Home > Photocopying
Photocopying is a process which makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. The prevalence of its use is one of the factors that prevented the development of the paperless office heralded early in the digital revolution.It was introduced by Xerox in the 1960s, and over the following 20 years it gradually replaced copies made by carbon paper, mimeograph machines and other duplicating machines.
Photocopying is widely used in business, education, and government. There have been many predictions that photocopiers will eventually become moot as information workers continue to increase their digital document creation and distribution, and rely less on distributing actual pieces of paper. However, photocopiers are undeniably more convenient than computers for the very common task of creating a copy of an humble piece of paper.
1 Invention
Chester Carlson, the inventor of photocopying, was originally a patent attorney and part time researcher and inventor. His job at the patent office in New York required him to make a large number of copies of important papers. Carlson who was arthritic, found this a painful and tedious process. This prompted him to conduct experiments in the area of photoconductivity, through which multiple copies could be made with minimal effort. Carlson experimented with " electrophotography" in his kitchen and in 1938, applied for a patent for the process. He made the first "photocopy" using a zincZinc is a chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Notable characteristics Zinc is a moderately reactive metal that will combine with oxygen and other non-metals, and will react with dilute acids to release hydro plate covered with sulfurSulfur (or sulphur see spelling) is the chemical element in the periodic table that has the symbol S and atomic number 16. An abundant tasteless odorless multivalent non-metal, sulfur is best known as yellow crystals and occurs in many sulfide and sulfate. The word "10-22-38 Astoria" were written on a microscopeA microscope is an instrument for viewing objects that are too small to be seen by the naked or unaided eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy, and the term microscopic means minute or very small, not slide, which was placed on top of more sulfur and under a bright light. After the slide was removed, a mirror image of the words remained. Carlson tried to sell his invention to some companies, but because the process was still underdeveloped he failed. At the time multiple copies were made using carbon paper or duplicating machines, and people did not feel any dire need for an electronic machine. Between 1939Events January-June January 2 End of term for Frank Finley Merriam, 28th Governor of California. He is succeeded by Culbert Levy Olson. January 24 Earthquake kills 30. 000 in Chile about 50. 000 sq mi razed January 26 Falangists take Barcelona January 26 and 1944Events World War II January January 4 The Battle of Monte Cassino begins. January 5 Murder of Danish playwright Kaj Munck January 17 British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River. January 20 The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin;, Carlson was turned down by over 20 companies including IBMThis article is about the International Business Machines Corporation; see IBM (disambiguation) for other uses of this abbreviation. International Business Machines Corporation IBM or colloquially, Big Blue (incorporated June 15, 1911, in operation since and GEGeneral Electric Company or GE is a multinational technology and services company, one of the world's largest corporations. While it still uses its full name for legal purposes, it prefers to use the abbreviation GE in the names of its component businesse, both of which did not believe that there was a significant market for copiers.
In 1944, the Battelle Memorial InstituteThe Battelle Memorial Institute is a private, non-profit research company centered in Columbus, Ohio. Battelle has played a major role in the development of projects like the Xerox process and compact disk digital storage. External link Columbus, Ohio., a non-profit organisation in Columbus, Ohio, contracted with Carlson to refine his new process. Over the next five years, the institute conducted experiments to improve the process of electrophotography. In 1947 Haloid (a small New York based organisation manufacturing and selling photographic paper at that time) approached Battelle to obtain a license to develop and market a copying machine based on this technology.
Haloid felt that the word "electrophotography" was too complicated and did not have good recall value. After consulting a professor of classical language at Ohio State University, Haloid and Carlson changed the name of the process to "Xerography", derived from Greek words which meant "dry writing". Haloid decided to call the new copier machines "Xerox" and in 1948, the word Xerox was trademarked.
In the early 1950s, RCA (Radio Corporation of America) introduced a variation on the process called Electrofax where images are formed directly on specially coated paper and rendered with a toner dispersed in a liquid.
