By Graham K. Rogers

Epson Corporation have announced new printer designs aimed at the consumer - for printing photos and documents at home - which they claim are 40% smaller than earlier models.

Using information gleaned from consumers, the Epson Expression Premium series has been developed for home users who have often complained about limited space. The engineering teams examined the types of areas where home users might use their printers, including modern shelving.

With a target size, the team began the shrinking process by producing smaller components, starting with the main board which was reduced by 30% and then relocating the ink cartridges to the top of the print head.

The team limited the height of the new print head by redesigning the ink channels and changing the layout of the IC board. Similarly, they limited the height of the ink cartridges by simplifying their internal structure and increasing their volumetric efficiency. The design modifications significantly helped reduce printer size by keeping down the height of the printer even with the on-carriage design and by freeing up space that otherwise would have been used to route ink supply tubes and so forth.

By a redesign throughout, Epson has managed to produce a printer that is able to be placed in locations where users want them.

More information may be found on Epson's regional web sites.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.