When Was the Fax Machine Invented?
Faxing is defined as a way of encoding printed data, transmitting it over a telephone line or other broadcast medium, and receiving a hard copy of text documents, line drawings or photographs at another location. The use of a fax machine to transmit images this way did not become common throughout the business world until the late 1980s, but the technology it was founded upon was originally created in the 19th century.
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Invention
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In 1843, Scottish inventor, Alexander Bain applied for and received a British patent for a device consisting of two pens connected to two pendulums, then joined together by a wire to enable writing on an electronically conductive material. This early device was made up of components from Bain's clock making experience and allowed one of the pens to reproduce an image presented on the metal surface.
Fax Development
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Many inventors worked to improve on Bain's earlier invention. Scientists and inventors from England, France, Germany and the United States worked for nearly 100 years to improve, refine and simplify the fax machine. It was in the 1960s that the Xerox Corporation introduced the first reliable, long-distance facsimile machine, but it wasn't until Japanese companies became involved in the 1970s that the truly modern fax machine came into existence.
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The Modern Fax
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The modern facsimile machine transmits and receives transmissions by radio, telephone or undersea cable. In a typical system, the fax scanner consists of a rotating cylinder, a light source, and a photoelectric cell that translates graphic material on paper into electrical impulses. An electronically linked and synchronized receiving device then translates these impulses and reverses the process to print a virtually flawless copy.
Fax Servers
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An alternative to the standard fax machine, a fax server is software running on a server computer, equipped with one or more fax-capable modems attached to telephone lines or an Internet connection. Its function is to accept documents for users, convert them to faxes and transmit them. It also will receive faxes, and store them or pass them on to users. This can offer advantages over traditional machines by allowing users to fax without leaving their desks, allow any compatible computer file to be faxed directly from the computer with increased clarity upon receipt, and remove the sometimes numerous individual fax machines found in the workplace.
Conclusion
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The technology for the fax machine has been around for over a century; constantly undergoing improvement and advancement to join with whatever advanced technology it can best utilize. The mechanical process of faxing may change with time, but the fundamentals of faxing have consistently remained the same.
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References
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