The Magic Of Inkjet Printing
Monday, June 15, 2009 9:54If you are reading this article on your computer odds are strong there is an inkjet printer within your vicinity. Although the performance of your printer and the inkjet cartridges within may seem to be a product of magic, it may surprise you that the inner workings of the inkjet printer and cartridges are not as complex as you may think.
Inkjet printers came onto the scene in the late 1980’s. Their inception has spawned a multi-billion dollar industry.
Companies don’t just make profits from the inkjet printers alone. Printer ink cartridges, ink refill and cartridge toner are just a few of the supplies included in this market
The inkjet printer uses extremely small drops of ink to create an image. The drops of ink within the cartridges are around 50 microns, tinier than the diameter of a human hair.
The inkjet cartridge toners are available in several forms. There are ink cartridges for black ink printing and inkjet cartridges for color printing. Working together, the cartridges print an image.
Different versions of inkjet printers utilize these cartridges in different ways. There are two main inkjet technologies used to form droplets of ink.
The first version relies on what is known as thermal imaging. Inkjet printers utilizing thermal technology create ink bubbles by using a heat vapor.
The bubble will then expand, pushing ink out of a nozzle onto the paper. As this ink bubble pops, a vacuum is created, pulling more ink from the print head into the cartridge. These inkjet cartridges contain as many as 600 tiny nozzles simultaneously firing droplets of ink.
Epson, though, patented a different kind of technology that uses piezo crystals. In piezoelectric printer ink cartridges, these crystals line the reservoirs of ink.
The crystal receives a message from the inkjet printer causing it to vibrate. These vibrations force tiny amounts of ink out of the cartridge’s nozzles and then refill ink into the reservoirs.
Either one of these printing methods are often favored over expensive laser printing. A laser printer uses a dry ink toner cartridge as opposed to the inkjet toner cartridges described above.
Not only are the inkjet printers and inkjet printer cartridges more affordable than the laser printer and laser cartridge, you can save yourself even more money by refilling the ink and cartridge yourself or buying one from a retailer.
Cartridge World, a leading retailer of printer supplies including refilled inkjet cartridges, offer a wide variety of ink and toner cartridges at a discounted price. These offer exceptional performance without sacrificing quality or the money a new inkjet printer cartridge would.
Knowing you won’t have to mortgage your house to buy your print supplies, your mind can rest easy and begin to create an endless array of media. Inkjet printer cartridges can produce labels, shirt decals pictures and birthday cards.
Magical? No. Practical? Absolutely. Inkjet printers and their compatible cartridges open an endless world of opportunity for their users. So stop reading, start printing and enjoy the wonders of ink.