The most famous printers are inkjet and laser devices. Earlier matrix varieties were also used. Technology does not stand still. Today, a number of modern technologies have appeared that far surpass the devices familiar and familiar to all.
This is a solid ink printer. What kind of device it is, what advantages and disadvantages it has, should be considered in more detail. This will make the right decision on the feasibility of acquiring such a device.
The advent of technology
The solid ink printer (photo below) is a development of the last century. In 1986, such developments were first applied by Tektronix. The new technology was used in printing and publishing.
This printer became available to consumers in 1991. It was released by Phaser III. The cost of the model was high. Not every buyer could afford such a technique. The price was about 10 thousand dollars. Therefore, printing companies began to acquire such equipment. They used it to create color proofs.
Further technologies improved. Relatively inexpensive solid ink printers are now available. This technology was originally developed for color printing. It combines the advantages of inkjet and laser printing. Today, this technology has not yet received proper distribution. However, it is gradually gaining popularity, including in Russia.
The device and the general principle of operation
The solid ink printer device is quite simple. This reduces the likelihood of damage. The design consists of a drum, a controller and a print head. Laser varieties, by contrast, have many details. Failures due to the complexity of the device occur more often. The simpler the design, the less likely it is that its elements will fail.
The molten dyes fly out in the form of drops, first fall on a heated metal drum. Only then do special pigments get onto the paper. After that, the paint quickly hardens.
This technology allows for high print speeds. The image quality is high. It is close to offset technology. A feature of solid-ink printers is low paper requirements. The media can be paper, cardboard, film, envelope, etc. This distinguishes the device from laser and inkjet printers.
Dyes
The technology and device of the solid ink printer involve the use of special dyes. They are made in the form of small bars. They include wax, essential oils and special pigments. In this case, the bars can be 4 colors. Their combination allows you to get any shade.
Voskopodobnye bars can be blue, yellow, purple or black. Moreover, their initial tone is significantly different from the clean print on paper. So, for example, a dark blue bar after melting by the system and applying drops to the paper gives a blue color. Magenta on paper is obtained by melting a dark brown wax-like mass.
Bars for printers from different manufacturers differ in shape. Therefore, they cannot be confused. Up to 4 bars can be placed in one color container. You can add them at any convenient time. Even during printing, you can add ink to the printer. It is important to monitor the tightness of the bars. The head block should be pressed to the ceramic plate, which melts it to a liquid state.
The process of creating print media
A number of unique features characterize the printing process of a solid ink printer. Non-waste production is called its action. Wax-based plates melt and drain into a heated reservoir. This allows you to keep the ink in a liquid state in the print head.
In the process of ink consumption, the plate is turned on, melting the bars. When the tank is full, heating stops. In this case, the required temperature is maintained only in the head tank. It has 1236 holes that spray ink in a specific sequence. The nozzles open and close.
With this technology, it is possible to obtain a resolution of up to 2400 dpi. This provides a slight movement of the head in a horizontal plane. The printer can eject up to 30 million drops of ink per second. This provides high print speed.
The drum, on which dyes fall, is heated less than the head containers. Before printing, a layer of silicone-based oil is applied to it. Inks become viscous as the temperature drops. About 1/3 of the sheet image is formed on the drum. After that, the device feeds a sheet on which ink is transferred. Here the dye completely freezes. The process is then repeated.
Non-waste production
The technology presented printing is called virtually waste-free. Solid ink printers have another node. It is called a waste tray. This is a required node for all devices of this type.
Printing technology can be called waste-free only if the printer prints continuously without turning off. Such a process is possible only in a large printing house. In most cases, waste does occur.
When the printer is turned off, heating stops. All ink hardens. When the user wants to resume the printing process again, the system will conduct special preparation of the device. Within 15 minutes vacuum cleaning of nozzles is carried out. Part of the ink is melted and poured into the waste tray. Here the mass freezes. You can simply not turn off the printer from the outlet. In this state, part of the ink will always be liquid. Otherwise, the consumption of materials can be significant.
Benefits
A solid ink printer, the printing technology of which has a lot of advantages, is used today by various printing companies. This direction is intended exclusively for color printing. In this case, this technology has many advantages over other types of printers.
Specialists call simplicity of design the main advantage of solid ink devices. This increases their reliability, image quality. The printer almost never breaks before the deadline set by the manufacturer.
Also, such designs are easy to maintain. Printing requires much less ink. Ink bars do not get your hands dirty. They are simply tucked into the appropriate compartments. Even a child can cope with this task. A maintenance kit is also included with the printer. It needs to be changed periodically. This procedure also takes a little time.
Positive customer reviews
Printing technology for solid ink printers has been appreciated by experts and customers. They note the high reliability and functionality of the devices. Buyers claim that the print quality of such devices is very high. It does not change during operation of the device. This distinguishes solid-printing models from laser, inkjet printers.
The colors are vivid, and the print quality is comparable to the images that create the most expensive models of laser devices. Regardless of the type of paper, ink does not spread. This extends the scope of the presented devices. The image is uniform, there are no stripes, other defects.
Customers also note a high print speed. The device produces up to 30 pages per minute. Such results can boast only expensive laser printer models.
Positive feedback from experts
Considering the reviews of solid ink printers that experts leave, there are many positive comments. They note that the print speed is not only high, but also the most correctly designed. So, in laser printers, printing speed is ensured by the presence of 2 sheets in the path at once. This often causes problems with page jams. In solid ink models, the next sheet does not feed into the path until the previous page is completely printed. In this case, the speed remains high.
Specialists note the possibility of printing on different media. You can use both thin and thick paper, film, as well as other media that do not tolerate high temperatures. The paint is applied to the surface in a warm state. This temperature is not able to harm polymer films.
Such devices have a 90% lower material consumption than laser designs. This has a positive effect on the environment and the economic performance of the printer.
Solid Ink Disadvantages
The solid ink color printer has some drawbacks. The technology does not often turn off the device. Ink must be maintained in a liquid state. Otherwise, preparation for printing takes a lot of time. Therefore, it is recommended that you always leave the printer plugged in. In this case, a certain amount of electricity will be spent on heating. This raises utility bills.
It should also be said that after the printer receives a print job, it takes another 4-5 minutes to complete the procedure. In some cases, this feature is unacceptable.
Negative customer reviews
The solid ink color printer, according to the opinions of experts and customers, has a number of disadvantages. The main one is the appearance of the images. Ink does not mix, does not spread directly on paper. In this case, a small number of nozzles is provided in the head. Especially in bright areas, you can notice the point structure of the images.
This feature does not allow the use of a printer for printing photographs. Therefore, a qualitative result can be observed only when printing fonts, graphics. Also, the fill of the image should be solid. Fine lines should also not contain a picture.
Reviews of specialists
The disadvantage of solid ink printers, according to experts, is the insufficiently high image strength. The paint layer is easily damaged by mechanical stress. It can be damaged literally with a fingernail. Therefore, important documents can be laminated. However, when heated in a machine that covers a sheet with a film layer, thin lines may become slightly blurry.
In fact, such a device can provide high image quality in a narrow range of conditions. Therefore, its scope is limited. The device is used for a narrow range of operations on a large scale production in a printing house.
Cost
The production of solid ink printers is handled by various world-class companies. This technique is not intended for home use. Many companies prefer not to buy, but to lease such devices. They should be used for mass printing, which is carried out daily.
The cheapest solid-state model, which is currently presented on the domestic market, is the Xerox Phaser 8560. The printer costs about 35 thousand rubles. At the same time, the purchase of a package of solid ink has a price of about 3 thousand rubles. It is enough to print thousands of sheets.
The print speed of the presented model is 30 pages per minute. It doesn’t matter what type of image the device creates.
Having considered the features of solid ink printers, we can conclude the feasibility of its acquisition. Such devices are used for a narrow range of operations that are performed on a large-scale production scale. For home use, these printers are not suitable.