How does an inkjet printer work?

by | Jan 23, 2014 | Computer

Of all the various types, sizes and feature rich printers that are available today, without a doubt the most popular and by far the least expensive printer is the inkjet. When you hit the print command of your computer you expect the printer to function, but you ever wondered how they work?

The whole process can be summed up in a few words; they put little tiny drops of ink on the paper. The last impact printer was a dot matrix which has been out of favor for many years in favor of non-impact machines which encompass both laser and inkjet.

Inkjet printers use two very different methods to transfer the contents of the inkjet printer ink cartridges to the surface of the paper; the first way is thermal bubble jet and the second way is piezoelectric. The bubble jet printer does the job very different than a piezoelectric printer.

Thermal bubble jet printers use resistors to create heat, this heat creates a small bubble in the ink contained in the cartridge. As the bubble expands it forces ink from the cartridge and out of the ink nozzle. The bubble then collapses and the cycle starts over again. It can be expected that bubble jet printer will have upwards of 600 nozzles.

A printer that uses piezoelectric technology uses extremely small crystals in the ink nozzles, these crystals vibrate when excited by an electric current, it is this vibration that is the basis behind inkjet printer ink cartridges, the ink is pushed out and then more ink is pulled into the cartridge. The dots of ink that are pushed out by a bubble jet printer are somewhat larger than those formed by the piezoelectric method, the smaller the drops the better the resulting print quality. The piezoelectric process is protected by the patent of a major printer manufacturer so the thermal bubble jet is the most used as this process is available to all other printer manufacturers.

The volume of production has steadily risen since the development of the inkjet printer in the 1980s; today the prices have dropped to the point where they are by far the choice of most home and small office printer users. The low cost and more than acceptable quality is suitable for most applications.

Inkjet printer ink cartridges are readily available from your online source; Tonerpals.com. Tonerpals carry inkjet cartridges for all popular brands and models.

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