who invented the dot matrix printer?

(clue, it was not Epson)

Hi slickjohn-ga!


Seiko invented the dot matrix printer in 1964.

?I was telling my co-workers this morning that one of the pub trivia
questions last night was: "Which company invented the dot matrix
printer?" They all laughed because the answer, of course, is Epson.
Well, to be technical, it was Seiko who then started Epson. They built
the "EP-101" for the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games. (Hence the name
"Epson", which expresses the company's determination to produce many
worthy "sons" of the EP-101. That's from our company magazine; I kid
you not.) ?
http://www.web-goddess.org/archivelisting.php/month/5/year/2003
http://www.web-goddess.org/archive.php/postID/2727


In 1970 Centronics introduces the first dot matrix printer.
http://www.computerhope.com/history/196080.htm


?Centronics Data Computer Corporation was one of the major suppliers
of dot matrix printers in the 1970s. In 1970, they designed a dot
matrix printer called the Model 101. It had a speed of 165 characters
per second (CPS) using a 5 x 7 matrix and sold for $2,995. They
followed that up in 1977 with the Micro-1 printer with a speed of 240
CPS and a price of $595. Then, in 1979, they introduced the Centronics
700 series that included the Model 779, priced at less than $1,000.

Many companies were competing for top billing in the printer industry.
Epson, a subsidiary of Seiko, the Japanese watch manufacturer, was one
of the initial developers of the low-cost dot matrix printer
technology. Their TX-80, introduced in 1978, was an immediate success.
They followed that up with the MX series ? IBM liked these so much
they sold them with their Personal Computer under an OEM agreement.?
://www.google.com/search?q=cache:b3R7-toxUEEJ:www.zongoo.com/test2.php%3Fsid%3D3261+seiko+invented+%22dot+matrix+printer%22&hl=es&ie=UTF-8


Search criteria:
?invented the dot matrix printer?

I hope you find this helpful!  If anything is unclear with my answer,
please ask for clarification.

Best regards,
Bobbie7

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Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 26 Feb 2004 07:27 PST

If the last link doesn't work please use this URL:
http://tinyurl.com/2qp6y

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Request for Answer Clarification by slickjohn-ga on 26 Feb 2004 09:07 PST

As per my comment I was looking for the names of the inventors rather
than the first company to maket a product.  The reason that I ask is
that I have spoken to someone who claims that his father was the
co-inventor of the dot matrix printer and he is a German.

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Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 26 Feb 2004 09:19 PST

From Woz Org:

"My grandfather was Sam Lang. He and Robert Howard (of Howtek) founded
the Centronics Data Corp. in 1968, and together they invented the
dot-matrix printer, and parallel port."
http://www.woz.org/letters/general/09.html
Does this information help?

Thanks,
Bobbie7

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Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 26 Feb 2004 09:46 PST

I conducted a search at the USPTO for dot matrix printer and obtained
the following information:

Patent number 2997152
August 22, 1961
Electrically Controlled Character Printing Apparatus
Gerhard Dirks,
44 Morfelder Landstrasse,
Frankfurt Germany

"This present invention relates to an electric controlled  character
printing apparatus. (..) each character being delineated by a number
of dot-like elements."

You may read about it in detail at here:

http://patimg2.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=US002997152&SectionNum=1&IDKey=E91C25257CF2&HomeUrl=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2%2526Sect2=HITOFF%2526u=/netahtml/search-adv.htm%2526r=2%2526p=1%2526f=G%2526l=50%2526d=o179%2526S1=(400/124.01.CIOR.%252Bor%252B400/124.01.CIXR.%252Bor%252B400/124.01.CIUX,CIDX.)%2526OS=ccl/(400/124.01)%2526RS=CCL/400/124.01

Is this the information you had in mind?

Thanks,
Bobbie7

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Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 26 Feb 2004 09:49 PST

If the above link doesn't function please use the following URL:
http://tinyurl.com/2pxbm

Its not the guy I was interested in, however I followed the link and
was able to search on his surname and found what I was looking for. 
Thanks for the steer. I didn't previously know that you could search
patents in this way.  Sorry its not a high price question, I was just
asking for casual interest and I'm not rich

According to these sites, it was IBM. However, there is no detailed
information to support these statements.

IBM unveiled the first dot matrix printer in 1957
http://www.pcplus.co.uk/media/pcplus/pdf/185/185.feature.history%20of%20the%20pc.pdf

1957 First dot matrix printer marketed by IBM. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computing_timeline_1950-1979

1957 First Dot Matrix printer marketed by IBM. 
http://www.ox.compsoc.net/~swhite/history/timeline-INDEX.html

http://www.labyrinth.net.au/~saul/history/to2000.html
http://www.web-friend.com/help/general/pc_history.html

answerfinder-ga

I was hoping for the names of people, maybe the patent holders.  The
reason I ask this question is that I have just spoken to someone who
claims that his father was the co-inventor of the dot matrix printer
and I wanted to establish if that were true.  This person is German
rather than Japanese.

Any suggestions

The Smart Card was invented and patented in Japan before being
re-invented in France. Of course, the French did not take out patents
for 'their' invention in Japan.