Phonograph record player

In a phonograph record player having a rotatable turntable for supporting a phonograph record during the playing thereof, drive means for rotating said turntable, and a tone arm assembly including a tone arm carrying a pickup with a stylus to track the groove of a phonograph record on said turntable during a play operation and being mounted for lead-in movement of said tone arm from an elevated rest position outside the perimeter of said turntable to a selected set-down position of the stylus on a record supported by said turntable for commencement of a play operation and for return movement of said tone arm to said rest position upon the termination of a play operation:

• a control mechanism comprising
• gear means selectively driven by said drive means;
• trip means actuable at will and upon completion of each play operation to cause a period of driving of said gear means by said drive means;
• lever means driven by said gear means for urging said tone arm to automatically undergo said return movement and then said lead-in movement during respective portions of each said period of driving of said gear means;
• latch means for preventing said lead-in movement of the tone arm under the urging of said lever means;
• a mode selecting member manually movable to positions for selecting stop, manual and repeat modes of operation, respectively, of the record player, said position of the mode selecting member for selecting the manual mode of operation being interposed between said positions for selecting the stop and repeat modes of operation, respectively;
• means for causing operation of said drive means when said mode selecting member is in any one of said positions thereof for selecting the manual and repeat modes of operation, respectively;
• means for disengaging said latch means in response to the disposition of said mode selecting member in each said position thereof for selecting a repeat mode of operation;
• means for temporarily disengaging said latch means in a concluding portion of each period of driving of the gear means following said portion thereof corresponding to the automatic lead-in movement of the tone arm so that, with said mode selecting member in the position thereof for selecting the manual mode of operation, said tone arm can then be manually lead-in from said rest position to a manually determined set-down position on the record;
• and means responsive to each said period of driving of the gear means for effecting the step-wise movement of said mode selecting member in the direction toward said position thereof for the stop mode.