Patent GB-370997-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to automatic magazine gramophones
IPC: G11B17/16
Filed: 1930-10-15
Abstract: 370,997. Magazine gramophones. LINK, R. P., 10, Millers Avenue, Hackney, London. Oct. 15, 1930, No. 30827. [Class 40 (ii).] An automatic magazine gramophone is provided with means for lifting a record disc from a turntable 10 by arms 84 which are tilted to an inclined position and whilst in this position are rotated to invert the record disc. The arms 84, Figs. 1 and 3, which have pivoted recordengaging fingers 105 at their outer ends, are mounted at their inner ends on pivots 103 carried by a barrel 101 supported rotatably in bearing rings 100. These rings are arranged on a frame 94 carried by a sleeve 92 which has a gear wheel 93 engaging a rack 72 for swinging the arms 84 between the turntable and supply and delivery tables 184, 185. The frame 94 supports side-plates 97 carried on pivots 98 which, together with pins 99 mounted on the side-plates, are adapted to support the bearing rings 100. The arms 84 are adapted to be operated by means of a plunger 83 which is movable in the sleeve 92 and carries a fork 127 at its upper end. A link 125 having a pin- and-slot connection with the fork 127 is connected with links 120, 121 respectively attached to the pivot pins 98 and the end of a spring-controlled rod 117 mounted in an extension 116 of a slide 115 which is pivoted to the inner ends of the arms 84. The side-plates 97 are connected to a fork 128 and are prevented, by a latch 130, from downward movement with the plunger 83, until the latter has moved sufficiently to close the arms 84 on to the record, Further downward movement of the plunger 83 causes the link 125 to release the latch 130 so that the side-plates 97 and arms 84 are moved about the pivots 98 into inclined position. The record is adapted to be inverted when the plunger has moved the arms 84 to such an inclined position that a bevel wheel 131 on the barrel 101 engages a bevel wheel 132 which is driven through a clutch 135 under the control of a cam 139 on a shaft 68. The turntable 10 is driven from a motor 1 by worm gearing and a main clutch 7, 8, Figs. 1 and 6. The motor also drives, by gearing 30, a pair of shafts 28, 29, which are adapted to be coupled by clutches 33, 34 to shafts 31, 32 respectively, and these shafts are geared respectively with shafts 44, 38. A gear wheel 47, which is driven from the shaft 38, has tappets 51 for swinging a pivoted striker 52 into engagement with one end of a lever 42 and thereby to operate the clutch 33. The opposite end of the lever 42 is simultaneously disengaged from one of a number of notches 62 in the edge of a timing disc 57, Figs. 1 and 6, on a shaft 56, so that the latter is then driven by gearing 54, 55 from the shaft 44. The timing disc 57 thus operates, by means of cams 58, a rock shaft 60 having an arm 61 to control the movements of the arm 142 of the reproducer 140. Tappets 63 on the disc 57 are brought into contact in turn with a lever 24 so as to cause the turntable to be driven by the main clutch 7, 8. When the lever 42 engages the next notch 62 in the disc 57 the clutch 33 is inoperative and a tappet 64 on the disc 57 engages a lever 36 for operating the clutch 34 so as to drive the shaft 38 until the clutch 33 is again operated. The shaft 38 drives, by means of gearing 66, 67 a shaft 68 carrying a pair of cams 69, 70 for intermittently reciprocating a bar 71 carrying the rack 72 which engages the gear wheel 93 and effects the horizontal swinging movement of the arms 84. The plunger 83 is reciprocated by a pair of pivoted arms 77 carrying a roller engaging two cams 75, 76 on the shaft 68. The cam 76 is fixed on the shaft 68 and the cam 75 is rotated four times as fast by gearing 73, 74. The supply and delivery tables 184, 185 may be maintained at a suitable height, for example, by a yielding pawl thrusting the uppermost record into contact with a stop which is removed whilst the arms are removing a record from the pile. Alternatively, the two tables may be raised and lowered either by a cam-operated rod 193, Fig. 1, acting through a pawl and gearing 194, or a screw 186, engaging a worm wheel 187 which is rotated by a worm 188 driven by chain gearing 189 from the shaft 32. When the arms 84 are swung to a position adjacent the feed table 184 they are lowered into the plane of the uppermost record and supported on pivoted spring-pressed bearers 196. The arms are then fully opened by the final rising movement of the plunger 83, and rest on positioning blocks 198. Sound-box or electric pick-up assembly and operation.-The sound-box or pick-up 140 is carried in a fork 141 pivoted to an arm 142, Fig. 7, extending from a rotary head 143. A sleeve 147 supports two coaxial sleeves 148, 149 having helical contracting surfaces 150, 151, and a gear wheel 157 on the sleeve 148 is engaged by a rack 158, Fig. 1, operated by the arm 61 on the rock shaft 60 to return the pick-up 140 after playing a record. The pick-up arm 142 has a strut 170, Fig. 6, which, when the pick-up is swung outwardly, is returned on to a crutch 169 mounted on a tube 160 carried by a member 154 on a collar 155 rotatable on the sleeve 148. At the same time the tube is rotated by a stop so that a cam 161 mounted thereon presses a spring- engaged plunger 162 into engagement with a hole in the gear wheel 157 so that the arm 142 and member 154 move together. When the pick-up arm 142 is moved inwardly towards the record, a lug 172 engages the edge of the record and tilts the crutch 169 so as to cause the pick-up to be lowered on to the record and the rotation of the cam 161 to allow the plunger 162 to be withdrawn in order that the carrier member 154 may be returned by means of a weighted arm 165. A brush or flexible pad 173 on the pick-up ensures that the stylus enters the record groove. During playing of a record the periphery of a cam 178, Figs. 1 and 6, on the turntable shaft intermittently sets back a lever 178A which is continuously urged against the cam by an arm 177 adapted to move frictionally with a forked member 175 engaged by an arm 174 movable with the arm 142. When the pick-up receives an increased inward movement at the end of a record, the face of the cam 178 is engaged by the member 178A so that the lever 179, on which this member is pivotally mounted, moves the lever 42 to cause the clutch 33 to drive the shaft 44 and thereby return the pick-up arm. During this movement, the sleeve 148 rotates relatively to the sleeve 149 due to the helical surfaces 150, 151 and a pin on the sleeve 147 engaging a slot in the sleeve 149, and the pick-up is thereby raised above the record. Operation.-The shaft 38 is driven by the clutch 34 to cause the arms 84 to grip a record on the table 184 on the first downward movement of the plunger 83. Further downward movement of the plunger causes the forks 127, 128 to rock the side-plates 97 and arms 84 into inclined position. Cams 69, 70 then move the rack 72 so that the arms 84 are swung into position over the turntable. The plunger then rises causing the arms to release the record. The lever 42 then moves to render the clutch 33 operative to bring the pick-up into correct position on the record ; at the same time the clutch 34 is disengaged and the clutch 7, 8 is caused to drive the turntable. At the end of playing the record, and after return of the pick-up, the shaft 38 again operates to cause the cam 75 to give the plunger 38 a large downward movement in which the arms 84 first grip the record on the turntable and are then tilted to inclined position for rotation by the gearing 131, 132. The plunger then rises so as to deposit the record on the turntable with the other surface uppermost. After playing this surface the pick-up is returned and the arms 84 grip the record, lift it through a short distance, and swing it on to the delivery table 185 where it is deposited. Each of the clutches comprises a driven member 7 having a flange 11 shaped as shown in Fig. 8 for engaging one or more rollers 14 on pins 13 carried on a member 12, Fig. 9, and extending into a toothed plate 8. The pin 13 of one roller 14 extends through a slot 15 in the member 7, and the roller 14 is spring- pressed into driving engagement between an eccentric part 18 of the flange 11 and a cylindrical surface 19 of a driving member 20. When the rotation of the plate 8 is stopped by a pawl 23 on a lever 24, Fig. 1, the rollers 14 enter the recesses 22 in the flange 11 so that no driving action occurs. The motor circuit includes a switch 201, Fig. 12, which can be closed by an arm 202 on a rotary disc 203 controlled by a spring 207 and latch 204. A rod 206, connected with the latch 204, is provided for opening the switch, and a rod 209 is adapted for closing the switch. The latch 204 may be automatically operated to open the switch by the contacting of an arm 211 with a pin 212 on a disc 213 which is moved step by step by the engagement of a ratchet wheel 218 on the disc with a pawl 217 on a rod 214 adapted to be intermittently reciprocated by the bar 71 carrying the rack 72 for swinging the arms 84. The disc 213 is set to position the pin 212 according to the number of records to be played in succession.