US3826504A - Automatic record players - Google Patents

Abstract

An automatic record player having mechanism to enable a stack of records of the same size to be played automatically using a record-stacking centre spindle, and to enable a single record of a selected size (7 inches, 10 inches or 12 inches) to be played automatically or under manual control using a short stub centre spindle. The mechanism has a single cam shaft carrying a number of cams which control the various movements in a cycle of automatic operations, viz. raising the pick-up arm, moving it inwardly and lowering it to engage the pick-up with the record, raising the pick-up arm after playing the record, swinging it out and lowering it on to its rest, and switching off the record player after playing a single record, or playing the last record in a stack.

Description

United States Patent [191 Evans et al.

[4 1 July 30, 1974 AUTOMATIC RECORD PLAYERS England [73] Assignee: BSR Limited, Warley, England [22] Filed: May 15, 1972 21 1 Appl. No.: 253,139

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary Examiner-Louis R. Prince Assistant Examiner--A. Jason Mirabito Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kurt Kelman 5 7 ABSTRACT An automatic record player having mechanism to enable a stack of records of the same size to be played automatically using a record-stacking centre spindle, and to enable a single record of a selected size (7 inches, 10 inches or 12 inches) to be played automatically or under manual control using a short stub centre spindle. The mechanism has a single cam shaft carrying a number of cams which control the various movements in a cycle of automatic operations, viz. raising the pick-up arm, moving it inwardly and lowering it to engage the pick-up with the record, raising the pick-up arm after playing the record, swinging it out and lowering it on to its rest, and switching off the record player after playing a single record, or playing the last record in a stack.

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sum as av 11 PATENTEDJUL30I974 SHEET 09 [1F 11 AUTOMATIC RECORD PLAYERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention I This invention relates to improvements in an automatic record player for playing disc records and in which automatic mechanism is provided to perform a certain cycle of operations. In a complete cycle of operations, when the automatic mechanism operates upon the record player being switched on, the pick-up arm is raised from its rest and moved inwardly to a position adjacent the edge of the record on the turntable and then is lowered until the stylus engages with the record groove. After playing of the record the mechanism again operates, this time to raise the stylus from the record and swing the pick-up arm outwardly to its original position. In cases where the record player also includes means for supporting a stack of records upon a centre spindle, for automatic playing of records one by one, then after the playing of one record and the movement of the pick-up arm outwardly, the automatic mechanism also operates the mechanism of the centre spindle to cause the lowermost record of the stack to drop on to the turntable and then the pick-up arm is moved back inwardly to the position adjacent the edge of the record followed by lowering of the stylus on to the record and playing thereof. Such automatic operation of playing one record after another continues until the last record of the stack has been played, whereupon the automatic mechanism also operates to switch off the record player.

In our co-pending application No. 136,157 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,332 issued Nov. 20, 1973 described and shown the drive for the mechanism which produces an automatic cycle of operations of the pick-up arm comprising a single rotatable shaft which is driven from a central boss on the turntable by a worm and wheel gearing, the gear wheel whereof is fixed to said shaft and the worm gear whereof is rotatably mounted coaxially about the axis of rotation of the turntable, clutch means being provided to cause driving engagement between the said boss of the turntable and the worm gear and means being provided to interrupt said driving engagement after a predetermined number of revolutions of said shaft.

In said co-pending application there is also described and shown means for the operation of the release mechanism of a stack-supporting centre spindle in which the said shaft has cam means thereon and there is a slide which is mounted below the lower end of the centre spindle beneath the deck plate of the record player, the said slide being capable of reciprocating movement in a substantially horizontal plane and also rocking movement about a horizontal axis, and the said slide being adapted to engage operatively with the lower end of the centre spindle. The said cam means is arranged to act on the slide to produce the reciprocating and rocking movement for operating the release mechanism of the centre spindle.

The present invention is concerned with further developments and features of the automatic mechanism which operates from, and is used to control, the said drive means of said co-pending application.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the majority of automatic record players which havebeen known hitherto, the mechanism for producing an automatic cycle of operations (as above defined) has comprised a series of links, levers and wires which are driven from a single oscillating plate-like member which oscillates back and forth, during a cycle, in a plane below and parallel to the plane of the turntable. The oscillating motion of such member is obtained from a cam-track provided on a gear rotating about an axis parallel to the turntable axis and driven from a gear on a central boss of the turntable.

Such mechanisms have been very complicated and liable to failure because of the intricate constructions of the parts and also there is a-good deal of sliding friction and noise involved when the mechanism operates.

The object of the invention is to provide a new form of mechanism for performing the aforesaid cycle of operations in an automatic record player.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the invention, there is provided mechanism for producing a cycle of automatic operations in an automatic record player comprising a single cam shaft having a plurality of cams fixed thereon and driven from a gear which rotates with the turntable, there being a separate cam to perform each of the following steps, or combination of steps, of an automatic cycle, viz; (a) raising and lowering of the pick-up arm; (b) swinging the pick-up arm inwardly and outwardly; (c) positioning the pick-up arm over the edge of a record, and (d) switching off the record player at the end of a cycle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an underneath plan view of certain parts of the automatic mechanism forming the subject of the invention, (looking from below the turntable deck),

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of part of the mechanism shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3a is a plan view from above the record player deck showing the push button controls,

FIG. 3b is a section on line 3b-3b on FIG. 3a,

FIG. 3c is a section on line 3c-3c of FIG. 3a,

FIG. 3d is an underneath plan view of FIG. 3a,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a detail,

FIG. 5a is an underneath plan view of parts of the mechanism,

FIG. 5b is a side elevation on FIG. 5a,

FIG. 50 is a top plan view on FIG. 5a,

FIG. 5d is an end view on FIG. 5a,

FIG. 6 is an underneath perspective view of part of the mechanism beneath the deck plate,

FIG. 7 is an underneath plan view the same as FIG. 1, being a continuation to the right of the view shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 8a is an underneath plan view of the control cam shaft showing the various cams thereon,

FIG. 8b is a side elevation on FIG. 8a,

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of part of the mechanism shown in FIG. 1, looking in the direction downwardly from the top edge of FIG. 1,

FIG. 10a is an underneath plan view of the selector lever,

FIG. 10b is a side view thereof,

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of part of the mechanism looking from the left in FIG. 1,

FIG. 12aisa detail elevation of the anti-skate bias roller,

FIG. 12b is a plan thereof,

FIG. 13a is a plan of the drive plate assembly,

FIG. 13b is an end view thereof, and

FIG. 14 is a perspective view looking at the top left hand corner of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Withreference to FIG. 1 of the drawings, this shows the underneath of the deck plate D of the record player and certain parts of the automatic mechanism'and the shaft indicated at 35 in FIG. 1 is the control cam shaft which is described and illustrated in our co-pending application No. 136,157. In the drawings of the aforesaid co-pending application this control cam shaft is indicated by the numeral 25 and, as fully described in said co-pending application, is driven from a central boss on the turntable by a worm and wheel gearing, the gear wheel whereof is fixed to the said cam shaft and the worm gear whereon is rotatably mounted co-axially about the axis of rotation of the turntable with-clutch means being provided to cause driving engagement between the. boss on the turntable and the worm gear and means also being provided to interrupt said driving engagement after a predetermined number of revolutions on the control cam shaft. Such means and the operation thereof are fully described and illustrated in the aforesaid co-pending application.

By means of the mechanism described hereinafter, the rotation of the control cam shaft 35 (FIG. 1) produces an automatic cycle of operations which includes the raising of the pick-up arm from its rest and the movement thereof inwardly to a position adjacent the edge of a'record on the turntable and then the lowering of the pick-up arm until the stylus thereof engages with the record groove. The cycle further comprises, after playing of the record, the action of raising the stylus from the record and swinging the pick-up arm outwardly to its original position. In cases where the record player also includes means for supporting a stack of records upon a center spindle for automatic playing of recordsone by one, then after the playing of one record and movement of the pick-up arm outwardly, the automatic mechanism also operates the mechanism of the center spindle to cause the lowermost record of the stack to drop on to the turntable and thereater the automatic mechanism continues tooperate and raise the pick-up arm and move it back inwardly to its position adjacent the edge of the record followed by lowering of the stylus on to the record and playing thereof. Such automatic .operation of playing one record after another continues until the last record of the stack has been played, whereupon the'automatic mechanism also operates to switch off the=record player.

Thus the following description of the construction and operation of the automatic mechanism is to be taken in conjunction with the disclosure in the aforesaid co-pending application in so far as the driving of the control cam shaft 35 (FIG. 1) is concerned and also the operation of the mechanism of a centre spindle supporting a stack of records.

The mechanism hereinafter described is capable of three modes of operation, namely automatic multiplay, automatic single play of a single record, and manual play of a singlerecord. In the first of theseacenter spindle supporting a stack of records is used and the records of the stack are played automatically one by one whereas in the second mode of operation a small stub centre spindle is used and only a single record is played using the fully automatic cycle. In the third mode of In the underneath plan view of FIG. 1, the slide 10 is shown in the position for automatic single play operation and in this position the upstanding finger 11 at the end of this slide is lying over the lateral projection at the one end of the cut-off rocker 12 (see also FIG. 2). When a knob on the deck plate D is rotated to the automatic multi-play position the radially projecting finger 13 on the underside of this knob moves away from this end of the slide 10 so that this slide can'pivot under the influence of its spring 14, about its pivot 15, and the finger 11 then comes away from its overlying position in relation to the-lateral projection on the end of the cut-off rocker 12.

It should be noted that the slide 10 can also pivot or rock about a horizontal axis because of its resilient mounting upon the pivot axis 15 and it is held down at the one end by the spring 16 and it can also slide horizontally by virtue of the fact that the slot 17 passes round the pivot post 15.

There follows a consideration of the position for automatic multi-play with the slide 10 having pivoted clockwise and its finger 11 being out of engagement with the lateral projection on the cut-off rocker 12.

FIGS. 3a to 3d show the details of the push button and control mechanism which is disposed on the top side of'the deck plate D and which is described in more detail hereinafter. Briefly however, the three top buttons shown in FIG. 3a are for the purpose of setting the mechanism for operation according to whatever size of record or records is being played and in practice these three buttons will correspond to record sizes of 7 inches, 10 inches and 12 inches and hereinafter the buttons are referred to as being the 7 inch, 10 inch or 12 inch buttons. I

When either the 7 inch, 10 inch or 12 inch button is pressed, it causes the pressing 18 to pivot about its horizontal axis 19 in a clockwise direction as viewed in the direction of the arrow A in FIG. 1.

The link 20 (FIG. 1) is pivotally connected at its one end to an arm 20A at one end of the pressing 18 (see FIG. 30) and is pivotally connected at its other end to the pivot plate 21 (FIG. 1) and the pivotal connection 22 is by means of a pin which is normally held at the apex of thetwo slots 23 in the plate 21 by the spring 24 connected at one end to the pivot pin 22 and at its other end to a pin 25 fixed in the deck plate D.

The pivot plate 21 pivots about the pin 25 and pivotally connected to the pivot plate 21 at 26 is the cut-off plate 27 which is seen in enlarged view in FIG. 4. This cut-off plate has an elongated slot 28 and the plate is guided for rectilinearmovement in a horizontal plane by the pin 28A which engages in the slot 28 and which is fixed. in the deck plate. At its one end the cut-off plate has a projecting U-shaped spring wire 29 which engages within an elongated horizontal slot 29A in the bottom end of the arm of the cut-off rocker 12 which projects towards the deck plate (see FIG. 5d). The movement of this projecting wire 29 causes the cut-off rocker 12 to pivot about a horizontal axis as the cut-off rocker 12 is mounted upon the end of the spindle which is slidably and rotatably mounted adjacent its ends in two upstanding pillars integral with the main casting 31, (see FIGS. Sa-Sd. This member 31 is secured to the underside of the deck plate with the upstanding pillar at the one end being shown at 32.

The elongated rocker plate 33 (FIGS. 1 and 6 and 5a-5d) which is mounted upon the spindle and which is operated by the mechanism of the centre spindle for cut-off is resiliently connected to the cut-off rocker 12 at the end 34 by. means of a spring 34A about the pin 34 so that rocking movement of the rocker plate 33 also produces rocking movement of the cut-off rocker 12 for the actual operation of switching off. There is a spring 30A on the spindle 30 and this spring acts to urge the spindle 30 towards the right, as seen in FIG. 1, for the purpose disclosed hereinafter.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 the control cam shaft is 35 and at its right hand end (FIG. 7) it has mounted on it the switch cam 36 and in the position shown in FIG. 6 the finger 37 fixed on the end of the spindle 30 is resting on the high section 36A of the switch cam 36. The finger 37 is one arm of a two-arm lever and the other arm 37A projects downwardly and at its lower end engages against the upturned flange 39 on the switch slide 40. This downwardly projecting arm 37A and the flange 39 are held resiliently in contact by the spring 41 connected between the downwardly extending arm and the switch slide 40.

The switch operating lever 42 (see FIG. 7) is pivoted to the deck plate D at 42A and its one end 44 engages a fixed stop 44A. At its other end it is connected to the one end of a toggle spring 45 which connects it to the switch slide and in the'position shown in FIG. 7 the switch lever 42 is out of contact with the operating plunger 46 of the switch 47 which closes the circuit to the motor 48 for driving the turntable.

The switch slide 40 has fixed in it a pin 49 which works in a slot 50 in the deck plate and connected to this pin 49 on the top side of the deck plate is a spring (not shown) which urges the switch slide in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 7. A further pin 49A fixed in slide 40 works in a further slot 50A cut in the deck plate so that slide 40 is guided for rectilinear movement.

The mechanism is held in the switched off position, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, because a nose 104 on the underside of the end 52 of the cut-off rocker 12 (see FIGS. 5d and 9) is engaging on the left hand side of the worm of the cut-off cam 54 at the position 53 as shown in FIG. 8a so that the spindle 30 is being held over to the left, as seen in FIG. 1, to the maximum extent by virtue of the worm on the cut-off cam 54 against the pressure of the spring 30A above described, which is tending to urge the spindle 30 to the right in FIG. 1.

The nose 104 can be seen in FIG. 9, which is a view looking at the other side of the cam shaft 35 from that shown in FIG. 8a so that in FIG. 9 the nose 104 appears on the right hand side of the worm on the cut-off cam 54.

The action of pressing the 7 inch, 10 inch or 12 inch button, as above described, causes the cut-off rocker 12 to pivot so that this nose 104 on the end 52 moves upwardly out of engagement with the worm at point 53 on the cut-off cam 54 and thus the spring 30A is enabled to move the spindle 30 to the right (as seen in FIG. 7) and this brings the finger 37 off the high part 36A of the switch cam 36, enabling it to drop down on to the low part 368 of the switch cam. Thus the twoarm lever of which the finger 37 is the one arm is now free to pivot under the influence of the spring urged switch slide 40, enabling the switch slide to move in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 7 and in so doing actuate the toggle spring 45 and thus actuate the switch lever 42 and close the switch 47.

This movement of the switch slide 40 is also used to actuate an arm carrying a rubber tyred jockey pulley so as to bring the jockey pulley into engagement with the driving spindle of the electric motor but this mechanism does not form part of the subject matter of the invention. The rubber tyred jockey pulley also then engages the rim of the turntable to start the turntable rotating.

Referring to FIG. 1, the purpose of the two slots 23 in the pivot plate 21 is to provide a safety overload so that whichever direction the link 20 is moving in there is a slot for the pin 22 to move into against the resistance of spring 24, so that in the event of any jamming there will be a possibility of the pin 22 moving into one or the other of the slots under the resistance of the spring 24 and thus giving a safety overload device to prevent something from breaking.

In our aforesaid co-pending application No. 136,l57 with particular reference to FIG. 1 of the drawings of such application, there is shown and disclosed the mechanism which operates to cause the worm to be driven by the central boss on the turntable and thus drive the gear fixed on the control cam shaft (see FIG. 80) for a cycle of automatic operations to take place. Such mechanism, as shown in FIG. 1 of said copending application is disposed above the deck plate and has an operating link (designated 42a in FIG. 1 of said co-pending application) which extends through a slot in the deck plate to the underside thereof. This op erating link extends at 89 (see FIG. 1) through the slot in the deck plate, and it has secured to it a downwardly extending piece of wire, the lower end 90 of which is in the path of movement of the nose 91 on the end of the cut-off plate 27. When one of the 7 inch, 10 inch or 12 inch buttons is pressed, the movement of the cutoff plate 27 is such that its nose 91 engages the wire 90 and causes the rocking movement of this operating link to actuate the aforesaid mechanism and engage the drive to control cam shaft 35 as fully described in the aforesaid co-pending application.

DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION OF SELECTOR LEVER (INDICATED AT IN FIG. 1) AND PUSH BUTTON CONTROL (FIGS. 3a-3d AND FIGS. 10a AND 10b The downwardly projecting pin 111 at the end of the selector lever works in the housing 112 on the push button assembly which housing has three part-circular interconnected slots 113 in any one of which the pin 110 can engage, depending upon which button is pressed (i.e., 7 inch, 10 inch or 12inch).

The selector lever is moved longitudinally by the movement of either the 7'inch, 10 inch or 12 inch button and'the lug"114 is the lug which is positioned in the path of movement of the quadrant plate (described later) and this lug determines whether the quadrant plate stops at the 7 inch, 10 inch or 12 inch position; the other lug 1-15 is for the purpose of making a finite adjustment of theposition of set down of the pickup and this'lug is engaged by the cam 116,-as shown in FIG. 1, which cam is rotated about a vertical axis from a knob on the top of the deck so that it pivots the selector lever 110 about the axis of its pivot pin 111 and makes a finite adjustment of the position of the lug 114 which determines the position of set down of the pickup arm. This is purely a finite manual adjustment and has nothing to do with the operating cycle.

Each of the spindles of the press buttons 7 inch, 10 inch, 12 inch has a projecting peg 6 and these projecting pegs 6 cooperate with the inclined faces on the cam block 117 which is fixed on the selector lever to produce the required predetermined amounts of horizontal movement of the selector lever.

The single push button 118 is for the. purpose only of switching on the turntable when it is desired to play records entirely manually and the downwards movement of the pin of this button rocks the slide 10 to produce the aforedescribed movement of the cut-off rocker 12 to simply start the turntable'motor.

The other knob 119 on the push button assembly is the one which turns the blade 13 for moving the slide 10 from "the single play to the'multi-play position, and vice versa.

Each ofthe 7 inch, 10 inch, and 12 inch press buttons also has projecting blades 120 for operating the rocker assembly 18 and-finally there is the stop button 121 which has projectingblade l22 on the opposite side to the blades 120 for moving the rocker assembly 18 for the stop action.

The outer end of the selector lever isin the form of a finger 123 which rests upon the raise and selector Also pivoted about the same pin 127 as the muting switch plate is the viscous cue-in lever 130 working against the damping action of thedashpot 130A in known manner (see FIG. 11). i

The mute switch plate has fixed therein a spring loaded pin 131 which passes downwardly through a hole-in the lever 130, having a projection below the hole to engage lever 130 and move it after the plate has been moved a short amount. The lower end of pin 131 engages the cam 132 which is moved by a handle above the deck plate to effect manual operation for cue-in of the pick-up arm. The other end of the cue-in lever 130, as seen at 133, carries the pivot for a nylon roller which engages with the quadrant plate Q for providing the anti-skate bias as described later.

This nylonroller'l7l (see FIGS. 12a and 12bis carried atone end of a two-armed lever which is pivoted about a horizontal axis and the other end 170 of the lever bears on a pad which-is on the lower end of the pick-up arm lift and lower pin which is .a known arrangement and is not shown in the drawings.

The section 128 of the raise and selector cam has a high spot and a low spot and acts upon the lug 126a (see FIG. 9) projecting transversely from the mute switch plate 126 and simply pivots this plate 126 so that it acts upon the pad on the lower end of the pick-up arm lift and lower pin and raisesthis once per cycle, the viscous cue-in allowing the plate 126 to return slowly cam 124' (FIGS. 8a and 9) and-is held resiliently against this cam by the spring 125 connected between the selector lever 110 and the deck plate.

The action of the raise and lower part of the raise and selector cam 124 on the finger 123 moves the lug 114 on the selector lever down into the path of movement of the quadrant'plate when required, and raises it out of the path of movement of the quadrant plate to allow the quadrant plate to move freely inwardly with the tracking of the pick-up arm.

A mute switch plate 126 (see also FIG. 1) is pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis comprising the pin 127 which is mounted in a pillar fixed to the deck plate and at its one end the mute switch plate carries the pairs of moving contacts of the mute switch which engage with the fixed contacts of the mute switch when this plate is-tilted about its pivotal axis 127 and this is brought about by the final part 128 of the raise and selector cam which part acts upon a lug projecting from the mute switch plate. The pairs of contacts of the mute tridge in the pick-up arm when the pick-up'armis making non-playing movementsso that no spuriousisounds,

are transm'ittedyto the amplifier.

so as to lower the pick-up slowly as the projecting lug 126a of the plate 126 runs on the low part of the cam As thepick-up arm is raised, the muti'ngswitch is closed and a'sthe pick-up arm'reaches the end of its lowering-movement the muting switch is opened and this operates at the commencement of play and at the end of play.

A laterally projecting lug (see FIG. 1) on the inner end of the viscous cue-in lever 130 engages and operates a lever 141 pivoted about a horizontal axis 141a and-the lower end of lever 141 has a projecting lug 142 which cooperates with .the latch which holds the pick-up arm on its rest and releases and locks this automatically with the cycle.

QUADRANT PLATE AND OPERATION THEREOF (FIGS. 1, Sa-d, 8a and 8b, l3a-b The drive plate assembly 162 (FIGS. 13a and 13b) is pivoted about a vertical axis to the main casting 31 and the outward swing operation of the pick-up arm is by virtue of the face cam or traverse cam 7 (FIG. 5b) which engages the projecting pin of the drive plate assembly.

The quadrant plate Q hasprojecting at right angles to its face a pin 160a which lies between the two arms 16% and 160C of the drive plate audit is this pin which is contacted by one or the other of these arms to swing the quadrant plate for the inwards and outwards move-- ment of the pick-up arm. It will be understood that the quadrant plate is of the generally known form, being secured to the pickup arm so that it turns with the pick-up arm about the vertical axis of movement thereof. It also has the usual set of stepped shoulders one or the other of which engages the lug 114 on the selector leverto halt the quadrant plate (and thus the pick-up arm) in its inwards swinging movement to arrest the pick-up armover the edge of the record, the position of-the lug 114 being dependent upon which one of the 7 inch, inch or 12 inch buttons has been pressed, so that the lug 114 is in the right position to engage the appropriate shoulder on the quadrant plate.

The inwards drive to the quadrant plate is obtained from the arm 150 pivoted on the drive plate assembly (see also FIG. 9) which arm is spring biased on its pivot 150a and which extends upwardly from the drive plate assembly and which has the nose 151 at its upper end. The pivot of arm 150 is horizontal and the spring biases the arm inwardly to urge the nose 151 towards the control cam shaft 35.

Referring to FIGS. Sa-d, in the switched-off position, the laterally projecting nose 161 on the cut-off rocker 12 is engaging the nose 151 on the arm 150 and is holding this arm outwardly against its spring loading.

When the 7 inch, 10 inch or 12 inch button is pressed and the cut-off rocker 12 moves, it brings this nose 161 out of engagement with the nose 151 and the arm 150 pivots inwardly towards the cam shaft 35 so that the position is now as shown in FIG. 5a.

The complete drive plate assembly, generally indicated at 162 in FIG. Sais spring biased in the direction of the arrow S in this drawing, that is to say in the direction of the inwards movement of the pick-up arm. At the commencement of the cycle the traverse cam 7 first acts upon the projecting pin 160 to pivot the drive plate 162 in the outwards direction against the spring bias but this has no effect upon the quadrant plate because this is already in its outer position with the pick-up arm in its at-rest position and thus this movement of the drive plate 162 has no effect upon the quadrant plate.

Following this the traverse cam 7 comes round and acts upon the upstanding arm 150 and commences to pivot the drive plate in the direction of the arrow S and thus transmits the drive to the quadrant plate. After set down of the pick-up the drive to the cam shaft ceases. When the drive re-commences after the pick-up has run into the run-out groove of the record, the traverse cam 7 then moves the drive plate 162 in the opposite direction to the arrow S to return the pick-up arm and at this time the nose 104 on the cut-off rocker has been picked up by the worm on the cam 54 and the cut-off rocker is being moved outwardly again (to the left as seen in FIG. 1) and it is at this time that the nose 161 on the cut-off rocker comes into engagement with the nose 151 on the spring loaded drive arm 150 and pivots this drive arm outwardly so that it is out of the path of movement of the traverse cam when this comes round again and thus the traverse cam 7 does not act because it is not wanted for the drive plate to drive the quadrant back in again as it is now coming to the end of the cycle. At the finish of the cycle, when cut-off occurs, the cut-off occurs, the cut-off rocker is in its final position at the end of the worm on the cut-off cam 54 and is holding the arm 150 in its outermost position against spring pressure. Thus the reason for having the arm 150 spring loaded and acted upon by the nose 161 of the cut-off rocker is for the purpose of holding it out of the path of the traverse cam'when the cycle is coming to its end.

The nose 170 is engaged by the pad at the lower'end of the pick-up arm lift pin and the two-armed lever carrying the roller 171 is pivoted so that the roller 171 is outer end of the auto/manual slide 10 is pivoted so far engaging the face of the quadrant plate Q and preventing the anti-skate bias from having any effect. As the pick-up arm lowers, the pad on the end of the pick-up arm lift pin keeps pressing on the nose 170 and keeps the roller 171 pressing on the quadrant plate but as soon as the pick-up reaches the record and the pick-up arm encounters resistance to its fall then the pressure on the nose is released and thus the pressure on the roller disappears and the quadrant is immediately free to move with the record groove and the anti-skate bias can play its usual part.

OPERATION OF AUTO/MANUAL SLIDE (SLIDE 10 IN FIG. 1) SINGLE PLAY CONDITION In this case the slide 10 is in the position shown in FIG. 1 with the finger 11 at its end positioned above the adjacent projecting end of the cut-off rocker 12. At its forward end, the slide 10 has a transversely extending lug 102 (see FIG. 14) which bears against the cam 103 on the control cam shaft and is held resiliently against this cam by virtue of the spring 14. Just prior to the commencement of the cycle, just before switch-on, the nose 104 at the one end of the cut-off rocker 12 is positioned just at the end of the worm on the cut-off cam 54 at the left hand side thereof, as shown at the position 53 in FIG. 8a.

As previously described, when a 7 inch, 10 inch or 12 inch button is pressed, this causes the U-spring 29 on the cut-off plate to tilt the cut-off rocker 12 so that its nose 104 is raised above the end of the worm on the cut-off cam 54 and the spring on the spindle 30 urges the assembly to the right, as seen in FIG. 1 and the cycle commences. In moving to the right the cut-off rocker 12 engages the lug 101 of the stop catch and pivots this stop catch against the pressure of its spring 101a so that it is now held in its outermost position. As shown also in FIGS. 2 and 11, the stop catch 100 is pivoted on the slide 10 at 101b and urged by the spring 101a anti-clockwise, as seen in FIG. 1.

The nose 104 is now in a position opposite the right hand end of the worm on the cut-off cam 54 and is in a raised position.

Also, the lug projecting downwardly from the end of the rocker plate 33 (see FIG. 13b) is positioned behind the lug 102 on the end of the slide 10 so that when the cam 103 moves this lug 102 (and thus the slide 10) rearwardly during the cycle, it also takes with it the lug 105 (causing plate 33 to turn about the axis of spindle 30) and as the plate 33 is connected to the cut-off rocker 12, this causes the cut-off rocker to pivot in the direction to bring the nose 104 down on to the worm of the cut-off cam 54 and as rotation of the cam shaft commences the worm causes movement of the cut-off rocker to the left, as seen in FIG. 1, thus drawing the whole assembly towards cut-off.

As the same time that the nose 104 is moved down on to the worm of the cut-off cam 54, the lug 101 on the stop catch 100 moves underneath the outer end 12a of the cut-off rocker 12, under its spring assistance, so as to positively hold the nose 104 down on to the surface of the cut-off cam.

MULTl-PLAY CONDITION In the multi-automatic play condition the operative to the right (clockwise as seen in FIG. 1) that it plays no part in the operation because when the cut-off rocker 12 moves to the right for switch-on the lug 102 on the forward end of the slide is not in register with the lug 105 on the rocker plate 33 and also the lug 101 on the stop catch 100 is not engaged by the cut-off rocker and the stop catch is not stressed. During the multi-automatic operation it is purely the operation of the centre pin of the normal record-supporting centre spindle on the turntable which tilts the plate 33 to move the cut-off rocker to provide cut-off and the plate 33 is held in this position by the pin of the center spindle so that the cut-off rocker is held positively with its nose 104 down on the worm of the cut-off cam. his well known in the type of center spindle known as an um-' brella spindle, after the last record has dropped, a center pin in the spindle descends and it is this center pin which operates the rocker plate 33.

At the end of playing of a record, the stylus runs into the run-out groove of the record and swings the pick-up arm further inwardly, taking with it the quadrant plate and the nose 160 on the quadrant plate (FIG. 1) engages the outer free end 89a of link 89 to move this (clockwise as seen in FIG. '1) and cause operation of the mechanism described in vco-pending application No. 136,157 to engage the drive to thecontrol cam shaft 35 and commence the cycle of operations to raise the pick-up arm and swing it outwardly and cause switch-off, (in the case of single play operation), or cause operation of the centre spindle to drop a further record and commence a playing cycle in the case of multi-play operation.

FUNCTIONOF RE-SET CAM (FIGS. 1, 5a-d, 8a-b) When the link 89 has been moved to set off the drive to the control cam shaftit is necessary for this link 89 to be re-set to its initial position so that it will be ready for actuation at the next appropriate time. This is brought about by means of the re-set cam 92 which is fixed upon the control cam shaft 35 and has associated with it a spring 93 coiled about the cam shaft 35.

One end of the spring 93 is connected by a further spring 93a to the fixed main casting 31 and the other end of the spring 93 has its wire extendedfor forming a downwardly extending wire leg 93b (see FIG. 8b) and this is engaged by one or the other of three lobes 93c provided on the face of the re-set cam 92.

The position is that one of these lobes 93c engages the wire leg 93b and gives this a slight flick, the lower end of the wire 93b being then brought into engagement with the link 89 so as to move this and cause movement of the mechanism associated with the link 89 back into its initial position; The purpose of having three such lobes 930 on the re-set cam is to make certain that the link 89 is returned and kept in its initial position even after one of the lobes has operated, in case, due to any jarring movement or other upset, the link 89 is moved back out of its initial position, and thus the other two lobes are there to act and give the necessary movement to the wire leg 93b to cause it to engage the link 89 and move it back to its initial position.

OPERATION OF STOP BUTTON (FIGS. 3a-3d AND FIG. 1)

of tilting the pressing 18 in the opposite direction to which it tilts when one of the 7 inch, 10 inch or 12 inch buttons is pressed. This has the effect of moving the link 20 to the right, as seen in FIG. 1, thus pivoting the pivoted plate 21 in the anti-clockwise direction.

Pivotally mounted on the plate 21 about a pivot pin 200 is an arm having a finger 201 at its outer end and this arm is guided for rectilinear movementby means of a slot therein through which passes the pin 28A.

Thus, when the stop button is actuated as above described the finger 201 is moved upwardly, as seen in FIG. 1, and contacts the spring wire depending from link 89 and moves this in the same direction as it would be moved if contacted by the nose 91 which operates when one of the 7 inch, 10 inch, or 12 inch buttons is pressed. The effect of this is to move the link 89 into the position to set the mechanism described in the aforesaid co-pending application in the position to initiate the drive to the control cam shaft 35..

At the same time this pivotal movement of the plate 2l'causes a movement of the cut-off plate 27 (FIG. 4) and its wire 29, engaging in the slot 29A of the cut-off rocker 12, tilts the rocker 12 in the direction to bring the nose 104 on the rocker down on to the cut-off cam 54 so that as the cycle proceeds, as hereinbefore described, the shaft 30 moves longitudinally and brings about switch-off of the motor.

The reason for using the spring wire 90. instead of providing direct engagement between either nose 201 or nose 91. of the linkage 9 is simply to provide a means of safety overload so that in the event of any part of the mechanism jamming the spring wire 90 will give rather than cause any damage to the mechanism.

MULTI-PLAY OPERATION -When it is desired to play a record manually, not using the automatic means for operating the pick-up arm, the slide 10 is set to the single play position and the button 118 (see FIGS. 3a-d) is pressed. The pin 118A of this button engages the end of the slide 10 and rocks this slide about its horizontal pivot which is at right angles to the axis 15. The finger 11 at the end of the slide 10 tilts the cut-off rocker 12 in the direction to raise its nose 104 out of engagement with the worm on the cut-off cam 54, in the position 53 (FIG. 8a), (i.e., the switched-off position) so that the spring 30a can act to move the spindle 30 and cause the motor'to be switched on as above described. The pick-up arm can then be engaged with the record manually but at the end of playing of the record the inwards movement of the quadrant plate will, as above described actuate the automatic mechanism to raise and move the pickup arm outwardly and produce switch-off.

We claim: i

1. Mechanism for producing a cycle of automatic operations in an automatic record player, comprising a single cam shaft having a plurality of cams fixed thereon and driven from a gear which rotates with the turntable, there being a separate cam to perform each wherein the back and forth swinging movement of the quadrant plate is produced by a drive plate pivotally mountedat one end about a vertical axis and having, at its other end, spaced apart arms which alternately engage a pin projecting from the face of the quadrant plate to swing same back and forth, the pivotal movement of the drive plate being produced by said traverse cam.

2. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the traverse cam is a face cam and acts upon a projection on the drive plate on one side of the pivotal axis of the drive plate and upon an arm on the drive plate on the other side of its pivotal axis, said arm being pivotally mounted on the drive plate and spring-urged in the direction towards the cam shaft, means being provided for holding said arm out of the path of the traverse cam at the time that the mechanism is moving towards switch-off.

3. Mechanism according to claim 1 including the provision, on the cam shaft, of a cut-off cam comprising a worm and the provision of a spindle parallel to the cam shaft and slidable axially relative to the cam shaft, the spindle having mounted thereon a rocker member engageable with the worm to produce axial movement of spindle during rotation of the cam shaft and the spindle having means engaging the switch cam which means is moved from one part to another of the switch cam to cause switching-H when said spindle is moved axially in one direction, wherein the rocker member has an arm with a nose which engages the worm of the cut-off cam and another arm which is engaged by a resilient finger on a pivoted cut-off plate pivotally connected by a link to control means for switching the record player on and off.

4. Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein said cutoff plate has a projecting nose which, when the on-off cord player.

6. Mechanism according to claim 5 wherein there is provided on the cam shaft a re-set cam which engages said linkage to re-set same to its initial position after it has been moved by said projecting nose or by said finger on the cut-off plate.

7. Mechanism according to claim 5 wherein the onoff switch means comprises an elongated plate pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis parallel to its length and a plurality of manually operable spring loaded plungers, there being three plungers each having a projection to engage one longitudinal edge of the plate to pivot it in one direction for switch-on, and one plunger having a projection to engage the other longitudinal edge of the plate to pivot it in the other direction for switch-off.

8. Mechanism according to claim 7 wherein said three plungers are designated 7 inches, 10 inches and 12 inches according to the size of the record on the turntable and according to the amount which each plunger moves a selector lever when it is depressed, said selector lever having one end engaging the selector cam.

9. Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein the rocker member is acted upon by a finger on the one end of a slide which is mounted for rocking movement about a horizontal axis and for sliding movement towards and away from the cam shaft, the other end of said slide being acted upon by manually operable means to cause pivotal movement thereof and manually operable means to cause rocking movement thereof.

10. Mechanism according to claim 9 and including a record-stacking center spindle of the type having a center-pin which moves to actuate the record player switch-off when the last record has decended to the turntable, wherein the said slide is pivoted to move its finger out of engagement with the rocker member and there is provided an elongated rocking plate mounted upon the spindle which carries the rocker member said rocking plate being engaged by the center pin of said center spindle to pivot the spindle and thus actuate the rocker member for switch-off.

Claims (10)

1. Mechanism for producing a cycle of automatic operations in an automatic record player, comprising a single cam shaft having a plurality of cams fixed thereon and driven from a gear which rotates with the turntable, there being a separate cam to perform each of the following steps, or combination of steps, of an automatic cycle, viz; a raise cam for raising and lowering of the pick-up arm; a traverse cam for swinging the pick-up arm inwardly and outwardly; a selector cam for positioning the pick-up arm over the edge of a record, and a switch cam for switching off the record player at the end of a cycle, and having a quadrant plate which turns with the pick-up arm about its vertical axis, wherein the back and forth swinging movement of the quadrant plate is produced by a drive plate pivotally mounted at one end about a vertical axis and having, at its other end, spaced apart arms which alternately engage a pin projecting from the face of the quadrant plate to swing same back and forth, the pivotal movement of the drive plate being produced by said traverse cam.

2. Mechanism according to claim 1 wherein the traverse cam is a face cam and acts upon a projection on the drive plate on one side of the pivotal axis of the drive plate and upon an arm on the drive plate on the other side of its pivotal axis, said arm being pivotally mounted on the drive plate and spring-urged in the direction towards the cam shaft, means being provided for holding said arm out of the path of the traverse cam at the time that the mechanism is moving towards switch-off.

3. Mechanism according to claim 1 including the provision, on the cam shaft, of a cut-off cam comprising a worm and the provision of a spindle parallel to the cam shaft and slidable axially relative to the cam shaft, the spindle having mounted thereon a rocker member engageable with the worm to produce axial movement of spindle during rotation of the cam shaft and the spindle having means engaging the switch cam which means is moved from one part to another of the switch cam to cause switching-off when said spindle is moved axially in one direction, wherein the rocker member has an arm with a nose which engages the worm of the cut-off cam and another arm which is engaged by a resilient finger on a pivoted cut-off plate pivotally connected by a link to control means for switching the record player on and ofF.

4. Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein said cut-off plate has a projecting nose which, when the on-off switch means is operated to switch-on, moves to engage and actuate linkage which sets the mechanism for clutching a worm gear on the turntable boss to a worm gear on the cam shaft.

5. Mechanism according to claim 4 wherein said cut-off plate has pivotally and slidably mounted thereon a finger which is also moved to actuate said linkage when the on-off switch means is operated to switch off the record player.

6. Mechanism according to claim 5 wherein there is provided on the cam shaft a re-set cam which engages said linkage to re-set same to its initial position after it has been moved by said projecting nose or by said finger on the cut-off plate.

7. Mechanism according to claim 5 wherein the on-off switch means comprises an elongated plate pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis parallel to its length and a plurality of manually operable spring loaded plungers, there being three plungers each having a projection to engage one longitudinal edge of the plate to pivot it in one direction for switch-on, and one plunger having a projection to engage the other longitudinal edge of the plate to pivot it in the other direction for switch-off.

8. Mechanism according to claim 7 wherein said three plungers are designated 7 inches, 10 inches and 12 inches according to the size of the record on the turntable and according to the amount which each plunger moves a selector lever when it is depressed, said selector lever having one end engaging the selector cam.

9. Mechanism according to claim 3 wherein the rocker member is acted upon by a finger on the one end of a slide which is mounted for rocking movement about a horizontal axis and for sliding movement towards and away from the cam shaft, the other end of said slide being acted upon by manually operable means to cause pivotal movement thereof and manually operable means to cause rocking movement thereof.

10. Mechanism according to claim 9 and including a record-stacking center spindle of the type having a center-pin which moves to actuate the record player switch-off when the last record has decended to the turntable, wherein the said slide is pivoted to move its finger out of engagement with the rocker member and there is provided an elongated rocking plate mounted upon the spindle which carries the rocker member said rocking plate being engaged by the center pin of said center spindle to pivot the spindle and thus actuate the rocker member for switch-off.

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