Interesting mechanical-feed disc phonograph on eBay

[JohnM]

What in tarnation is this?

eBay Item #290337269234

Looks like the lid may have been part of the 'horn'?

What is that big slot on the top? There is some sort of weighted lever below it.

Is that a front-mount reproducer from something else . . . Berliner?

Bell-Tainter meets Amet meets Zonophone or something . . . it's the missing link!

Weird!

John M

[OrthoFan]

I'm probably way off base here, but that looks like an acoustic disc recording machine! In any event, certain parts, such as the feed screw, look very similar to patent drawings I've seen, but now, of course, can't locate***. If it is a recording machine, then a hose or tube would be connected to the "sound box," which is actually a recording head turned upwards.

***...I tried doing a Google patent search, but after clicking on a couple dozen listings, I got locked out (again). Seems Google is convinced I'm an automated device.

[estott]

I think it might be some kind of coin operated machine missing a lot of pieces.

[gramophoneshane]

I'm probably way off base here, but that looks like an acoustic disc recording machine! In any event, certain parts, such as the feed screw, look very similar to patent drawings I've seen, but now, of course, can't locate***. If it is a recording machine, then a hose or tube would be connected to the "sound box," which is actually a recording head turned upwards.

***...I tried doing a Google patent search, but after clicking on a couple dozen listings, I got locked out (again). Seems Google is convinced I'm an automated device.

My first thought was a recording machine as well.

[JohnM]

There is a question posted on the listing asking the size of the turntable . . . it is 7"(!!!)

Bidding up to $660 currently. This will be interesting.

What is it for certain?

John M

[OrthoFan]

Hi John:

This is the patent drawing I had in mind, and why I thought it might be a disc recording device:

D.S. Williams Graphophone -- Patent 619916

It's different, overall, but similar in principle, especially the feed-screw assembly, and the way the recording head is positioned.

Recording Machine.JPG (56.82 KiB) Viewed 2332 times

Can't understand why there isn't more interest in this. I don't think it's just another crap-o-phone....

[JohnM]

Ortho_Fan,

Thanks for posting that!!

There sure are some similarities to the patent drawing -- at least in the way the reproducer/recorder is mounted. The patent drawing version appears to drive the stylus across the record surface with a cam, though, rather than with a feedscew. The cam is an interesting application in itself, but the eBay example uses dual(!) feedscrews (one send and one return?), not a cam. I wish I could examine it in person as it is a bit difficult for someone approaching senility like myself to figure it all out from the listing photos.

I am very intrigued by this gadget! One of the more interesting things to appear on eBay in a while, IMHO.

How did it wind up (sorry) in central Kentucky? That's ironic to me since I grew up in Kentucky! My uncle had a farm where I spent half of my young life over in Grayson County, not 15 miles from the seller of this gizmo.

John M

[Neophone]

Folks,

That is a very intriguing piece. I think Ortho_Fan hit the nail on the head. From the perspective of someone who's never seen anything quite like it-it and the patent drawing seem too similar to admit almost anything else.

Regards,
John

[JohnM]

Just to clarify for sake of discussion, the part that appears to be a feedscrew on the patent drawing is actually a coil tension spring that acts to bear the carriage against the cam. The method of mounting the reproducer/recorder is quite similar, but the tracking system is radically different. I find the use of a cam an interesting change of pace from a feedscrew. I wonder why the dual feedscrews on the eBay example?

Certainly the 7" turntable, vertical governor, crank out the back, and early-looking spring barrel, platform motor, and reproducer date this no later than 1901?

John M

[OrthoFan]

Just to clarify for sake of discussion, the part that appears to be a feedscrew on the patent drawing is actually a coil tension spring that acts to bear the carriage against the cam. The method of mounting the reproducer/recorder is quite similar, but the tracking system is radically different. I find the use of a cam an interesting change of pace from a feedscrew. I wonder why the dual feedscrews on the eBay example?

Certainly the 7" turntable, vertical governor, crank out the back, and early-looking spring barrel, platform motor, and reproducer date this no later than 1901?

John M

Hi John:

Many thanks for clarifying that! I've done a couple of other patent searches, and so far, have come up with nothing.

As has been suggested, it may also be part of a coin-operated gramophone which would make sense in view of the dual feed screws used--possibly one to return the mechanism to the start position.

I hope that whomever gets it is willing to share whatever he knows (or learns) about it, at some point.

OF