Patent GB-791427-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to phonograph reproducers
IPC: G11B33/02
Filed: 1956-09-12
Abstract: 791,427. Phonographs. COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM, Inc. Sept. 12, 1956 [Sept. 12, 1955], No. 27906/56. Class 40(2). The invention deals with the mounting of a record player 22 on an unstable support such as a moving vehicle and includes rubber mountings 45, 46, 47 for a plate 23 supporting a turntable 37. An electric driving motor 24 is mounted on the plate 23 by means of tubular shock-absorbers 25, Fig. 3A, the motor driving a shaft 26 through a universal coupling 27. The shaft 26 engages a rubber rim 28 of an idler wheel 29 having a hub 30 on which a wheel 31, with a knurled rim, is mounted. The latter engages the undersurface of a ring 36, of flexible material, secured beneath the turntable 37 which has a centre hole 38 by means of which it is mounted on a spindle 39 carried by the plate 23. The turntable is supported by rollers 40, of rubber or the like, which extend through apertures 41 in the plate 23. To minimise slippage between a record and the turntable 37, an annular strip 43 of rubber, or the like, formed with projections 44, is preferably secured on top of the turntable. The rubber blocks 45, 46, 47 are provided each with a vertical bore 48, Fig. 3C (not shown), into which are inserted projections from the plate 23, and a base 20. The distribution of mass of the player 22, relatively to the blocks 45, 46, 47 is such that the effect of forward or rearward acceleration of the vehicle will be reduced to negligible proportions. One or more balance weights 51 may be secured to the plate 23. The counter-balanced pick-up assembly 52, Fig. 5, comprises a housing 53, secured to a shaft 54, mounted within a bore 55, which may be packed with a viscous damping material such as silicon grease, to oppose any sudden turning movement of the assembly about the shaft 54. A conventional phonograph cartridge 57 is secured to a pivotable channel member 56. A compression spring 58 normally urges the cartridge toward the record. A counterweight 63 is secured to the rear end of the housing 53. A counterweight 64, on the member 56, is provided to prevent shocks along the axis of the shaft 54 from producing turning movements of the member 56 about its pivot. When the player is out of use, the arm 52 is locked in position by a latching assembly 65 (Figs. 1 and 3A). In order to prevent deformation of the rubber rim 28, on the wheel 29, when at rest, means is provided for disengaging the rim from the shaft 26. This comprises link means 74, 75, 77 (Fig. 3B) coupled to the pick-up 52, and a further link 34, carrying the wheel 29, the link 34 being pivotable about a shaft 35. Arcuate guide members 78, 79 facilitate the placing of a record on its spindle 39 by guiding its edge. An actuator 61 is then depressed to lift an extension 59 (Fig. 5), out of a slot 67 and is maintained depressed while the pick-up 52 is turned in the direction of the turntable until the extension 59 engages a detent 73. The actuator 61 is then released to permit a stylus to contact the record. After the record has been played, the actuator 61 is depressed to lift the cartridge 57 away from the record, and the pick-up is returned to its initial position, the extension 59 co-operating with an inclined surface 80, on an arm 68 to lift the latter. When the extension 59 lies directly above a slot 67, in the latching mechanism 65 (Fig. 3A), the actuator is released allowing the extension 59 to drop into the slot 67 and lock the pick-up in the rest position. Simultaneously, the pick-up 52 engages the actuator 77 on the rod 75 and moves it outwardly so that the arm 74 lifts the free end of the link 34 and disengages the rim 28, of the wheel 29, from the shaft 26. A record storage compartment 20a is provided. The container 10 has a hinged lid 14 provided with a lock 15.