Rock-Ola Jukebox

Rock-Ola Musikboxen im Archiv von Jukebox-World
Rock-Ola Mechanismen – Mechanisms by Rock-Ola	Copyright

Paul H. Smyth

Smyth was the engineer who designed the mechanism for Rock-Ola.
The Smyth mechanism was used on ALL Rock-Ola models right up until the 45rpm mechs were introduced. The early Rock-Olas used a 12 and 16-selection system, later expanded to 20 selections, but in all cases, it was a Smythe mech.

The Smyth mechanism looked like the Wurlitzer Simplex mechanism except that it had substantial engineering differences. First off, the record stack had 20 selections, not 24; the trays swung out from left to right – (from the rear of the stacker) exactly opposite the Simplex. Also, the Smyth had a post that rode up and down the stack when a selection was made and a mechanical “finger” would unlock the tray from the stack, enabling it to swing out completely before the turntable rose…

The Smyth mechanism also used a scissor-like device so that if you look at it while it’s cycling, you will see what I am talking about. Wurlitzer Simplex mechs used a different electro-mechanical technology. The one drawback of the Smythe mech was it needed constant lubrication. There is a single oil hole under the turntable for this purpose.
The other drawback was that the selection post would sometimes not raise all the way to the top when #1 was selected; usually going from selection #20 at the bottom to #1 at the top - this was due to the mech going out of adjustment. It is a nightmare to remedy and takes lots of time and patience.

(Information: Edward M. Liss)

US-Patents: 2,159,832 - filed 1934 <> 2,119,251 <> filed 1935 <> 2,159,833 - filed 1935 <> 2,159,834 - filed 1936

Die Angaben haben keinen Anspruch auf Vollständigkeit oder Richtigkeit.
Bei den (importierten) Boxen können im Laufe der Jahre durchaus Veränderungen vorgenommen worden sein. Copyright.

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