Trident’s History and Development

The Exxon Years:
The development of Trident's impulse ink jet technology began in the early 1980's as an Exxon Enterprises Group venture seeking to create a high speed, digital printing process for word processing and fax machines.

Led by R.Hugh Van Brimer:
An innovative group of research scientists and engineers led by R. Hugh Van Brimer succeeded in inventing and widely patenting a new mode of droplet generation, as well as various ink delivery techniques for both solid and liquid inks. (Solid ink is a wax-like material that is solid at room temperature but liquid in the heated printhead. It "freezes" on impact with the substrate, thereby instantaneously drying on any surface.)

Dataproducts Years:
Dataproducts Corp. (since acquired by Hitachi Koki Co. Ltd. and then by Ricoh) became joint venture partners to market the product and later acquired the company in whole. While Dataproducts concentrated on the solid ink version of the technology, the liquid ink products were making in-roads into some high speed industrial niches.

Formation of Trident:
Trident, Inc. was formed in 1989 by a small group of former Dataproducts Corp. managers with financial backing from Johnson Worldwide Associates (JWA) and an exclusive license for liquid ink industrial printing application. In 1994, Trident's management, backed by venture capitalists, purchased JWA's ownership share in the company.

Initial Public Offering (IPO) on Nasdaq:
After an uninterrupted string of growth years, the company undertook a successful initial public offering in February 1996.

The ITW Years (to present):
Trident's industry leadership, commitment to continuing technological advancements, and financial stability, led to our acquisition in February 1999 by Illinois Tool Works Inc. (ITW).

Offices:
Trident's development, manufacturing and administrative headquarters are located in Brookfield, Connecticut. Regional offices are located in Japan and Ireland.