Lectron
The electronics experiment system Lectron is a modular system of components for the simple construction of electrical and electronic circuits in schools and teaching.
construction
The basic element is a square block with an edge length of 27 mm × 27 mm. Larger blocks correspond to a multiple of height and / or width. In most cases, a block only contains a single component or connection. The individual building blocks are transparent on the side to make the inner workings visible. The circuit symbol of the module (generally according to DIN EN 60617) and the connections are recorded on the top of the housing . Each component has magnets on the underside with which it is fixed on the metal base plate. This also serves as a common ground (accessible via ground block 2101). The contact between the components is established with magnetic contact plates attached to the side. No additional lines are required. The resulting circuit is optically close to your own circuit diagram.
The setup enables experiments in the areas of electric motor skills , magnetism , radio technology (including tubes), solar technology , digital technology, but also medical electronics and neurosimulation thanks to special units such as the EKG simulator module. The basic set already shows the way to a radio receiver.
history
In the 1960s, Georg Franz Greger developed the system, which he submitted for a patent on May 7, 1965. The German patent (patent specification 1 228 081) was granted on May 18, 1967, an American one (# 3,447,249) on June 3, 1969. A British patent (1 217 885) was granted in December 1968 as an extension to a patent granted in 1966 ( 1 082 036) registered.
The Lectron system was first presented in spring 1966 at the Nuremberg Toy Fair by the licensee and first manufacturer Egger-Bahn . In autumn 1966 Georg Greger received a first prize at the Electronica in Munich.
From 1966 the construction kits were sold under the name Egger Lectron . With the dissolution of the Egger-Bahn in 1967, the development was transferred to Deutsche Lectron GmbH . In 1967 Braun acquired the licenses for Germany and worldwide with the exception of those for North America, which went to Raytheon Education Company . At Braun, the design of the building blocks was revised by Dieter Rams in the same year and adapted to the typical "Braun design". The well-known and multiple award-winning Braun book laboratory for children and beginners as well as the school exercise systems were created as innovations . Raytheon sold Lectron from 1967 as Electronic Dominoes (two boxes) and from 1968 as Lectron. In 1968 a box was sold under the Creative Playthings label. Sales ceased in 1969. Kimple-Products sold remnants of Raytheon under the brand name Mr. Wizard's Experiments In Electronics 1972-1974 . In 1970, the demonstration systems largely designed by Dietrich Lubs were introduced at Braun . The manuals were also available in up to eight languages from 1970.
The production of all elements and boxes (without manuals and cardboard) took place until 1972 for all licensees at Deutsche Lectron GmbH in Munich. In 1972, Braun's Lectron department was outsourced to an independent company, Lectron GmbH, under the direction of Braun engineer Manfred Walter, which also took over production from Deutsche Lectron GmbH and relocated it to Frankfurt. The product name was now Lectron . The product line was completely geared towards schools. A large number of new components were added during this time. In Italy, Lectron boxes were offered under its own name by the previous sales partner INELCO from 1973 .
For reasons of age and taxation, Manfred Walter donated the Lectron system and the production facilities to the Frankfurt Association for Social Home Centers in 2001 . The boxes are now being made in the Oberrad Rehabilitation Workshop , a protective workshop. Extensions were made at least until 2010.
Egger Lectron
The experimental system was offered by Georg Franz Greger together with Egger-Bahn GmbH under the name Egger Lectron from 1966 to 1967. At the end of 1967 the Egger-Bahn GmbH was dissolved; the system and development were transferred to Deutsche Lectron GmbH.
There were five boxes in this system:
- 8000 - basic system
- 8100 - Extension system 1
- 8200 - extension system 2
- 8300 - basic and extension system 1
- 8400 - Basic, extension system 1 and extension system 2
A sixth, reduced box was no longer delivered by Egger:
- 800 - mini lectron
The basic system 8000 containing twenty different experiments cost 87.00 DM in 1967 with the manual .
GBC
1966 GBC Italiana SA.S in Milan took over the distribution of Egger Lectron boxes in Italy. At this point in time, GBC also acted as the Italian agency for the Kosmos boxes of Franckh'sche Verlagshandlung.
Braun Lectron
At the end of 1967 the Braun company acquired the licenses for Germany and worldwide with the exception of North America; these were acquired from Raytheon Education Company. Immediately after the takeover, the offer was geared more towards the training sector. For this purpose, various student systems were designed, which basically corresponded to the experiment system, but also had a teaching and learning card index. This card file consists of a set of student exercise cards with circuit tasks and the associated questions as well as the corresponding answer cards for the teachers. Another innovation was the Braun book laboratory “What is electronics?” For young people and parents with illustrations by the illustrator Jules Stauber . With this unusual product, Erwin Braun and the then sales director of Braun, Georg Hohm, wanted to introduce children and young people to the Braun brand . In 1969 the book laboratory was awarded the title “Most beautiful German book for young people” by the Book Art Foundation and in 1971 received the bronze medal at the international book exhibition in Leipzig. The Stiftung Warentest rated the book laboratory in 1971 with the Test score very well .
The packaging and especially the Lectron manuals have been revised by the Braun design department and adapted to the typical Braun design. Dietrich Lubs , the designer of the well-known pocket calculator ET66 with the round buttons, designed, among other things, the enlarged symbols for the demonstration systems in 1969. The content of the demonstration systems is the same as that of the student exercise kits, but the most important components are located in oversized elements so that the circuits on a board can be easily recognized from a distance. However, the complex processing of the components also led to a high sales price for the systems, so that they were hardly used in private households. For schools and training centers, however, the ease of use and the ability to read the circuit diagram directly from the adjacent modules were a great advantage.
The Braun Lectron system was offered in three systems, each with experiment boxes that built on one another. There were a total of 31 boxes, 47 extension packs (4xxx) and two Lectron-look craft kits (radio and intercom).
- Experimentation system
- Book laboratory
- Mini system
- Mini expansion
- 8000 - basic system, electronics I
- 8100 - Expansion system 1, electronics II
- 8200 - Expansion system 2, electronics III
- 8300 - Basic and expansion system 1, electronics I and II
- 8400 - basic and extension system 1 + 2, electronics I, II and III
- Expansion system 3, computer technology
- System 300, computer technology
- Expansion system 4, cybernetics II
- Student exercise systems
- Basic system S, electronics I
- Expansion system 1S, electronics II
- Basic and expansion system 1S, electronics I and II
- Expansion system 2M, electronics III + cybernetics I
- Expansion system 3S, computer technology + switching algebra
- System 300S, computer technology + switching algebra
- System 1100 - Electrical I
- System 1101 - Electrical II
- System 1102 - electrics I + II (1100 + 1101)
- Curriculum Cybernetics I
- System 1200 - switching algebra
- Demonstration system
- 1300 - Boolean algebra
- 3102 - Electricity I and II (1102)
- 3201 - Switching Algebra (1200)
The Lectron laboratories special SK I , SK II and SK III were also offered, with laboratory III including all courses except for course 1300.
Instructions were available in eight languages: Danish, German, English, Finnish, French, Italian, Dutch and Swedish.
Raytheon Education Company
Raytheon acquired the North America licenses in 1967 and sold two kits as Electronic Dominoes from 1967 :
- Model 800 - corresponding to the Egger-Lectron 800
- Model 820 - corresponding to the Egger-Lectron 8200 with the omission of four modules
The target group for these boxes were children and young people.
From May 1968 a new start as Lectron began :
- Series 1 - Introductory
- Series 2 - Intermediate (previously Model 800)
- Series 3 - Deluxe (previously Model 820)
- Series 3a - Advanced
- Series 4 - Great
- Series 5 - Executive
The Series 3 box was replaced during the year by a Series 3a version with the large Series 4 and 5 base plate. Both boxes were offered at the same time. In addition, eight extension boxes with modules and instructions were published. A Supplementary Instruction Manual with additional sample circuits was also published, which could be purchased separately. Packs with the new manual were given an orange sticker with the label “64 Projects”, even if this was only possible by purchasing additional modules.
In 1968 a set corresponding to the Series 3a was produced as the S822 Lectron LCIII for the CBS company Creative Playthings. However, the manual corresponds to the Series 3 set.
Sales ceased in 1969. Kimple Products, a Owens-Illinois company , sold three- boxed Raytheon stocks under the branded Mr. Wizard's Experiments In Electronics from 1972-1974 .
INELCO Lectron
From 1967 INELCO (Industria Elettronica Comense SrI, Tavernerio, Como) took over the distribution of Braun Lectron boxes in Italy, from 1973 also under its own name as the Sistema Lectron Series 2000 . With the outsourcing of Lectron, INELCO took over part of the company and sole sales in Italy. From 1970 INELCO also took on the translation of the books into various languages for Lectron GmbH.
A box and six additional packs were offered:
- 2000 What is Electronics (book laboratory) (11 modules)
- 2001 Photo and Photoresistor (4 modules)
- 2002 Morse and Interphone (6 modules)
- 2003 Howto Measure Electricity (6 modules)
- 2004 Loudspeaker (1 module)
- 2005 Telephone Repeater - Rain Detector (4 modules)
- 2006 The Electron in Chemistry (8 modules)
Lectron
The engineer Manfred Walter, coming from Braun, took over and continued to produce the Lectron system from 1972 as an independent entrepreneur. During this time it was again extensively expanded and geared towards the needs of schools and training. From 1982 silicon semiconductors were added (System 500).
The program comprised 19 boxes taken over from Braun and eleven new developments.
Rehabilitation workshop Oberrad
In 2001 Walter left the company with the Lectron brand to the Reha-Werkstatt Oberrad (RWO) of the Frankfurt Association for Social Home Centers . The modular range has been expanded to include many modern components, for example those from digital technology or an integrated circuit (IC) for radio reception . The further development takes place on a voluntary basis and is headed by Gerd Kopperschmidt. The employees include Dr. Gerd Käuser and Dietrich Lubs. RWO received a prize for manufacturing at the Offenbach workshop in 2002.
Currently (2014) the main program consists of 29 boxes:
- 1001 book laboratory
- 1002 entry-level system
- 1020 entry-level expansion system (1002 + 1020 -> 1003)
- 1003 start system
- 1005 automotive electronics
- 1006 Optoelectronics & Solar Technology
- 1007 digital technology
- 1009 automotive electronics (1003 + 1004 + 1005)
- 1010 Optoelectronics & Solar Technology (1003 + 1004 + 1006)
- 1011 digital technology (1003 + 1004 + 1007)
- 1008 counter & stepper motor
- 1012 operational amplifier
- 1013 Threshold and majority logic
- 1015 PLL technology
- 1016 Neurophysiology
- 1017 counter regulation
- 1102 exercise system
- 1104 Exercise Extension System (1102 + 1104 -> 1103)
- 1103 Electronics Corporation
- 1105 solar technology
- 1106 magnetism
- 1107 digital technology
- 1108 Neurophysiology I
- 1109 Neurophysiology II
- 1110 radio technology
- 1120 radio tube technology
Web links
- Lectron> Electronic learning and experimentation system. Rehabilitation workshop Oberrad, accessed on January 25, 2016 .
- Günther Stabe: LECTRON - an anniversary and a field report. In: Radiomuseum. September 22, 2011, accessed January 25, 2016 .
- Jürgen Mayer: Braun Lectron - Electronics experimentation and teaching system: Morse code generator. (Youtube video) January 15, 2012, accessed January 25, 2016 .
- Jürgen Horn: Lectron system. Retrieved January 25, 2016 .
- Michael Peters: The Ultimate LECTRON Information Resource and Online Museum. Retrieved January 25, 2016 .
- Elmer Carlson: Electric Dominoes - The Fun Way to Learn Electronics. In: Electronics Illustrated. June 17, 2006, accessed January 25, 2016 (English, text scan of an Electronics Illustrated article from September 1967).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Lectron - Principle and Technology ( Memento of the original from August 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed August 20, 2014.
- ↑ Lectron patent specification ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed August 20, 2014.
- ↑ Patent DE1228081 : Electronics kit . Applied on May 7, 1965 , published November 3, 1966 , applicant: Intertrading Corporation Establishment, inventor: Georg Franz Greger.
- ↑ U.S. Patent # 3,447,249 Lectron accessed August 20, 2014.
- ↑ Patent US3447249 : Electronic Building Set. Applied on May 5, 1966 , published June 3, 1969 , applicant: Intertrading Corporation Establishment, inventor: Georg Franz Greger.
- ^ GB patent Lectron , accessed August 20, 2014.
- ↑ patent GB1217885 : Electrical Constructional kits. Applied on February 9, 1968 , published December 31, 1970 , applicant: Intertrading Corporation Establishment, inventor: Georg Franz Greger.
- ↑ Patent GB1082036 : Electronic building set. Registered on May 4, 1966 , published September 6, 1967 , applicant: Intertrading Corporation Establishment, inventor: Georg Franz Greger.
- ↑ Lectron kits are in good demand. In: look. April 20, 1968. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- ^ Lectron - Manfred Walter Era , accessed on August 20, 2014.
- ↑ Electronic experiments with the Lectro system. ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: FAZ. December 23, 2003, accessed August 20, 2014.
- ^ Lectron - Raytheon Era , accessed August 20, 2014.
