Easy loading toy phonograph

Claim 2

In a toy phonograph which includes a turntable, a spindle for holding a record against the turntable, and a tone arm for following along a spiral record groove, the improvement comprising: a housing having a plurality of surfaces, including a predetermined front surface, said front surface having an elongated slot therein for receiving disc shaped records; control lever means including a replay knob and an eject knob, each of said knobs mounted to extend forwardly from said front surface; first means responsive to operation of said replay knob for lifting said tone arm away from said turntable and moving it towards the periphery of said turntable; and second means responsive to operation of said eject knob for moving said spindle away from said turntable and urging a record on said turntable out through said slot.

Claim 3

The toy phonograph described in claim 1 wherein: said control lever means includes a lever having a center portion pivotally mounted on said housing and having portions on opposite sides of said center portion forming said replay and eject knobs, respectively, so that when one knob is pressed inwardly the other moves outwardly.

Claim 4

A toy phonograph for playing a disc record with a spiral groove comprising: a housing with a slot therein for receiving a record; a turntable; a spindle mounted to move towards and away from said turntable; motor means for driving said turntable; a tone arm pivotally mounted to track a spiral record groove and to move off and onto a record; a control lever pivotally mounted on said housing and having replay and eject knob portions projecting from said housing for enabling manual pivoting of said lever in opposite directions; first means coupled to said control lever to raise said tone arm and move it towards the periphery of said turntable when said control lever is pivoted during depression of said replay knob portion; and second means coupled to said control lever to raise said spindle, raise said tone arm, and eject said record through said slot when said control lever is pivoted during depression of said eject knob portion thereof.

Claim 5

A toy phonograph for playing a disc record with a spiral groove comprising: a housing with a slot therein for receiving a record; a turntable; a spindle mounted to move towards and away from said turntable; motor means for driving said turntable; a tone arm pivotally mounted to track a spiral record groove and to move off and onto a record; a control lever pivotally mounted on said housing and having replay and eject knob portions projecting from said housing for enabling manual pivoting of said lever in opposite directions; first means coupled to said control lever to raise said tone arm and move it towards the periphery of said turntable when said control lever is pivoted during depression of said replay knob portion; and second means coupled to said control lever to raise said spindle, raise said tone arm, and eject said record through said slot when said control lever is pivoted during depression of said eject knob portion thereof.

Claim 6

The toy phonograph described in claim 3 wherein: said motor means includes an electric motor with terminals; and said housing includes a battery compartment for holding at least one battery with terminals; and including First and second contact members constructed of electrically conductive spring material, said first member having one end connected to a motor terminal and a second free end, and said second contact member having one end located within said battery compartment to directly contact a battery terminal and another end biased against said free end of said first contact member; means on said tone arm for separating said contact members as said tone arm approaches the center of said spiral groove; and means coupled to said second means for separating said contact members as said control lever is pivoted during depression of said eject knob portion thereon.

Claim 7

The toy phonograph described in claim 3 wherein: said housing has a plurality of distinct surfaces, one of them defining said slot; and said replay and eject knob portions are arranged to project from said surface which defines said slot, whereby to facilitate mounting of the phonograph in another toy.

Claim 8

A toy phonograph for playing a disc record comprising: a housing with a slot therein for receiving a record; a turntable for rotating said record; motor means for driving said turntable; a spindle mounted for slidable movement towards and away from said turntable to hold and release a record therefrom; and an eject lever pivotally mounted on said housing to pivot between playing and ejecting positions, said lever having a finger for engaging a record to eject it when said lever is pivoted toward said ejecting position and to receive forces from a record inserted through said slot to pivot said lever towards said playing position, said lever having a spindle-receiving slot extending at a constant radial distance from the axis of pivoting of said lever, said spindle extending through said slot, and said eject lever having spindle camming walls on either side of said slot engaged with said spindle, said spindle camming walls including a first portion at a constant distance from said turntable and a second ramp portion of progressively decreasing distance from said turntable at locations progressively spaced from said first portion.

Claim 9

A toy phonograph for playing a disc record comprising: a housing with a slot therein for receiving a record; a turntable for rotating said record; motor means for driving said turntable; a spindle mounted for slidable movement towards and away from said turntable to hold and release a record therefrom; and an eject lever pivotally mounted on said housing to pivot between playing and ejecting positions, said lever having a finger for engaging a record to eject it when said lever is pivoted toward said ejecting position and to receive forces from a record inserted through said slot to pivot said lever towards said playing position, said lever having a spindle-receiving slot extending at a constant radial distance from the axis of pivoting of said lever, said spindle extending through said slot, and said eject lever having spindle camming walls on either side of said slot engaged with said spindle, said spindle camming walls including a first portion at a constant distance from said turntable and a second ramp portion of progressively decreasing distance from said turntable at locations progressively spaced from said first portion.

Claim 10

The toy phonograph described in claim 6 including: said motor means includes an electrically energizable motor with terminals and walls defining a battery compartment for holding at least one battery with terminals; and a leaf spring member of electrically conductive material having a first arm electrically connected to one of said motor terminals, a second arm positioned to contact a terminal of a battery in said battery compartment, and a third arm biased against said spindle to urge it towards said turntable.

Claim 11

A toy phonograph for playing a disc record comprising: a housing; a turntable rotatably mounted on said housing; a tone arm which has a stylus for entering the grooves of a record, said tone arm mounted to pivot in a direction to track the record groove and to move the stylus off and onto the record; a lift lever pivotally mounted on said housing and having a lifting portion for raising said tone arm to move the stylus off a record; and a control lever pivotally mounted on said housing, said control lever having a manually depressible replay knob portion, a first camming surface for engaging said lift lever to pivot it in a direction to lift said stylus off a record, and an arcuate second camming surface for engaging said tone arm to pivot it towards the periphery of a record.

Claim 12

A toy phonograph for playing a disc record comprising: a housing; a turntable rotatably mounted on said housing; a tone arm which has a stylus for entering the grooves of a record, said tone arm mounted to pivot in a direction to track the record groove and to move the stylus off and onto the record; a lift lever pivotally mounted on said housing and having a lifting portion for raising said tone arm to move the stylus off a record; and a control lever pivotally mounted on said housing, said control lever having a manually depressible replay knob portion, a first camming surface for engaging said lift lever to pivot it in a direction to lift said stylus off a record, and an arcuate second camming surface for engaging said tone arm to pivot it towards the periphery of a record.

Claim 13

The toy phonograph described in claim 8 including: an eject lever pivotally mounted on said housing, said lever having a finger for engaging the rim of a record to push it out of said housing; and wherein said control lever has a manually operable eject knob portion formed thereon on a side of the axis of pivoting of said control lever opposite said replay knob portion, for pivoting said replay lever in a direction opposite to the direction in which it pivots when said replay knob portion is depRessed; and said control lever has an eject camming surface for moving said eject lever in a direction to push a record out of the housing when said eject knob portion is depressed.

Claim 14

The toy phonograph described in claim 9 including: a first stop member mounted on said replay lever; and a second stop member mounted on said eject lever to prevent pivoting of said replay lever in said first direction when said eject lever is in the position which it assumes after ejecting a record.

Claim 15

A toy phonograph comprising: a housing, including a battery compartment and walls defining a record-receiving slot; a turntable rotatably mounted on said housing; an electric motor mounted on said housing and coupled to said turntable to drive it; a spindle mounted on said housing to move towards and away from said turntable; a tone arm assembly pivotally mounted on said housing, including a stylus for engaging a record; a tone arm lift lever pivotally mounted on said housing for lifting said tone arm away from a record on said turntable; a speaker cone assembly for acoustically amplifying sounds, including an armature biased against said tone arm assembly; an eject lever pivotally mounted on said housing for moving between a playing position and an eject position, said eject lever having a finger for ejecting a record from said housing and for receiving forces from a record that is being inserted into the housing, a spindle camming surface engaged with said spindle including a portion inclined towards said turntable for moving said spindle towards said turntable as said eject lever approaches its playing position, a lift camming surface for pivoting said tone arm lift lever to lift said tone arm as said eject lever moves towards said eject position, and a tone arm camming surface for pivoting said tone arm towards the periphery of said turntable as said eject lever moves towards said eject position; and a control lever pivotally mounted on said housing and having manually depressible eject and replay knobs projecting from said housing for manual pivoting of said control lever in opposite directions, said control lever having an eject camming surface for engaging said eject lever to pivot it towards said eject position when said control lever pivots as said eject knob is depressed, and said control lever having a lift camming surface for engaging said tone arm lift lever and a return camming surface for moving said tone arm towards the periphery of said turntable when said control lever is pivoted as said replay knob is depressed.

Claim 16

A toy phonograph comprising: a housing, including a battery compartment and walls defining a record-receiving slot; a turntable rotatably mounted on said housing; an electric motor mounted on said housing and coupled to said turntable to drive it; a spindle mounted on said housing to move towards and away from said turntable; a tone arm assembly pivotally mounted on said housing, including a stylus for engaging a record; a tone arm lift lever pivotally mounted on said housing for lifting said tone arm away from a record on said turntable; a speaker cone assembly for acoustically amplifying sounds, including an armature biased against said tone arm assembly; an eject lever pivotally mounted on said housing for moving between a playing position and an eject position, said eject lever having a finger for ejecting a record from said housing and for receiving forces from a record that is being inserted into the housing, a spindle camming surface engaged with said spindle including a portion inclined towards said turntable for moving said spindle towards said turntable as said eject lever approaches its playing position, a lift camming surface for pivoting said tone arm lift lever to lift said tone arm as said eject lever moves towards said eject position, and a tone arm camming surface for pivoting said tone arm towards the periphery of said turntable as said eject lever moves towards said eject position; and a control lever pivotally mounted on said housing and having manually depressible eject and replay knobs projecting from said housing for manual pivoting of said control lever in opposite directions, said control lever having an eject camming surface for engaging said eject lever to pivot it towards said eject position when said control lever pivots as said eject knob is depressed, and said control lever having a lift camming surface for engaging said tone arm lift lever and a return camming surface for moving said tone arm towards the periphery of said turntable when said control lever is pivoted as said replay knob is depressed.

Claim 17

The toy phonograph described in claim 10 including: an operator-contactor member constructed of electrically conductive spring material, having a first arm positioned in said battery compartment to contact a terminal of a battery therein, a second arm in contact with a terminal of said motor, a third arm disposed against said spindle to urge it towards said turntable, and a fourth arm engaged with said control lever to bias it opposite to the direction in which it pivots when said replay knob is depressed.