CertiGuide to A+ (Core Hardware)  9  Chapter 0111:  Peripheral Devices       9  VIII  Printers

Inkjet Printers 1 Piezo-Electric Inkjet Printers

Canon, Inc. developed Bubble Jet technology in the late '70s. The ink cartridge of a Bubble Jet printer houses the ink as well as the print head in a replaceable cartridge. The print head itself is made up of 300 to 600 nozzles that are less than the diameter of a human hair. The more nozzles in the print head the better the resolution of the printer.

The printing process itself involves three main steps. First, a heating resistor behind each print nozzle heats up when it receives a signal to place a dot on the page from the print controller. This heat creates a bubble behind the ink reservoir and forces a small drop of ink out of the nozzle on to the paper.

As the resistor cools down, the bubble collapses, and a vacuum forms. This draws ink from a reservoir to replace the ink that was ejected. This heating and cooling process requires special inks that are heat resistant.

It also means increased printing time due to the overhead of these two processes.

Inkjet Printers 1 Piezo-Electric Inkjet Printers