Speaking of solenoids...

S

steamer

Guest
--A few years back there was this very neat Xmas accessory in the
form of solenoid-activated bells. There was some sort of pic that had
prerecorded tunes, played by tiny weights on the ends of thin wires that
were whacked by the solenoids. I'm trying to find a source for these little
solenoids but I have no idea where to find 'em. Ideally I'd like a link to
the original source for the bell ringing thingies, then retask 'em for my
app. Anyone got a clue?

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Never thought I'd live to see
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : our "iron curtain" crumble...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---
 
On 19 Dec 2008 16:37:51 GMT, steamer <steamer@sonic.net> wrote:

solenoid-activated bells
Click to expand...
http://www.quigleyelectronics.com/midibells

search on midi as well - lots of attempts to connect musical
instruments to computers
--
 
--Yep those are the ones! I'm looking for more of same but *still*
don't know who the mfr or what the product name originally was. Anyone got a
clue?

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Never thought I'd live to see
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : our "iron curtain" crumble...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---
 
steamer wrote:
--A few years back there was this very neat Xmas accessory in the
form of solenoid-activated bells. There was some sort of pic that had
prerecorded tunes, played by tiny weights on the ends of thin wires that
were whacked by the solenoids. I'm trying to find a source for these little
solenoids but I have no idea where to find 'em. Ideally I'd like a link to
the original source for the bell ringing thingies, then retask 'em for my
app. Anyone got a clue?

I can't help you with the bell ringing thingie, but Newark Electronics
Click to expand...
used to have a rich selection of solenoids and may still. You may also
try Mouser (less likely, but more likely to be small).

I'd also try as many surplus shops as I could, starting with All
Electronics, MPJA Electronics, and Herbach and Rademan. I _know_ H & R
and All will have solenoids, but All has a very spotty selection (they
are surplus, after all), and H & R stuff is probably huge compared to
what you need.

In principal solenoids are easy to make, which means they're often
custom made for an application. This may well have been the case for
your thingie, which doesn't help you at all unless it leaves you feeling
encouraged to go wind your own.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" gives you just what it says.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
 
On 20 Dec 2008 17:07:58 GMT, steamer <steamer@sonic.net> wrote:

--Yep those are the ones! I'm looking for more of same but *still*
don't know who the mfr or what the product name originally was. Anyone got a
clue?
Click to expand...
I misunderstood. I thought you had bells and wanted actuators.

You may be looking for an antique:

http://www.mmdigest.com/Pictures/bell-Lites1.html
Your discs belong to a Christmas gadget called "Bell-Lites" that were
manufactured by the Delta Electric Company of Marion, Indiana,
probably in the 1950's. The box says "Bell-Lites -- play Christmas
carols right on your tree!" It consists of a set of punched cardboard
discs, a player unit, and eight tuned bells played by solenoids and
with a light bulb on one end. The combination bell/lights are
connected by heavy wires to the disc player (reader) that looks like a
small disc musical box. The bell/lights can be hung on a tree, above
a window or on a door frame.

A music disc is placed on the reader and when you turn it on, the
mechanism revolves the disc. The tunes are rendered on the eight
tuned bells, which are tuned to one full octave. The holes in the
disc allow electrical contacts to protrude and make contact within the
mechanism to activate the solenoids and ring the bells. The lights
stay on continuously throughout the tune (e.g. they are not activated
by the bell signals).

I have four tune discs with mine that play (1) Joy To The World and
Deck the Halls, (2) I Wish You A Merry Christmas and The First Noel,
(3) Jingle Bells and Angels We Have Heard On High, (4) Brahms Lullaby
and Away in a Manger. There were additional tune discs available in
sets of three, but I have no idea how many tunes were available.
Perhaps someone out there has this item with different tunes. There
is also a red wire that can be used to play the bells manually, and a
musical score for several tunes is included with the product.

There is some historical information about the company (however there
is no mention of this particular product) at
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-3953.html or
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3953
--
 
On 20 Dec 2008 17:07:58 GMT, steamer <steamer@sonic.net> wrote:

--Yep those are the ones! I'm looking for more of same but *still*
don't know who the mfr or what the product name originally was. Anyone got a
clue?
Click to expand...
If you are/were looking for solenoids you might find some that could
be modified to make strikers like the old time door chimes. A
solenoid coil that's open on both ends with a spring that works
against gravity holding the plunger up. The coil energizes and pulls
the plunger down - inertia takes it past the center striking the chime
bar then it remains centered in the coil until the power is removed.

That would be easy to build from scratch - assuming no bells and you
don't want to start forging your own. There's info on the web on
homemade marimbas, xylophones, glockenspiel, tuned wind chime pipes
etc. to ring without a "bell," and easy to make.
--
 
On Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:20:09 -0800, Tim Wescott wrote:
steamer wrote:
--A few years back there was this very neat Xmas accessory in the
form of solenoid-activated bells. There was some sort of pic that had
prerecorded tunes, played by tiny weights on the ends of thin wires that
were whacked by the solenoids. I'm trying to find a source for these
little solenoids but I have no idea where to find 'em. Ideally I'd like
a link to the original source for the bell ringing thingies, then retask
'em for my app. Anyone got a clue?

I can't help you with the bell ringing thingie, but Newark Electronics
used to have a rich selection of solenoids and may still. You may also
try Mouser (less likely, but more likely to be small).

I'd also try as many surplus shops as I could, starting with All
Electronics, MPJA Electronics, and Herbach and Rademan. I _know_ H & R
and All will have solenoids, but All has a very spotty selection (they are
surplus, after all), and H & R stuff is probably huge compared to what you
need.

In principal solenoids are easy to make, which means they're often custom
made for an application. This may well have been the case for your
thingie, which doesn't help you at all unless it leaves you feeling
encouraged to go wind your own.
Click to expand...
If you have a pinball machine dealer or shop nearby, check their parts
dept. for "drop target reset solenoids".

Good Luck!
Rich
 
--Aha! Will do.

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Never thought I'd live to see
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : our "iron curtain" crumble...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---
 
--Thanks; will try Newark. I'm trying to duplicate something I saw at
Makers Faire last year; a little hard to describe; will try to find a link..

--
"Steamboat Ed" Haas : Never thought I'd live to see
Hacking the Trailing Edge! : our "iron curtain" crumble...
www.nmpproducts.com
---Decks a-wash in a sea of words---
 
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