Samsung Origami Cardboard Printer Is An Assemble-Yourself Eco Friendly Concept

There are a lot of printers out there in all sorts of price ranges, designs and features as numerous as any other gadget, yet none of them are quite like Samsung's Origami concept – made of cardboard. The design was made as part of the 2013 International Design Excellence Awards, and was accompanied by two other designs featuring other shells.

The idea behind the concepts are multi-fold: by eschewing the common plastic shell, the printer becomes more environmentally-friendly, as well as easier for the owner to get rid of when no longer wanted and easier to create, reducing the cost of the hardware. Assembly would be performed by the buyer, which you can see from start to finish in the video below.

The inside of the printer is the common guts you'd find in conventional offerings, with the outside being assembled first with folding corrugated cardboard. Once the box is folded, the innards are placed within it, then the final flap is folded into place, both resembling a conventional printer and working much in the same way.

Says Samsung in its concept video: "The Origami is a recyclable personal mono laser printer, designed for the eco-conscious. Its exterior is made of 100-percent recycled paper while still ensuring the high level of durability offered by traditional plastic covers and designing the critical components to function effectively."

The other two designs are the Clip, which is assembled by the user from snap-able plastic, as well as one called the Mate, which is a modular printer with different colored panels that allows the user to assemble it into personally designed color combinations. Neither require screws, and the buyer doesn't need any previous knowledge about assembly, says Samsung.

SOURCE: Wired