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Alongside the desktop, the telephone and the water-cooler, the photocopier is the most ubiquitous piece of office equipment around. You probably don’t think there are many things about the copier that could surprise you and, to be honest, you’re probably right. Yet there are still one or two fun facts that might just take you by surprise. Here are ten of the most interesting.
1. Sitting is bad
Though it might seem like a hilarious idea when you’ve indulged in a few drinks at the Christmas party, dropping your trousers or skirt, sitting on your photocopier and pushing the green button can lead to problems. In fact, 20% of all copier repairs are required due to damage caused by somebody’s rear-end putting too much pressure on the glass.
2. Remember to wipe
Did you know that 60% of all discarded hard drives from digital document systems, be they copiers, faxes or MFDs still contain data. When you consider the amount of highly sensitive information that runs through the average office on the average day, the danger should quickly become apparent. The message: make sure to erase all images and files from the system before getting rid of your device.
3. Colour copiers help puppies
The Haloid Corporation sent 7 colour copy machines to Disney in the late 50s. These copiers were used in the production of 101 Dalmatians. Haloid became Xerox, in honour of their best selling product.
4. Bulgarian ingenuity and pain created the copier
In 1937, Bulgarian physicist Georgi Nadjakov discovered that electric polarization can be used to adhere objects to other objects. In 1938, Chester Carlson started performing experiments with photoconductivity. He had arthritis, and hand copying documents for his job as a patent authority was causing excruciating pain. He was eventually successful with creating a transfer process.
5. Try and try again
Carlson invented the process of copying, but it was not refined. In fact, he took his process to several companies where his work was rejected. GE and IBM could not see a need for Carlson’s product. After several years of perfecting the process, Haloid Corporation obtained a license to market a machine with this technology.
6. Name changes make for better marketing
Carlson’s process of copying was called electrophotography. The Haloid Corporation decided to change the name of the process to xerography, meaning ‘dry writing.’ Their machines were called Xerox machine, which rapidly became a household name.
7. The government knows
Both monochrome and colour copiers exist today. To prevent counterfeiting, Xerox colour copiers will print a small pattern of dots to identify it. That way, agents can discover the origin of the counterfeit print.
8. It’s not ink
Photocopiers use toner, which is a mixture of plastic granules, rust, pigment, and wax. The granules accept a photostatic charge and are attracted to a photosensitive drum. This drum transfers images to paper. The toner is then sealed to the paper using a heat process. Ink, on the other hand, is placed on the paper through the use of tiny jets which push the liquid in a series of pulses.
9. Speed in the office
The world’s fastest photocopier developed for office use is the Riso ORPHIS X9050. This machine is capable of making over 150 to 300 copies per minute.
Before the advent of photocopying, people had to rely on the tedious use of carbon paper and hand sketching. Chester Carlson’s invention was revolutionary, changing the landscape of business.
10. Safety hazard
The first popular photocopier, the Xerox 914, took the business world by storm in 1959. If it was released today, however, it would never get past health and safety. Not only did over-use of the device risk overheating, the device would commonly burst into flames after one too many copies. In fact, this was such a problem that Xerox had to give out free fire extinguishers with each machine!
We hope you enjoyed these 10 fun facts! If you're looking for a new business photocopier, look no further than photocopier specialists Copyform. We lease and sell a rnage of quality machines, including photocopiers from the Konica Minolta and Ricoh range.
