Improvements in Phonographs or Graphophones,
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 12th July, 1898-Accepted, 24th June, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Phonographs or Graphophones,
I, MORGAN VALENTINE GRESS, of 1358 Broadway, New York, in the County and
State of New York, United States of America, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention has reference to phonographs or graphophones.
The invention resides, first, in an improved mechanism for returning the
diaphragm-carrier of a phonograph to the starting place, automatically, when it
has completed its travel over the wax cylinder or phonogram in recording or repre-
the
ducing; secondly, in an improved means for starting the machine upon
insertion of a coin of the proper denomination, which is so constructed as that it
not only holds the coin during the entire period of reproduction and releases it
automatically during the return travel of the phonograph carriage, but if a second
coin is inserted in the machine while the machine is reproducing said second coin
will be stopped in a place in the chute where it cannot affect the operation of the
machine, or exhaust the battery.
The construction, operation and advantages of the several features will be under-
stood from the following description and accompanying drawings, in which
drawings:-
Fig. is a plan view of a phonograph containing my improvements.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, showing different positions of the parts
in full and dotted lines.
Fig. 3 is a detail view of part of the coin-controlled circuit closing mechanism
with the door removed but its coin-engaging ledge indicated in dotted lines.
Fig. 4 is a detail view of the door.
Fig. is a perspective detail view of the tri-armed returning device and its
holding devices, with the parts separated to show construction.
I have shown the invention applied to phonographs of the type employing
a series of cylinders 1, 1, 1, carried by a rotatable frame 12 which is turned by the
lever 11 to bring the cylinders successively into operative position, but as said type
of phonograph is well known and the mechanism thereof is not my invention, and
as my invention is equally applicable to the well-known single cylinder phono-
graph and is not limited to the "multiplex-cylinder" a detail disclosure of the
latter is unnecessary. The device is, as usual, suitably encased, but the only
portion herein shown of the case is the shelf or phonograph support 2.
The base plate 3, standards 4, guide 5, supported by said standards, and the
carriage consisting of the sleeve 6 mounted to slide on said guide and having
diaphragm-carrier 7 at one end and nut carrier at its other end, and the nut-
sections 9, and the threaded feed shaft 10 are well known as constituting a part of
the Edison phonograph.
I will now describe my improvements.

page_text: RETURNING DEVICE.
15 is a screw shaft which is journaled in suitable bearings 16 and is preferably
driven from the feed-shaft 10.
A tri-armed tripper 17, is journaled upon a pin 18 which is screwed into an
ear 19 projecting from a plate 20 which is adjustably secured to the front end of
the diaphragm carrier 7. Pivoted to the side of the plate 20 is a latch 21 which
has a forward projection 22 that engages successively a lug 23 extending from
each successive arm of the tripper, and at each end of the space through which
said tripper reciprocates is a stop 24 and 25 each of which consists of a pin adjust-
ably mounted in a suitable support therefor. Around the bearing of the tripper 17
is formed a groove in which is located a spring 27 which bears upon said tripper
and the suitably formed head 28 of the pin 18 and acts to prevent the tripper from
turning accidentally on the journal therefor when the tripper is disengaged from
the feed-screw. While the diaphragm is being carried along and over the rotat-
ing wax-cylinder in recording or reproducing, the spring 27 holds all the arms
of the tripper disengaged from the screw shaft 15, but when the diaphragm has
been carried almost the full length of said cylinder, the tripper will have been
carried by the carrier 7 into engagement with the stop pin 24 which presents a
barrier to further movement of the tripper with said carrier, so that continued
movement of said carrier overcomes the power of spring 27 and causes the tripper 17
to turn upon the pin 18 and one of its arms engages the screw shaft 15 and assumes
a vertical position. The length of the arms of the tripper is such that while any
of them engaged with the screw shaft are assuming vertical position, the carrier 7
will be raised sufficiently to disengage the recording or reproducing point from
the wax cylinder and the nut-sections from the feed shaft. In will now be seen
that the engagement of the feed screw 15 with the tripper will cause the carrier 7
and the parts connected with it to be returned to the starting place. During this
return movement the arm of the tripper engaged, with said feed screw is main-
tained in vertical position by the engagement of its lug 23 with the part 22 of
the latch. At the end of the return movement, the beveled surface 29 of the latch
is brought into engagement with the beveled end of the pin 25 and said latch is
thereby forced rearward releasing its part 22 from the lug 23, whereby continued
rotation of the screw shaft 15 will cause the tripper to turn upon its journal-pin
until its arm shall have become disengaged from said shaft, during which time
it assumes the inclined position shown in dotted lines at the left hand of Fig. 2,
thus allowing the carrier to fall to its former position, re-engaging the nut-
sections with the feed-shaft, and the recording or reproducing point with the
wax-cylinder and disengaging the tripper from the feed screw. The parts are now
in position to resume operation. The pins may, as will be seen, be adjusted to
determine the point at which the return of the carrier 7 shall commence and end.
The pitch of the threads of the feed screw is preferably such as to insure a quick
return, as shown.
STARTING MECHANISM.
I will now describe the coin-controlled mechanism for starting the machine.
It will be understood that the feed-shaft 10 is driven by an electric motor and
battery, not shown, as is frequently the case in phonographs, the constructions
of which are not essential, and that contacts 40 and 41 are in the circuit from
the battery to said motor, so that when the circuit is closed through said contacts
the motor will operate to turn said shaft 10. The end of the contact 40 is resilient,
so that pressure applied to it will deflect it into engagement with the contact 41,
as shown in Fig. 3, and when said pressure is removed, it will spring back to
its normal position, shown in Fig. 2, thus closing and opening the circuit to the
motor and starting and stopping the machine, respectively.
The coin-chute 43, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 leads from the slot 44 in
the shelf 2 and at its lower end there is secured a casting 45 which connects it
with the cash-box 46. This casting has a door 47, pivoted at 48 and having a

page_text: ledge 49. Adjacent to said door is a pivoted lever having a lower arm 30, an
upper arm 51 and a weighted arm 52. When the machine is not in use, the
weight of the arm 52 causes the lever to maintain its normal position in which its
lower arm 50 extends horizontally across the coin-passageway, while its upper
arm is swung outward and its weighted arm is out of engagement with the con-
tact 40. Pivoted at a suitable point is a lever 53 which is weighted at its outer
end so that its inner end will normally extend horizontally across the coin
passageway above the arm 50. If now a coin of proper denomination be deposited
in the slot 44, it will fall through the chute, overcome the weight of the lever 53
and strike upon the arm 50 forcing the latter downward into inclined position
and engaging the arm 52 with the contact 40 and closing the circuit to the motor,
and also forcing the arm 51 inward into engagement with the stop 51, and with
the inner end of the lever 53, which latter has meanwhile resumed its horizontal
position, and locking the latter against downward movement so that if a second
coin be introduced into the machine it will be arrested and held by said lever 53
until the first coin has been deposited in the coin box, and therefore cannot become
wedged and act to cause the machine to continue operating until the battery is
exhausted, if there are no means to sooner remove the coins from the chute, which
has been a fruitful source of annoyance and expense.
The coin upon the arm 50 is also engaged with the ledge 49 upon the door 47,
which latter remains closed and thereby holds the coin in place upon said arm
during the period of operation paid for by said coin. When the door is swung
back said coin will roll off said arm 50 into the cash box 46, and the lever will
assume its normal position, thus again opening the circuit and unlocking the
lever 53, which latter, if there is a coin on it will swing down and deposit said coin
on the arm 50, thus repeating the operation of the machine.
The operation of opening the door to release the coin and closing it to position
to retain a coin is as follows; A lever or arm 54 of suitable construction and
material is engaged at one end with the door, and its other end is connected by
a link 55 with a pivoted lever 56 so that when the lever 56 is thrown to the dotted
position, shown in Fig. 2, the lower end of said lever 54 will be released from said
door, allowing the latter to open by gravity. The lever 54 is provided with a
weight 57 which acts to return the parts to the position shown in full lines in
Fig. 2 when the lever 56 is released.
The upper end of the lever 56 preferably has an adjustable plate 58 having a
lip 59 located in the path of a projection 60 extending from head 28 of the
returning-mechanism (see Fig. 1), so that the latter will strike the lip 59 and throw
the lever 56, and open the door 47 automatically during this return movement
of the carrier 7 and its attached parts.
my
said
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
-
1. The combination with the phonograph-carriage and feed devices therefor, of
a returning screw, stops near the ends of the path traversed by said carriage, a
revolving tripper carried by said carriage and having lugs, means to prevent its
accidental turning, and a pivoted latch carried by said carriage, and having a
projection to be engaged by said lugs and a beveled projection to engage one of
said stops.
2. The combination with the phonograph-carriage and feed devices therefor,
of a returning screw, stops near the ends of the path traversed by said carriage, a
revolving tri-armed tripper carried by said carriage and having a spring or other
suitable means for preventing accidental engagement with the feed
screw
a lug on each arm of said tripper, an adjustably-secured plate near said tripper,
and a latch pivoted to said plate and having a projection to engage either of said
lugs and a part to be engaged by one of said stops.
3. The revolving tripper having a groove, a spring in said groove, and the pin

page_text: upon which said tripper is mounted, engaged with said spring, combined with
the phonograph-carriage, to which said tripper is pivoted, the carriage-feeding
devices, the returning screw to be engaged by the tripper and devices to cause
the tripper to turn near the ends of the path traversed by the carriage.
4. The combination with a phonograph, of electrical means operated by an
inserted coin for operating said phonograph, means for releasing the coin at the end
of the reproduction paid for thereby, and means for preventing a coin from affecting
the circuit-closing mechanism while the circuit is closed by a previously-inserted
coin.
!
5. In a phonograph a coin chute, combined with two levers arranged one above
the other in the path of a coin traveling through said chute, the lower of said levers
holding the coin for a time and operating at such time to close an electric circuit
and having an arm at its upper end, and the upper lever being free to turn when
no coin is on the lever but locked in the path of a coin by the upper arm of the
lower lever when a coin is on said lower lever.
6. The combination with a phonograph of a coin chute, mechanism operated
by the weight of a coin to close an electric circuit, and mechanism for arresting
the passage of a second coin to the circuit closing mechanism when the circuit is
closed and for delivering said second coin to the circuit closing mechanism when
the circuit has been again opened.
7. The combination with a phonograph, a coin chute, and electrical contacts,
of a lever having a lower armi, a weighted arm and an upper arm, a weighted
lever above said first-mentioned lever, and a pivoted door having a ledge, said
parts being arranged for joint operation, as specified.
8. A phonograph, having means for returning the diaphragm and feed nut
automatically to the starting place, combined with the coin-chute 43, pivoted
lever having arms 50, 51 and 52, contacts 40 and 41, lever 53, door 47, lever 54,
having weight 57, link 55, lever 56, having plate 58 with lip 59, and projection 60
of the returning mechanism all arranged and operated as specified.
Dated this 12th day of July 1898.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.