Improvements in Graphophones.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in Graphophones.
I, JAMES YATE JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of London,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has been
communicated to me by The American Graphophone Company, of Washington,
District of Columbia, United States of America), and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
The object of this invention is to produce a graphophone which can be very
cheaply made and easily operated and may be regarded as a toy graphophone
To provide such an instrument to constitute a toy it is necessary to secure
certain results which are difficult to attain in one structure. The construction
must be so simple as to admit of very economical manufacture, it must also be very
simple in operation so that its use can be readily understood by children; it must
be free from difficult adjustment and complication of all sorts; it must be sub-
stantial and not liable to easy derangement, or breakage, of any part, and these
esults must be obtained without sacrifice of the property of distinct reproduction
of the recorded sounds
These results are attained, according to the present invention, mainly by the
construction of the tablet-holder, which 18 in the form preferably of a heavy disc,
mounted to 10tate, or spin, upon a centie. This tablet-holder, while serving its
normal purpose, acts also (by vui tue of its inertia) as a speed governor The said
tablet-holder 18 preferably in the form of a thick disc, weighing say one and a
half to two pounds and having a long central hole, or bearing, by which it rests
upon the conical upper end of a vertical pin from which it can be readily removed
The recoid-tablet rests upon the flat upper surface of this tablet-holder, and, if
this surface be covered with felt, or similar material, its 18 unnecessary to employ
any means for attaching the tablet to the tablet-holder The tablet-holder can be
otated by any suitable means, for example, by a cord wound around it (as in
spinning a top) or by a crank handle In the wheel thus mounted there are the
essential elements of a tablet-holder, a motor, and a feed governor, the frame
consisting of a base plate with an upright pin With these parts can be combined
recording and reproducing devices of known or suitable constructions. As the
apparatus would ordinarily be used only for reproducing the following construc-
tion is preferred
The base plate is provided with a second vertical pin, or post, longer than the
first The reproduce is rigidly attached at the mouth of a horn, which is
supported by the said pin, or post, and can swing freely thereon The combined
horn and reproducer are nearly balanced on their support, there being a slight
pieponderance of weight at the reproducer end, so that it will bear with light
pressure on the tablet. These constitute all the essential parts They may, of
course, be modified in construction so as to adapt them to various kinds of toys,
but in order that the invention may be fully understood I will describe one
arrangement according thereto with reference to the accompanying drawings,
from which its general application will be understood.

page_text: Figure 1 18 a vertical section and Figure 2 18 a plan, with the horn and
reproducer removed
a represents a base plate, which may be of wood, or other suitable material,
and b is a pin having, at its upper end, a conical bearing point. The heavy disc,
01 wheel,, is centially supported on this pin The said disc, or wheel, has a
long hub d to prevent lateral strain and cause it to run truly. It 18 so shaped that
the greater part of its weight is at the periphery, so that it will store up con-
siderable energy
This disc or wheel may be employed to impart motion to the
tablet in any suitable way, but preferably the tablet e rests directly on its upper
surface. The tablet e 18 of disc form having a cential aperture of such size as to
fit around a boss f' on the disc or wheel which centres the tablet.
From the disc, or wheel, c, 118e8 a short spindle g and I have shewn, as a means
of imparting motion thereto, a removable cianh-handle, t, whose upper surface 18
hollowed out to receive the finger of the operatoi It has been found that, by
imparting a few tuins to the wheel, e, it will acquire considerable momentum and
spin on its centie long enough to reproduce a record of considerable length,
while, by keeping one finger in contact with the crank-handle, and turning with
very slight force the speed will be maintained with practical uniformity
The reproducer (of any known, or suitable type,) is affixed rigidly to the small
end of the hoin which has a slot, or aperture, m, through one side, and at a
diametrically opposite point is provided a small cone-bearing n, which engages in
a depression, or socket, formed in the top of the post o. The combined horn and
reproducer are thus very delicately balanced, and are easily put in place, or
removed In operation, the reproducer rests, with proper piedetermined pressure,
on the tablet, and adjusts itself automatically, being guided by the record in the
usual manner
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim 18.-
1. In a graphophone a heavy, or weighted, tablet-holder so mounted that when
rotated it will store up energy and act as a fly-wheel and speed regulator, ab
herembefore explained
2. In a grapliophone, the combination of a heavy, or weighted, disc having a
Hat upper face for the reception of a record-tablet, the said disc being adapted,
when iotated, to store up energy and act as a fly-wheel, an upright pin upon
which said disc 18 centrally supported and rotatable, and a reproducing device,
substantially as her embefore explained
3. In a giaphophone the combination with the tablet-holder, of a hon having a
reproducer attached to its small end, and having a perforation through its lower
side, an upright post passing through the said perforation, and a bearing point
attached to the inside of the hon opposite to the perforation, and engaging the top
of said post substantially as hereinbefore explained
4. A graphophoue constructed substantially as hercimbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying diawings,
Dated this 3rd day of Novembot 1899
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC, Agents