Tuesday, June 5, 2012

If Laser Toner Cartridges And Computers Coincide

By Sean Leach


Printers are very common nowadays and serve as a product which can convert electronic text documents to paper. With the improving technology there is a wide variety of printers available. Amongst these varieties there are so called laser printers, which contain laser toner cartridges to get the job done. Apart from the laser printer there is also an inkjet printer, which propels drops of ink on the paper and creates the print.

Every printer has cartridges and amongst these there are again several types. Those bought directly from the manufacturer are called OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or Genuine. The manufacturers give guarantees when buying the cartridges, just like any other product. But these can sometimes be high priced, so often they are produced under an Alternative Brand. These cartridges resemble the original ones but are cheaper.

A laser toner is a part of the laser printer and contains a powder. This powder consists of a mixture of coloring agents, plastic particles, and carbon. It is fused to the paper with the help of a drum unit and heated rollers. This drum unit is electrostatically charged, which is the primary principle of the working of the printer.

The invention of the laser printer happened in the late 1960s and the prototype was a product looking similar to the xerographic copier. How the printer works is quite complicated. But in simple lines can be said that light bounces of the drum and sweeps across the page printing the images on the paper.

The electrostatic differences play an important role in the printing process. The drum itself (at least parts of it) is positively charged and while it is spinning around some points on it will be discharged. A pattern is drawn and coated with black powder (toner). The now positive powder attaches to negative parts of the drum and fixes a set powder pattern.

The loose powder is ready to be fused to the paper. The paper is rolled through the fuser (or the heated rollers) and the powder gets pressed against the paper with a high temperature. This means that the paper is getting heated up too. That is why when the paper rolls out it is hot as well. The prints are not burnt despite the high temperatures. This is mainly because of the high speed with which the process takes places.

Printers can be connected to the computer with the help of a cable, or can be wirelessly connected. Even when they are connected the computer needs to tell the printer what to do. They must thus share a common language. There are two of these which are most of the times programmed in the printer: PCL and Postscript. When the computer sends the textual information to the printer, the printer receives it as geometrical shapes. This makes it possible for the printer to press complex images on the paper during the printing process.

Laser toner cartridges are not always very cheap. Sometimes they can be more expensive than the whole printer. This is mainly because new printers have their cartridges only filled for one-third. Consumers can also buy generic brands, which can be much cheaper and have a decent quality as well.




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