InkJet and Thermal Printers

1. InkJet and Thermal Printers

2. Inkjet Introduction • InkJet Printing came about in the late 1980’s • Have become the replacement printer for the Serial Dot Matrix in the home • Two Main Reasons: • Price • Color capabilities

3. How it Works • Produce characters by squirting a precisely controlled amount of ink onto the paper • Dots are extremely small usually 50-60 microns in diameter (Human Hair approx 70 microns) • Dots are placed very precisely on the paper in a pattern up to 1440 x 720 dots per inch • Dots can be different colors and can be of photographic quality

4. The Printhead • Printhead contains a series of Nozzles that put the ink on the paper

5. Ink Cartridge • Variety of cartridges depending on the Manufacturer of the printer • Multi color in one cartridge • Single color in one cartridge • Cyan, Magenta and Yellow • Some cartridges include the printhead

6. Heat vs Vibration • Two basic methods of printing using an inkjet printer • Thermal • Piezoelectric

7. Thermal • Used mostly by Canon and Hewlett Packard • Also called Bubble Jet • Tiny resistors create heat • The vaporized ink creates a bubble which pushes the ink onto the paper • Typical Bubble Jet has 300-600 nozzles that can fire simultaneously

9. Piezoelectric • Patented by Epson • Uses Piezo Crystals at the back of the ink chamber • An electrical charge causes the crystal to vibrate • Crystal vibrates inward forcing ink out of the nozzle • Typically 128 nozzles

11. Speed • InkJet printer are NOT known for their speed • May be able to printer up to 16 PPM in black • Usually takes a couple of minutes to print a color page

12. Thermal Printing • Two Types • Direct Thermal Printer • Thermal Wax Transfer

13. Direct Thermal Transfer • Printhead is a heating element • Special Paper that reacts to heat • Head is passed over paper and heated at the exact moments required to form letters • First Faxes used Direct Thermal Printing • Now used in POS devices

14. Thermal Wax Transfer • Utilizes a wax based ink that adheres to the paper during the heating process • Wax Sheet is same size of paper being printed on • A wax sheet for each color • High quality but usually very expensive

16. Printing Review • 4 Methods of Printing • 6 Common parts of Printers • Know which are impact printers • Know the parts of a laser printer • Know specifics of each style of printer • Know history of printing • Know speed of different printers

17. Printing Review Cont’d • Know how characters are formed in each method of printing • Know which printers can print graphics • Know quality of print from each printer type