My Linear Tracker (a new variation perhaps?)

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ralphfcooke:

That material should work out just fine. Just remember to thoroughly check the shaft before you use it. I would not use a used arrow as there could be microscopic dings and bends from use. Easton usually specs a shaft to be .002-.003 of an inch for their target arrows. If you can go to an archery shop that could spin the shaft to verify how straight the shaft is, you would be home free.

I would also fill the shaft with sand, foam or some other damping materials to keep any vibrations down. Good luck.
 
I'm curious - are some of you still using this design, and has anyone made any updates and or changes to this concept? I am slowly collecting parts to give it a try and like to know how many people still find it satisfying.

Hi Budgie, I'm curious also inasmuch as this thread has been so quiet for some time now. Yes, I'm still using my 4 glass tube/2 bearing balls design and enjoying it. So far it takes anything I throw at it with aplomb (whatever that is). There are a couple things I want to implement to guard against the possibility of knocking the top carriage tubes off the track, but with continued careful use that simply doesn't happen and I haven't found it necessary to clean the tubes or balls in many months. The two long carriage tubes seem to provide excellent shielding for keeping things clean. IMHO this simple design outperforms all the other designs and has none of the many problems that have been keeping this topic alive for such a long time now. My personal preference is still for the borosylicate/pyrex glass tube and am quite surprised that such good results have been had with various metal rods. Good luck and please keep us informed.
BillG
 
I'm absolutely in love with the aluminum angle stock and the hanging pivot. What I don't get after reading all posts is how the cartridge arm is attached to the top rolling rail. I suppose some sort of glue? And those circular sealed bearings so perfectly placed in the diamond armature of Chris' arm..Also glue?
 
My other thought is about dampening the arm. Im thinking about using a carbon fibre tube within a tube that is filled inside and out with different materials for dampening different regions of resonant frequencies...perhaps wool fibre and foam.

Elsewhere I have read about the importance of free the tonearm wire from resonance by keeping it dampened or away from vibration. I can see in Chris's last design he used shrink tubing to train the wires down the back end of the arm (behind the pivot). Perhaps this is an area to consider tweaking. Of course it may be impossible to hear this tweak...maybe more of a psycho-acoustic effect that we sense more than hear.

BTW where is your arm grounded Chris?

I will try to get going on my version soon and figure out posting photos.
 
new patent

Someone patented this tonearm concept recently according to this article and this article.

I wonder if it was "inspired" from this thread. Hmm..... :scratch2:

tonearm-665x400.jpg
 
KOLDBY - I do listen to it quite a bit, but it looks very different now, as I have had some parts machined to allow adjustment and mounting to an existing Pro-Ject table. I'm considering licensing the CAD files for a fee to anyone who wants to make their own, but if you don't have access to your own CNC tools, it might be pricey.
 
For the record, I filed my patent prior to the inception of this thread and it covers more than just the rails and balls method. I am also aware of the earlier patent by Mankovitz (1961)

Perhaps it is just me not getting the essence of American accounting, but as far as I am concerned, the inception of this thread happened 6 days BEFORE the filing of the patent application by a Thomas Lloyd Bowden, Sr. (is that you TonearmGuy?) :cool: If you ask me, something seems foul in this story...
 
American patent law allows the filing of a provisional application up to 1 year prior to the filing of the final non-provisional application. My provisional application as filed 3/15/13, nearly one year before the inception of the thread. My patent protection dates back to that original filing date and I was experimenting with the concept for several years before that. In any case the essence of the patent concerned methods of further reducing friction in a mechanism comprising rolling balls between pairs of rails or tracks. That concept actually relates back to a 1961 patent by Mankovitz U.S. 3,006,652. Not sure what point you are trying to make, but there is nothing "foul" about my assertion, and furthermore, I do not claim any originality in the free rolling balls between linear rails.
 
Aha, I stand humbly corrected. I looked up the patent "Low friction linear tracking tone arm" but somehow missed the priority claim :rolleyes: dating back a full year earlier. Thank you TonearmGuy for elucidating this. And, I must admit it are really nice ideas you came up with for linear tracking tonearms supported by balls :)
Just out of curiosity: did you reach any license agreements on this patent? Best regards, Mark
 
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