coil 12. The associated preamplifier is arranged in the housing part 2, which is either permanently connected to the stand or detachably connected to it to enable a quick replacement of an amplifier part which has become defective. The stand is supported in known manner by three legs 13.

FIG. 3 is a block circuit diagram of a microphone arrangement according to the invention. Whereas this diagram represents a microphone arrangement of three prefabricated parts, which are adapted to be plugged together, the basic circuit need not be changed for microphone arrangements consisting of only two prefabricated parts.

The first prefabricated part comprises a housing section 31, which contains a microphone 33, and a housing section 32, which contains a transistor pre-amplifier 32a batteries 32b for energizing the pre-amplifiier 32a, and a volumecontrol device 320. The output of the pre-amplifier 32a is connected to two plugs 37. The housing sections 31 and 32 are permanently interconnected.

The second prefabricated part comprises a housing section 35 containing a transistor reverberation amplifier 35a, batteries 35b for energizing the amplifier 35a, and a control 350 for adjusting the amount of reverberation which is introduced into the output of the microphone arrangement. The housing section 35 has two jacks 38 adapted to receive the plugs 37 of the first housing section 31 and connected to a first input 32d of the amplifier 32a.

The housing section 35 has at its end opposite the jacks 38 three pairs of plugs 39. The reverberation amplifier has two outputs, namely, a first output to which the further amplified output voltage of the microphone is applied and a second output to which the output cable of the microphone arrangement is to be connected. The first and second outputs of the reverberation amplifier are connected to first and second pairs of plugs 39. The third pair of plugs 39 are connected to the second input 32e of the reverberation amplifier.

The third prefabricated part comprises a housing section 36, which contains the reverberation device -12 (shown connected in a feedback circuit of amplifier 35a) and has at one end first, second and third pairs of jacks 40, which are adapted to receive the first, second and third pairs of plugs 39, respectively. The first pair of jacks 40 are connected to the input coil 11 of the reverberation unit. The second pair of jacks 40 are directly connected to a pair of plugs 41, which may be disposed at the end of the housing section 36 opposite the jacks 40 and adapted to have a microphone cable connected to it. This arrangement avoids lateral connections. The third pair of sockets 40 are connected to the output coil 12 of the reverberation device.

These three prefabricated parts 31, 32; 35;- 36 may be assembled as is shown in FIG. 5. The housing sections 31 and 32 may be easily separable from each other and connected by plugs and jacks similar to the connection 37, 38. The housing section 36 may be constituted by or accommodated in the central column of a microphone stand 9, as is shown in FIG. 2. The plug-and-jack connection 37, 38 may be omitted and the housing sections 32 and 35 was permanently interconnected.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment in which the plugand-jack connections 39, 40 are omitted and the housing sections 35 and 36 are permanently interconnected.

The structural relationship of the electrical components in each housing section or within each unit comprising a plurality of permanently connected housing sections is not a part of the present invention and will depend, of course, on the size of the electrical parts required for a microphone having specified electro-acoustic characteristics. The accommodation of such parts in housing sections which are as small as possible and have a pleasing appearance is believed to be wtihin the capacity of a person skilled in the art. For this reason, such structural relation has not been shown.

It will be understood that some other modifications of the assembly are possible within the scope of the invention. Hence, the invention is not restricted to the few embodiments shown by way of example. Specifically, the structural relation of the housing sections and the specific form of the illustrated plug-and-jack connections in the illustrated embodiments is disclosed here only by way of example because other designs may well be adopted within the scope of the invention. Instead of one microphone, a plurality of microphones may be combined in one microphone arrangement embodying the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A microphone arrangement comprising:

an elongated housing longitudinally subdivided into a plurality of interconnectable and individually replaceable, individually closed housing portions together forming a continuous rectilinear body, said housing portions including a first housing portion at one end of the body, and at least one further housing portion along said body;

a microphone in said first individually closed housing portion adapted to receive sound waves impinging upon said end of said housing;

a reverberation network in one of said individually closed further housing portions;

an amplifier in one of said housing portions;

mating electrical coupling means between said individually closed housing portions for electrically connecting said microphone, said amplifier and said network in an electrical circuit; and

output means on one of said housing portions for delivering an output signal from said circuit to an ancillary device.

2. The microphone arrangement defined in claim 1 wherein said first and further housing portions are disposed adjacent one another and said mating electrical coupling means includes contact members respectively assigned to said microphone and said reverberation network and mutually engageable upon assembly of said housing portions into said body to electrically connect said microphone with said reverberation network, said second housing portion being provided with an electrical contact member remote from said first housing portion and receivable by a support for connecting said reverberation network and said amplifier to said ancillary device.

3. The microphone arrangement defined in claim 1 wherein said further housing portion is a relatively long upright support stand for said first housing portion, said first housing portions enclosing said amplifier, said mating electrical coupling means including contact members respectively assigned to said amplifier and said reverberation network and mutually engageable upon mounting of said first housing portion upon said stand to electrically connect said amplifier with said reverberation network.

4. The microphone arrangement defined in claim 1, further comprising first and second control means connected with said reverberation network and said amplifier and respectively controlling the reverberation quality and the intensity of the output signal, said first and second control means being mounted upon said further housing portion and being manipulatable from the exterior thereof, said amplifier being enclosed in said further housing portion.

5. The microphone arrangement defined in claim 1, further comprising first and second control means connected with said reverberation network and said amplifier and respectively controlling the reverberation quality and the intensity of the output signal, said first and second control means being mounted in said first housing portion and being operable from the exterior thereof, said amplifier being enclosed in said first housing portion.

6. The microphone arrangement defined in claim 1 wherein said amplifier is a transistor amplifier, said arrangement further comprising a battery for energizing said amplifier and said reverberation network and wholly received in said housing.

7. The microphone arrangement defined in claim 1 wherein said microphone is provided with a transistor amplifier, further comprising a battery for energizing the transistor amplifier of said microphone wholly received in said housing.

8. The microphone arrangement defined in claim 1 wherein said first housing portion contains a preamplifier electrically connected to said microphone, said arrangement further comprising mechanical connecting means for releasably securing said housing portions together, and first and second control means connected with said reverberation network and said amplifier and resepectively controlling the reverberation quality and the intensity of the output signal, said first and second control means being mounted in said one of said further housing portions and being operable externally thereof.

9. The microphone arrangement defined in claim 1 wherein said housing portions includes a second housing portion containing a preamplifier for said microphone and an amplifier electrically connected to said rever- 6 beration network inter-mediate said first and further housing portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,267,876 12/1941 Schmidt 1791 2,870,255 1/1959 Jenkins et a1 1791 3,134,049 5/1964 Kilby 317-401 3,259,691 7/1966 Byles 179- 1 10 KATHLEEN H. CLAFFY, Primary Exwminer.

WILLIAM C. COOPER, Examiner.

A. H. GESS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A MICROPHONE ARRANGEMENT COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED HOUSING LONGITUDINALLY SUBDIVIDED INTO A PLURALITY OF INTERCONNECTABLE AND INDIVIDUALLY REPLACEABLE, INDIVIDUALLY CLOSED HOUSING PORTIONS TOGETHER FORMING A CONTINUOUS RECTILINEAR BODY, SAID HOUSING PORTIONS INCLUDING A FIRST HOUSING PORTION AT ONE END OF THE BODY, AND AT LEAST ONE FURTHER HOUSING PORTION ALONG SAID BODY; A MICROPHONE IN SAID FIRST INDIVIDUALLY CLOSED HOUSING PORTION ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SOUND WAVES IMPINGING UPON SAID END OF SAID HOUSING; A REVERBERATION NETWORK IN ONE OF SAID INDIVIDUALLY CLOSED FURTHER HOUSING PORTIONS; AN AMPLIFIER IN ONE OF SAID HOUSING PORTIONS; MATING ELECTRICAL COUPLING MEANS BETWEEN SAID INDIVIDUALLY CLOSED HOUSING PORTIONS FOR ELECTRICALLY CONNECTING SAID MICROPHONE, SAID AMPLIFIER AND SAID NETWORK IN AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT; AND OUTPUT MEANS ON ONE OF SAID HOUSING PORTIONS FOR DELIVERING AN OUTPUT SIGNAL FROM SAID CIRCUIT TO AN ANCILLARY DEVICE.