History of Copy Machines
The history of the copy machine is a long one, with a variety of changes that occurred over the years. While some copiers use ink, the majority of office machines utilize a process in which dry toner is fused to paper using heat. Many people refer to copy machines as Xerox devices due to the fact that the company was the first to commercially introduce the concept and has been a leader in the marketplace since its inception.
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Concept
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The root principle of copier technology was discovered in 1937. A Bulgarian physicist named Georgi Nadjakov found that certain materials became permanently affixed to other materials through a process of electric polarization.
Invention
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Using this knowledge, Chester Carlson set out to find a way to make paper copies of documents. He conducted experiments in photoconductivity, and was able to affix sulfur to a microscope slide using an electrified zinc plate in 1938.
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Xerox
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Carlson continued to refine the process over the next few years. In 1947, the Haloid Corporation purchased the rights to the process and changed its name to Xerox. Two years later, the company introduced the Model A copy machine to North America.
Liquid Ink
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RCA introduced a liquid version of the copy machine in the 1950s. This had the advantage of being cheaper than dry ink. The Savin Corporation followed suit in the 1960s.
Color
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In 1968, 3M released the Color-in-Color copy machine. This used dyes rather than electrostatic printing. A few years later, Canon introduced a color copier based on electrified dry ink. It featured four base colors--yellow, cyan, red and black--that could make realistic images.
Multifunction
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During the 1990s and early part of the twenty-first century, digital technology was introduced to copy machines. This turned the devices into more fully functional machines linked to computers. They acted a printers, scanners, copiers, fax machines and even telephones.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Wikimedia Commons
