Unusual Clear DIP Package

[Forced Perfect]

I found this interesting clear 8 pin DIP package when taking apart a Kensington Turbo Mouse ADB (it's an old Apple Desktop Bus trackball).






It appears to be a dual photo diode or possibly a quad one based on the bond wires. Pins 2, 3, 6, 7, 8 are connected in the design. There are two of them in the design (one for X and one for Y tracking) and both labeled as diodes on the silkscreen.

I can't find any information on it online. In fact the only thing I found was someone trying to sell them for like, $2.50 each on eBay.

The chip is labeled:

SD3493
PHILIPPINES
17190

[Whales]

These things are armok-slayingly beautiful.  Attached is a (QFP?) I found in the last mouse I pulled apart.

Convert an Optical Mouse into a low-res camera

[amyk]

Coincidentally you're not the first one on this forum to find one of these:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what's-this-please-(component-advice)/360/

[Forced Perfect]

Coincidentally you're not the first one on this forum to find one of these:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what's-this-please-(component-advice)/360/

Ahh, I did a quick search and didn't see that one (maybe it was the title I skipped over). Looks like the people on eBay were just guessing as they had only the part. Sure isn't an optoisolator. I made a video of its operation and I'll stick it on YouTube (hopefully today, but I get easily distracted haha).

As for the optical sensor, I happen to have had ripped apart a SteelSeries gaming mouse and took a pic of its rather... involved piece of silicon used as the sensor. Pretty impressive. It seems only a small part of the chip is the actual sensor (square at the bottom left of the image?) and the rest is all processing or buffering.

[MLXXXp]

I have an IC in a clear plastic 14 pin DIP package, made by Sprague Electric in the late 1970's, for use in a toy. It's intended to run on batteries, between 3 and 4.5V. It uses IIL and bipolar technology and contains a photodiode, a lamp driver and a speaker driver.

It has a "search" mode that repeatedly plays a simple robotic sounding melody and flashes the lamp slowly. When it detects a change in light intensity, it switches to an alarm sound. After a few seconds, it  goes back to  playing the melody and slowly flashing the lamp.

It also has a "guard" mode, where it remains silent until it detects a light intensity change, then sounds the alarm for a few seconds.

I can imagine it being used in a toy robot that would react when you "shot" it with a gun that emitted a light beam, or guard your room by detecting changes in the light.

[Forced Perfect]

I have an IC in a clear plastic 14 pin DIP package, made by Sprague Electric in the late 1970's, for use in a toy. It's intended to run on batteries, between 3 and 4.5V. It uses IIL and bipolar technology and contains a photodiode, a lamp driver and a speaker driver.

It has a "search" mode that repeatedly plays a simple robotic sounding melody and flashes the lamp slowly. When it detects a change in light intensity, it switches to an alarm sound. After a few seconds, it  goes back to  playing the melody and slowly flashing the lamp.

It also has a "guard" mode, where it remains silent until it detects a light intensity change, then sounds the alarm for a few seconds.

I can imagine it being used in a toy robot that would react when you "shot" it with a gun that emitted a light beam, or guard your room by detecting changes in the light.

Very cool. I have always found unique looking ICs fascinating. I've been buying the odd IC off eBay whenever I see something interesting.

This is one I picked up a few months ago, it seems to have had a clear cover on it although it came opened up.

[SeanB]

I picked up some Royce Thompson street lighting photocontrols which have a clear sensor assembly, with a photodiode and some electronics inside it.

[timelessbeing]

I came across this one in a laser printer.

[scientist]

EEPROM erase maybe? Beautiful chips.

[Forced Perfect]

EEPROM erase maybe? Beautiful chips.

I think all of the examples here have been clear because they're a sensor of some sort (usually a photo diode it seems). The last one posted is interesting because it seems to also have some logic on it as well (you can see silkscreen even refers to it as an IC).

[SeanB]

That is the laser power meter. Used along with the integrated opamp to set a constant light output to get even density.

[MLXXXp]

EEPROM erase maybe? Beautiful chips.

You mean EPROM. EEPROM means Electrically Erasable, which doesn't require a transparent case.

EPROM uses a quartz lid to pass the UV light that does the erasing. I don't think the plastic cases of these devices would pass UV.

[scientist]

Well, Mike uses glass/plastic as a faceplate for developing PCBs with UV light, so it must pass some kind of UV.

[echen1024]

Those are quite beautiful.... I would like a clear BGA package...

[MLXXXp]

I have an IC in a clear plastic 14 pin DIP package, made by Sprague Electric in the late 1970's, for use in a toy.

A week ago, I received an email alert saying that there had been a new post in this topic. I followed the link in the email to read the post. It was someone saying they had this chip and asking if there was any documentation available for it.

I didn't note the user who posted, and only briefly read the contents, thinking I'd read it again more thoroughly later, during my normal review of the forum. However, when I later logged in to the forum, I couldn't find any sign of this new post. I then read that the forum data had been restored from a backup, resulting in the loss of some posts, so it's possible this new post was one of the ones lost.

Anyway, I figured it couldn't hurt to provide a scan of the documentation I received with the chip, so here it is (what little there was):
https://www.mlxxxp.ca/electronics/clear_ic/Sprague_clear_toy_IC.pdf

Note: The document came with the chip number and manufacturer information redacted. It wasn't me who did it.

[Skashkash]

What an odd thread to resurrect.

 But if anyone is interested in procuring said vintage chips, Electronic goldmine has them still soldered onto the original board.   

https://www.goldmine-elec-products.com/prodinfo.asp?number=G24774

I think I may still have a couple of those same toy pcbs laying around from when I bought them surplus on Canal St in NYC 40+ years ago.