Inkjet Primer

1. Inkjet Primer Mark Hibbard : Recharger Magazine markhibbard@ptc-me.net

2. Frontloading:Direct to MEDIA Printing • Inkjets HP (44 %) Canon (36%) Epson (18%) • Thermal Technology • Piezoelectric Technology • For the novice recycler • Principal cartridge functions • Ink composition • Inkjet cartridge types • Basic recycling process. • Theory of ink delivery • Cartridge filling methods, • Proper test print procedures

3. Non-Impact Printers Dye-sub Inkjet Laser Drop-on- Demand Continuous Thermal Piezo A Map of Printer Technology

4. HP CANON Market Leaders in the TIJ industry are HP and Canon. Hewlett-Packard: • 1984 - First thermal inkjet printer and print cartridge • Biggest supplier of thermal inkjets Canon: • 1977 - “Bubble-jet” • Drop Modulation Technology • Durable Printheads (LOW COST)

5. Piezoelectric Technology (PT) uses a electromechanical crystal to eject ink. • The ink is controlled by a voltage - No voltage, positive voltage, and negative voltage : • Controls shape, volume, and speed of droplets • Pulse-width modulation = fast printing speeds

6. Thermal inkjets use bubbles to eject ink. • Well formed and predictable drops • Thermodynamic process (read MTBF) • Localized heat … ambient … temperature

7. Color Ink-Jet • Inexpensive Hardware cost (SUB $100.00) • Slow • Simultaneous Issue of 4 Colors • Colors can run if paper gets wet • Archive … water fastness, mottling, bleed with low quality substrate • Consumables ---36 cents/pp ++++ Total Cost / page Ink Jet HP 855 Pages printed 36000 Paper & toner $12,554 $0.349 97.2% Main/PM $32 $0.001 0.2% Cost of printers/5yr $210 $0.006 1.6% Staffing $122 $0.003 0.9% $12,918 Cpp $0.359

8. Color Ink-Jet Printers • Print head, including Ink filled cartridge moves horizontally across paper surface • Each of 4 cartridges (CYMK) has 50 ink-filled firing chambers

9. Color Thermal Ink-Jet Printers • Ink Flows Into Firing Chamber • Quickly Heated Ink Vaporizes Creating Bubble • Vapor Bubble Pushes Ink Out Nozzle • Droplet Is Propelled Toward Paper by Bursting Bubble • Removal of Heat Collapses Bubble and Pulls More Ink Into Firing Chamber.

10. Color Ink-Jet Printers

11. Reservoirs Containing LiquidInk Ink Droplet Thermal (TIJ) and Piezoelectric have some things in common. • Clean droplets from nozzle to paper • Components embodied in cartridge

12. The multi-layer actuator head solved problems of earlier piezo heads. • Only Epson • Why? • Large heads and high voltage • 1989 – Development of multi-layer actuator • More pressure, faster • Lower voltage, lower circuitry

13. Creating Color • Two Methods for Creating a Particular Hue • Multiple layers require transparent inks • Color also depends on medium which it is applied to • Adjacent • Different colored dots closer together than the eye can resolve appear to be single color • Dithering

14. Color Printing Terminology, HSI • Chromaticity diagram • Any color characterized by its H, S, and I • Mathematically convertible to other representations, e.g., RGB, CYMK • Hue • Commonly referred to as color • Saturation • How “red” the color red is • Intensity • How “bright” the color is

15. Additive Color • Mechanism used on TV, color monitors • Red, Green, and Blue • All colors added together produce white

16. Subtractive Color • Control what color is reflected • White: all colors reflected • Red: only red is reflected, all other colors absorbed (subtracted) • Black: no colors are reflected

17. Printing Color, CYMK • Color printing uses 4 pigments • Cyan (blue-green) • Yellow • Magenta (purple-red) • blacK • Fixed dot size • Lighter shades are produced by leaving more dots white (unprinted)

18. Halftone ….. Printing Color

19. Dithering • To Produce Colors Beyond Simple Mix of Primary Colors (8 Colors), Specific Combinations of Yellow, Cyan, and Magenta Dots Are Used • Dots Are Not Placed in Same Spot, but Close Together (Dithering) • Eye Blends Discrete, Separately Colored Dots Into Single Color - Color averaging

20. Color Dithering

21. Paper Characteristics • Uncoated paper • Rough surface, scatters light • Blurs image • Inks “bleed” into paper • Coated paper • Smoother surface reflects light more precisely • Coating prevents color bleed • Thickness measured by weight in pounds • Better paper better image • Generally 25-45lb papers are well founded

22. Font Formation • Bitmapped Fonts • Bit pattern stored in ROM or downloaded from host computer into printer (saves transmission time (ttfp) if font characteristics are not married to document) • However you have one pattern for each character of each typeface of each attribute of each size that must reside within dynamic memory within PC …lot of storage faster printing … high end printers load fonts onto hard drive onboard … then entire workgroup of pc’s need less memory (total overall cost of LAN decreases) • Outline (vector) Fonts (most plotters/high end graphics) • Mathematically described • Scalable • Bold facing, italics • Easier conformance to various print densities • Array of vectored data married to drawing or document • Accurate, high quality, thin line control, costly (but becoming cheaper)

23. Piezoelectric vs. Thermal Inkjet Piezoelectric: • Flexible development in supplies • Print heads • Last longer • More expensive • Faster • No heating/cooling process • Able to control droplets’ speed • More control over ink shape and size Thermal: • Replaceable Consumable • Cost vs. life tradeoff • Ink droplet control (limited) • Printhead technology upload-able • Printers have a longer life

24. Customer Driven Market Choices and POV • As a software – hardware developer • Piezoelectric has more R&D potential • As a consumer • Thermal is cheaper … reliability= • Resolution is a factor • Business • Schools • SOHO

25. InkJet Cartridge Recycling The exact recycling process depends on the cartridge type. In general it includes: • electrical testing of the circuit • cleaning and unclogging of nozzles • Refilling • test printing • sealing of print head • packaging

26. InkJet Cartridge Recycling - Yield The recycling yield varies by cartridge type: HP 51626 ---- 85-95% HP 51629 ----- 65-85%. 51629 cartridges seem to be less durable and have more physical defects such as vacuum leaks between housing and lid, loose contacts, etc. • Ink Refill Kit For Hewlett Packard HP 51626aPrice: $9.95 • Refurbished InkJet Cartridge To Replace HP 51626A, #26Price: $19.99 • OEM Hewlett Packard Black Inkjet Cartridge - 51626aPrice: $27.99

27. InkJet Cartridge Recycling - Cleaning Successfully cleaning the cartridges and unclogging the nozzles is one of the keys to a profitable recycling operation. The difference can mean a 50% increase in recycling cartridge yield.

28. InkJet Cartridge Recycling - Cleaning Many different cleaning methods • Hot water flushing • Steam Cleaning - may damage nozzle plates in HP cartridges • Ultrasonic cleaning by itself is highly ineffective and can destroy the nozzle area.

29. InkJet Cartridge Recycling – Ink Source • See sources on www.rechargermag.com • Good ink manufacturers in the USA as well as Europe • No one manufacturer has the best ink for all different types of cartridges..

30. InkJet Cartridge Recycling – Shipping Sealing • Nozzle plate must be sealed • The nozzle plate must be grease free and clean, before applying the sealing tape • CLEAN is key

31. InkJet Image Performance • An inkjet printer places extremely small droplets of ink on to the paper • These dots are very small 50 to 60 microns in diameter • A human hair is approximately 70 microns in diameter • These dots are positioned together to achieve very high dpi [dots per inch] resolutions and GREAT COLOR • There are 28 IJ printers capable of producing photo-quality images for less than 225 dollars

32. Speed / Resolution • Graphics • Bitmaps • Pixel • Each pixel requires 1 byte for a 256 colour image i.e. a 640 by 480 pixel display requires 307,200 bytes

33. Pages Printed ...

34. Highest Growth COLOR only • Home and Small Office Printing > Group 1 • Education > Group 2 • Professional Business Communication > Group 3 • Business High Volume > Group 4 • Business Presentation / Marketing > Group 5 • Publishing / Proofing / Pre-press > Group 6

35. Revenue Distribution Across Color Model • Home and Small Office Printing > Group 1 • Education > Group 2 • Professional Business Communication > Group 3 • Business High Volume > Group 4 • Business Presentation / Marketing > Group 5 • Publishing / Proofing / Pre-press > Group 6

36. Networking systems adopt Color Management System in current use (PostScript, Kodak, PDF) Memory prices stay at current levels ---- Color TTFP dependent on memory. ($2.00/mb) TCO - Total cost of ownership is fundamental to MIS procurement Ink Jet systems have high consumables cost (only sBU) In 2002 Color hardware has TOC of HP 5si in 1997 Cost per page of color not fully depreciated yet (~2005) Model Observations --- Assumptions / Corrections

37. Solid-Ink Color Printers • Tektronix Phaser - Xerox Legacy • Ink Solid at Room Temperature Distributed in 4, Wax-like Uniquely Shaped Blocks • Printer Melts Ink Into Reservoirs in Print Head • Base of Nozzle Contains Piezoelectric Membrane • To Fill Nozzle, Piezoelectric Membrane Wall Extends Out, Forcing Ink in • Amount of Ink Controlled by Amount of Flexure • Media independence • Some fine tuning at customer site for fusing • Excellent transparency

38. Solid-Ink Color Printers

39. Solid Ink Printers • Tektronix Family (~ 165 lb) MSRP • Phaser 840 32 mb $2560 1000dpi • Phaser 850 64 mb $3226 1200dpi • Phaser 850 128 mb $4204 1200dpi • Brother Family • HS 5000 16 mb $1300 600dpi • HS 5300 32 mb $1600 600dpi • Xerox Legacy (packaged) • Xerox is post packaging Tektronix engines similar to HP/Canon arrangement. The advantages are clearly customer oriented. • Maintenance and support system is extensive through dealer network • Xerox is boosting memory, paper-handling, graphics, and firmware offerings in their bundled packages • Leveraging connectivity to copiers, networks, enterprise software, intranets ..

40. Time to First Page : Cost per Copy : Total Overall Cost • ToC • Initial purchase price • CpC • Maintenance • Network efficiency • Product lifecycle • Consumables other than marking materials • Skewed to higher volume printers • Lease/purchase (36mo min) • Administrative cost • TtFP • Mechanical design • Color process • Memory • Raster graphics processing • RISC processor (proportional to # of printers manufactured) • CpC • Energy • Color process • Media • Marking material Coverage model of 5% is obsolete …… 2001 estimates that coverage is approaching 15% driven by applications !!

41. Paper Handling …. OPERATIONS • Printer receivesthedata and saves some of the data in a buffer. This buffer means that the printer can finish with the actual print process quickly, rather than having to wait for the actual page to print. A buffer, depending on its size, can hold information for a large amount of print jobs • If the printer has been idle for any length of time it will likely go through a short cleaning phase • The control circuitry activates the paper feed stepper motor, engaging the motors to feed a sheet of paper from the paper tray/feeder. If there is no paper or a problem with the paper, the process is stopped

42. Operations • Once the paper is positioned the print head stepper motor moves the print head assembly across the page • The motor pauses for a fraction of a second each time the print head sprays a dot of ink on to the page and then moves fractionally before spraying again • Multiple dots are made at each stop. It sprays the CMYK colours in precise combinations to make other colours possible • At the end of each complete pass the paper feed stepper motor advances the paper fractionally and the print head is rest to the beginning of the page or, alternatively, continues to print in the reverse direction

43. Operations • This continues until printing is complete • At which point the print heads are parked and the paper feeder motor spins the rollers to push the completed page out onto the paper tray • Note : Inkjet printers are often sold at a loss by manufacturers on the basis of future revenue from cartridges! • Note : Photo quality paper is the best bet for printing things like images. On low quality paper the ink tends to feather or disperse, resulting in a smudged appearance

44. Product Lifecycle Management • Formation • Product Definition • Removal • Sustained Operations • Product Distribution • Production • Product Line (SKU) Information Management • Materials Management • Product Documentation • Product Planning / Scheduling

45. Remanufacturers Position/ Orientation 89% in support of business imaging Publishing area new and untapped Quality first … price second Education Gap Printer operation CONNECTIVITY Administration Color management standards Adobe, ICC, Kodak 3-6 year lag Roadblocks Color systems in general Simpler system w/ ink Market growth 80% in two years Value chain could change if you sell direct. Strategy … That depends on your market. 80% of the NA Remanufactured Market is 51626, 51629, 51645, 51641, 51625, 51649, BC 01/02.

46. Color Consumables Revenue • Model built from IDC Data • Better cost per page data • Better separation from printer TOC

47. Standards UPDATE What has been done? • DIN 33872 - Determination of the yield of consumables ( toner / ink, black ) For copiers, printers, fax equipment and their combinations. • ASTM F 1856 - Standard Practice for Determining Toner Usage for Printer Cartridges. • ANSI W1 1420-D - Standard for All-in-One Toner Cartridge Yield for Monochrome Laser Printers • ECMA • IDC whitepaper

48. Measurement of Cartridge Yield What are the issues? • Scope • Copiers/Fax • Inkjet • Color • Type of file to use • Grayscale content • % coverage • file format • Determination of end of life

49. Acknowledgements: • Companies: • www.canon.com • www.hp.com • www.epson.com • http://www.inksolution.net/ • Articles: • www.industrialtechnology.co.uk/epson.htm • www.pctechguide.com • www.digitalkamera.de/Drucker/Tintenstrahl-en.htm