Sound reproducing unit tone arm

A voice or sound unit adapted for use on toys and the like has a mechanical linkage system with a joint capable of transmitting sound indicia while isolating the tone arm from any absorption of stylus movement. The tone arm can employ flexure hinges to insure a constant force on the stylus. A planetary gear coupling system provides a unique drive transmission to either a single turntable or a pair of concentric turntables. If a pair of turntables are used, they can be relatively rotated to combine a large number of sound sequences.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to improvements in a voice or sound unit which is 
capable of producing sounds, for example, of the type associated with toys 
and the like. In particular, the present invention relates to improvements 
in both the arrangement of component parts and the structural design of 
the parts to provide ease of manufacturing, improved sound quality and a 
new form of voice unit highly adaptable to numerous applications. 
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
Phonographs and other forms of sound producing devices can be broadly 
described as voice units and have found numerous applications particularly 
in the field of toys. Voice units have been utilized in various forms of 
talking dolls, music boxes, games, etc. Early examples of the use of 
mechanically actuated voice units can be found in the Franklin U.S. Pat. 
No. 1,979,067, Shulman U.S. Pat. No. 1,837,076 and Hunter U.S. Pat. No. 
1,485,137. 
In the quest to provide high fidelity sound reproduction with relatively 
inexpensive parts, various components of voice units have been subject to 
considerable design efforts. For example, various mechanical arrangements 
have been utilized for the release of stored energy usually from a source 
such as a spring. Examples of these arrangements can be found in the Poppe 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,494,802, Folk U.S. Pat. No. 1,503,787, Grubman U.S. Pat. 
No. 1,979,068 and Marshall U.S. Pat. No. 3,568,802. Since the quality of 
sound reproduction is directly related to the speaker cone, efforts have 
been made to provide various improved speaker cone configurations and 
mounting arrangements within the voice unit's housing such as the Chang 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,448. In addition, various forms of spring biased tone 
arms have been suggested and utilized in the prior art such as the tone 
arm disclosed in the Scoparino U.S. Pat. No. 3,235,266. 
Recently, talking dolls have enjoyed considerable commercial success by 
employing a multi-speech voice unit that is activated by a pull string. 
Basically, this comprises the use of a multi-spirally tracked record on a 
spring driven turntable. Multi-track records have been known in the prior 
art for a considerable period of time, for example, in the records 
disclosed in the Berliner U.S. Pat. No. 936,976, Abramson U.S. Pat. No. 
2,703,241, Winchell U.S. Pat. No. 3,110,501, Haltenhof U.S. Pat. No. 
2,287,240, and Michetti U.S. Pat. No. 3,332,690. Various examples of 
multi-speech voice units can be found such as the Greenlee, Jr. U.S. Pat. 
No. 3,325,916, Weld U.S. Pat. No. 2,680,150 and Ryan U.S. Pat. Nos. 
3,017,187 and 3,082,006. 
Besides the use of spirally grooved records, the prior art has also 
resorted to tapes and rotating drums that are frequently driven by either 
mechanical means or electrical motors such as the Freeman et al U.S. Pat. 
No. 3,239,229 and the Poylo et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,947,978. 
Basically, the prior art has experienced some limited success in providing 
mechanically actuated voice units having a relatively limited vocabulary. 
However, the provision of a compact, relatively inexpensive voice unit 
having a relatively large number of sentences that are reproducible in a 
distortion-free manner has eluded the prior art to date. cl SUMMARY OF THE 
INVENTION 
The present invention provides provides a novel sound unit embodying a 
number of features which insure a high fidelity sound reproduction at a 
relatively low cost. The sound unit speaker system employs a unique 
speaker cone having a mechanical linkage system for transmitting sound 
indicia from a recording medium. The speaker cone can be molded to accept 
either a ball joint or flexure hinge connection to a uniquely isolated 
stylus arm. 
Flexure hinges are utilized on the tone arm to isolate the mechanical link 
system for the transmission of the sound producing motion to the speaker 
cone. The particular mounting of a tone arm tension spring allows 
relatively large movements of the tone arm with very small changes in 
spring pressure exerted against the record grooves. 
A planetary gear coupling system provides a unique drive transmission 
between a spring drive and either a single turntable or inner and outer 
turntables. If inner and outer turntables are used, a pair of records can 
be relatively moved to provide a large number of sound sequences. 
The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are 
set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present 
invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together 
with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by 
reference to the following description, taken in connection with the 
accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The following description is provided to enable any person skilled in the 
art to make and use the invention and it sets forth the best mode 
contemplated by the inventors of carrying out their invention. Various 
modifications, howwever, will be made readily apparent to those skilled in 
the art since the generic principles of the present invention have been 
defined herein specifically to provide a relatively economical and easily 
assembled voice unit. 
Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 2A, and 3, the various elements of the present 
invention will be described in a sequential manner of assist the reader in 
understanding the invention. Most of the component parts utilized in the 
voice unit 2 of the present invention can be molded from various plastics 
but other material can be utilized within the parameters of the invention. 
A speaker grill 4 is provided primarily to protect a speaker cone 6. The 
speaker grill 4 has a conical shape with an array of circular holes to 
facilitate the transmission of sounds from the speaker cone 6. The outer 
peripheral edge of the speaker grill 4 in flat and is adapted to seat upon 
the speaker cone rim 8. Alternatively, the grill 4 can be integrally 
molded with an upper or top housing member 10. The speaker cone 6 is 
mounted along its rim 8 to the upper or top housing member 10, for 
example, by an appropriate solvent adhesive. The center or apex tip 12 of 
the speaker cone 6 has preferably a spherical female ball joint shape with 
an interior opening on the concave side of the cone 6. The purpose of the 
spherical ball joint tip 12 will be discussed subsequently. 
Concentric ring protrusions or grooves 14 positioned on the surface of the 
speaker cone 6 about the peripheral rim 8 are provided to insure an 
acoustical resonance in the mounting of the speaker cone 6 and to improve 
the sound producing qualities of the speaker cone 6. The ring grooves 14 
provide the maximum flexibility to the peripheral portions of the speaker 
cone 6 thereby permitting the maximum amount of cone sound inducing 
movement. The result is to induce speaker cone 6 movement which will lower 
the resonent characteristics of the voice unit 2. The speaker cone is 
preferably as light as possible and can be vacuum or pressure formed from 
a sheet of thin heated plastic in an appropriate mold. 
The top housing member 10 includes an alignment rim 16 for receiving the 
speaker grill 4. The alignment rim 16 surrounds a support flange 18 which 
is adapted to receive the speaker cone rim 8 and accordingly center the 
speaker cone 6 in the housing member 10. An appropriate adhesive can be 
positioned on the support flange 18 for securing the speaker cone 6 to the 
top housing member 10. 
As one method of fastening the voice unit 2 together a series of 
cylindrical securement bosses or columns 20 are mounted on the interior of 
the top housing member 10. In the disclosed embodiment, four of these 
bosses 20 are arranged about the internal peripheray of the top housing 
member 10 and are adapted to receive thread inserts (not shown) for 
coacting with appropriate fasteners such as screws (not shown). 
Alternatively, the voice unit 2 can simply be glued together with an 
appropriate solvent. A shoulder 22 extends substantially around the 
interior of an outer wall 24 of the top housing 10 for alignment with a 
matching component on a lower housing member. A semi-circular notch 26 is 
provided on a ramp 28 of the outer wall 24 and is designed to receive a 
guide sleeve or eyelet 30 for permitting the relative movement of a pull 
string 32 into and out of the voice unit 2. A pull ring 34 can be 
conveniently attached to the pull string 32 both to assist an operator in 
applying a force to the pull string 32 and further to serve as a stop or 
limit to the movement of the pull string 32 into the voice unit 2 by 
contacting the ramp 28. Finally, a semi-circular top governor housing 
cavity portion 36 is integrally molded into the outer wall 24 of the top 
housing member 10. 
A reset arm retainer plug 38 includes an upper circular flange 40 that 
supports a cross sectionally X-shaped spring retainer 42 having a 
cantilevered leg 44. The center helix of a reset arm spring 46 is adapted 
to fit over and be retained by the cantilevered leg 44. 
The reset arm 48 has an appropriate bore 50 for receiving the reset arm 
retainer plug 38. The reset arm retainer plug 38 is adapted to be 
press-fitted within an appropriate bore 52 mounted on the motor cover 
plate 54 as seen in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the plug 38 and bore 52 can be 
designed to provide a snap-in engagement or re-designed to remove the 
necessity of a plug 38, for example, by having the reset arm 48 directly 
snapped into the motor cover plate 54. The assembly and alignment of each 
of the respective parts of the voice unit 2 can be determined from the 
dotted trace lines. 
The reset arm 48 has an appropriate cam ramp 56 adjacent a movement 
limiting pawl 58. Th reset arm spring 46 has one spring end attached to a 
side exterior surface of the reset arm 48 and another spring end adapted 
to be held stationary by a spring support member 60 extending upward from 
the surface of the motor cover plate 54. The permissible movement of the 
reset arm 48 is determined by the coaction of the pawl 58 with the tone 
arm 62. The pull string 32 passes through a hole 64 in a lower flange 66 
of the reset arm 48. 
Referring again to the motor cover plate 54 of FIG. 2, the bore 52 for 
receiving the retainer plug 38 is located in a tubular support member 68 
having a lower flange 70 to provide a bearing surface for the pivotal 
movement of the reset arm 48. A vertical wall member 72 can serve as a 
stop or limit to the pivotal movement of the reset arm 48 by contacting a 
portion of the reset arm 48 adjacent the flange 66. A retainer plate 74 is 
elevated from the surface of the motor cover plate 54 and has a grooved 
bore 76 adapted to receive stud 78 shown in FIG. 3 which also provides a 
pivotal connection to the tone arm 62 when it passes through a bore 80 in 
the tone arm 62. The retainer plate 74 maintains the tone arm 62 on the 
stud 78. 
A peripheral notch 82, a retaining ear 84 and a hole (not shown), located 
behind the retaining plate 74 in FIG. 2, provide alignment points for the 
motor cover plate 54 when it is mounted within the lower housing member 86 
shown in FIG. 3. An alignment hole 88 in the motor cover plate 54 and an 
additional alignment hole 90 in a governor housing member 92 are adapted 
to align appropriate shafts of components to be discussed subsequently. A 
wedge shaped opening 94 is provided in the motor cover plate 54 to permit 
freedom of movement of the pull string 32 as it extends through the motor 
cover plate 54 and is driven through an arc movement by the reset arm 48. 
The tone arm 62 comprises three separate and relatively movable parts which 
can be seen in detail in FIGS. 5, 7 and 8. The tone arm 62 has a 
dog-legged shaped elongated body 96 with a mounting post 98 at one end and 
a stylus or needle mounting arm 104 at the other end. The dog-legged shape 
insures a tangential alignment of the stylus mounting arm 104 with the 
record tracks to optimize the pickup of sound indicia from a push-pull or 
horizontal side to side cut record groove. The tone arm 62 is molded of 
plastic and has a "living hinge" or flexure necked-down portion 100 
connecting the mounting post 98 with the elongated body 96. The mounting 
post 98 includes the bore 80 for receiving the mounting stud 78 from the 
lower housing member 86. The flexure or "living hinges" 100 are known in 
the prior art of plastic molding and in essence comprise a thin 
necked-down portion approximately 15 to 20 thousandths of an inch in 
thickness and 30 thousandths of an inch in width that is relatively free 
of stress and backlash and is capable of a large number of repetitive 
pivotal movements. Of prime importance the flexure hinges 100 are capable 
of translating all the motion imposed on the hinge, that is, it will not 
lose any sound indicia. 
The elongated body 96 has essentially a U-shaped cross sectional 
configuration with the bottom surface relatively open. Mounted within the 
elongated body 96 and connected to the mounting post 98 is a tone arm 
spring 102. The purpose of the tone arm spring 102 is to insure a downward 
pressure or force on the stylus mounting arm 104 when the mounting post 98 
is restrained in movement by the mounting stud 78. 
The stylus mounting arm 104 is connected to the elongated body 96 by a pair 
of living hinges 106. The living hinges 106 permit a stylus or record 
needle 108 mounted in the stylus mounting arm 104 to have a relatively 
free pivotal movement independent from the elongated body 96. This is 
accomplished by mounting the stylus 108 along the axis of the flexure 
hinges 106. Actually as can be seen from FIG. 7, it is the contact point 
of the stylus 108 with the record which should optimally be in the 
vertical plane of the two hinges 106 to effectively minimize any 
mechanical coupling of the sound indicia into the tone arm 62. The 
particular use of the no lost motion flexure hinges 106 permits the stylus 
108 and mounting arm 104 to provide a bell crank effect in converting the 
lateral or horizontal needle motion to a vertical linkage motion to the 
speaker cone 6. Interestingly, this tone arm arrangement can also perform 
satisfactorily with a record groove cut with a hill and dale or vertical 
sound indicia arrangement upon an appropriate re-alignment of the tone arm 
90 degrees rotated from the disclosed embodiment relative to the record 
groove. 
As can be seen from FIG. 7, a camming ramp 110 is provided on the stylus 
mounting arm 104 to extend adjacent the pointed end of the stylus 108. The 
camming ramp 110 is so positioned relative to the tip of the stylus 108 
and the relative height of the interface area of two concentric records to 
contact the edge of the upper record when the stylus 108 tracks off the 
upper record and to translate the stylus 108 independent of the record's 
interface onto the lower record. Thus, the camming ramp 110 permits the 
stylus 108 to track across two concentric records without becoming stuck 
or captured in the opening or interface of the records. 
A female ball joint or coupling member 112 is designed to provide a swivel 
connection with a male speaker link 114. The speaker link 114 comprises a 
rod-like body having a spherical ball 116 mounted at either end of the 
link body. It has been found desirable to utilize a relatively light 
weight plastic such as a polypropylene having a specific gravity of about 
0.9 for the link 114. While heavier plastics have better sound 
transmission characteristics, their heavier mass adversely effects the 
linkage system of the present invention. The respective ball portions 116 
of the speaker link 114 are adapted to be mounted respectively in the 
joint or coupling member 112 of the stylus mounting arm 104 and the female 
joint 12 at the apex or tip of the speaker cone 6. The effect of the ball 
and joint coupling permits a universal motion to the speaker link 114 
while efficiently transmitting all of the sound vibrations that are 
induced into the stylus mounting arm 104 via the record stylus 108. The 
female coupling joint 112 can further be of a split ring configuration 
(not shown) to further insure a pressure bias on the coupling joint 112 
that prevents any loss of sound indicia motion. 
A combination string spool and sun gear 118 has a central bore opening 120 
of a cross bar configuration. The lower portion of the spool 118 carries 
the sun gear 122. A flange 124 retains the pull string 32 as it 
progressively rewinds on the spool during the voice reproduction operation 
of the voice unit 2. 
While it is possible to utilize many features of the present invention on a 
single turntable voice unit, the following disclosure is directed to its 
application on a dual turntable voice unit. An inner turntable 126 has a 
central cavity or bore 128 for receiving and being held in position by the 
particular mounting of the string spool 118. Referring to FIG. 2A, the 
underside of the inner turntable 126 has an inner protruding annular rail 
or carrier member 130 terminating at one end in an enlarged tooth member 
132 and at the other end in a gear retaining wall 134. The outer edge of 
the inner turntable 126 has a cylindrical bearing rim 140. 
Referring to FIG. 3, the inner turntable 126 is adapted to be mounted 
recessed within the cavity of an outer turntable 136 for concentric 
relative rotation. A shoulder portion 138 on the outer turntable 136 seats 
the outer peripheral bearing rim 140 of the inner turntable 126 at a 
spaced apart distance from the outer turntable 136. A mounting flange 146 
is centrally located in the outer turntable 136 cavity for seating the 
string spool 118 as shown in FIG. 4. The periphery of the outer turntable 
136 can have an annular groove 148 for receiving an O-ring drive belt 150. 
Alternatively, a record can be mounted on the turntable 136 and form one 
flange of the groove 148. The respective inner and outer turntables 126 
and 136 can be made of nylon and have sound tracks or grooves, as shown in 
FIG. 7, directly cut onto the turntable disk faces and thereby remove the 
necessity of records completely. 
The annular rail or carrier member 130 extends downward into the secondary 
cavity of the outer turntable 136 adjacent a ring gear portion 142 of the 
outer turntable 136. A planetary gear 144 is restrained within the 
secondary cavity of the outer turntable 136 between the tooth member 132 
and the gear retaining wall 134. The operation of the planetary gear 144 
which can permit relative rotation between the inner turntable 126 and the 
outer turntable 136 will be subsequently described. 
A spring spindle 152 has a lower cylindrical portion 154 for supporting a 
constant tension main spring 156. A shaft 158 extends upward from the ring 
portion 154 to provide a complementary cross bar shape for receiving the 
bore 120 on the string spool 118. A circular stud 160 on the shaft 158 is 
adapted to be received within the alignment hole 88 of the motor cover 
plate 54. A rivet or the like 162 can be utilized to fasten the main 
spring 156 to the ring portion 154 of the spring spindle 152. The constant 
tension coil 164 of the main spring 156 is adapted to be received within a 
retaining cavity 166 in the lower bottom housing 86. Mylar washers (not 
shown) can be utilized on either side of the main spring 156 to isolate 
any sharp edges from contact with plastic components. 
A governor assembly 168 includes a mounting shaft 170 supporting a central 
mounting flange 172 that pivotally mounts a pair of brake shoes 174 and 
176. Each brake shoe carries a respective brake pad 178 which can be 
simply a felt pad for frictionally bearing against the inner wall of the 
governor housing member 92 on the motor cover plate 54. An upper stud 
member 180 on the shaft 170 is adapted to be positioned within the 
alignment hole 90 on the governor housing member 92. 
A guide roller 182 having a central annular groove about its surface is 
adapted to be mounted on a stud support 184 extending from the surface of 
the lower bottom housing 86. An adjacent stud 186 centrally located within 
the governor cavity wall 188 of the lower housing member 86 is designed to 
fit within a bore (not shown) in the mounting shaft 170. The drive belt 
150 is operatively mounted on the groove 148 of the outer turntable 136 
and extends around the mounting shaft 170. The guide roller 182 tensions 
the drive belt 150 between the mounting shaft 170 and the outer turntable 
136 and further increases the effective wrap about the shaft 170. When the 
governor assembly 168 is rotated by the drive belt 150, during the 
operation of the respective turntables 136 and 126, each of the governor 
brake shoes 174 and 176 pivot away from their mounting flange 172 as a 
result of the centrifugal forces exerted upon them. The brake shoes 174 
and 176 may optionally have a spring biasing them against the mounting 
flange 172. The pivoting motion forces the brake pads 178 to bear against 
the inner wall of the governor housing 92 and thereby regulate the 
rotational speed of the respective turntables. Centrally mounted within 
the spring spindle cavity 190 is a stud 192 for receiving the spring 
spindle 152. 
A plurality of tubular columns 194 having central bores 196 are adapted to 
receive fastening screws (not shown) therethrough for connection with the 
securement columns 20 on the upper housing member 10. Alternatively, the 
upper and lower housing members can be held together by a solvent 
adhesive. 
A bearing wall 198 extends upward from the bottom housing member 86 to 
support the end of the pawl 58 of the reset arm 48. The lower bottom 
housing wall 200 further provides a shoulder 202 for receiving an edge of 
the upper housing outer wall 24. Internal shoulder 22 on the upper housing 
member 10 receives the rim 204 of the lower bottom housing member 86. A 
lower ramp 206 has an appropriate half-circular notch 208 to coat with the 
upper ramp 28 for forming a stop for the pull ring 34. 
COMPONENT OPERATION 
Tone Arm Operation 
Referring to FIGS. 5 and 8, the tone arm 62 is disclosed in its operative 
mode. As noted earlier, the tone arm 62 comprises an elongated body member 
96 having a hinged mounting post 98 at one end and a stylus mounting arm 
104 at the other end. A flexure or "living hinge" 100 connects the 
mounting post 98 with the elongated body 96. Basically, a "living hinge" 
is a necked down or thin section of plastic that has a minimal amount of 
plastic memorey or "set" relative to its designed direction of rotation. 
The necked down section is relatively free of stresses and capable of a 
large number of cyclic operations, well within the normal life of the tone 
arm 62 without losing any voice indicia motion transmitted across the 
hinge. A tone arm spring 102 is interconnected between an ear portion 220 
of the mounting post member 98 and a mounting stem 222 on the elongated 
body member 96. The tone arm spring 102 creates a bias or downward force 
of about 50 grams that provides the proper tension force to the stylus 
108. 
As can be appreciated by the particular mounting of the tone arm spring 
102, the elongated body portion 96 can have a relatively large degree of 
movement in the vertical plane compared to the mounting post 98 on its 
stud 72 while still providing a relatively constant spring tension or 
force on the stylus 108. Thus, as the stylus or needle 108 is translated 
by a camming action from the outer record 228 to the inner record 230 
independent of the interfacing gap, that is horizontally inward and 
vertically downward, the relative relaxation of the tension in the tone 
arm spring 102 is minute and the respective tone arm force translated to 
the stylus or needle 108 remains virtually constant from the outer to the 
inner records. 
By providing the pair of flexure or living hinges 106 between the stylus 
mounting arm 104 and the elongated tone arm body 96, the present invention 
insures a relative free movement of the stylus or needle 108 for tracking 
the sound path in the appropriate spiral groove track and further 
translating this movement along the arm 104 to the speaker cone 6 through 
the speaker link 114. As mentioned earlier, the stylus point contact in 
the vertical plane of the pair of flexure hinges 106 minimizes any sound 
indicia movement coupling into the tone arm 62. 
A cam follower arm 224 is provided on the surface of the tone arm elongated 
body member 96 for contact with the reset arm 48. In addition, an arcuate 
shaped stop member 226 is also provided on the body member 96. The reset 
arm pawl 58 is designed to move between the cam follower arm 224 and the 
arcuate stop member 226 depending upon the tension exerted on the pull 
string 32. The contact of the pawl 58 with the arcuate stop member 226 
further insures a stable or relatively vibration free state for the tone 
arm 62 to help insure an isolation of the speaker linkage system from the 
rest of the voice unit 2. While not necessary, a grease such as silicone 
grease can be provided on the interface of the pawl 58 and the stop member 
226. 
Referring to FIG. 8, the relative position of the tone arm 62 and the reset 
arm 48 are disclosed in various operative modes. The solid drawing lines 
disclose the relative position of the tone arm 62 and the reset arm 48 at 
their end of travel in a rest position after playing one discrete sequence 
of combined sounds from the inner and outer records. The dotted lines 
disclose the relative positions after the pull string 32 has been extended 
to its full length. The reset spring 46 tends to bias the reset arm 48 to 
that position shown in the solid lines of FIG. 8. While not shown, it 
would be possible to design the reset arm 48 with an integral plastic 
spring which would eliminate the need for an extra steel wire spring 46. 
During the initial tensioning of the pull string 32, the reset arm 48 is 
rotated and the cam ramp 56 contacts the cam follower arm 224 on the tone 
arm 62 to raise the tone arm 62 and correspondingly the stylus or needle 
108 from contact with an inner record 230 shown in FIG. 6. As the tension 
force on the pull string 32 overcomes the bias of the reset arm spring 46, 
the cam ramp 56 pivots the tone arm 62 to the desired initial operative 
position as shown in the trace lines of FIG. 8. The pawl 58 of the reset 
arm 48 is supported throughout its travel on a bearing wall 198 extending 
upward from the lower housing member 86. When the tension on the pull 
string 32 is released, the reset spring 46 forces the arcuate outer 
surface of the pawl 58 against the arcuate stop member 226 on the tone arm 
62. In this position, the tone arm 62 is free to track inwardly on the 
spiral grooves respectively on the inner and outer records. 
Planetary Gear Operation 
Referring to FIGS. 4 and 6, when an operator pulls the string 32, he 
rotates the spring spindle 152 which, in turn, unwinds or reverse winds 
the coil 164 of the negator or constant tension main spring 156. The coil 
164 has been stored or held passive in a retaining cavity 166 on the lower 
bottom housing member 86 partially disclosed in FIG. 3. Since the spring 
spindle 152 is interconnected via the shaft 158 with the string spool 118, 
the sun gear 122 portion of the string spool 118 is rotated with the 
movement of the pull string 32. This rotation of the sun gear 118 in turn 
drives the planetary gear 144. The planetary gear 144 is disclosed in FIG. 
6 in its relatively free rotatable state in solid lines and also in its 
locked state in dotted trace lines. 
During the pulling of the string 32, the planetary gear 144 is driven to 
rotatably contact the gear retaining wall 134 of the inner turntable 126 
which can be seen in more detail in FIG. 2A. The orbiting motion of the 
planetary gear 144 about the center of axis of the sun gear 122 is 
directly translated via the gear retaining wall 134 to the inner turntable 
126 and accordingly rotates the inner turntable 126. The ring gear portion 
162 of the outer turntable 136 and the turntable itself remains relatively 
stationary due to both inertia and friction forces between the governor 
assembly 168, the drive belt 150, the guide roller 182 and the outer 
groove 148 of the outer turntable 136. As the pull string 32 is removed 
from its spool 118 and, in turn, rotates the sun gear 122 the inner 
turntable 126 likewise rotates relative to the outer turntable 136 as 
determined by the gear ratio. This rotation can insrure positioning of any 
inner record spiral grooves 212 relative to outer ring record spiral 
grooves 210 if the dual turntable embodiment of the invention is used. 
When the pull string 32 is released by the operator, the negator or 
constant tension spring 156 seeks to return to a coiled position and 
accordingly drives the spring spindle 152 in an opposite direction. Again, 
the string spool 118 and sun gear 122 are likewise driven and this causes 
the planetary gear 144 to orbit in the opposite direction. When the 
planetary gear 144 contacts the tooth member 132 of the carrier portion as 
shown in the trace lines of FIG. 6, the planetary gear 144 serves to 
relatively lock the ring gear 142 and accordingly the outer turntable 136 
to the inner turntable 126. The stored force in the constant tension 
spring 156 is sufficient to overcome the inertia and frictional forces 
that previously held the outer turntable 136 and accordingly the planetary 
gear 144, the inner turntable 126 and the outer turntable 136 are all 
orbited about the axis of the driving sun gear 122. 
With the inner and outer turntables relatively locked and driven, the 
stylus or needle 108 can accordingly track the appropriate sound grooves 
in the outer and inner records as they move relative to the tone arm 62. 
If it is desired to use a single turntable, either the outer or inner 
turntable could be utilized. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seen 
that the outer turntable 136 could be enlarged and the inner turntable 126 
eliminated leaving only the carrier portion with the tooth member 132 and 
the gear retaining wall 134. 
Speed Control Mechanism 
Basically, the relative speed of one or more turntables is controlled by a 
centrifugal governor assembly 168. In addition, the use of a negator or 
constant tension main spring 156 further provides some speed control 
because of the relatively constant torque force. An applicable negator or 
constant tension spring 156 can be purchased from the Hunter Spring 
Company of Lansdale, Pa. 
While it is possible to utilize other forms of governor assemblies such as 
an air paddle, the preferred embodiment utilizes a pair of brake shoes 174 
and 176 which carry brake pads 178 for bearing against the inner wall 
surface of the governor housing 92. The governor assembly 168 serves a 
secondary function as a fly weight in the drive system. Thus, a constant 
rotation of speed of one or more turntables is achieved with the use of a 
constant tension drive spring 156 and a centrifugal governor assembly 168 
which is of the flywheel friction governor type. The speed control 
mechanism of the present invention is adequate to control wow and flutter 
and to permit relatively good fidelity and volume in the voice unit 2. 
Speaker Cone System 
The speaker cone 6 is basically a thin conical plastic shell which can be 
pressure or vacuum formed to provide a conical ball joint 12 at its apex. 
A series of peripheral ring grooves 14 are provided to maximize the 
peripheral flexibility of the speaker cone 6 and accordingly lower the 
resonance. The mechanical movement or vibrations from the recording medium 
which are converted into sound by the relative movement of the speaker 
cone 6 are translated directly to the speaker cone 6 through its 
connection with the speaker link 114 and the ball joint apex 12. The lower 
portion of the speaker link 114 is universally or swivelly coupled into 
the coupling member 112 of the stylys mounting arm 104. 
The stylus or needle 108 is mounted on the mounting arm 104 adjacent a pair 
of flexure or living hinges 106 that pivotally connect the needle mounting 
arm 104 to the tone arm body 96. As the tip of the stylus or needle 108 
tracks a modulated sprial path along the walls of the record grooves, the 
side to side or horizontal movement is amplified as it is translated to 
the speaker link 114 by virtue of the pivotal movement of the mounting arm 
104. The elongated body 96 of the tone arm 62 provides a relatively 
stationary or stable platform by virtue of the pressurized contact of the 
pawl 58 with the arcuate tone arm stop member 226. Altough not necessary, 
it is possible to utilize a grease connection between the pawl 58 and the 
arcuate stop member 226 such as a silicone grease. 
The induced movement of the point of the stylus or needle 108 is adequately 
magnified and transmitted through the length of the needle mounting arm 
104 and through the joint coupling member 112. The spherical mounting or 
ball joint 12 at the apex of the speaker cone 6 is sufficiently secure to 
provide a snap-in engagement with the speaker link 114 and to adequately 
transmit all of the induced stylus point movement directly to the speaker 
cone 6. The rim 18 of the top housing 10 with the assistance of either the 
speaker grill 4 or by itself with an appropriate adhesive further provides 
a stable or stationary base for the suspension of the speaker cone 6. 
Operation of the Voice Unit 
The operation of the voice unit 2 will be described with reference to the 
dual turntable arrangement disclosed in the drawings although it should be 
realized that a single turntable could also be utilized. 
Referring to FIGS. 4, 6 and 7, the inner turntable 126 is mounted within 
the outer turntable 136 and is free to move relative to the outer 
turntable 136 in one direction during the pulling of the pull string 32 
while being held fast in the other direction during the sound 
reproduction. The respective surfaces of each of the turntables can 
support an appropriate spirally grooved record disk as shown in FIG. 6. 
Generally, the turntables 126 and 136 will be made from a nylon material 
and can as a highly advantageous alternative embodiment have a plurality 
of individual interleaving spiral grooves 232 cut directly into the 
respective turntable surfaces as shown in FIG. 7, thus removing the 
necessity of separate record disks. 
FIG. 6 is shown with a pair of conecntric flat record discs 228 and 230, 
but it should be understood that inner and outer turntables 126' and 136' 
can carry the sound tracks. 
Each of the sound grooves will provide a separate sound track on which can 
be recorded a distinctive sound such as a phrase or part of a sentence. 
The sound tracks on the outer record 228 can each introduce or start a 
sentence while the distinctive sounds recorded on the inner spiral record 
grooves 212 of the inner record 230 can be complementary to any one of the 
outer sounds and thus finish the sentence. Thus, as an illustration, one 
of the outer spiral record grooves 210 can contain the phrase "Baby wants" 
while any one of the inner spiral record grooves 212 will have a 
complementary phrase such as "a new red bicycle", "a friend to play with", 
"a new dress for Christmas". As can be readily appreciated, the total 
number of distinct complete sound sequences capable of being reproduced on 
the voice unit 2 is a function of the number of outer spiral record 
grooves 210 multiplied by the number of the inner spiral grooves 212. 
Since the spiral record grooves 210 have initial starting positions 
staggered about the outer periphery edge, the production of sound will 
begin promptly upon a release of the pull string 32 after it is pulled by 
the operator. 
The spiral sound tracks can be of either a horizontal lateral indicia 
groove system or even a hill-and-dale type. Generally, the lateral 
horizontal groove system has a higher sound fidelity potential, since the 
stylus or needle 108 is both pushed and pulled in the horizontal plane 
instead of being only pushed upward in the vertical plane. It is believed 
that most voice units in the prior art have been forced to accept a 
hill-and-dale system since they were generally incapable of providing a 
relatively inexpensive but efficient voice unit with a side-to-side 
arrangement. 
The outer record 228 has its spiral record grooves 210 starting from the 
outer peripheral edge and terminating directly at the inner peripheral 
record edge to let the stylus point fall off of the outer record 228 under 
the pressure of spring 102. This particular arrangement of grooves is 
believed to be unique and facilitates the movement of the stylus or needle 
108 from the outer record 228 onto the inner ring record 230. The inner 
record 230 likewise has similarly arranged spiral grooves 212 which can 
conveniently end on a respective common inner peripheral groove (not 
shown). 
Referring to FIG. 7, the camming ramp 110 on the stylus or needle mounting 
arm 104 insures that the stylus or needle 108 will not become stuck in the 
gap existing between the inner record 230 and the outer record 228. The 
camming ramp 110 is proportioned to contact the inner edge of the outer 
record 228 and to translate the stylus 108 as it passes or falls off of 
the inner edge of the outer record 228. By providing for the particular 
camming translation of the stylus 108, the relative alignment of the inner 
edge of the outer record 228 and the outer edge of the inner record 230 
need not be precise or even close in proximity. Likewise, the turntables 
126' and 136' shown in FIG. 7 can be roughly aligned during assembly since 
the stylus point is effectively lifted over and inwardly across the outer 
peripheral edge of turntable 126' and will not become trapped by the 
interface gap between the turntables or records. The translation is 
relatively quick and does not interfere with the continuity of the 
complete voice sequence perceived by the listener which includes the 
sounds of the inner and outer records combined. The exact shape of the 
camming surface or ramp 110 is determined as a function of the relative 
vertical height between the records or turntables and the desired 
horizontal translation distance. 
When an operator grasps the ring 34 of the pull string 32 and pulls it away 
from the combined voice unit housing members 10 and 86 he also turns the 
string spool 118 and correspondingly the string spindle 152 to reverse 
wind the negator or the constant tension spring 156 from its spiral coiled 
position to a position about the ring portion 154 of the string spindle 
152. During this operation, the tension of the string 132 pulls the reset 
arm 48, as shown in FIG. 8, to reset the tone arm 62 adjacent the outer 
peripheral edge of the outer record 228. During the pulling operation of 
the pull string 32, the inner turntable 126 and its corresponding inner 
record disk 230 can be rotated relative to the outer turntable 136 and the 
outer record 228. Upon release of the pull string 32, the constant tension 
spring 156 releases its energy to drive both the inner and outer 
turntables 126 and 136 and their corresponding records at the same speed. 
It should be realized that the voice unit 2 of the present invention can 
accommodate various indexing systems or mechanisms to permit the operator 
to discretely select a particular sound track or combination of sound 
tracks. 
Various modifications of the other features of the present invention are 
possible by a person skilled in the art. For example, FIG. 9 discloses an 
alternative embodiment of the present invention wherein the mechanical 
linkage system between the stylus mounting arm 104 and the speaker cone 6 
includes a pair of flexure or "living" hinges 236 and 238 instead of the 
respective ball and joint couplings 12 and 112. The speaker cone 6' is 
appropriately modified to be secured to the link portion 114' and the link 
portion 114' can be bifurcated to facilitate molding. The axis or plane 
about which the hinges 236 and 238 rotate appropriately aligned with the 
pivot point of the tone arm 62. This arrangement facilitates assembly and 
permits an integral molding of the linkage system. 
It should be noted that various modifications can be made to the apparatus 
while still remaining within the purview of the following claims.