EPSON Celebrates Micro Piezo 20th Anniversary

Epson MD - Koichi Endo

Micro Piezo 20th Anniversary

20 years ago, Epson embarked on a course that would differentiate it from other printer makers, and give the company unique competing advantages. In March 1993, Epson introduced the very first printer to bear its proprietary “Micro Piezo” inkjet technology that had been developed over the first three years of the 90s.

Micro Piezo is a high performance inkjet printing technology that uses piezoelectric materials which bend precisely when charged with varying electric currents to propel precise amounts of ink out of the print head. Today, Epson is the only major printer company in the world that uses piezoelectric print heads in its entire inkjet printer range – from the smallest personal photo printer, to the largest industrial press system.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the technology, Epson has launched its latest L-Series Ink Tank System Printers. Boasting unique benefits that have been made possible by the Micro Piezo technology, the L-series ink tank system printers effectively demonstrates how far the technology has developed through the years.

 

Koichi Endo, the Managing Director of Epson Southeast Asia, and one of the engineers who developed the Micro Piezo Technology remarks :

“Epson has waited 20 years for our Micro Piezo technology to mature. Today, its superior reliability, energy efficiency, and high ink compatibility is giving Epson unique advantages and growth opportunities in the fields of business document printing, industrial printing and our ability to create special products like our ink tank system printers for emerging markets.”








 

EPSON SQ-2000 & Stylus 800

Left : The 1984 Epson SQ-2000: Epson’s first piezoelectric inkjet printer
Right : The 1993 Epson Stylus 800: The first printer to use the Epson Micro Piezo inkjet print head

The Birth of Micro Piezo Technology

In the 70s and early 80s, Epson was already the leader in the impact dot-matrix printer market. Committed to its vision of exceeding the expectations of its customers with exciting new technologies, Epson had already begun to work on a quiet, high-resolution printer that did not use impact technology in 1978. One by-product of this research on several different systems was the Epson SQ-2000, the first inkjet printer to use a piezoelectric print head. However, research into other methods of printing continued. In 1988, the company made a decision to direct resources into improving the piezo system and to develop a new print head. The opportunity for this development to take a great leap forward came through the use of a multi-layered piezo element. This element enabled Epson engineers to reduce driving voltage and make the print head smaller, which was the first Micro Piezo print head developed independently by the company. Finally, in 1993, the first inkjet printer equipped with this print head, the Epson Stylus 800, was released into the market.

 

Today, Epson’s Micro Piezo printers enjoy the following three significant advantages over thermal inkjet printers :

  • Improved printing quality and precision due to their ability to eject ink droplets in varying sizes
  • Lower operating temperature that makes them more power efficient and allows them to use a wider range of inks, and on a wider range of media
  • Higher reliability that allows Epson to build its print heads into its printers, instead of cartridges. This makes the cartridges cheaper to produce, more affordable to buy, and easier to recycle. This high reliability also enables Epson to make ink tank system printers that offer incredibly high volume printing and which can be simply refilled by ink bottles

 

These give Epson unique advantages and growth opportunities in the field of printing, allowing it to expand into newer industries and cater to different markets.

 

 

 

About Epson

Epson is a global imaging and innovation leader whose product lineup ranges from inkjet printers and 3LCD projectors to sensors and other microdevices. Dedicated to exceeding the vision of its customers worldwide, Epson delivers customer value based on compact, energy-saving, and high-precision technologies in markets spanning enterprise and the home to commerce and industry. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the Epson Group comprises more than 81,000 employees in 97 companies around the world, and is proud of its ongoing contributions to the global environment and the communities in which it operates. http://global.epson.com/

 

About Epson Southeast Asia

Since 1982, Epson has developed a strong presence across major markets in Southeast Asia. Led by the regional headquarters, Epson Singapore Pte Ltd., Epson Southeast Asia spans an extensive network of 10 countries, and is responsible for delivering and supporting Epson’s cutting-edge consumer and business digital imaging products to the customers of these markets through its comprehensive infrastructure of over 360 service outlets, 10 Epson solution centres and 8 manufacturing facilities. http://www.epson.com.sg

 

About Epson Singapore

Epson is the world’s leader in digital imaging solutions. The company’s Singapore operation is also the Regional Headquarters of Seiko Epson Corporation. The company markets and supports Epson printers, scanners, projectors, electronic devices including liquid crystal displays, semiconductors and system devices in South East and South Asia. For more details, please visit www.epson.com.sg

 

 

 

 

All images in this post are used with permission 
All Trademarks mentioned in the article belong to their respective owners and the Brandnames are mentioned for identification purposes only

 




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