JUNE 30, 1923

THE WIRELESS WORLD AND RADIO REVIEW

409

A NEW LOUD -SPEAKING DEVICE

NEW loud -speaking device of novel

design and having some features of
special interest, has lately been devised
by Mr. S. G. Brown, and whilst the instrument has not, up to the present, gone beyond
the stage of experimental models, it has nevertheless been recently demonstrated at the
Royal Institution, and, through the courtesy
of Mr. S. G. Brown, the author has had an
opportunity of inspecting the instrument
and hearing its performance.
The apparatus serves not only as a loud
speaking reproducer, but at the same time
also acts as an amplifier and provides for a
very considerable degree of amplification.
The operation is entirely mechanical in
principle, and depends for its functioning
on friction between a revolving glass disc and
a shoe, the under side of which carries a thin
layer of cork which makes rubbing contact
with the glass disc. The shoe is connected
to the reed of a Brown telephone ear-piece
of the usual pattern, and the movement of
the reed, controlled by incoming signals,
serves to vary the pressure of the shoe on the
revolving glass disc, thereby varying the friction between the shoe and the disc.
The shoe is connected mechanically to the
centre of the diaphragm of a sound box of
gramophone or similar pattern.
The arrangement of the instrument recalls
somewhat the Johnsen-Rahbek loud speaker,
except that in the latter case the friction
between the shoe and the rotating disc or
cylinder is controlled electrostatically, whereas
in the new instrument this friction is controlled
entirely by mechanical means.
The accompanying illustrations will give
some idea of the arrangement of the parts.
The rotating glass disc " G " must of course
be very carefully ground and polished to
ensure the utmost evenness of surface.
The speed at which this disc is rotated is
somewhere in the neighbourhood of 70
revolutions per minute, so that the usual
gramophone motor can be suitably employed
for the purpose. The diameter of the disc
in the model which has been exhibited is
about 7 ins.
The shoe " S " is a steel disc about half
an inch in diameter, which is rigidly attached
by means of a steel wire Cc W" to the reed of the

diaphragm. This wire is about I in. in length.

On the under side of the shoe which makes
contact with the glass disc is secured a thin
disc of cork such as is used for tipping cigarettes. The telephone earpiece must, of course,
be very accurately adjusted above the revolving disc, and the shoe should be arranged
so that it barely touches the revolving disc ;
any movement of the reed will bring it into
closer contact and produce a rubbing friction.

The " Frenophone " Mechanical Amplifier and

Loud Speaker.

A spiral spring is provided to maintain

the tension of the cords on which the metal
shoe is slung and connected to the sound box diaphragm.
It is essential that the glass disc should
be kept free from dust or any tendency to stickiness, and it is therefore advisable to provide a
cover to enclose that part of the apparatus.
As to the performance of the instrument,
the quality of reproduction is surprisingly
good, and it would not be an exaggeration to
say that it threatens to rival any loud -speaking
device at present on the market.
As to its efficiency as an amplifier, the degree
of amplification might be estimated as approximately equal to two stages of low frequency
amplification. Speech from 2 LO which,
with a receiver having a detector valve and
one stage of low frequency amplification,
giving signals in the telephones which were
just audible at 2 feet from the telephones,
when passed into the loud speaker gave a
volume of sound with an almost entire absence
of distortion, sufficient to fill a large room.
One might have expected that the varying
pressure of the shoe on the rotating disc
of glass would have produced a damping
effect on the telephone reed as would have
produced distortion, but in practice there
appears to be no suspicion of any such trouble.

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