Braun Aktiengesellschaft

Udo Milutziki

Dietwald Schotte

Harry Gaus

Jeffrey Johnson

When the user presses a touch-activated switch a first time, a first digital storage device becomes set and furnishes a platter-motor-start signal to the control electronics of the platter drive motor. If the touch-activated switch is pressed a second time, the first digital storage device becomes reset, and the signal commanding that the platter drive motor operate terminates. A second digital storage device likewise assumes its set and reset states in response to the first and second pressing of the touch-activated switch. Sensors ascertain various operating conditions during the course of turntable operation, such as the swinging of the tone arm to the position corresponding to the lead-in groove of a phonograph record. The states of the digital storage devices are additionally dependent upon the conditions sensed by the sensors. Logic circuitry interprets the combinations of states of the digital storage devices and causes the requisite turntable operations to be performed, e.g., lifting and lowering of the tone arm, inward and outward swinging of the tone arm, initiation and termination of rotation of the platter, audio muting, and the like.

Phonograph turntable control system

When a touch-activated switch unit is touched a first time, a platter-motor flip-flop arrangement assumes its motor-operate state, and when the switch unit is touched a second time, the flip-flop assumes its motor-not-operate state. A tone-arm swing-in flip-flop assumes its swing-in state when the platter-motor flip-flop assumes its motor-operate state. A tone-arm swing-out flip-flop assumes its swing-out state when the platter-motor flip-flop assumes its motor-not-operate state. A signal-transmission switch closes the transmission path between the swing-in and swing-out flip-flops and the electrical drive of the tone-arm swing mechanism, but only when the tone-arm lift mechanism has lifted the tone arm to raised position. A touch-activated lift-tone-arm switch is operated when touched for generating a lift-tone-arm command signal. An OR-gate has an output connected to the tone-arm lift mechanism for activating the latter in response to the lift-tone-arm command signal, in response to assumption of the swing-in state by the swing-in flip-flop, and in response to assumption of the swing-out state by the swing-out flip-flop.

Growing community of inventors

Walldorf, Germany

Udo Milutziki