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Sanyo ICC-0081 "Mini Calculator"
Display is 8 digits amber gas-discharge tubes.
Four-function. Fixed decimal point, with settings at 0, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8.
Main integrated circuits - Sanyo LM8001J, LM8002F, LM8003G, LM8006 (date coded to end of 1971).
6v sealed rechargeable battery and built in AC adaptor/recharger.
140 x 246 x 60 mm (5.5" x 9.7" x 2.4").
1970 - Was Sanyo's first portable calculator.
Made in Japan.
This is an unusual machine with its rechargeable batteries and built-in AC adaptor/ recharger. It also has a battery-level meter (just below the display on the right) and a flip-up display cover/hood.
In April 1969 Electronics reported that "Sanyo Electric Co. is counting on an LSI miniature calculator with a built-in power pack in an effort to gain ground on Hayakawa [Sharp]. Samyo says it will start sales this
fall, just a few months after Hayakawa goes to market with its LSI - but line-powered - machine. The battery pack - four nickel-cadmium rechargeable "C" cells - can run the calculator for three hours before it needs a recharge.
Power drain is a mere two watts - 1.2 watts for the two-phase logic circuits and 0.8 watts for the display and its drives, according to Sanyo. Sanyo's cordless machine has 13 different MOS arrays in its logic circuits, plus
four transistors, eight resistors, and four capacitors in the clock circuits. The company stoutly insists it will produce the MOS packages itself; insiders in the semiconductor business, though, maintain the Sanyo has had
trouble producing bipolar IC's at a reasonable cost and almost certainly will have to turn to U.S. suppliers for MOS arrays."
The development problems with the ICs appear to have delayed the introduction of the miniature hand-held calculator until after the Sharp model (Sharp QT-8B). Sanyo was then never
quite at the forefront of calculator development. The miniature calculator emerged as the Sanyo IC-0081 Mini Calculator, using integrated circuits marked with the "GI" logo of General Intruments Microelectronics of the
U.S.A.
In Sepetember 1969 Electronics reported "Japan's Sanyo Electric Co. is seeking government approval of a licensing arrangement reached with General Instrument Corp. Under the arrangement, Sanyo will at first import and then
manufacture the U.S. firm's metal, thick-oxide nitride silicon LSI circuits for use in the Japanese company's new miniature desk calculator. The calculator is expected to go on the market early next year. Terms of the 10-year
licensing arrangement call for General Instrument to receive an $80,000 initial payment and a 3.25% royalty. Although Sanyo will be allowed to sell the LSI circuits separately, the company didn't win an exclusivity clause.
Sanyo is investing $4.17 million in new production facilities to manufacture the circuits. Domestic production is expected to start in June; the company's initial goal is 70,000 circuits. The calculator itself has been
redesigned so that each machine will require only four or five LSI circuits."
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