Scanning, copying, and printing with rewritable media

摘要

A scan-print device is hand-held and is scanned over the surface of a paper-like rewritable sheet. The sheet has a colorant responsive to a linear array of pixel-sized electric fields written over the sheet by the scan-print device during each scan, producing a bistable pixel (e.g., black or white) in response to field polarity. The bi-stable, rewritable colorant is highly energy efficient, requiring energy only to change an image, not to hold or illuminate it. Once a series of scans sufficient to cover the entire sheet has been made, the printed image appears as if printed conventionally. The print remains stable until reprinted or intentionally erased. Combined with hand-held scanner-copier technology, a portable copier is also implemented.