Cool thread, I hope my other thread isn't infringing, I find a ton of information distracting myself doing spreadsheets for work. I just bought something cool on the internet and the guy that sold it to me was a product develop manager for Marantz from 72-80. I was hoping to pick his brain on the subject but didn't get much information although he did say he was over in Japan several times in meetings and he worked on the CD-330 recorder.
Thanks Mister X, I see no infringement, It's good to have history oriented discussions, besides this thread has a very specific purpose :To find documented information about the people that designed Walkmans ,be it the exterior ,mechanical, electronic or any other feature, design/idea. It is extremely interesting to hear a designer speaking for her/his creations ,the ideas the challenges and in the end their design philosophy ,unfortunately this happens rarely at least in our hobby. All best.
Let us not forget Roy Bowers' Astraltune portable stereo cassette player from 1975. He designed and patented this player, which was first used in commerce in 1975, before the Sony TPS-L2, Walkman or any other portable stereo cassette player "inventors". The Astraltune is the first portable stereo cassette player, ever. Here's an old link from this forum. Scroll down a bit to see the official trademark information. http://www.stereo2go.com/topic/index.php?content_oid=327665205117594116&board_oid=193392314111653418
Of course Astraltune. I had vague memories of that great thread. Roy Bowers was indeed a great Walkman pioneer. Many thanks soundabout for reminding us .That old thread is a genuine proof of the importance of the old database.
That is a very interesting thread. A shame we can't add to it so I will add here. Transwave 5000 commented "These look like a car stereo under dash unit with a battery pack added note the 3 screw holes on the side for mounting brackets these car under dash units were around back in the 1970's I have a 8-track under dash unit from 70s the beginnings of the the car stereo custom systems of today." Which were exactly my thoughts as soon as I saw the pictures of the Astraltune. In fact I found this in the 1975/76 Argos catalogue before I even read his comment. These under dash car cassette players were really common back then. There were four in that catalogue, but the Waltham was the closest to the Astraltune in looks. Waltham were also one of the brands who would get their name stuck on stuff made by other companies in the far East so they were probably buying these by the thousand at about £10 each. In 1982 I bought a very similar Motorola brand new (on price not name) for my first car. In contrast, from the same era as the Astraltune I recently saw this advert in a 1974 magazine Apart from it being Mono it is almost a Walkman. Of course Sony were already making similar units like the TC50, and it is noteworthy that Bush (a major UK electronics brand then) added "Musical Box" to their advert almost as an afterthought.
It's been a while since I posted here but work is constantly been done. Allow me to say a few words of the purpose of this thread and how it is done. As for the purpose is already mentioned at the start of the topic , is simply to give credit to the people that involved to these fabulous machines that we use and collect. First you need information ,the usual sources are the internet ,books and patents. Starting from patents there are some hints I want to share as I know there are some of you that like hunting for them. Patent searching is time consuming ,below is a screenshot of the patents that are on cue in my hard disc drive , note that here are not included the ones I have already posted these are just waiting ! Of all these just a fraction concerns cassette walkmans ,some are just technical features ,only a few boomboxes of more recent years, some discmans ,and many mp3 atrac players. I have more that I found interesting but out of the scope of our hobby .(like the patent of the spoon to make ice cream balls !). Then I have to study the patent to understand what it concerns ,is it a technical feature ? is it just for the exterior design? etc. ,enjoyable but time consuming also. Then it comes the part to present it to you in a brief understandable way , trying to avoid too many details that are necessary for a patent application ,again enjoyable and time consuming. And last but not least as far as patents are concerned a patent application does NOT mean a patent granted, probably a reason why we can't find a TPS-L2 patent as Sony had to pay royalty fees for an earlier patent. Below is a screenshot from an interesting site : Internet has a wealth of information but have to know where to look for. I have found information for James H. Frakes ,Jr a boombox designer in an online condolences site from his friends remembering him. And then there are books, very very few on the subject but there are some. Stay tuned , I'm busy all the time and doing this mostly on my holidays but I really enjoy it and I know some of you also, and I thank you very much for that.
A nice clean design from the beginning of the 90's and one of the first of Sony's full logic control series with small dimensions. JOH WADA - RIE FURUI Patent title : TAPE PLAYER Inventors: Joh Wada - Rie Furui Assignee: Sony Corporation. Tokyo. Japan Filed: Apr. 19, 1991 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a tape player, as shown.
Since your post tried hard to find an Astraltune patent but only found the "Astraltune" trademark registration from the "United States Patent and Tradmark Office". That's logical as Sony payed royalty fees to Andreas Pavel for his patent. This doesn't make Roy Bowers invention less important but if we are to be accurate he got a tradmark registration not a patent.
Andreas Pavel patented his idea first in Italy in 1977, then the US, UK, West Germany in 1978. He also applied in Japan in 78 but was denied a patent. If you look at his drawing it was a huge double unit on a belt that also had two battery holders on the same belt. The spirit of the patent seems to be for a small stereo unit with headphones included, nobody else was shipping stereo tape players with headphones (except Astraltune). In court Sony argued that stereo tape players with headphones were just an evolution of existing design and won most battles. After years of battling it seems Sony felt that a payout would be less costly than legal battles in all the countries holding a Pavel Patent. The Astraltune was a similar unit, utilizing an auto stereo cassette deck with batteries and headphones but the inventors never patented it. I think it would be like me saying today that I'm going to package a car with it's own cellphone and personal headphones for the occupants and try to patent that idea. The pieces are already there, it's just swapped around a little bit. When you trademark a name its just for it's application, that's why you might see AIWA Wrenches and AIWA Stereos even though they come from different companies. While these are both cool ideas, as a little boy I was taking everything electronic apart and doing the same thing. The real travesty in patent history are the guys that developed VisaCalc, I used to play with that as a little boy on my Apple II, the developers were told they couldn't patent computer software at the time and missed out being billionaires.
Andreas Pavel after negotiations with Sony acccepted royalties but sued the company for not aknowledging him as the originator of the device.The court battles ended in 2004. Andreas Pavel is documented in this thread, page 1. Roy Bowers Astraltune is important regardles if it was patented or not.The correction was made, as mentioned for accuracy.
By 1998 audio CD was well established as a music medium , minidisc had started to have its own following but still compact cassette walkmans had the largest sales overall ,over the years . STILL PRESENT A year before the 20th walkman anniversary Sony presented the WM EX-9 and although the company was developing aside Discmans ,DAT and Minidisc players/recorders ,this model was a technological demonstration in a more subtle way, concentrating in technical details not so obvious to the casual observer. And that against the common belief that by now Sony presented only stylistically different models and had abandoned ,in a way, cassette walkmans. Tatsuya Kushima :Designer of the circuitry and project leader of the WM EX-9 Noboru Tanaka :Designer of the mechanical deck of the WM EX-9 Haruo Hayashi :Exterior designer of the WM EX-9 MECHANICAL SECTION WM EX-9 comes with the then new "F-Mecha" that had 20 less moving parts than its predecessor .The parts that were previously made out of metal now are substituted by resin containing steel powder thus reducing cost and power consumption.WM EX-9 is belt driven but the belt is made with improved durability that makes it unlikely to brake. A brashless slim motor and head pinch roller inside the door hinge were used also. PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD PCB consists of three major sections :Audio ,Microcomputer and Servomechanism. Microcomputer and Servomechanism incorporate IC's that the drive voltage has been reduced to 0.9V from the previous 2.4V allowing for lower power consumption providing longer playback time. THE RESULT The outcome of these improvements was a walkman that was measuring 17.4mm at its slimmest part and was capable of 100 consecutive hours of playback. THE EXTERIOR DESIGN Patent title : TAPE PLAYER Inventor. Haruo Hayashi Assignee : Sony Corporation of Japan CLAIM : The ornamental design for a tape player, as shown and described. Filed: Dec 28 1998 The most expensive part of the WM EX-9 was the outer shell ,in particular the paint. The photo below was uploaded to the old Stereo2Go by the unforgettable John Edwards who had done an excellent job and photographed all the color shades that could WM EX-9 have depending on the light position angle. Here you can see the fantastic outcome of John Edwards photography of WM EX-9 : http://www.stereo2go.com/topic Sources :Mono magazine,Google patents,Stereo2go.com.
Fellow Stereo2Go members , I'm really excited to present you the one we all have been waiting for ! The shortest answer to the shortest question :What is the best walkman ever made ? The Sony WM-DD9 ! A walkman milestone that was presented in 1989 the 10th year anniversary since the first Sony walkman appeared. Two drive motors in V arrangement two drive discs a beauty even internally and a sound performance that everything else is compared. A superlative walkman. A minor deviation of the usual minimal (as possible) information presentation ,a bit more festive ,with all the designs on the patent document and then some more ! Enjoy ! Masayoshi Tsuchiya is the exterior designer of this milestone walkman ,still on quest for the internals inventor ,if the name sounds familiar go to page 1 for a surprise. MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA Patent Title :TAPE PLAYER Inventor: Masayoshi Tsuchiya, Tokyo, Japan Assignee: Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Filed: May 2, 1990 Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 16, 1989 JP Japan .................................... 1-41745 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a tape player, as shown and described. ............................................................................... The Sony WM-DD9 from my personal collection with the original sticker for the Japanese market.
Unbelievable, this is so much effort to wade through patents and bring us this rich history. I love every update to this thread and we are so lucky you put the effort in to find these gems for us thanks man
What can I say ? I'm the one to thank you T-ster for your inspiring and uncompromising all around contribution to this community in a gentle calm and wise way. I really like to be part of such an environment. Thank you !
You are too kind but it is threads like this that makes Stereo2go the go to resource and keeps people coming back for more. It is such a good thread as it is preserving a history on the brink of being lost, I love it.
Hello friends again ! Masayoshi Tsuchiya's Sony WM-DD9, the pinnacle in walkman design, was only a part of the good designer's career. An exceptional career, I must say ,with involvement in walkman designs from all paths of life ranging from Hi-End to upper class , sports , entry level even to Sony's kid series products. Below we will be able to see Masayoshi Tsuchiya's own designs and his collaborations with other designers that some of them we have met before. Prepare for a massive 8 patents Masayoshi Tsuchiya gallore and more ! Nothing less for all you walkman aficionados out there ! ................................................MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA Gallore : MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA Patent title : TAPE PLAYER Inventor: Masayoshi Tsuchiya, Tokyo, Japan Assignee: Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Appl. No.: 280,528 Filed. Dec 6 1988 Foreign Application Priority Data Jun. 6, 1988 [JP] Japan ................................ .. 63-22302 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a tape player, as shown and described .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA Patent title : TAPE PLAYER Inventor: Masayoshi Tsuchiya, Tokyo, Japan Assignee: Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Appl. No.: 280,530 Filed: Dec. 6, 1988 Foreign Application Priority Data Jun. 6, 1988 [JP] Japan ................................ .. 63-22303 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a tape player, as shown and described. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. SHINGO YODA - MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA Patent title : COMBINED TAPE PLAYER AND RADIO TUNER Inventors: Shingo Yoda - Masayoshi Tsuchiya, both of Tokyo, Japan Assignee: Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Appl. No.: 121,724 Filed: Nov. 16, 1987 Foreign Application Priority Data May 13, 1987 [JP] Japan ................................ .. 62-18702 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a combined tape player and radio tuner, as shown and described. ......................................................................... .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ETSUROH IKEYAMA - MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA Patent title : TAPE PLAYER Inventors: Etsuroh Ikeyama, Tokyo, Japan; Masayoshi Tsuchiya, Milan, Italy Assignee: Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Appl.No.: 447,249 Filed: Dec. 7, 1989 Foreign Application Priority Data Jun. 16, 1989 [JP] Japan .................................. .. l-22438 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a tape player, as shown and described. Note : Interesting to note that in this patent application Masayoshi Tsuchiya is now based at Milan , Italy. ................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ETSUROH IKEYAMA - MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA Patent Title : COMBINED TAPE PLAYER AND RADIO TUNER Inventors: Etsuro Ikeyama - Masayoshi Tsuchiya, both of Tokyo, Japan Assignee: Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Appl. No.: 397,311 Filed: Aug. 23, 1989 Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 23, 1989 [JP] Japan .................................... .. 1-6826 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a combined tape player and radio tuner, as shown. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA - TOHRU ICHIKAWA Patent title : TAPE PLAYER Inventors: Masayoshi Tsuchiya, Tokyo - Tohru Ichikawa, Yokohama, both of Japan Assignee: Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan. Appl. No.: 252,443 CLAIM Filed: Oct. 3, 1988 Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 1, 1988 [JP] Japan 63-13419 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a tape player, as shown and described. ................................................................................................. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ICHIRO HINO - MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA Patent title : CASSETTE TAPE PLAYER Inventors: Ichiro Hino, Rivervale, N.J - Masayoshl Tsuchlya Tokyo Japan Assignee: Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Appl. No.: 113,717 Filed: Oct. 28, 1987 Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 30, 1987 [JP] Japan ................................ .. 6247043 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a cassette tape player, as shown and described. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ICHIRO HINO - MASAYOSHI TSUCHIYA Patent title :CASSETTE TAPE RECORDER Inventors: Ichiro Hino, Rivervale, N.J. - Masayoshi Tsuchiya, Tokyo, Japan Assignee: Sony Corporation, Tokyo, Japan Appl. No.: 113,718 Filed: Oct. 28, 1987 Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 30, 1987 [JP] Japan ................................ .. 62-17044 CLAIM : The ornamental design for a cassette tape recorder, as shown and described. ........................................................................................... ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... And a few more photos :
Hello friends ! I want to thank you again for your appreciation to this research , the journey continues, please enjoy ! While I'm preparing a major tribute to the master I came across .... .............................................................................................................. . Louis A. McNabb ................................................................................The Grandfather of Walkman It is a strange yet pleasing feeling while traveling back in time to meet people that they had the ability to foresee the future or prepare it if you prefer . Such a visionary man was Louis A. Mcnabb from Davenport, Iowa who as early as 1949 applied for patent for a "POCKET RECORDER". Apart for stereo and headphones all the Walkman concept elements are described and proposed in remarkable detail and precision. Of course it is 1949, pretty early in magnetic recording development so wire medium is proposed instead of tape but the spools are contained in a cartridge ! Another interesting part is the amplifier , again 1949, just two years after the transistor was invented ,very early for a practical application so miniature vacuum tubes are used ! All this contained in a pocket recorder that had roughly the dimensions of a Sony WM-1 ....1949. I don't know if Louis A. Mcnabb ever produced his pocket recorder even as a prototype but he got the patent in July 1955 ,there was however a wire pocket recorder in 1958 the Minifon ,unknown if it is related to Louis A. Mcnabb and his patent. Patent No. : 2,713,618 Patent title POCKET RECORDER Inventor : Louis A. McNabb , Davenport, Iowa Application December 7, 1949, Serial No. 131,573 5 Claims, (C. 179-100.2) Here you can see the brilliant arrangement of the internals , it is weird but I really like those wire spools and the miniature vacuum tube (No.219) ! Bellow are the first two pages of the detailed patent description , I have underlined some important key features but reading the entire text is strongly recomented. Some of you might have already noticed the strong resemblance of the exterior appearance that this "Pocket Recorder" has with the more than half a century later music player , the Ipod ! The dominant square and circle in both designs might be accidental using such basic geometric shapes but still the resemblance is remarkable. Louis A. Mcnabb's "Pocket Recorder" was ahead of its time, mostly in conception, and high-tech for its time . I have uploaded the entire patent which has many excellent drawings and text for further reading, see you soon.
