Improvements in or relating to Holders for Record Cylinders of Phonographs, Graphophones, and the like.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Nov., 1899-Accepted, 3rd Feb., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Holders for Record Cylinders of
Phonographs, Graphophones, and the like.
I, AUGUSTUS ROSENBERG, Merchant, of 12, Southampton Row, in the County
of London, 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:-
The object of this invention is to provide a holder to or from which the record
cylinder may be more readily applied or removed than is at present possible
with the usual conical holder.
In carrying out this invention the revolving shaft upon which the cylinder
is commonly carried may be provided with two supports so arranged that each
will carry one end of the cylinder. One of these supports may be turned to fit
the cylinder, its sides being parallel to one another, whilst the other is arranged
in such a manner that it may be readily expanded after the cylinder has been
placed in position upon it. This form of holder has, besides the advantage of
avoiding the difficulty often experienced in removing the record cylinder from
a conical holder, that of permitting endwise adjustment of the cylinder so that
any part of the same may be readily placed directly beneath the recorder or
style, or the transmitter.
As a substitute for the expanding support of the holder a support may be
provided comprising a disc to which is pivoted one or more levers. These levers
lie normally within the circumference of the disc or support but are provided
with means by which pressure may be made to bear upon them when the
cylinder has been placed in position over the support, so that they project
beyond the outer circumference of the support and bear against the inner cir-
cumference of the cylinder.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a central longitudinal section of a holder constructed according
to one method of carrying out this invention,
Figure 2 is a similar view of a modified construction of the holder shown
in Figure 1,
Figure 3 is a similar view of a second method of carrying out the invention,
and
Figure 4 is a detail view of part of the holder shown in Figure 3.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
Referring first to Figures 1 and 2 A is the revolving shaft connected with
the motive mechanism of the graphophone or other instrument, and upon which
it is desired to mount the record cylinder. At one end of the shaft A, pre-
ferably at that end nearest the motive mechanism, is a support B rigidly secured
to the shaft A. The support B is of the same diameter as the record cylinder
At that end of the
to be placed upon it, and may be of any convenient width.
shaft A remote from the support B is a second support comprising the following
parts:-
A sleeve C having a shoulder C2 is secured rigidly by any convenient means

page_text: to the shaft A, and carries free upon it two cones C³. Mounted between the
cones and carried by the same is a split ring and means are provided by
which one cone may be forced towards the other, so that the ring is gripped
between the two and caused to expand. To aid the expansion of the ring C
its edges are chamfered where they meet the cones C³.
Any convenient device may be used for moving the one cone towards the
other, that shown in Figure 1 consisting in a milled nut D carried by a screw
thread on the end of the sleeveACCwhich projects, beyond the outside cone C³.
It is obvious that when the nut 1 is revolved in one direction the one cone C³
will be made to approach the other, and the. ring C expand, whilst when the
nut D is revolving in the opposite direction the resiliency of the ring Cª will
cause it to contract and again drive back the outside cone C3.
1
Figure shows a mudined device for expanding the ring C adapted for use
in instruments in which the holder is supported at-each end: In this case the
sleeve is cut off at the shoulder C and the outside cone C³, remote from the
shoulder C2, is carried upon a preferably journalled portion A of the shaft A.
The outer cone C is adapted to be moved towards the other cone by the spring
*controlled centre or bearing E, with which, instruments for which this holder
is adapted, are commonly provided. As such centre E is stationary and the
cylinder holder necessarily revolving, this bearing usually takes the form of a
pin or centre, to avoid friction, so that to enable the usual bearing to be used in
this case a boss or dome F is screwed on to a threaded flange Fon, the outer
cone C The end of the shaft A and its journalled end A are by this means
completely covered, and a recess may be made in the face of the dome to receive
the centre E. The spring-controlled, centre E as it bears upon the dome F
forces the outer cone against the inner cone C3 and expands the ring in the
manner before described.
The centre E is provided in the usual manner with means by which it may
be withdrawn, against the action of its spring, from contact with the part F. to
permit of a record cylinder being removed from or placed upon the holder, and
to prevent displacement of the cone and split ring C during this, operation,
lock nuts A2 are provided on the end of the journalled portion A of the shaft A.
Figures 3 and 4 illustrate a holder provided with an alternative form of sup-
port at that end of the shaft from which the record cylinder is removed. A
disc G, either integral with or rigidly secured to a sleeve G¹, is mounted fast
upon the shaft in any well-known manner. The disc G is provided with four
recesses G and within each of these is pivoted a lever H, part of which pro-
jects on each side of the disc. A plate H is made to engage the ends of the
levers H on one side of the disc G, and may be advanced towards them or
allowed to fall back from the same by means of a milled nut J carried by a
screw thread, preferably on the end of the sleeve G₁ as in the case of the nut D
and sleeve C described with reference to Figure 1. The disc G is of such a
diameter that the record cylinder may be readily passed over it, the levers H
offering no resistance as they will lie within the circumference of the support
or disc G, so long as the plate H₁ is not brought to bear upon them with any
pressure. The pivot of the levers preferably passes through a point nearest
that side of the lever which is towards the circumference of the disc G, and
the end of each lever which is nearest the plate H' is curved or rounded and
extended slightly towards the centre of the disc. The result of this formation
of the levers is that when the plate H is urged against them by means of the
nut J, their ends, on that side of the disc G remote from the plate H¹, will be
made to move outwards until they project beyond the circumference of the disc
so that they bear against the inner surface of the record cylinder. The record
cylinder will thus be gripped by the levers bearing against its interior at
different points.
1
In any of the arrangements described it is obvious that the position of the
cylinder lengthwise may be adjusted, the amount of adjustment being in pro-

page_text: portion to the width of the split ring C or the length of cylinder allowed nor
mally to project beyond the engaging ends of the levers H, according to which
form of holder is used.
If preferred the device described with reference to Figure 3 may be modified
by arranging springs to normally urge the engaging ends of the levers H out-
wards, any device being provided by which they may be drawn in by hand
when it is desired to remove a record cylinder from their engagement, or place
one upon the holder.
It will be understood that the various parts of the holders described may be
variously modified to suit the requirements of different instruments or users,
for instance, the plate H₁ may be provided with a boss similar to the boss F,
Figure 2, against which a spring-controlled centre or pin may be made to bear,
as described with reference to the centre E; also the formation of the levers H
may be modified so that they become more distinctly bell-crank levers. These
and like modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the
invention, which lies essentially in the use of an expansible holder in place of
the usual conical or other holders now in use.
Although only one support has been described as expansible or as carrying
engaging levers, both the supports of the holder may be made to grip the record
cylinder if desired; or again the expansible member may be made of sufficient
length to carry the cylinder without the aid of a second support.
To regulate the pressure upon the cone C in the devices illustrated in Figure 1,
a spring may, if desired, be placed between the nut D and the cone.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In a phonograph or the like a record-cylinder-holder upon which the record
cylinder is adjustable in the direction of its length.
2. In a phonograph or similar record cylinder-holder the employment of an
expansible support for the record cylinder for the purpose described.
3. In a phonograph or similar record cylinder-holder an expansible support
for the cylinder comprising a split ring such as C4 expanded by pressure brought
to bear upon a cone such as C at one or both ends of the ring substantially as
described.
4. A phonograph or similar record cylinder-holder comprising a support for
the record cylinder provided with one or more levers H which lie normally
within the outer circumference of the support but when in use are made to
project beyond the same and bear against the inner surface of the cylinder
substantially as described.
5. The complete record cylinder-holder for a phonograph substantially as
described and illustrated in Figure 1 or Figure 2 or Figures 3 and 4 of the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 27th day of November 1899.
BOULT, WADE & KILBURN,
Agents for the Applicant.