CopyFAQs

Looking for office equipment? Copy machines, fax machines, color printers? CopyFAQs.com is here to help!

Whether it’s for a big office, small office or home office, a copy machine is an essential piece of office equipment.

Did you know that copy machine technology called xerography was invented by Charles Carlson as early as 1937? On a basic level, the photocopier works by using electrical charges to ionize a photoreceptor. A beam of light is passed over the photoreceptor which in turn de-ionizes and writes to the receptor in certain areas. Where the light beam writes depends on the original that is going to be copied. In essence, the photoreceptor becomes an inverted image or negative of the original, leaving a positive charge on the receptor where the characters on the original would be. The charged receptor then collects the negatively charged toner powder and presses that image onto a new piece of paper (the copy). The copy is then fed through a heating filament which fuses the toner particles together and to the new copy. That’s why new copies come out “hot of the press”.