AUTOMATIC PHONOGRAPHIC RECORD PLAYING AND ARCHIVING DEVICE, SYSTEM AND METHOD

Abstract

A phonographic record playing device which accommodates automatic album track cueing, playback and/or album track audio recording/archiving functionality through the implementation of hardware, software and a plurality of control inputs and/or surfaces. The phonographic device uses sensors and motors in order to detect discrete album track locations and automatically position the device stylus on the album surface as desired. Software and hardware allow for the audio capture of desired album audio tracks including the appropriate association of album and audio track metadata for archiving, storage and retrieval.

Claims

1. A phonographic record playing device comprising: a base plinth comprising: a platter; a spindle; a drive motor; a drive motor coupling or belt; a plurality of control surfaces; a power supply and power cable; a microcomputer/controller w/integrated or external sound card; on board memory/storage; an analog to digital audio converter; an audio input/output bank; a data input/output bank; vertical support/sound dampening assemblies; at least one tone arm servo motor; a microphone; a phonographic pre-amplifier; a shroud; a sensor processing unit; an upper plinth comprising: a 45 RPM adapter; a dust cover, hinges and hinge receivers; at least one cue lever servo motor; a cue lever comprising: a touch sensor; a pivoting tone arm assembly comprising: a tone arm base; a tone arm shaft; a counter weight; a gimbal; an anti-skate mechanism; a head shell comprising: a cartridge and stylus; at least one sensor; a head shell stem comprising: a touch sensor. wherein the base plinth supports said spindle which supports said platter which receives phonographic records; wherein said platter is driven by said drive motor and motor spindle coupling or belt; wherein said tone arm servo motor may pivot said pivoting tone arm assembly; wherein said cue lever servo motor may lower said tone arm assembly as to bring said stylus into contact with said phonographic record surface or said cue lever servo motor may raise said tone arm assembly as to remove said stylus from contact with said phonographic record surface.

2. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said microcomputer/controller comprises a software application capable of controlling automatic track cueing of the phonographic device wherein automatic track cueing comprises the following operating functions: play all tracks on a side of a phonographic record in sequence; play all tracks on a side of a phonographic record in a random order; play the previous track; play the subsequent track; play a track; pause a track.

3. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said microcomputer/controller, said integrated or external sound card, said analog to digital audio converter and said on-board memory may further comprise software applications capable of the controlling the archive operating function of the device which comprises: capturing and converting the selected track(s) from an analog to a digital signal; formatting the track(s) to a desired digital format; correlating the track(s) with metadata; saving the track(s) locally and/or remotely.

4. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said microcomputer/controller further comprises a software application capable of controlling the power state of the phonographic device wherein the power state control comprises the following operating functions: turning the power on; turning the power off; putting the power state in a low power consumption mode.

5. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said microcomputer/controller further comprises a software application capable of regulating the drive motor speed as to accommodate said phonographic record.

6. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of control surfaces comprises one or more buttons capable of controlling the operating functions of claim 2, claim 3, claim 4 or claim 5.

7. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said plurality of control surfaces comprises one or more touch screen displays capable of controlling the operating functions of claim 2, claim 3, claim 4 or claim 5.

8. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein the initiation of the operating functions of claim 2, claim 3 or claim 4 causes said tone arm servo motor to pivot said pivoting tone arm assembly comprising said head shell, said stylus and said sensor into a position determined by said sensor above said phonographic record which corresponds to a selected operating function and wherein said tone arm assembly comprising said stylus may be lowered from said position using said cue lever servo motor to bring said stylus into contact with said phonographic record surface, wherein said tone arm assembly comprising said stylus may be raised from said position using said cue lever servo motor to remove said stylus from contact with said phonographic record in response to an operating function.

9. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein phonographic record album metadata may be determined using said tone arm servo motor to pivot said pivoting tone arm assembly using said sensor to scan said phonographic record surface wherein said phonographic record surface characteristics may be evaluated by said microcomputer/controller comprising a software application capable of correlating said phonographic record surface characteristics to other phonographic record surface characteristics containing associated metadata.

10. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said microcomputer/controller further comprises a software application capable of assigning metadata to phonographic record album tracks.

11. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein the operating functions of claim 2, claim 3 claim 4 or claim 5 may be controlled by one or more mobile smart phones or other mobile computing devices.

12. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein the operating functions of claim 2, claim 3 claim 4 or claim 5 may be controlled by a voice command system.

13. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said data input/output bank allows for the transfer of data to external storage and/or to other computing devices.

14. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said audio input/output bank allows for the connection and transfer of audio data from multiple audio input sources to a single device of claim 1 wherein such audio data sources may be archived concurrently.

15. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said wireless capability allows for the wireless connection, communication and transfer of audio data from multiple devices to a single device of claim 1 wherein such audio data sources may be archived concurrently.

16. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said wireless functionality allows for the device of claim 1 to communicate audio to wireless headphones and/or other wireless speaker systems.

17. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said audio output bank functionality allows for the connection of the device of claim 1 to connect to and transfer audio to amplified or non-amplified audio sources, systems or mixing consoles.

18. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein said cue lever touch sensor and said head shell stem touch sensor may disengage said cue lever servo motor and/or said tone arm servo motor upon the detection of physical human contact.

19. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein a lower base plinth and an upper plinth are isolated by natural and/or synthetic materials and assemblies.

20. The phonographic record playing device of claim 1, wherein the components affixed to and/or contained within the said upper plinth may instead be affixed to and/or contained within a single base plinth.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The drawings and descriptions in this disclosure are intended to be illustrative in nature and represent both preferred and alternative embodiments of the device. The embodiments presented herein may not necessarily depict the whole of all embodiments and the related implementations of such devices implied by this disclosure. Where such embodiments are not depicted, it should not be considered exclusionary.

[0020] Of a particular embodiment, some components may be intentionally omitted from certain drawings and indicated in others for the sake of providing visual clarity.

[0021] FIG. 1 Illustrates a front perspective view of one embodiment of the phonographic device.

[0022] FIG. 2 Illustrates a top view of one embodiment of the phonographic device.

[0023] FIG. 3 Illustrates the side view of one embodiment of the phonographic device.

[0024] FIG. 4 Illustrates the back view of one embodiment of the phonographic device.

[0025] FIG. 5 Illustrates the bottom view of one embodiment of the phonographic device.

[0026] FIG. 6 Illustrates the front/top exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the phonographic device.

[0027] FIG. 7 Illustrates the back/bottom exploded perspective view of one embodiment of the phonographic device.

[0028] FIG. 8 Illustrates a top view of an alternative embodiment of the device as described in Section [0040].

[0029] FIG. 9 illustrates a top view alternative embodiment/configuration of the device as described in Section [0047].

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] The following detailed description of the drawings presents a preferred embodiment of the device and should not be considered to be restrictive of other embodiments which may alternatively be comprised.

[0031] FIG. 1 represents the device as viewed from the front in a perspective view. This embodiment is comprised of a lower base plinth 1 and an upper plinth 2 which are organized vertically in a two-stage orientation as a means to decouple vibrations associated user interaction of the control surfaces 4, 14, 15 or 47 (housed in the lower base plinth 1) from the tone arm assembly (supported in the upper plinth 2) and comprised of the head shell 5, a sensing source 17, the head shell stem 6, the tone arm shaft 7, the tone arm base 8, a gimbal 9, a counter weight 11, an anti-skate mechanism 37 and the tone arm cue lever 10. The further rationale of the two-stage plinth system also serves to decouple the tone arm assembly from vibrations associated with device components, i.e., drive motor operation. In addition, the lower base plinth 1 also supports a spindle shaft 36 supporting a platter 3 capable of receiving vinyl records of various diameter. 45 RPM vinyl records may be accommodated atop the platter 3 using the adaptor 12 and drive motor speed selector 47. As noted, the lower plinth 1 houses a plurality of control surfaces 4, 14, 15 and 47 all of which are connected to a microcomputer/controller. Control surface 14 may represent a power button that is also connected to the power source and which when pressed and held will turn the device power on or off and when tapped, will put the device power state into low-power stand by mode. Control surfaces 15 may represent a bank of control surfaces that initiate the automated track cueing functionality of loop, shuffle, back, next and play/pause as described in Section [0013]. Control surface 4 may initiate the archive functionality as described in Section [0013]. All control surface functionality may be initiated by a mobile or other computing device or by voice activation through the utilization of the phonographic device's onboard microphone 39 or by other voice command systems such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or Apple Siri.

[0032] FIG. 2 represents the device as viewed from the top and in addition to the components described in FIG. 1, also depicts the hinge receivers 20 which are affixed to the upper plinth 2.

[0033] FIG. 3 represents the device as viewed from the side and identifies the stylus cartridge 38 and the sensor 17 and their respective relationship to the head shell 5. This drawing more clearly illustrates the two-stage relationship of the lower base plinth 1 and the upper plinth 2 which are physically decoupled in part by the plinth spacers 30 and supported overall by the lower plinth supports 31 which rest atop the lower base plinth support feet 33. In addition, the spindle assembly is noted as being comprised of the spindle shaft 36 and the spindle pulley 13 which are connected to the drive motor shaft 23 by the drive motor belt 22. The relationship of these components is made more apparent in subsequent descriptions and drawings. Finally, this illustration indicates the power source and phonographic preamplifier 26 location which is depicted to extend below the lower plinth 1 where space and ventilation might require.

[0034] FIG. 4 represents the device as view from the back and serves to illustrate the relative locations of the aforementioned components and where applicable, their relationship to the audio and data input/output bank 18, which may be comprised of a headphone out, a left and right phono in and phono out and may provide as well for USB or other data transfer capability. The power cable input 19 is housed within the lower base plinth 1.

[0035] FIG. 5 represents the device as seen from the bottom of the lower base plinth 1. In this illustration, the control surfaces 4, 14, 15 and 47 and their respective housings within the lower plinth 1 are identified. The drive motor 21 and its housing are identified as are the microphone 39 and its location within the lower base plinth 1. The lower base plinth support feet 33 are indicated at four locations and as previously noted, the input/output banks 18, the power input 19 and the power source/phonographic preamplifier 26 are indicated. The micro computer/controller 24 with wireless and Bluetooth functionality is illustrated and its context to a region dedicated for sensor processing 16 and onboard memory 25.

[0036] FIG. 6 represents an exploded view of the device as viewed in perspective from the front. This illustration indicates the dust cover 27 and the lower base plinth shroud 40. The illustration provides increased clarity regarding one embodiment of the drive assembly wherein the spindle shaft 36 is seated within the lower base plinth 1 and receives the spindle pulley 13 which supports the platter 3. This assembly is connected to the drive motor shaft 23 by the drive motor belt 22 all of which are driven by the drive motor 21 which is housed within the lower base plinth 1.

[0037] FIG. 7 represents an exploded view of the device as viewed in perspective from the back. This illustration provides a spatial relationship of many components noted in the previously described back and bottom views and in addition notes the location of the cue lever servo motor 35 and its housing within the upper plinth 2. This illustration provides more detail regarding one embodiment of the two-stage plinth decoupling assembly which are comprised of the lower plinth support foot 33, a lower plinth support screw 32, the lower plinth support 31, the plinth spacer 30 and the vibration dampening cap 29 which is made of natural and/or man-made composite demonstrated to minimize low frequency vibrations and micro vibrations. A unique embodiment of this assembly occurs beneath tone arm assembly where the tone arm servo motor 34 resides which controls the movement of the tone arm in the X-Y (left and right) axis when invoked by the microcomputer upon activation of the various control surfaces 4, 14, 15 or 47. The cue lever servo motor 35 controls the cue lever position in the Z (up and down) axis. For example, a user may select the control surface 15 for the shuffle functionality. The device may then scan the record surface in the X-Y axis using the tone arm servo motor 34 and sensor 17 to determine the individual track locations and in this case, subsequently play these tracks in a random order using the sensor 17 data to locate the tone arm stylus 38 in the X-Y axis and then lowering the tone arm stylus 38 to the record surface using the cue lever servo motor 35. As noted, track selection can be done manually as neither servo motor is engaged by default and only engaged when activated by an automated functions via voice, mobile device, or other computing device or the control surfaces 4, 14, 15 or 47. In the event that automated functions are manually interrupted, the head shell stem 6 and the cue lever 10 are comprised in part of a touch sensor either of which when activated, will disengage both the cue lever servo motor 35 and the tone arm servo motor 34. Also indicated are the dust cover hinges 28 and their relative relationship to the dust cover 27 and the dust cover hinge receivers 20.

[0038] FIG. 8 illustrates a top view of an alternative embodiment of the device as described in Section 0040.

[0039] FIG. 9 illustrates a top view of an alternative embodiment/configuration of the device as described in Section 0047.

ALTERNATIVE EMBODIMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTAL DRAWING DESCRIPTIONS

[0040] An alternative embodiment may implement a touch screen display control surface 41 (FIG. 8) in lieu of a bank of control surfaces 15 as a means to enable users the ability to customize control surface functionality. For example, a user may prefer to add a repeat control surface functionality which may play a particular track repeatedly. In addition, the touch screen may be used in lieu of a mobile device touch screen allowing users the ability to search for and confirm album information when archiving.

[0041] Other embodiments of the device may omit the upper plinth 2 and the vibration dampening cap 29 and plinth spacer 30 wherein the aforementioned components housed in and/or further comprising the upper plinth 2 in the preferred embodiment could alternatively be housed in and/or further comprise the lower base plinth 1 in a single stage design.

[0042] Other embodiments of the device may implement a direct drive motor system to drive the platter 3 in lieu of the belt driven system as described in the preferred embodiment. Such drive systems allow for the reversing of the platter's direction (scratching) with less strain on the drive system.

Archiving Functionality

[0043] In general, the archiving functionality requires the processes of capturing and converting the audio signal, correlating the appropriate track metadata with the audio files, formatting the audio files and the storage and configuration of the audio files with associated metadata for mobile library integration and playback.

[0044] In the preferred embodiment, the phonographic device allows for simple archiving of vinyl music. This may be accomplished by initiating the control surface functionality of the archive button 4 or touch screen 41 on the device or by activating this control surface functionality using a mobile device and application. In addition, this functionality may be initiated by providing voice commands to the device microphone 39 or to voice command systems such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant or Apple Siri.

ArchivingSample Use Cases

[0045] A sample use case demonstrates one way in which the archiving process may proceed. With the vinyl album resting on the platter 3, the user implements a mobile or other computing device application or control surface 41 to search for and confirm the corresponding album title. Using a mobile or other computing device or control surface 41, the user may then confirm the album side (i.e., Side A/Side B) and select from a list, the tracks to be archived. The user may press an archive button on a mobile device app or control surface 4 wherein in part, the sensor 17 scans the vinyl record surface/track characteristics and archiving of the selected tracks commences wherein the digitally archived files are automatically correlated with album metadata, configured and stored locally and/or remotely allowing for playback from a mobile or other computing device.

[0046] In another sample use case, a user sets a vinyl record on the platter 3, presses a power button 14 and then presses an archive button 4. Using in part, the sensor 17, the device scans the record surface to identify and store album surface characteristics. At this stage, the stored album surface characteristics may be implemented by the device as a means to suggest the corresponding album title (informed album identification) which may be presented to the user via touch screen 41 or via mobile or other computing device application. Through these means, the user may confirm this suggestion, conduct a different album title search via mobile application or the touch screen 41, or bypass album title confirmation. This pending confirmation may be indicated by a flashing archive indicator 4 on the device. If desired, this indicator may be overridden by depressing the flashing indicator wherein archiving of the entire side of the vinyl album commences. The digital files are stored locally and/or remotely and the appropriate album metadata may be confirmed and automatically correlated for complete archiving at a latter time.

[0047] A final sample use case demonstrates an example by which multiple devices may be configured to allow for the archiving of output from multiple phonographic devices (FIG. 9). In this condition, an alternate embodiment of the device as noted in [Section 0042] (implementing a direct drive motor) may be preferred. In this case, a DJ may connect two or more phonographic devices 45 and 46 either wirelessly or via the audio input/output bank 18 sending an output signal 44 to a mixing console 43. In this configuration, one of the phonographic devices may be designated as a master device 46 wherein the instantiation of the archive function on the master device overrides its default audio archiving input source which is normally routed from the device's stylus output signal. Instead the archiving input source is routed from audio signal 42 to the device's audio input bank. Here, the signal to be recorded and archived comprises all device sources from the mixing console. Such device configuration would enable a DJ the opportunity to create a live performance of mixing and scratching across multiple devices and wherein the digitally archived file is configured and stored locally and/or remotely for playback.

[0048] The foregoing description of the preferred and alternative embodiments are presented herein for illustrative and descriptive purposes and should not be considered restrictive. Such embodiments are capable of modifications and may be practiced otherwise than specifically described. When practiced as such, the reference or non-reference to a particular embodiment shall not be interpreted to limit the scope of protection. It is intended that the scope of protection be applied based on the appended claim.