Inkjet printers were first mass produced in the 1980’s and since then have become one of the most affordable types of printer finding a place in almost every home and office but do you know how they actually work?
Inkjet printers fall under the category of non impact printers, since they spray ink directly onto the paper unlike dot matrix printers which use a series of small pins to strike an ink loaded ribbon (similar in principle to a typewriter).
Inkjet printer manufacturers use two different methods to transfer the ink onto the paper, one utilises heat and the other vibration.
In the thermal bubble or bubblejet printer, resistors create heat which creates a bubble within the ink. This expands pushing a small amount of ink out through the nozzle. When the bubble ‘pops’ the resulting vacuum draws ink back in from the cartridge.
The second method, which was patented by Epson, is Piezoelectric, so called because it uses Piezo crystals. A small electric current is passed into the crystal which makes it vibrate. As it vibrates inwards it pushes a small amount of ink out through the nozzle, when the crystal vibrates back outwards it pulls ink back in from the reservoir.
Some inkjet facts:
- The printer heads on bubble jet can contain between 300 and 600 nozzles
- The dots of ink are tiny – even smaller than the diameter of a human hair
- Most inkjet cartridges produced today have the printer head on the cartridge themselves rather than the printer.
Here at Selectafont we can offer ink cartridges compatible with most inkjet printers and are always happy to answer your printer or cartridge queries. If you can’t find what you’re looking for on our website, why not drop us an email at sales@selectafont.co.uk ?
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