The History of Inkjet Printing

The development of inkjet printing began in the 1940s.

Inkjet printing technology has a surprisingly long history. Although the inkjet printer became familiar to the public in the 1990s, the development of its technology goes back all the way to the 1940s.

Types

The two basic types of inkjet printer are continuous and drop-on-demand printers. Continuous injket printing technology, which coats the paper with electrically-charged droplets, came first.

Beginnings

The core technology for continuous inkjet printers was patented by R. Elmqvist of Siemens in Sweden in 1948. In 1951, Siemens was issued a patent for the same process in the United States. After further development in the 1960s by R.G. Sweet of Stanford University, IBM licensed the technology in 1976.

Drop-on-Demand

In the late 1970s and 1980s, Canon and Hewlett-Packard each worked on drop-on-demand technology, called bubble jet by Canon. This type of printer generally uses thermal technology to push drops of ink out of the print head, saving ink in the process.

Popularity

In the late 1980s, the printers were finally made available to the public by Canon and Hewlett Packard. Hewlett Packard's DeskJet printer, among the first, was $1,000 in 1988.

Uses

Continuous injket printers are used today in industrial settings for labeling cartons and addressing direct mail. Among consumers, slower but less expensive drop-on-demand printers proved more popular.

References

• Castle Ink: Inkjet Printer-A History Lesson
• "Scientific Examination of Questioned Documents"; Brian S. Lindblom; 2006