Patent GB-190408825-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in Sound-reproducing Machines.
Inventor: WELLNER JULIUS
Filed: 1904-04-16
Granted: 1905-02-16
Abstract: 8825. Wellner, J. April 16. Phonographs. - Relates to a phonograph in which one of a number of records may be transferred from a magazine to the turntable and transferred back again, and to apparatus for automatically controlling the stylus, turntable, &c. When the bar 29, Figs. 1 and 3, is drawn out, the machine is operated to reproduce the composition on the record disc, to transfer the record disc from the turntable to the top of the series of discs 3, and to transfer the lowermost disc 3 to the top of the turntable, after which the machine is automatically stopped with its parts in position for a succeeding operation. When the bar 29 is pulled out, the outer end of the bar 39, Figs. 3 and 6, will be drawn in against the action of a spring 60, thereby disengaging the rollers 47 from the projection 48 and permitting the extension 43 to drop, complete the electric circuit 46, and start the motor 19. The plate 49 is now free to move under the action of a spring 52, and an offset 53 on the plate rocks the bell-crank lever 54, the other arm of which moves the link 56. This link rocks the arm 57 and shifts the clutch-member 22 so as to cause the pin 26 to engage with the pin 27. The pulley 17 driven by the motor thus causes the pulley 13 and therefore the turntable to rotate. The operations connected with the stylus are as follows :-The outward movement of the bar 29 rocks the arm 32, disengaging the roller 82 from the notch 105 ; but, immediately following the starting of the machine when the pull of the bar 29 is removed, the spring 83 causes the roller 82 to enter the notch 106, and just as this occurs, the cam-groove 75, Fig 9<a>, in the lever 70 engages the arm 76 ; by this means, the notch 73 in the lever is moved from engagement with the projection 74, whereupon the shaft 68 remains idle while the worm-wheel 67 is turned a complete revolution to permit the turntable to acquire the desired speed before engaging the stylus 96 with it. The laterally-bent end of the lever 70 with its groove 75 displaces the arm 76, so that, at the end of one complete revolution of the worm-wheel 67, the flat side of the lever 70 now meets the arm 76. This causes the lever to ride over and engage its notch 73 with the projection 74 once more. This being done, the shaft 68 is turned by the wormwheel 66 about half a revolution, and through the intervention of a crank-arm, the rod 90 and arm 91 are lowered by gravity, and the weighted arm 93 then turns the stylus 96 to engage the record disc. After the shaft 68 has turned this half - revolution, the roller 82 engages the notch 107, preventing its further rotation, and the groove 75 engages the free end of the arm 78 and rocks the lever 70 so as to disengage the notch 73 from the projection 74, disconnecting the shaft 68 from the worm-wheel 67. As the stylus moves towards the centre of the record, the arm 91 slowly turns the shaft 89, which slowly turns the shaft 100 and thereby gradually moves the curved end of the projection 101 in the direction indicated. As this curved end moves, it engages the arm 78 by friction and tends to maintain the latter against the wall of the opening in the plate 104. In this position, the arm 78 engages the lever 70 and prevents the re-engagement of the projection 74 and notch 73. When, however, the stylus reaches the inner end of the groove on the record disc, it ceases to move inwards, and the action of the curved end of the projection 101 on the arm 78 ceases ; consequently the notch 73 once more engages the projection 74, locking the shaft 68 to the worm-wheel 67 until it has been given another hatf-revolution and returned to its original position. The action on the stylus is the reverse of that previously described, except that a shoulder on the crank-arm mentioned causes the shaft 89 to turn and therefore causes the arm 91 to move the sound box 94 outward to a position beyond the outside line of the record disc ; during this movement, the shaft 100 is also turned, moving the arm 99 and projection 101 in the reverse direction for a succeeding operation. Simultaneously with the stopping of the shaft 68, the clutch-member 22 is shifted to disengage the pin 26 from the piu 27 and to engage the pin 28 with the pin 21, thereby preventing furthur rotation of the turntable 1 and connecting the clutch shaft 16 to the pulley 17 to be rotated by the motor 19. An arrangement is also described for returning the stylus above the edge of the disc after a fresh disc has been placed on it. The operations connected with the magazine are as follows:-During the initial movement of the cam shaft 118, which is produced from the shaft 16 through the gear-wheels 116, 115, the cam 142 engages the roller 141 of the arm 140 and rocks the shaft 139 which, through the arms 138 and links 137, raises the frame 135 along the guide-ways 136. The record disc is raised into line with the guide-ways 132. The cam 157 now acts upon the roller 156 of the arm 155 and rocks the shaft 154, which, through its connections, rocks the vertical shafts 55, 143, thereby moving the arm 146 towards the magazine and the arm 144 away from the turntable. This operation causes the pin 147 to shift the record on to the top of the magazine, where it is deposited upon the uppermost pins 127. This set 127 and another set of pins project horizontally from three pairs of vertical bars 126, 129 rocking on three vertical pillars, of which one 124 is shown in Fig. 1. During this movement of the arms 144, 146, these three vertical shafts, of which 124 is one, are rocked, and by the arrangement of the pins lower the whole of the record discs one step, placing the lowest disc upon the plate 119. The pin 145 upon the arm 144 then moves this disc through guideways 133 on to the turntable, which by now has once more reached its lowest position. In arrangements for automatically cutting off the supply of current to the motor, a cam 169 on the shaft 118 engages an arm 170 on the horizontal rock-shaft 171, Figs. 3 and 6, moving the plate 49 to re-engage the offset 53 with the lever 54 and thus permitting the spring 60 to move the bar 39 to return the roller 47 to a position to be engaged by the projection 48. Just before the cain shaft 118 completes its revolution, the arm 170 is freed, permitting the spring 52 to return the plate 49 to its original position ; the projection 48 then engages the roller 47 and rocks the arm 41 to lift the contact-points 44 out of the mercury cups.