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Archive for July, 2008
Inkjet printers operate by propelling variably-sized droplets of ink onto almost any medium. They are the most common type of computer printer for the general consume due to their low cost, high quality of output, capability of printing in vivid color, and ease of use.
Like most modern technologies, the present-day inkjet has built on the progress made by many earlier versions. Among many contributors, Epson, Hewlett-Packard and Canon can claim a substantial share of the credit for the development of the modern inkjet. In the worldwide consumer market, four companies account for the total sales: the aforementioned three and Lexmark ink cartridges as the fourth.
The emerging ink jet material deposition market also uses ink jet technologies to deposit materials directly on substrates.
Most consumer inkjet printers, such as Canon, HP, and Lexmark use a thermal inkjet; inside each partition of the ink reservoir is a heating element with a tiny metal plate or resistor. In response to a signal given by the printer, a tiny current flows through the metal or resistor making it warm up, and the ink immediately surrounding the heated plate is vaporized into a tiny air bubble inside the nozzle. As a consequence, the total volume of the ink exceeds that of the nozzle. An ink droplet is forced out of the cartridge nozzle onto the paper. This process takes a matter of milliseconds.
The printing depends on the smooth flow of ink, which can be hindered if the ink begins to dry at the print head, as can happen when an ink level becomes low; dried ink can be cleaned, from a cartridge print head, by gentle rubbing with isopropyl alcohol on a swab or folded paper towel.
The printer ink also acts as a coolant to protect the metal-plate heating elements: when the ink supply is depleted, and printing is attempted, the heating elements in thermal cartridges often burn out, permanently damaging the print head. When the ink first begins to run thin, the cartridge should be refilled or replaced, to avoid over-heating damage to the print-head.