Ericofon

The Ericofon, also called Cobra Cobra phone or short, was a Swedish telephone model, launched in 1956 by LM Ericsson on the market. Today it is a coveted collector's item.

Development

Already 1940-41 Ericsson had begun to develop a so-called one-piece phone ( camera part and listeners in one piece). Ericsson had a group of industrial designers hired in the summer of 1939, among them Ralph Lysell ( 1907-1987 ). From him came the designs for the first wooden models of such a phone. The idea for such a phone was found on the Siemens & Halske LM Ericsson. Siemens had made in 1930 the first one-piece phone in the world developed and patented. The number plate was the side of the foot, or the bottom of the foot. The Siemens machine, also known as " squatting dog " because of its appearance, however, never went into series production.

The development of the Ericofons was interrupted by World War II and until 1950, the first prototypes were ready. End of 1956, finally came under the production Gösta Thames, the head of the apparatus Technical Group at Ericsson, in transition. Thames was also instrumental in the final version of the phone. The working name was Erifon, but the official name was Ericofon DBJ 500 Popularly got the phone, because of its appearance, the nickname Cobra, or Cobra phone. Due to its Scandinavian origin was another nickname of the phone ScandiPhone.

Production

The Cobra phone was an immediate success, and after half a year, demand exceeded production capacity by 500 percent. The Ericofon was produced in many colors, for the U.S. market, for example, in 18 different shades. The design was so compact that there is no room for the ringtone was available, therefore Cobra was often used as the secondary or you bought a separate bell. In the bottom of the phone, the dial was a lot of pressure switch in the middle, which automatically contacts with the outside line produced as soon as you lifted the phone and interrupted him again when you put it back. As Ericsson 1982, the production of Ericofon DBJ hired 500, had produced 2.51 million pieces. Today, the Cobra phone is a coveted collector's item, especially the red copy.

Successor model

For the hundredth anniversary in 1976 Ericsson has brought out a successor, the Ericofon DBJ 700, designed by Carl -Arne Breger. It had push buttons instead of rotary dial, but could not compete with its predecessor. After 41 380 copies produced, the production was set in 1984.

Literature and source

• Leave Brunnström: telephones, en designhistoria. Atlantis, Stockholm 2006, ISBN 91-7353-109- X