By: Lia Contesso
Submitted: 2010-01-05 05:43:24 | Word Count: 517
Although it is not possible to credit this invention to a single person, but we know that the first inkjet printer was invented in 1976. But for many years it did not have a great popular diffusion, until in 1988 Hewlett Packard for the first time introduced the DeskJet printer as a commodity to every home, spreading it so quickly. However we know that the first printer was not for everyone, and its price was much higher than the current one, it cost around 1000 euro, a very high price.
If you compare the inkjet printer in use today and those that were launched some twenty years ago, it is found to have indeed come a long way since then. However they arrived in stores in 1980, producing printers companies recognized the fact that the ink with which printers were based was the way forward and that this technology would be revolutionary. Thus the process of development of printers and cartridges began.
The initial challenge for the companies was not only concentrate on quality, but also on accessibility. Siemens invented in 1977 a famous model of inkjet printers that became very popular among enterprises and organizations. The main benefits of this printer were that it sprayed ink only when necessary and was not very expensive.
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One of the biggest challenges faced by developers regarding this type of printers was the fact that the flow of ink from the print head to the page needed to be controlled. This research has prompted leading-edge technology not only in terms of printers, but also of cartridges.
Initially the dried ink clogged the printhead and also the strategy of IBM to use electrically charged droplets for coating the pages with ink was not a success and had not met the interest of consumers.
This challenge was addressed by two companies namely Hewlett-Packard and Canon. They introduced in the market the ink-jet printers that used liquid ink. These became immensely popular and this technology is still in use today. Previously we mentioned that there is not a person who can be credited with the invention of the inkjet printer, for it required a lot of difficulties and mistakes by several companies and input from more than one company to develop an effective technology.
An article on these printers will not be complete without mentioning the role of their cartridges in the scheme of things.
These printer ink cartridges played a major role in the growing popularity of these printers. The cartridges are the central element of each printer and are also passed through a long and evolved process of development, side by side with the printers.
Without cartridges development there would be no inkjet printers. As we have seen, the whole process of developing a printer is long and has gone through a long period of trials and errors. This is one of the main reasons why many companies have contributed to the development of printing technology.
