Tone arm mechanism

Claim 1

In a phonograph record playing system having a support member providing horizontal pivotal supports, a movable tone arm mounted for rotation in a vertical plane about said pivotal supports, a vertical post mounted for rotation about its long axis, said support member being coupled to said shaft for rotation therewith, said tone arm bearing adjacent one end thereof a cartridge containing a stylus for contacting and playing a substantially planar recording disc, and sensor means for producing signals derived from the low frequency tracking behavior of said tone arm, the improvement comprising first motor means for moving said tone arm in substantially only a direction perpendicular to the plane of said disc, said first motor means being electrically coupled to be energized by selected portions of said signals, said first motor means comprising a yoke connected to and extending from said support member so as to define a slot extending parallel to said tone arm, a first coil mounted adjacent the opposite end of said tone arm and extending into said slot, said first coil being movable with said tone arm, said first coil being coupled to be energized by said selected portions of said signals, and means mounted on said yoke for providing a magnetic field disposed to interact with the field produced in said first coil by said selected portions of said signals, and second motor means coupled to said shaft for moving said shaft and tone arm together in substantially only a direction parallel to the plane of said disc, said second motor means being electrically coupled to provide tone arm movement responsively to other selected portions of said signals.