Slot-loading portable record player

Claim 2

A record player comprising a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, turntable drive means including a single reversible motor for moving the turntable along its axis toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit and constrained from movement along its axis, a rotatable record clamp disc disposed coaxially of the turntable engageable substantially at said limit of turntable axial movement with a record supported on the turntable for clamping the record to the turntable, and means mounting the clamp disc for rotation about said axis in a selected direction corresponding to record playing rotation of the turntable, for limited movement along the axis toward and away from the turntable, and for constraining the clamp disc from rotation about the axis in the opposite direction.

Claim 3

A record player according to claim 1 including resilient means for biasing the clamp disc along the axis toward the turntable.

Claim 4

A record player according to claim 1 including a rotatable drive wheel disposed coaxially of the turntable and coupled thereto, the drive wheel having a circular rim of predetermined circumferential extent, and a drive pinion coupled to the motor and frictionally engaged with the drive wheel rim for rotating the drive wheel in response to operation of the motor.

Claim 5

A record player according to claim 3 including means mounting the motor and the drive pinion for movement toward and away from the turntable axis, and means for biasing the motor and the pinion toward the turntable axis for engagement of the pinion with the drive wheel.

Claim 6

A record player according to claim 3 including a housing having a chassis, the turntable axis being fixed relative to the housing, wherein the motor includes a rotor, the motor mounting means includes a lever mounting the rotor thereto for rotation about an axis parallel to the turntable axis, the lever being pivoted to the chassis at a location spaced from the rotor for angular movement of the lever relative to the chassis about an axis parallel to the rotor and turntable axes.

Claim 7

A record player according to claim 5 wherein the motor and pinion biasing means comprises a spring coupled between the lever and the chassis.

Claim 8

A record player according to claim 1 including a stylus cartridge mounted for tracking movement radially of the turntable and circuit means for controlling operation of the motor, the circuit means including a motor reversing switch having a forward state corresponding to playing of a record and a reverse state corresponding to rejection of a record, and toggle means arranged for operation in response to alignment of a record substantially coaxially of the turntable to operate the motor in its forward state and for operation in response to movement of the cartridge inwardly of the turntable to operate the reversing switch from its forward state to its reverse state.

Claim 9

A record player according to claim 1 including a stylus cartridge mounted for tracking movement inwardly of a record secured between the turntable and the clamp disc in response to engagement of a stylus carried by the cartridge in the groove of such record, such record being rotatable about said axis during said engagement, and means for moving the cartridge from inwardly of the record to outwardly of the record in response to movement of the turntable away from said limit along said axis.

Claim 10

A record player according to claim 1 including a stylus mounted for playing engagement with a record disposed on the turntable and movable between a base position away from said axis and an end-of-play position adjacent said axis, and means responsive to arrival of the stylus at its end-of-play position for reversing the drive means.

Claim 11

A record player according to claim 9 including means powered by the motor during reverse operation thereof for driving the stylus from its end-of-play position to its base position.

Claim 12

A record player comprising a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, turntable drive means including a single reversible motor for moving the turntable along its axis toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit and constrained from movement along its axis, the drive means also including a shaft disposed coaxially of the turntable and rotatable about said axis in response to operation of the motor and screw means coupled between the shaft and the turntable, a rotatable record clamp disc disposed coaxially of the turntable engageable substantially at said limit of turntable axial movement with a record supported on the turntable for clamping the record to the turntable, and means effective upon the clamp disc for constraining the clamp disc from rotation about the axis in a direction opposite to a direction corresponding to record playing rotation of the turntable.

Claim 13

A record player comprising a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, turntable drive means including a single reversible motor for moving the turntable along its axis toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit and constrained from movement along its axis, the drive means also including a shaft disposed coaxially of the turntable and rotatable about said axis in response to operation of the motor and screw means coupled between the shaft and the turntable, a rotatable record clamp disc disposed coaxially of the turntable engageable substantially at said limit of turntable axial movement with a record supported on the turntable for clamping the record to the turntable, and means effective upon the clamp disc for constraining the clamp disc from rotation about the axis in a direction opposite to a direction corresponding to record playing rotation of the turntable.

Claim 14

A record player according to claim 11 wherein the screw means is arranged to be effective, when the shaft rotates relative to the turntable in the selected direction, to drive the turntable along its axis of rotation toward said limit and, when the shaft rotated in opposition to said selected direction relative to the turntable, to drive the turntable along its axis of rotation away from said limit.

Claim 15

A record player according to claim 12 including drag means for holding the turntable from angular movement about its axis during the major portion of travel of the turntable along said axis, said major portion of turntable travel being spaced from said limit.

Claim 16

A record player comprising a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, turntable drive means including a single reversible motor for moving the turntable along its axis toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit and constrained from movement along its axis, a rotatable record clamp disc disposed coaxially of the turntable engageable substantially at said limit of turntable axial movement with a record supported on the turntable for clamping the record to the turntable, a stylus cartridge mounted for tracking mOvement radially of the turntable, circuit means for controlling operation of the motor including a motor reversing switch having a forward state corresponding to playing of a record and a reverse state corresponding to rejection of a record, toggle means for operating the reversing switch between said states, the toggle means being arranged for operation in response to alignment of a record substantially coaxially of the turntable to operate the reversing switch from its reverse state to its forward state and for operation in response to movement of the cartridge inwardly of the turntable to operate the reversing switch from its forward state to its reverse state, the toggle means including a shaft, a cam mounted on the shaft for rotation relative thereto, the reversing switch being arranged for operation by the cam, bistable resiliently biased over-center means coupled to the cam for urging the cam into two discrete states angularly of the reversing switch, said cam states corresponding to the reversing switch state, the over-center means in the reverse state of the cam being disposed to interfere with and be displaced by alignment of a record coaxially of the turntable for operating the cam into its forward state in response to said alignment of a record with the turntable, a cartridge return lever secured to the shaft and arranged in the normal forward state of the cam to engage the cartridge intermediate the movement thereof relative to the turntable and to be driven by subsequent tracking movement of the cartridge, and means coupled to the shaft for operating the over-center means to drive the cam into its reverse state in response to driven movement of the cartridge return lever, the toggle means and the cartridge return lever being arranged to maintain the cartridge radially outwardly of the turntable in the reverse state of the cam.

Claim 17

A record player comprising a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, turntable drive means including a single reversible motor for moving the turntable along its axis toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit and constrained from movement along its axis, a rotatable record clamp disc disposed coaxially of the turntable engageable substantially at said limit of turntable axial movement with a record supported on the turntable for clamping the record to the turntable, a stylus cartridge mounted for tracking mOvement radially of the turntable, circuit means for controlling operation of the motor including a motor reversing switch having a forward state corresponding to playing of a record and a reverse state corresponding to rejection of a record, toggle means for operating the reversing switch between said states, the toggle means being arranged for operation in response to alignment of a record substantially coaxially of the turntable to operate the reversing switch from its reverse state to its forward state and for operation in response to movement of the cartridge inwardly of the turntable to operate the reversing switch from its forward state to its reverse state, the toggle means including a shaft, a cam mounted on the shaft for rotation relative thereto, the reversing switch being arranged for operation by the cam, bistable resiliently biased over-center means coupled to the cam for urging the cam into two discrete states angularly of the reversing switch, said cam states corresponding to the reversing switch state, the over-center means in the reverse state of the cam being disposed to interfere with and be displaced by alignment of a record coaxially of the turntable for operating the cam into its forward state in response to said alignment of a record with the turntable, a cartridge return lever secured to the shaft and arranged in the normal forward state of the cam to engage the cartridge intermediate the movement thereof relative to the turntable and to be driven by subsequent tracking movement of the cartridge, and means coupled to the shaft for operating the over-center means to drive the cam into its reverse state in response to driven movement of the cartridge return lever, the toggle means and the cartridge return lever being arranged to maintain the cartridge radially outwardly of the turntable in the reverse state of the cam.

Claim 18

A record player according to claim 14 including means coupled to the shaft and responsive to axial movement of the turntable for moving the cartridge return lever from its cartridge maintaining position to intermediate the path of movement of the cartridge.

Claim 19

A record player comprising a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, turntable drive means including a single reversible motor for moving the turntable along its axis toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit and constrained from movement along its axis, a rotatable record clamp disc disposed coaxially of the turntable engageable substantially at said limit of turntable axial movement with a record supported on the turntable for clamping the record to the turntable, a housing for enclosing the turntable, the clamp disc and the turntable drive means, the housing including a chassis, a slot through a front portion of the housing extending perpendicular to the turntable axis and through which a record may be inserted into the record player, the turntable axis lying rearwardly of substantially the midlength of the slot, locating means in the housing for guiding a record inserted through the slot into substantially coaxial alignment with the turntable between the turntable and the clamp disc, circuit means in the housing for controlling operation of the motor including start switch means coupled between the motor and a source of power for the motor and operable for connecting the motor and the source, the circuit means including reversing switch means having a forward state corresponding to operation of the turntable drive means for driving the turntable along its axis to said limit to clamp a record between the turntable and the clamp disc and for rotating the record at a selected speed for playing the same, the reversing switch means having a reverse state corresponding to the operation of the turntable drive means for driving the turntabLe along its axis away from said limit to unclamp a record from between the turntable and the clamp disc, and means responsive to engagement of a record with the locating means for operating the start switch means to connect the motor and said source.

Claim 20

A record player comprising a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, turntable drive means including a single reversible motor for moving the turntable along its axis toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit and constrained from movement along its axis, a rotatable record clamp disc disposed coaxially of the turntable engageable substantially at said limit of turntable axial movement with a record supported on the turntable for clamping the record to the turntable, a housing for enclosing the turntable, the clamp disc and the turntable drive means, the housing including a chassis, a slot through a front portion of the housing extending perpendicular to the turntable axis and through which a record may be inserted into the record player, the turntable axis lying rearwardly of substantially the midlength of the slot, locating means in the housing for guiding a record inserted through the slot into substantially coaxial alignment with the turntable between the turntable and the clamp disc, circuit means in the housing for controlling operation of the motor including start switch means coupled between the motor and a source of power for the motor and operable for connecting the motor and the source, the circuit means including reversing switch means having a forward state corresponding to operation of the turntable drive means for driving the turntable along its axis to said limit to clamp a record between the turntable and the clamp disc and for rotating the record at a selected speed for playing the same, the reversing switch means having a reverse state corresponding to the operation of the turntable drive means for driving the turntabLe along its axis away from said limit to unclamp a record from between the turntable and the clamp disc, and means responsive to engagement of a record with the locating means for operating the start switch means to connect the motor and said source.

Claim 21

A record player according to claim 16 including means coupled to the turntable and responsive to axial movement thereof for maintaining the start switch means operated during movement of the turntable along its axis from a selected location spaced from said limit to said limit and back to the selected location.

Claim 22

A record player according to claim 16 including means responsive to normal completion of play of a record clamped between the turntable and the clamp disc for operating the reversing switch means from its forward state to its reverse state.

Claim 23

A record player comprising a. a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, b. stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, c. a single reversible motor for moving the turntable along its axis toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable in a forward direction at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit, d. screw means concentric to said axis coupled between the motor and the turntable and rotatable about said axis in response to operation of the motor, e. means effective upon the turntable during a portion of the axial movement thereof spaced from said limit for inhibiting rotation of the turntable about said axis, and f. means operative upon the turntable at said limit for preventing reverse direction rotation of the turntable.

Claim 24

A record player comprising a. a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, b. stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, c. a single reversible motor for moving the turntable along its axis toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable in a forward direction at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit, d. screw means concentric to said axis coupled between the motor and the turntable and rotatable about said axis in response to operation of the motor, e. means effective upon the turntable during a portion of the axial movement thereof spaced from said limit for inhibiting rotation of the turntable about said axis, and f. means operative upon the turntable at said limit for preventing reverse direction rotation of the turntable.

Claim 25

A record player comprising a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, turntable drive means including a single reversible motor for moving the turntable toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit and constrained from movement along its axis, a rotatable record clamp disc disposed coaxially of the turntable engageable substantially at said limit of turntable axial movement with a record supported on the turntable for clamping the record to the turntable, the turntable drive means further including screw means coupled between the turntable and the reversible motor for moving the turntable axially toward and away from the clamp disc, a stylus cartridge mounted for record tracking movement radially of the turntable, circuit means for controlling operation of the motor, the circuit means having a forward state corresponding to operation of the drive means to move the turntable toward said limit of axial movement and to rotate the turntable at said selected velocity and a reverse state corresponding to operation of the drive means to move the turntable away from said limit, and means for selecting between the forward and reverse states of the circuit means and arranged for operating the circuit means in its forward state in response to location of a record substantially coaxially of the turntable and for operating the circuit means in its reverse state in response to movement of the cartridge inwardly of the turntable.

Claim 26

A record player comprising a record turntable having an axis of rotation about which the turntable is rotatable and along which the turntable is movable, stop means defining a limit of movement of the turntable along said axis, turntable drive means including a single reversible motor for moving the turntable toward and away from said limit and for rotating the turntable at a selected angular velocity when the turntable is at said limit and constrained from movement along its axis, a rotatable record clamp disc disposed coaxially of the turntable engageable substantially at said limit of turntable axial movement with a record supported on the turntable for clamping the record to the turntable, the turntable drive means further including screw means coupled between the turntable and the reversible motor for moving the turntable axially toward and away from the clamp disc, a stylus cartridge mounted for record tracking movement radially of the turntable, circuit means for controlling operation of the motor, the circuit means having a forward state corresponding to operation of the drive means to move the turntable toward said limit of axial movement and to rotate the turntable at said selected velocity and a reverse state corresponding to operation of the drive means to move the turntable away from said limit, and means for selecting between the forward and reverse states of the circuit means and arranged for operating the circuit means in its forward state in response to location of a record substantially coaxially of the turntable and for operating the circuit means in its reverse state in response to movement of the cartridge inwardly of the turntable.

Claim 27

A record player according to claim 20 including means effective during reverse state operation of the circuit means for inhibiting rotation of the turntable in a direction opposite to a direction corresponding to record playing rotation of the turntable.

Claim 28

A record player according to claim 21 wherein the screw means is disposed coaxially of the turntable.

Claim 29

A record player according to claim 20 including means effective upon the turntable when the turntable is located away from the limit of axial movement thereof for inhibiting rotation of the turntable.

Claim 30

A record player accOrding to claim 20 wherein the means for selecting between the states of the circuit means includes reversing switch means operable in response to movement of the cartridge inwardly of the turntable for shifting the circuit means from its forward state to its reverse state.

Claim 31

A record player according to claim 24 including reject means operable independently of movement of the cartridge inwardly of the turntable to operate the reversing switch means to shift the circuit means from its forward state to its reverse state.

Claim 32

A record player according to claim 20 wherein the circuit means includes a power switch having an ON state in which said switch is effective to connect the turntable drive means to a source of power therefor and an OFF state, and means for operating the power switch into its ON state in response to alignment of a record substantially coaxially of the turntable.

Claim 33

A record player according to claim 26 including means responsive to location of the turntable within a selected distance of said limit for maintaining the power switch in its ON state.